Browsing by Subject "Green economy"

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    Open Access
    An analysis of the state of green business in the South African retail sector
    (2013) Christelis, Theodora Anita
    'Green' business is claimed by some South African retailers even though they lack well-founded and integrated sustainable, social, and environmental commitments. This is because no standards of greening exist for retail in South Africa. The purpose of this study is to explore, 'What constitutes green retail in the South African supermarket sector?' This required investigation into the sustainability of the companies' green business processes, social component of sustainability, and the existing state of the green retail sector. The five dominant supermarkets were selected to answer a questionnaire based on different environmental variables and principles. Interviewee responses were supplemented with publicly available company reports and these were then critiqued by allocating a level of commitment to sustainability of companies' green business processes, social considerations of sustainability, and establishing the current state of the green retail sector. Results show that within business processes, sustainable procurement is becoming increasingly accounted for through eco-labels and enterprise development programs. Distribution processes assist in verifying green claims and production. Various international and local sustainability programs are used to validate green efforts in the lack of national standards. Best practice frameworks are being utilised in the absence of local green standards and where limited, some are creating their own innovative solutions. Sustainability is a core focus at an executive level to some to ensure full integration of sustainability. Retailers may not necessarily pursue trends, but they have similar pressures that are often variably addressed. Although retailers' attempts to green their operations may not be standardised, the retail industry in South African has almost privatised sustainability and socio-economic development as they have superseded legislation to contribute to society and transform communities. It is an opportunity for retailers to take responsibility for their operations and in doing so create innovative solutions that address South Africa's environmental and social issues, in spite of the lack of green standards and governmental regulation, and in doing so become leadership companies that are accountable to their consumer base.
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    Open Access
    A review of the green economy in Cape Town: local policy in the light of international approaches
    (2016) Petrik, Marko; Van Ryneveld, Mark
    The industrial economy of the last 100 years has resulted in significant externalities, chief of which has been anthropogenic climate change caused by the release of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. The green economy is an approach to economic activity that has been developed in an effort to mitigate against this and attempt to shift the world economy onto a more sustainable course. South Africa has a particularly carbon-intense economy, and as such bears a considerable burden to follow this shift. Cape Town, following the lead of national government, has begun to respond to climate change and has made steps to adopt the green economy. However, much of the literature and theory developed around the green economy has been produced by developed nations, which may render it problematic to be adopted by a city in a developing nation, such as Cape Town. This dissertation begins with a brief description of the background and definition of the green economy. Based on a reading of the international literature, it then uses an analytical overview of conceptual descriptions of the green economy to develop a Transition Framework as a tool for evaluation and comparison. The Transition Framework is then applied to the green economy in the city of Cape Town as a case study. While the City of Cape Town quite overtly applies international conceptions of the green economy to its formulation, it was found that there were some significant local deviations: political parties play an important role in leading and shaping the local green economy; there is a particular need to balance green economy interventions against the preservation of municipal income from tax; the city's spatial-geographic character plays an important role in strategy and planning; and the primary aim of the local green economy is to increase economic growth and produce employment opportunities, in order to ensure social and political stability. This study highlighted the fact that international conceptions of the green economy do have a significant amount of flexibility towards local conditions, this may in some cases result in a drift away from some of its stated aims (reducing greenhouse gasses, for example) towards addressing the most pressing local issues. This may potentially render its goals unachieved.