Eco-Capitalism

Description

Our planet faces a systemic threat from climate change, which the world community of nations is ill-prepared to address, and this book argues that a new form of ecologically conscious capitalism is needed in order to tackle this serious and rising threat. While the Paris Climate Agreement of 2015 has finally implemented a global climate policy regime, its modest means belie its ambitious goals. Our institutional financial organizations are not equipped to deal with the problems that any credible commitment to a low-carbon economy will have to confront. We will have to go beyond cap-and-trade schemes and limited carbon taxes to cut greenhouse gas emissions substantially in due time. This book offers a way forward toward that goal, with a conceptual framework that brings environmental preservation back into our macro-economic growth and forecasting models. This framework obliges firms to consider other goals beyond shareholder value maximization, outlining the principal tenets of a climate-friendly finance and introducing a new type of money linked to climate mitigation and adaptation efforts. Front Matter ....Pages i-v The Challenge of Climate Change (Robert Guttmann)....Pages 1-33 Moving Toward an Ecologically Oriented Capitalism (“Eco-Capitalism”) (Robert Guttmann)....Pages 35-64 The Global Emergence of Climate Policy (Robert Guttmann)....Pages 65-97 Rethinking Growth (Robert Guttmann)....Pages 99-133 Pricing Carbon (Robert Guttmann)....Pages 135-168 Climate Finance (Robert Guttmann)....Pages 169-208 Carbon Money (Robert Guttmann)....Pages 209-249 Sustainable Development and Eco-Capitalism (Robert Guttmann)....Pages 251-291 Back Matter ....Pages 293-321