GreeTS
The project “Green Transformations in the Global South (GreeTS): opening the blackbox of a pro-active state and the management of sustainability trade-offs in Costa Rica and Vietnam” analyzes the causes, consequences and different practices and types of far-reaching sustainability changes as they evolve from the energy and land use sectors.
Funded by: Riksbankens Jubileumsfond, Wellcome Trust, Volkswagen Foundation
Time period: 2016 - 2019
Project members: TU Darmstadt (lead), KTH, SOAS, VASS, CATIE
Project contact persons:
Markus Lederer (TU Darmstadt – lead)
Background
Many countries are pursuing green industrial transformations by restructuring their energy systems, their economies, their transport sector etc to mitigate climate change, to reduce environmental pollution and to safeguard natural resources.
Aim and objectives
The GreeTS project approaches the puzzle that two countries from the Global South with different political systems and different historical records of national green politics are – at first sight – acting alike with regards to green transformations. The project investigates the implications of the two countries’ strong rhetorical claims for green transformations. Hence, GreeTS has the major aim to understand the forces behind this seemingly green agenda and the scope conditions of its realization. The project uses case studies from the energy sector and the land use sector to analyse the dynamics of these green industrial transformations in Vietnam and Costa Rica.
Outcomes
The project has recently been completed, a final conference was held in Darmstadt. However the team is still writing publications based on the project outcomes.
Publications
Several papers in peer-reviewed journals and some book chapters. For example:
- Urban, F., Siciliano, G., Wallbott, L., Lederer, M., Anh, D.N., 2018. Green transformations in Vietnam’s energy sector. Asia & the Pacific Policy Studies, doi.org/10.1002/app5.251
- Lederer, M., Wallbott, L., Urban, F., 2019. Green transformations and state bureaucracy in the Global South. In: Fouquet, R. (Ed). Handbook on Green Growth, Routledge, Oxon.