Environmental Justice and the Green Economy- Risks and Opportunities

The last decade of environmental advocacy has been characterized by the application of economic principles to environmental challenges, resulting in an interest in using economic instruments to internalize environmental costs in decision-making and reflected in the growing use of concepts such as environmental valuation and resource productivity in policy choices. While many view this greater connection between economic principles and environmental decision-making as key to achieving sustainable development (eg. Keohane & Olmstead, 2007), others fear that the focus on the green economy may undermine goals of social equity and environmental justice (eg. Dobson, 1998; Langhelle, 2000; Hoedeman, 2012). This paper explores the implications of the transition to a green economy for social and environmental justice. It will identify some of the challenges inherent in reconciling a green economy approach with socio-environmental justice as well as some of the opportunities that green economic approaches present. The paper argues that the transition to a green economy is critical to sustainable development, but that it must be done in the context of binding principles that (1) assign responsibility, and create accountability, for how decisions impact upon people and the environment, (2) support the human right to a healthy environment and an equitable and just society; and (3) commit to developing policies – whether green economic approaches or otherwise - in a democratic and transparent fashion. List of References: Andrew Dobson, Justice and the Environment: Conceptions of Environmental Sustainability and Theories of Distributive Justice (Oxford University Press, 1999). Olivier Hoedeman, Transnational institute “Rio+20 and the greenwashing of the global economy”, (January 2012), online: http://rio20.net/en/documentos/rio20-and-the-greenwashing-of-the-global-economy. Nathaniel Keohane & Sheila Olmstead, Markets and the Environment (Island Press, 2007). Oluf Langhelle, “Sustainable Development and Social Justice: Expanding the Rawlsian Framework of Global Justice” (2000) Vol. 9, No. 3 Environmental Values 295

Le revenu de citoyenneté : entre émancipation et assujettissement. L'exemple du Basic Income Grant en Namibie

De la capacité d’une société à repenser ses liens sociaux, dépend son développement à la fois politique, social et économique. L’État peut, pour contribuer de manière déterminante à la production de sens, développer des outils, entre autres des mécanismes de redistribution, susceptibles d’assurer la solidarité et la cohésion sociale. L’enjeu est d’importance pour certains pays comme la Namibie, dont l'histoire est marquée par le colonialisme et l'apartheid ─desquels il s'est libéré il y a à peine plus de vingt ans─ et qui sont construits sur une logique de séparation inégalitaire des droits et des ressources. À partir de l'exemple du Basic Income Grant (BIG), projet-pilote de revenu citoyen garanti mis en place dans un village de la Namibie entre 2007 et 2009, ce mémoire propose d'explorer l'apport du concept d'empowerment dans ce projet en tant qu'outil de déconstruction de ces structures inégalitaires. Après avoir exposé différentes conceptions des notions de pauvreté, de richesse et de développement, nous aborderons la question du revenu citoyen garanti et de la place qu'il peut prendre dans différents systèmes de protection sociale. Puis, nous tenterons de mieux cerner le concept d'empowerment pour finalement arriver à répondre à notre principal questionnement: le projet BIG permet-il effectivement l'émancipation ou au contraire, fait-il en sorte de renforcer le sentiment de dépendance et d'impuissance vécu par la communauté isolée, vivant dans des conditions d'extrême précarité? Des entrevues ont pour ce faire été conduites auprès de 15 participants, soit des membres du village d'Otjivero, des intervenants engagés dans le regroupement d'acteurs de la société civile namibienne étant à la source de l'initiative, et des représentants gouvernementaux. L’analyse de ces résultats est présentée en dernière partie de travail.The political, social and economic development of a society depends on its ability to rethink its social ties. To contribute significantly to the production of meaning, the State may develop tools, among which redistribution mechanisms, capable of ensuring solidarity and social cohesion. The challenge may be greater for some countries − such as Namibia, whose history is marked by colonialism and the period of apartheid, which it freed itself of about twenty years ago − that are built around a logic of unequal separation of rights and resources. Based on our study of the implementation of the Basic Income Grant (BIG) pilot project in a Namibian village between 2007 and 2009, this paper proposes to explore the contribution of the concept of empowerment, within a basic guaranteed income project, as a tool for deconstructing these unequal structures. After describing different views of poverty, wealth and development, we will address the issue of basic guaranteed income and the role it can play in different social protection systems. Then we will try to better understand the concept of empowerment before finally focusing on our central question: does the BIG project actually enable emancipation or, conversely, does it strengthen the feelings of dependency and powerlessness experienced by the small isolated community living in extremely precarious conditions? To find an answer to this question, interviews have been conducted with 15 participants: members of the small community of Otjivero, Namibian stakeholders involved in the initiative from the beginning; and representatives from the government. Analyses of these results are presented in the final part of the paper