FAO has been examining how the green economy translates into the food and agriculture sector. Greening the Economy with Agriculture (GEA) seeks to contribute to the definition and implementation of the green economy in the context of sustainable development, food security and poverty alleviation through the mobilization of the food and agriculture sector. It analyzes (a) the interactions between the green economy and the food and agriculture sector, including opportunities and constraints; and (b) the bridges among different types of stakeholders and between constituencies, notably between agriculture and environment, while strengthening the overall resilience of countries to exogenous shocks.
The document includes a series of four working papers seeking to support discussions on green economy.
The Durban conference decided to establish a new market based mechanism that is to cover a broad segment of a country’s economy. The question is, however, which developing countries would actually be able to implement such a mechanism. The introduction of the EU emission trading system highlighted the many challenges that even advanced developed countries face when establishing a carbon market. This paper therefore, aims to explore the essential prerequisites for the implementation of new market mechanisms (NMM). In addition to a theoretical discussion it considers the cases of China and Mexico.
This summary was prepared by Eldis.
Green Growth examines the impact of wind energy on jobs and the economy in the EU. The wind energy industry increased its contribution to the EU’s gross domestic product (GDP) by 33% between 2007 and 2010. In 2010, the industry’s growth was twice that of the EU’s GDP overall, with the sector contributing €32 billion to an EU economy in slowdown. Contents: The sector created 30% more jobs from 2007 to 2010 to reach nearly 240,000, while EU unemployment rose by 9.6% . By 2020, there should be 520,000 jobs in the sector. The sector was a net exporter of €5.7 billion worth of goods and services in 2010. The sector avoided €5.71 billion of fuel costs in 2010. The sector invested 5% of its spending in R&D – three times more than the EU average. Wind turbine manufacturers commit around 10% of their total turnover to R&D.
Information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the Internet are increasingly viewed as a vital infrastructure for all sectors of the economy. Already, employment in the ICT industry and employment of ICT specialist skills each accounts for up to 5% of total employment in OECD countries and ICT intensive-users account for more than 20% of all workers. In addition, the emerging "green" economy is a "smarter" economy that has increased demand for ICT-skilled jobs not only in the ICT sector, but more rapidly across the wider non-ICT economy. The further creation of new jobs can only occur, however, if the right mix of skills and competences are available in the labour market. Shortages of required ICT-related skills have been observed in some OECD countries, and this is particularly true for skills related to green ICTs.
This report was launched at the first Global Human Development Forum which brought together high-level experts from governments, corporations, civil society and international organizations to examine the global policy changes required to ensure a sustainable future for people today and for generations to come. The report, supported by 13 U.N. agencies, calls for a transformation to integrated policy making, where social equity, economic growth and environmental protection are approached together. It is a contribution of governments, experts, researchers and development practitioners ahead of the ‘Rio+20’ U.N. Conference on Sustainable Development in June in Brazil where participants will come together to discuss and shape new policies and measures to promote prosperity, reduce poverty and advance social equity and environmental protection.
This paper explores a potential deliverable that emerged from submissions to the Rio+20 compilation document – the development of a green economy knowledge‐sharing platform. The paper provides an overview of existing platforms and initiatives, and proposes potential aims/objectives, governance arrangements, and structural components for a green economy platform based on existing initiatives and best‐ practice literature.
The paper concludes that a comprehensive green economy knowledge‐sharing platform would need clear aims/objectives, an effective governance structure, and a number of key structural components:
• A mechanism for promoting connections, networks and partnerships;
• A brokering mechanism to match ‘knowledge seekers’ with ‘knowledge providers’;
• An online data platform and green economy toolbox;
• Expert focal points or hubs for sectoral or cross‐sectoral issues; and
• A financing facility for developing countries.