Green Capital: A New Perspective on Growth

285 Pages·2015·0.624 MB·English

by  Christian de Perthuis, Pierre-André Jouvet, Michael Westlake

CHRISTIAN DE PERTHUIS
AND
PIERRE-ANDRÉ JOUVET
G R E E N
C A P I TA L
A N EW PERSPECTIVE G ROWTH
ON
Green Capital

Green Capital
A New Perspective on Growth
Christian de Perthuis
and Pierre-André Jouvet
Translated by Michael Westlake
columbia university press
new york
Columbia University Press
Publishers Since 1893
New York Chichester, West Sussex
Copyright © 2013 Odile Jacob
Translation copyright © 2015 Columbia University Press
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Perthuis, Christian de.
[Capital vert. English]
Green capital : a new perspective on growth / Christian de Perthuis,
Pierre-André Jouvet; translated by Michael Westlake.
pages cm
Translation of: Le capital vert : une nouvelle perspective
de croissance, published in 2013.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-231-17140-3 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-231-54036-0 (e-book)
1. Environmental economics. 2. Sustainable development.
I. Jouvet, Pierre-André. II. Title.
HC79.E5P45713 2015
333.7—dc23
2015002297
Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent
and durable acid-free paper.
This book is printed on paper with recycled content.
Printed in the United States of America
c 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Cover design: Noah Arlow
References to Internet Web sites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing.
Neither the author nor Columbia University Press is responsible for URLs
that may have expired or changed since the manuscript was prepared.
Contents
introduction
The Color of Growth 1
1
Growth: A Historical Accident? 9
2
The Spaceship Problem: An Optimal Population Size? 18
3
Degrowth: Good Questions, Bad Answers 26
4
Introducing the Environment into the
Calculation of Wealth 36
Contents
5
“Natural Capital” Revisited 47
6
Hotelling: Beyond the Wall of Scarcity 55
7
Nature Has No Price: How Then Is the Cost
of Its Degradation to Be Measured? 67
8
Beyond Hotelling: Natural Capital as a
Factor Required for Growth 76
9
Water, the Shepherd, and the Owner:
A Choice of Green Growth Models 89
10
How Much Is Your Genome Worth? 99
11
The Enhancement of Biodiversity:
Managing Access, Pricing Usage 112
12
Climate Change:
The Challenges of Carbon Pricing 122
13
International Climate Negotiations 137
vi
Contents
14
The “Energy Transition”:
Not Enough or Too Much Oil and Gas? 152
15
The Inescapable Question of the Price of Energy 164
16
Nuclear Energy: A Rising-Cost Technology 177
17
Growth-Generating Innovations 185
18
Planning or the Market: What Are the Catalysts? 197
19
European Strategy: Jump Out of the Warm Water! 214
conclusion
Green Capital, Green Capitalism? 231
Notes 237
Index 259
vii

Green Capital