Export restrictions are implemented nowadays with the aim of achieving a number of goals, such as food security, industrial development, environmental protection and natural resource conservation. Nevertheless, the current paper brings about a rethinking of the needs and policy objectives behind such measures.
The document presents the following findings:
- in most cases, export restrictions are implemented as one element of a larger resource management strategy
- most restrictions have been imposed by LDCs and developing countries, which account for a high proportion of natural resources produced worldwide
- rules under the WTO governing the use of export restrictions are less developed than those on the import side
- in some cases, export restrictions have served a role in reducing incentives to produce, and have sometimes exacerbated price spikes and volatility on the global markets that they sought to respond to
The authors indicate that countries may wish in the future to multilaterally negotiate better-adapted disciplines and policies, yet they underline these considerations:
This article considers how green growth might move from religion to reality. We make three straightforward arguments: first, that green growth will require a systems transformation; second, that a growth-inducing systems transformation must look beyond the energy sector; and third, that both green growth and energy systems transformation will require a range of policy interventions that go well beyond conventional prescriptions for emissions pricing and R&D subsidies.
Appealing to the broad-based growth catalysed by earlier transformations in energy, transport, and information technology, this article argues that the real green growth challenge lies in discovering the transformative potential of a low-emissions energy system for economic production and social innovation writ large.
Going for Growth 2011 highlights the structural reforms needed to restore long-term growth in the wake of the crisis. For each OECD country and, for the first time, six key emerging economies (Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Russia and South Africa), five reform priorities are identified.
This report asks whether and how this transformation could become an economic opportunity rather than a costly burden. Could a transformation to a low-carbon energy system induce net economic growth that can ease the transition to a low carbon economy? Or must it only be a pricey impediment whose costs offer support to those who would resist change? We address three aspects of this problem:
1. What are the proper roles for markets, prices, and governments in the move to a new energy system?
2. Which policy interventions can become investments in a productive future, and which are just costs that we must bear to achieve our other policy objectives?
3. Can the shift to low-carbon, high-efficiency energy drive “green growth” and business opportunity?
This report contains 7 case studies from various countries and regions, and their strategies to shape green growth, as well as the obstacles encountered. These green growth cases cover Brazil, California, China, Colorado, Denmark, the EU, and Korea.
Climate change is one of the defining challenges of our time. Extending the use of environmentally sound technologies (ESTs) is a key component in mitigating and adapting to climate change. WIPO, along with industry partners, recently launched the pilot version of a new platform known as WIPO GREEN, which seeks to accelerate the adaptation, adoption and deployment of green technologies. WIPO GREEN is a sustainable technology exchange that promises to help facilitate the adaptation, adoption and deployment of climate-friendly technologies, particularly in developing countries and emerging economies.
The ocean is an essential part of the world economy for transport and for the resources it contains and activities it supports. Yet, the health of oceans is in decline and future opportunities are being lost through this degradation. The current system of governance and management of oceans is in need of urgent reform. This discussion paper provides a concrete framework for considering how this might be achieved.
The paper sets out a 5-part practical action framework to transform the way in which oceans are governed to create a more harmonised approach that supports long-term environment, social and economic goals.
In its flagship report, the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU) elaborates explicitly on the fact that the technological potential for comprehensive decarbonisation is available, outlines business and financing models for the transition, and points out that the political instruments needed for a climatefriendly transformation are widely known. The council also describes how the requisite transformation encompasses profound changes to infrastructures, production processes, regulation systems and lifestyles, and extends to a new kind of interaction between politics, society, science and the economy. Various multilevel path dependencies and obstacles must be overcome. Furthermore, the transformation can only succeed if nation states put global cooperation mechanisms before their own shortterm oriented interests, in order to make a trend reversal, particularly as far as the global economy is concerned, towards climatefriendliness and sustainability possible. And not least, from a global perspective, this is also about issues of fairness – issues that need resolving.
A Schumpeterian case can be made for boosting Green Growth in a global economic crisis. The best way to achieve this is a combination of R&D subsidies to redirect growth from polluting to clean economic activities and a credible, rising carbon tax to speed up the transition to the carbon-free era. If a carbon tax is infeasible, renewables subsidies might be a second-best alternative to reduce the duration of the fossil fuel era and curb cumulative carbon emissions despite some adverse, short-run Green Paradox effects.
For the next fifty years and beyond, the world faces twin challenges:
-Enhancing economic opportunities and living standards for a growing global population;
-Addressing the environmental threats that, if left largely unaddressed, could undermine the world's abilities for longer term economic growth and development and the ability to reduce poverty.
For twenty years the world community has attempted to face up to these challenges, notably global warming by a “top down” international negotiation process under the auspices of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The paper discusses why this process has failed so far.
To escape this impasse, a “bottom up” policy framework for green growth based on national preferences, possibilities and policies should be considered and is discussed in some detail.
However, while green growth may enhance the transition towards low-carbon economies in the short – and medium term, it is argued that a “Global Green Deal” with regional and global rules of the game is needed to reduce the risk for unsustainable development in the longer term.
This report summarises the main findings of a study on the scale and distribution of green employment in the economy of Bangladesh. It contributes to the ongoing work of the ‘Green Jobs Initiative’ in the country. A GHK report for the ILO