Economy Watch — Vatican Proposes New World Economic Strategies Marrying Impoverished Care with Environmental Preservation

In a recent discussion, Pope Francis' deputy, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's Secretary of State, said the world would need to develop a new model of economic development. The Vatican believes this new model must marry economic growth with plans to combat poverty by seeking ways to use resources in a sustainable manner. 

Cardinal Parolin, speaking on behalf of the Pope, went on to indicate that both political and economic commitments would be necessary for this plan to work, but that the Vatican believes it is the only way to ensure the health of the planet for future generations. Such changes have been slow to occur, and the Vatican wishes to push the dialogue along in order to facilitate the change in the global population's mindset necessary to make these sorts of commitments possible. 

In a report by the Durango Herald, Parolin is quoted as saying, "When the future of the planet is at stake, there are no political frontiers, barriers or walls behind which we can hide to protect ourselves from the effects of environmental and social degradation … There is no room for the globalization of indifference, the economy of exclusion or the throwaway culture so often denounced by Pope Francis."...

Pope Francis has publicly endorsed economic development models that provide employment and opportunity to the poor while simultaneously utilizing new technologies that are cleaner, more energy efficient, and produce less carbon. However, many fear that these types of initiatives may fall out of favor due to short-term concerns by countries around the world about immediate economic growth and job transitions. 

Former Mexican President Felipe Calderon, who heads the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, has cited these fears as the biggest factor in preventing such changes, but he refers to the findings of a study by the commission finding just the opposite.

According to Calderon, "We can foster economic growth and mitigate climate risk at the same time...In fact, this is the only way to achieve long-term, sustained economic growth, and through it to alleviate poverty for the millions of souls that need, demand and deserve it." 

Economy Watch
Vatican Proposes New World Economic Strategies Marrying Impoverished Care with Environmental Preservation

McKinsey — Myths and realities of clean technologies

Don’t be fooled by high-profile setbacks. The cleantech sector is gaining steam—with less and less regulatory assistance.

The world is on the cusp of a resource revolution. As our colleagues Stefan Heck and Matt Rogers argue,1 advances in information technology, nanotechnology, materials science, and biology will radically increase the productivity of resources. The result will be a new industrial revolution that will enable strong economic growth, at a much lower environmental cost than in the past, thanks to the broad deployment of better, cleaner technologies and the development of more appropriate business models. But how do we reconcile this bold and heartening prediction with recent challenges experienced by cleantech, the general term for products and processes that improve environmental performance in the construction, transport, energy, water, and waste industries?...

Cleantech is no passing, unprofitable fad. The sources of underlying demand—a growing middle class around the world and resource constraints2 —aren’t going away, and cleantech is pivotal in dealing with both. There are three major myths that undermine confidence in cleantech’s future.

• Myth 1: Deployment and influence will be marginal
• Myth 2: Technologies have underdelivered
• Myth 3: The sector depends on regulatory support

McKinsey
Myths and realities of clean technologies

Sara Hastings-Simon, Dickon Pinner, and Martin Stuchtey