What Are Green Investments?

The research on green investment theory is still in its infancy, and the explanations of green investment in the theoretical world are diverse and have not been unified. From the existing research results, scholars' interpretations of green investment are both different and related. Some scholars in mainland China believe that green investment is investment in environmental protection;

Green investment

Others believe that green investment and

The traditional investment model is

From the perspective of human socio-economic development, human beings have experienced

Green investment promotes from an investment perspective

1. Resource bottlenecks and environmental constraints in economic growth stand out

Developed countries have consumed resources and damaged the environment in the early stages of their development, and especially brought serious pollution to the environment during industrialization. However, with the development of science and technology and the emphasis on the environment, resources and the environment are protected, and in unequal international trade, developed countries have transferred industries with severe environmental pollution and resource-intensive industries to developing countries and regions. Resource bottlenecks and environmental issues are lighter than in developing countries. However, because the natural resources on the earth are limited and the global environment is common, no matter which country or region destroys the ecological environment and consumes a lot of natural resources, it will adversely affect the development of human society. Resource bottlenecks and environmental constraints have become obstacles to economic growth. This has attracted the attention of people of insight, and has carried out research and achieved certain research results.

In the 1970s, economists represented by Meadows (D.L. Meadows) raised the issue of "limits of growth", which led people to pay attention to resources and environmental issues. They proposed that because the development of human society consumes a large amount of natural resources, especially non-renewable resources, the stock of resources cannot meet the needs of growing people 1: 1, and the development of human society will inevitably meet the limits of growth. Growth stagnated or even negative. Although human society has not experienced the limits of growth that Meadows has called since then, the amount of natural resources that human beings have discovered has continued to decrease with the economic growth of various countries, and even some resources are difficult to sustain. Some resources have competed or even warped, and the international situation has become increasingly tense. Environmental issues are also valued by various countries and regions. Because the earth's environment is severely damaged and polluted under the predatory use of resources by human beings and in industrial production and living consumption, the clean air and water sources that humans rely on for survival have become scarce due to large amounts of pollution.

At present, the problems caused by human activities to the ecological environment are as follows: (1) A large amount of carbon dioxide is emitted from production and consumption activities, which causes the global greenhouse effect, leading to climate warming, damage to ecosystems and rising sea levels. (2) Extensive use of chemicals such as Freon has destroyed the earth s ozone layer, which has caused the sun s ultraviolet rays to irradiate the earth s surface excessively. Causes a large number of diseases such as biological skin cancer. (3) Human over-cultivation, grazing, and logging have accelerated desertification and land degradation. (4) A large amount of sulphur and oxygen compounds produced by energy consumption have polluted the air and reduced the air quality. (5) The large-scale discharge of the three wastes caused serious ground pollution and deteriorated the living environment quality. (6) The reduction of forest area and the use of a large number of pesticides have disrupted the ecological balance, damaged the living environment of animals and plants, and reduced biodiversity. Resource bottlenecks and environmental degradation have brought severe crises to the survival and development of contemporary people. The deterioration of the ecological environment has restricted the sustainable development of society and the economy to a certain extent. First, natural disasters frequently occur, and human beings have paid a heavy price for this. Second, the cost of pollution control is high. Third, the insufficient supply of resources has led to a slowdown in growth. Finally, the destruction of the ecological environment has further exacerbated poverty and affected social stability.

2. Green investment is conducive to solving resource bottlenecks and environmental issues

The proposal of green investment is an inevitable result of the development of green economy, and it is also the investment method that human beings must choose when facing increasingly serious environmental problems and resource constraints. According to the definition of green investment, that is, the investment used to protect natural resources and the ecological environment, green investment is of positive significance for solving resource bottlenecks and environmental problems.

(1) Green investment requires investors to make investment decisions in accordance with the three principles of economic benefits, social benefits, and ecological benefits when selecting investment projects. Therefore, the protection of resources and the environment is guaranteed in the establishment of investment projects. Not all investment activities in human society are beneficial to social development and human interests. Investors (enterprises and public investors) must start from the long-term interests of human survival and development and invest in causes that are beneficial to social development and human welfare.

(2) Green investment combines measures for the rational use of resources and the prevention and control of pollution with production investment to achieve the protection of resources and the environment during the production process. In terms of pollution control, green investment follows the simultaneous production and control, which is the prevention and control from the beginning to the end, and attaches importance to the control at the beginning. Compared with green investment, investment activities in the traditional sense can be called gray investment. The result of such investment and production activities has caused a large amount of environmental pollution, which has caused serious resource consumption and is not conducive to sustainable social and economic development.

(3) Green investment is conducive to the realization of a circular economy. The circular economy requires the implementation of the principles of reduction, resource utilization and reuse in production and consumption activities. This is an economic model for protecting resources and the environment and a concrete way to achieve sustainable development. The investment used to develop a circular economy is green investment.