Why Does UN’s Sustainable Development Goals Frequently End Up in Greenwashing – Enlightened by Black Box Theory

Abstract

In this chapter I question why the consequences of honest concern for environmental and social sustainability often ends up in just small modifications of existing politics. I introduce black box theory as a tool for reflections on why serious acceptance of UN’s 17 SDG’s often ends up in green washed mainstream economic practice instead of deeper changes as described in ecological economics.

To distinguish between green economy and ecological economics I refer to Rees (Local Environment 13: 2008), and Spash (Ecological Economics 93: 2013), who defined green economy as focusing on reducing negative symptoms of the existing economic paradigm, and ecological economics as an effort to elaborate on the systemic causes behind environmental and social problems.

When good intentions are converted through a black box filled with neo-liberalism the result will be green economy. Alternatively, I critically reflect on the possibilities to implement solutions based on ecological economics by suggesting communitarian anarchism as an utopian substitute to neo-liberalism in the black box.

To develop societies anchored in high quality of life within resilient societies and sustainable nature I conclude that radical changes on systems level are required. The idea is that ecological economics, renewed and reinvigorated by anarchist political philosophy, represent a far deeper solution and one that truly offers the new and radical measures necessary to reach the 17 SDG’s.