Climate change, the pollution of the seas, the depletion of oil and natural resources, the growing deterioration of land, the uncontrolled dispersion of waste, etc., have long shown that the development economy model, whether neoliberal, Keynesian or central planning, leads the planet to disaster.

Although oximoroma is the motto of green capitalism, political and economic elites are expanding their sustainability strategies and initiatives in the face of the ecological challenge of the near future. Although its conclusions are unpredictable, without forgetting that TTIP or similar treaties are an obstacle to this, the lines such as the two strategies I will explain below can open the doors of a new model of the development of capitalism.

In the European Union, the European Commission has recently adopted a set of initiatives as a directive in the field of the “circular economy”. It underlines the motivation of the measures, as the Commission acknowledges for the first time that the production model based on the culture “take, use and throw” is unsustainable. To cope with this, it takes into account the foundations of the “circular economy”: the main idea is that of “cradle to cradle” and stimulates the vision of the productive economy that turns waste into resources. The benefits of this scheme would be obvious to all: better use of natural resources, reduction of pollution, cost savings and eco-design, as well as reuse of multiple products and job creation through recycling. The Commission sets out the plan to implement these measures. Horizon 2020 provides for EUR 650 million and an additional amount from the Structural Funds for local initiatives. In practice, local and municipal governments will have to meet specific objectives. By 2030, for example, 65% of municipal waste will have to be recycled. The territory that recycles the most is Gipuzkoa, with a 42.3% brand, and that evidences the promising results of the recycling measures implemented five years ago. The new European framework requires that these measures be deepened, both in Gipuzkoa, which has unfortunately put a brake on this matter in the last year, and in the other countries. The directive also requires that the criteria for green public purchasing be adopted in public tenders. Although there are initiatives in the Basque Country at the municipal level, there are very few and few in general.

The Group of the European Greens has also presented a new initiative with the aim of spreading the green economy. The Green Currency report calls for the European Central Bank (ECB)'s monetary stimulus policies to be used to strengthen the financing practices of the green economy. The key is to use pragmatically the path of current monetary policy, somehow reconciling the green transition with the economic crisis. Priority is given to supporting monetary and fiscal policy in a green transition, beyond the path of growth, in order to create jobs and facilitate the exit from the crisis.

Currently, the ECB devotes economic sums to the purchase of public and private securities, but this policy does not discriminate between the assets it acquires, and so sometimes it also finances polluting and unsustainable activities. The creation of a green fund, managed by the European Investment Bank, is an opportunity for a proper dissemination of monetary policy. Despite its technical complexity, it has a clear political objective: to ensure the financing of green projects.