Korea, which has had the highest growth rate of greenhouse gas emissions in the OECD area since 1990, adopted an ambitious Green Growth Strategy in 2009. It aims at reducing emissions by 30% by 2020 relative to a "business as usual" scenario, implying a 4% cut from the 2005 level. The Strategy also includes a Five-Year Plan with public spending of 2% of GDP per year to promote green growth. Korea is planning to establish a carbon price through a cap-and-trade emissions trading scheme. Such an approach, combined with a carbon tax in sectors not covered by the scheme, is necessary to reduce emissions in a cost-effective manner and foster innovation in green technology. In addition, each sector should face the same electricity price based on production costs to promote efficient energy use. Given market failures, the government has a role to play in green R&D, particularly for basic research, in fostering green finance and in developing renewable energy resources.
This is the third edition of Dual Citizen’s annual Global Green Economy Index (GGEI), an analytic tool designed to help governments, international organizations and investors improve their “green” branding and communications strategies. This report provides an overview of the 2012 analysis of the GGEI. The GGEI measures perceptions of green reputations of 27 selected countries as judged by hundreds of expert practitioners and benchmarks these against a green economy performance index. These 27 countries represent over 90 per cent of the international green economy.
For governments, having a clear assessment of resource constraints and ecological risks they face, as well as a sound understanding of sectors of their economies that offer the largest potential for green growth, employment creation and efficiency gains, while securing public support, are critical to orient public policy. UNEP’s green economy advisory services are geared towards providing tailored support to countries for them to take appropriate responses.
The future of renewable energy is fundamentally a choice, not a foregone conclusion given technology and economic trends, according to this report. It examines the future of renewable energy in the context of: total energy share by sector; integration between utilities, buildings, industry and transportation; business models and investment; urban planning; national and regional policy; and technology, cost and market growth. The report is based on the opinions of 170 leading experts and the projections of 50 recently published scenarios. It finds a wide range of expert projections of the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix by 2050, with low estimates below 20 per cent to high estimates upwards of 50-95 per cent. Experts predicted that the expansion of renewable will accelerate through 2020, particularly in leading developing countries such as Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Egypt, Ghana, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, the Philippines, South Africa and Thailand.
This report includes case studies on market growth and policy support for the European Union, the United States, Japan, China and India.
Albania’s energy consumption per capita and its CO2 emissions per capita are low, but due to outdated technologies in many sectors energy intensity is still high. Concerning energy supply, the share of renewable energy sources has contributed about 18–22 per cent of the primary energy balance, but the main role has been played by oil products, electricity, fuel woods and LPG.
Although Albania has a relatively comprehensive legislative framework governing energy politics and climate change comprising a wide range of topics, it still lacks legislation in some areas (energy conservation, renewable energy). The most important document for green growth is the (updated) National Energy Strategy. The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Water Administration (MoEFWA), is the government body responsible for environmental issues and policy.
The long-term vision of the High-Level Panel on Global Sustainability is to eradicate poverty, reduce inequality and make growth inclusive, and production and consumption more sustainable, while combating climate change and respecting a range of other planetary boundaries. This report makes a range of recommendations to take forward the Panel’s vision for a sustainable planet, a just society and a growing economy by concentrating on empowerment, strengthening institutional governance and working towards a sustainable economy.
This summary was prepared by Eldis.
Green Jobs have become an emblem of a more sustainable economy and society that preserves the environment for present and future generations and is more equitable and inclusive of all people and all countries. Construction has been recognized as a significant contributor to climate change through its emission of global warming gases (GWG). Construction of new buildings and refurbishment of existing buildings alike also represent the largest potential for technically feasible and economically viable reductions of emissions and of energy consumption, while encouraging the development of new professional skills and generation of significant employment opportunities.
South Africa was the first country studied by the ILO in specific regard to Green Jobs in Construction and the present document is an edited version of the research report.
Fossil fuel subsidies undermine efforts to mitigate climate change and damage the trading system. However, multilateral discussion is hampered by inconsistent definitions and incomplete data. Members do not notify such subsidies as much as they should under the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing measures (ASCM), which limits the usefulness of the SCM Committee. The reports of the Trade Policy review mechanism on individual countries and on the trading system draw on a wider range of sources, creating an opportunity for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to provide the missing data from publicly available sources. This report suggest a new template that could be used for such third-party notifications. The objective is to shine a light on all fossil fuel subsidies that cause market distortions, especially trade distortions. The result should be better, more comparable data for the Secretariat, governments, and researchers, providing the basis for better-informed discussion of the incidence of fossil fuel subsidies and rationale for their use.