Green Growth Versus Sustainable Development

This aim of this paper is to help explain the differences between the terms “sustainable development” and “green growth”. The concept of “sustainable development” was developed during the 80s and was based on three pillars: economy, environment and society. The concept of “green growth” is a more recent one. The two concepts have several differences. The first difference is that, from sustainable development to green growth, there is a degradation of the objectives. This is because the latter looses the social component of the former, as green growth is based only on the environment and the economy. The second difference is that green growth concerns only growth and not development, which is a broader concept. Green growth is only an economic growth based on the exploitation of the environment and can severely damage the environment. It is also one of the solutions proposed from the OECD to face the current economic crisis. For this last reason, green growth is accompanied by other economic or social measures, such as the degradation of formal education to the mere acquisition of skills, the increase of subsidies to private sector and the liberalization of international trade. Key-Words: green growth, sustainable development, economic growth, environment.