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"Foreword" [2016] ELECD 1439; in Kummer Peiry, Katharina; Ziegler, R. Andreas; Baumgartner, Jorun (eds), "Waste Management and the Green Economy" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2016) xv

Book Title: Waste Management and the Green Economy

Editor(s): Kummer Peiry, Katharina; Ziegler, R. Andreas; Baumgartner, Jorun

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781783473809

Section Title: Foreword

Number of pages: 2

Extract:

Foreword
When UNEP launched the Green Economy Initiative in 2008, it did so
out of the conviction that without a fundamental economic transform-
ation, the goal of sustainable development will remain elusive. UNEP's
Green Economy Report, published in 2011, demonstrated that investing
in environmentally significant economic sectors is not only good for the
environment but also, importantly, for economic growth, jobs and social
development, compared to a `business as usual' approach.
We all recognize, however, that despite this growing engagement with
green initiatives, a number of major challenges still loom, such as eco-
logical constraints, resource availability, economic and social inequality,
environment-related ill health, and persistent unemployment. Growing
global and local ecological constraints are compounded by a combination
of economic crises, natural disasters, and social conflict. A stronger policy
strategy is required to move economic systems beyond initial investments
in key sectors into the development of an inclusive Green Economy ­ one
that prioritizes jobs, innovations, research and development, and social
equity, mindful of the ecological and resource constraints.
This book takes a closer look at an area that does not immediately
spring to mind when we think about a Green Economy, namely waste
management, but that in fact is critical to managing both circular flow and
potential environmental risks and liabilities that an economy can generate.
Until recently, waste was viewed as an unwanted by-product of consump-
tion or production, a problem rather than a resource, and something best
kept out of sight and out of mind. ...