From Responsible Consumption to the Green Economy: Reflections on Battles Lost by Consumers and Environmentalists

Abstract

Twenty years after the Rio Conference, it became clear that the tenets of sustainable development had been an illusion. To renew enthusiasm, Big Business, supported by the media and eco-marketing, set out to perfect a green economy model that would allow the market to resolve the environmental and economic crisis it had itself created. For this economy to function, environmentally conscious, responsible consumers are needed, held accountable for the planet's current state and willing to consume green products without restriction in order to save the world from collapse. This article invites consumers to distance themselves from the green wave that pushes them toward deceptively eco-friendly consumption, and to instead adopt a genuinely environmentalist commitment expressed through an organized civil-society movement aimed at defending nature, the economy, and people's health.