Canada's Expert Panel on Sustainable Finance has released its interim report. It describes the growing global shift to clean growth and climate resiliency, and sets out the main types of financial products, activities and market solutions that Canada can pursue to unleash the private investment needed to capture this critical economic opportunity.
By integrating environmental concerns into the tax system, a green fiscal regime for the mining sector uses the tax system to influence environmental outcomes from mining activities. Such a regime would tax pollutants, water and energy used in the mining project, while reducing taxes on non-polluting inputs such as labour. Such an approach can be an alternative or a compliment to traditional regulatory approaches to protecting the environment.
Maria Jose Pacha, Knowledge and Networks Coordinator of the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) for Latin America and the Caribbean, says that the IPCC’s Special Report on 1.5°C of global warming implies far more integrated public policy-making in Latin America – which takes account of food, energy, water and climate securities at once.
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs), due to their small and flexible nature are uniquely suited to pioneer green innovations and contribute to green growth, especially in local and emerging markets that may be neglected by large corporations. Given their economic and environmental importance, SMEs are vital players in achieving both inclusivity and green growth.
"One of the most direct ways that government can incentivize the transition to a circular economy is supporting circular businesses and business models through its own spending," says Ashleigh McLennan, Sustainable Procurement and Economy Officer at ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability.
Conventionally, economists use gross domestic product (GDP) to estimate the sustainability of the economy and the quality of societal welfare. However, this approach is not only incorrect and logically flawed, but also in gross neglect of nature’s contribution to the society.
Tools and Initiatives
Digitization and advanced technologies have a key role to play in addressing a range of sustainability challenges, including sustainable e-waste management. E-WasteExchange.com is a digital platform that allows businesses and individuals to transfer their e-waste to government authorized e-waste recyclers.
Fossil fuel subsidies strain public budgets and contribute to climate change and local air pollution. But despite widespread agreement about the benefits of reforming fossil fuel subsidies, repeated international commitments to eliminate them, and valiant reform efforts by some countries, they persist.
Reaching our commitments to fight the threats of climate change, biodiversity loss and other environmental degradation requires concrete, innovative, and systematic approaches. The OECD-based Paris Collaborative on Green Budgeting brings together environmental, tax, budget and fiscal affairs experts to find solutions that make the green transition easier.
Tools and Initiatives
The UN Environment / TEEB Initiative (The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity) is collaborating with the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) and national partners to develop ecological accounts for South Africa. These accounts will enable decision makers to measure the long-term economic costs of degrading ecosystems to develop specific industries and compare them with the short-term economic gains of developing these industries.