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Review
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Ecocentric and
anthropocentric policies and crises in climate/environment,
finance and economy: Implications of the emerging green
policy of the Obama administration for Africa’s sustainable
development
Richard Ingwe1*, Joseph C. Ebegbulem2
and C. C. C. Ikeji3
1Centre
for Research and Action on Developing Locales, Regions and
the Environment (CRADLE), Calabar, Nigeria.
2Department
of Political Science, University of Calabar, Calabar,
Cross-Rivers State, Nigeria.
3Institute
of Public Policy and Administration (IPPA), University of
Calabar, Calabar,
Cross-Rivers State, Nigeria.
*Corresponding
author. E-mail:
ingwe.richard@gmail.com,
Cradle.Africa@gmail.com.
Tel: (+234)
8051740656.
Accepted
6 October, 2009 |
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Abstract |
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Advanced economies responded to recent global financial
meltdown and economic recession by implementing “green”
economic stimulus packages concentrating on
environmentally-friendly and sustainable technologies. We
examined this emerging paradigm against Sub-Saharan Africa’s
under-development (prolonged poverty, economic
stagnation/decline, weak structures, processes, institutions
and attitudes required for accelerating economic growth;
practice of electoralism: power derivation through elections
without democratic ingredients), exclusion of stakeholders
including civil society from policy, thereby depriving
society innovations and resources contributed by civil
society elsewhere to socio-economic development. We used
desk research and descriptive methods to analyze secondary
data based on increasing civil society involvement in
development processes under emerging paradigm of
partnership, governance, climate change, global financial
crisis. We showed that past actions: unbridled pursuit of
anthropocentric policy that ignored ecocentric measures led
to crises (environmental-climate degradation, and recently
global financial meltdown and economic recession), thereby
worsening existing challenges. We recommend that African
nations adopt the emerging green policy thereby increasing
their chances of benefiting from the assistance of
Governments. The promotion of green development policy in
Africa is of urgent need and imperative.
Key
words:
“Green” development policy, Africa, anthropocentrism,
ecocentrism, climate change, economic growth. |
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