There are many challenges and obstacles facing developing countries in moving their economies to more environmentally friendly paths. On one hand, this should not prevent the attempt to urgently incorporate environmental elements into economic development.
On the other hand, the various obstacles should be identified and recognised and international cooperation measures should be taken to enable and support the sustainable development efforts. The conditions must be established that make it possible for countries, especially developing countries, to move towards a “green economy.”
The main conditions and dimensions have been recognised in the negotiations that led to Rio 1992, and are well established in the Rio Principles and in Agenda 21. The treatment of the “green economy” in Rio Plus 20 should be consistent with the sustainable development concept, principles and framework, and care should be taken that it does not detract or distract from “sustainable development”.
This report examines the current state of knowledge about green growth in cities and outlines the key research questions and protocols that will guide the OECD Green Cities programme. It builds the case for an urban green growth agenda by examining the economic and environmental conditions that have pushed the green growth agenda to the forefront of policy debate and assessing the critical role of cities in advancing green growth.
The Agriculture Programme has undertaken research on the sustainability and resilience of food systems at a global level. “What price resilience?” sets out that the resilience that is required within food production systems to cope with increasingly severe and frequent shocks is also a prerequisite for economic, social and political security.
“What price resilience?” highlights the need to develop a comprehensive understanding of the true costs of agriculture once ‘externalities’ associated with pollution, water depletion, soil degradation, biodiversity loss and greenhouse gases have been taken into account. The results of an economic analysis of the costs and benefits of eight conventional food production systems and sustainable alternatives are presented
The purpose of this document is to provide guidance to UN Country teams on how to integrate Green Jobs at country level, including joint programmes and the Development Assistance Framework(UNDAF) process.
The study comprises four assessments in the sectors energy, building and construction, agriculture and waste management. Provided is a general overview of the sectors, the related policies and legislations and the available and planned financing and investments. Furthermore, the assessments allowed estimating the number of potential green jobs that can be created if green policies relevant to the different sectors are implemented.
This guide is aimed primarily at national planners and policy advisors in developing countries, focusing on the role of economic tools in planning for green growth. Some of the questions explored by the guide include: How do decision makers create a vision and strategy for green growth? What skills do planners need to work effectively with the range of green growth tools available? And how to assess which tools are right for them?
The Guide concludes that green growth planning needs to be an iterative process, adapting to local developments over time and responding to the needs of national and local stakeholders. Planners rarely find the process straightforward and rely on economic principles and tools to inform the process. However, conventional tools may not address environmental and social dimensions adequately or look beyond economic metrics. New tools and methods have emerged and existing ones have also evolved. Opening up these tools so that they’re more than a ‘black box’ and using them to obtain stakeholders’ buy-in remain key challenges.