The green investment paradigm: Another headlong rush

In this article we shed light, analyze and question a very broad consensus among economists. Beyond some divergences (on the amounts and tools), most mainstream and heterodox economists present green investments as a necessary and first condition to solve the ecological crisis. We first examine the Green Investment Paradigm and its coalition to explain its importance in contemporary debates. The main part of our research focuses on its theoretical origins and pitfalls. We highlight its reductionist, normative, disembodied, ahistorical and depoliticizing vision that is strongly related to its problem-solving framework. We hence prove that it constitutes another dangerous headlong rush of economic thinking. We finally discuss what is outside of the box and present some debates that can contribute to a serious interdisciplinary assessment of the socio-political causes of ecological crises.

Automated summary

The article sheds light on the importance of green investments in solving ecological crises, while also analyzing the theoretical origins and pitfalls of the Green Investment Paradigm. It highlights the reductionist, normative, disembodied, ahistorical and depoliticizing vision of the paradigm, and discusses the need for serious interdisciplinary assessment of the socio-political causes of ecological crises.