The cities of the 21st century are the largest sites of human settlement today and are increasingly acting as critical nexus points of social, economic, ecological and technological change. This is especially evident in the developing world city context, where growth is most rapid and where future sustainability challenges will be most severe - all this in the light of growing inequalities, poverty and the pervasiveness of slums and informality. This publication presents a rationale for socially inclusive urban transitions to sustainable growth and draws on a range of case studies and theoretical and analytical considerations to establish the basis of the argument. It outlines practical steps that cities can take towards resource efficiency, including: the integration social measures into urban development; governance approaches that engage local communities and civil society groups; financial incentives and subsidies for green technologies; technology transfer; and innovation. The summary was prepared by Eldis.
This book commences with a broad overview of Indonesia’s development since the 1960s. The analytical frameworks for the study, which were developed at Harvard University and ADB, are then used in an attempt to identify the constraints that most severely bind the country’s development, and therefore the priorities for policy implementation and/or reform. The country’s macroeconomic management and monetary policy since the Asian financial crisis is reviewed. The challenges of Indonesia’s slow industrial transformation and small industry sector are described, as are their implications for poverty reduction efforts. The challenges Indonesia faces in developing its infrastructure are set out, e.g., the country’s diverse topography, archipelagic nature, and monopolies. Human capital, an essential element in both growth and poverty reduction, is analysed for the country, including the improvements in enrolments and gender balance, and the limitations the poor face to accessing education. Indonesia’s record on poverty reduction is traced, as are the efforts to improve it.
This report by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), a UK business organisation, shows that the UK has the capability to become a key global player in low carbon products and services, which could add £20 billion to annual GDP by 2014/2015. However, government and business must work together in a proactive and pragmatic way to fully maximise the UK’s green growth potential. The CBI calls on the UK to adopt a smarter, and a more consistent and certain approach to energy and climate change policy, to enable business to invest with confidence. The report lists ten recommendations to the government on the green economy:
This pollution management (PoMa) sourcebook has two major goals. First, it is intended to provide users with current information on available policy tools for pollution management. It is intended as a living document that will be improved over time through periodic review and be updated based on the lessons learned from its application. Second, the sourcebook puts forward the advantages of approaching pollution management through multiple stakeholders (each applying their own policy tools in parallel). Such collaboration can achieve positive outcomes more quickly and ensure a balance between, on the one hand, improved growth and competitiveness objectives, and, on the other hand, pollution management objectives that help to maximize public welfare. In other words, such a collaborative, balanced approach can achieve green and sustainable growth.
This annual report presents an optimistic view of the carbon market, which grew by 11 per cent in 2011. The report shows that despite the financial crisis and the related oversupply of carbon credits within the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) as a result of economic downturn, plummeting carbon prices and uncertainty about the post 2020 framework, financially motivated transactions continued to grow within the carbon market. However, it underscores that prices fell during 2011. The report indicates that although China remained the largest source of contracted certified emissions reductions (CERs), African countries emerged stronger in 2011 and accounted for 21 per cent of post-2012 CERs contracted during the year. This summary was prepared by Eldis.
This European Synthesis Report explores skills development in response to the greening agenda at national, regional and local levels in six Member States: Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Spain, France and the UK.
It addresses the environmental challenges and skill requirements alongside anticipating such requirements in workforces and amid the job market.
This report is part of 'China 2030'. China should complete its transition to a market economy through enterprise, land, labor, and financial sector reforms, strengthen its private sector, open its markets to greater competition and innovation, and ensure equality of opportunity to help achieve its goal of a new structure for economic growth. These are some of the key findings of China 2030, a joint research report by a team from the World Bank and the Development Research Center of China's State Council.
This book published by the World Bank suggests a multifaceted approach that addresses spatial development, energy-efficient industry, increased public transport, and sustainable waste management systems. By simultaneously acting on these issues, cities can begin to streamline climate change considerations into planning and investment decisions. The book also focuses on specific sectoral energy challenges, and provides recommendations to each sector. Furthermore, it lays out five key cross-cutting actions that form an overarching framework for low-carbon city development, namely to set appropriate indicators to encourage low-carbon growth; complement administrative measures with market-based approaches and tools; break links between land use, city financing and urban sprawl; encourage inter-sectoral and inter-jurisdictional cooperation; and balance climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts. This summary was prepared by Eldis.
At a time when extreme weather events are coming with increasing frequency—and an increased price tag for clean-up—cash-strapped governments are seeking new solutions to build climate resilience. A new World Economic Forum Report offers some hope. The Green Investment Report: The Ways and Means to Unlock Private Finance for Green Growth finds that approximately US$ 34 billion in additional public funding is needed to stablise global temperatures at an acceptable level—less than the US$ 50 billion recently approved by the United States Congress for rebuilding resilience after Hurricane Sandy. By increasing climate-related public funding from its current level of US$ 96 billion to around US$ 130 billion, it could mobilise private capital in the range of US$ 570 billion. This would address the US$ 700 billion in investment that the Report finds is required to put the world on a climate-resilient path towards green growth.
A study on the skill requirements needed to relaize the potential of green jobs in Mauritius in order to make the transition to a greener economy in Mauritius. This study intends to analyze the creation of decent jobs as a consequence of the needed environmental and energy policies. Thus the growing importance of sustainability and the shift to a low-carbon economy requires deeper analysis into the human resources and skill requirements needed to accompany this transition.