Insights Blog

Sort by
Yvo de Boer
Yvo de Boer, Director-General of the Global Green Growth Institute, discusses how a lack of investment is still holding clean technologies back and why businesses need to work together with policymakers to shift the status quo.
Research
Carlo Carraro
GGKP Advisory Committee Co-chair, Carlo Carraro, discusses the fiscal implications of climate change and how climate change through the damage it causes and its impacts on growth can be fiscal problem, which in the long run poses serious obstacles to the sustainability of public finances.
Event Updates
Claudia Martinez
Claudia Martinez, discusses some of the concepts behind CDKN Colombia's recent workshop to explore and aid understanding of green growth and climate compatible development in Eastern Antioquia.
Data
Geurt van de Kerk

It will be Green Growth or No Growth at all, in the not too distant future. Which one is up to us? A bold statement? Not at all. Please follow me to see what the Sustainable Society Index (SSI) can tell us in this respect. Every two years since 2006 the SSI shows at a glance the level of sustainability of 151 countries, comprising 99% of the world population. The SSI consists of 21 indicators, covering the three wellbeing dimensions Human (HW), Environmental (EW) and Economic Wellbeing (EcW).

All data are retrieved from public sources: FAO, Aquastat, Unesco, World Bank, IEA, ILO, IMF, World Economic Forum, UNEP-WCMC, Global Footprint Network, FiBL.

In 2012 the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission has audited the SSI. JRC concluded that "the SSI framework is conceptually coherent, meets the statistical requirements set by JRC and that the SSI is well suited to assess nations" development towards sustainability in its broad sense: Human, Environmental and Economic Wellbeing.

Research
Peter Wooders
The downturn in oil prices over the past year has hit Nigeria’s public budget hard. When money is tight, governments should first phase out programmes that are expensive and have low benefit to their intended beneficiaries. Subsidising gasoline fits the bill perfectly. The IISD's Peter Wooders discusses the need for subsidies reform in Nigeria.
Sri Mulyani Indrawati

Over the last 20 years, economic growth has helped to lift almost a billion people out of extreme poverty. But 1 billion people are still extremely poor. 1.1 billion live without electricity and 2.5 billion people without access to sanitation. For them, growth has not been inclusive enough.

In addition, growth has come at the expense of the environment. While environmental degradation affects everyone, the poor are more vulnerable to violent weather, floods, and a changing climate. Development experts, policymakers, and institutions like the World Bank have learned a major lesson: If we want to succeed in ending poverty, growth needs to be inclusive and sustainable.

Gary Kleiman
Reducing the amount of black carbon – which includes soot from diesel buses and cookstoves – in the atmosphere offers a relatively speedy way to realize climate benefits plus help improve people’s health. A new study identifies how to boost financing for projects to reduce black carbon, many of which also offer benefits for local communities.
Nathalie Girouard
Nathalie Girouard, Head of the Environmental Performance and Information Division Environment Directorate at the OECD, discusses the findings from their new report "Towards Green Growth? Tracking Progress".
Alexander Kasterine
Alexander Kasterine, ITC, discusses new research on "Climate Change and the Agri-Food Trade: Perceptions of exporters in Peru and Uganda".
Research
Stefanos Fotiou
In this blog, Stefanos Fotiou, UNEP, discusses the future of cities and the relation between cities, environment, markets and lifestyles.