By analysing both the risks and potential benefits of China’s shift to a low carbon economy and society, this Human Development Report hopes to contribute to China’s rapidly evolving policies in this area. It highlights that, if China can fully grasp the opportunities at hand, it could move to a society which is not only environmentally sustainable, but which also creates the conditions for greater job creation, enhanced resource efficiency and energy security, better food security and health outcomes for the people. The report points out that the benefits of China’s rapid growth have not come without some serious costs, including damages to the country’s environment and natural resources. Climate change adds new complexities to China’s quest for sustainable and equitable development. The report urges China to work on two fronts: it must deal with the existing and inevitable effects of climate change, and lower the growth of greenhouse gas emissions to prevent even greater threats.
This summary was prepared by Eldis.
Growing concerns about the environmental unsustainability of past economic growth patterns and increased awareness of a potential future climate crisis have made it clear that the environment and the economy can no longer be considered in isolation. At the same time, the financial and economic crisis has provided the opportunity for policy interventions aimed at encouraging recovery and renewed growth on more environmentally and socially sustainable grounds. A strategic vision is necessary to ensure that, during the crisis exit and beyond, the policies that governments will implement are the most appropriate from an economic efficiency, environmental integrity and social equity point of view, as well as coherent both at a national and an international level.
This report contains the first publication of data and indicators that can serve as a basis to analyse and address important policy issues such as resource scarcity and resource security and the design of resource-efficient (industrial) development policies. As the applied methods are consistent with, and fulfil international standards of material flow accounting, the results presented allow comparisons between countries and provide the basis for developing policy targets of all Asian countries.
This pilot study presents comparative data for the following 19 Asian countries: Bahrain, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Malaysia, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Rep. of Korea, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Turkey. These countries together represent more than 20% of world GDP and more than 90% of GDP in Asia (excluding Russia and other former countries of the Soviet Union).
The deployment of eco-innovations in developing countries is a key driver of their contribution to efficiently addressing global environmental challenges. It is also a key driver of markets for eco-innovation and sustainable economic development. This report explores the barriers developing countries face in accessing markets for eco-innovation. It outlines the key considerations policy needs to address to overcome these barriers and discusses the extent to which selected existing policy mechanisms and organisation have achieved this. The key finding of the report is that the majority of existing policy mechanisms fails to recognise the critical importance of developing indigenous eco-innovation capabilities amongst developing country firms. Indigenous eco-innovation capabilities are essential to facilitating both the diffusion of existing ecoinnovations within developing countries and sustainable economic development based on the adoption, adaption and development of environmentally sound technologies that fit with the bespoke conditions faced by developing countries.
The magnitude of climate change and of the ensuing changes in production systems requires us to seek solutions to meet these challenges and to guide us in making the necessary production transitions, while simultaneously guaranteeing social cohesion, participation in decision-making and best use of potential benefits in terms of job creation. In this sense, the Green Jobs Programme of the ILO, in collaboration with the Sustain Labour Foundation, the International Foundation for Sustainable Development, has conducted this case study on the Social Dialogue Tables Initiative conducted in Spain as a mechanism for trade unions and employers' organizations, together with industry, environment and labour institutions to assess the effects on the competitiveness, employment and social cohesion of the Kyoto Protocol in Spain. This is a draft report. The final report will be ready in the coming months.
This report encapsulates the key takeaways from the Workshop held in Bhutan with two main objectives, namely, 1) to take stock of environmental mainstreaming achievements to date, including Poverty-Environment Initiative (PEI) Phase I, and, 2) to discuss the challenges and opportunities of addressing environmental mainstreaming in the future.