In the first post-transition decade after the fall of communism, Europe and Central Asia (ECA) moved its economy from plan to market. In the second decade, the 2000s, it moved from social division to inclusion. The region has an opportunity to use the third decade, the 2010s, to move from brown to green growth making production and consumption more sustainable, increasing quality of life, and reducing impacts on the climate. Lowering climate change risks in ECA will involve many different actions that fall broadly into three areas. Some, like energy efficiency improvements, are often economically beneficial regardless of climate concerns. Others, like creating a good business environment for green enterprises, are investments that create new growth opportunities. Finally, actions like expanding wind and solar energy will have net costs for some time but are essential to tackling climate change. A simple framework helps guide climate action. The priorities are to use energy more efficiently, use cleaner energy, and manage natural resources better.
China - and to some extent Brazil and India (BICs) - are staging a ”Great Convergence” in terms of industrial strength and incomes. This reverses the past two centuries of the Great Divergence, which has separated them from the West. In the process, the BICs are lifting millions of people out of poverty. But in the great transformation that lies ahead, there is a significant problem to contend with: the model of industrial capitalism that has served the West so well - and which has been held out as a model for the BICs as well - will not “scale” to lift vast new populations out of poverty. A new model of industrial capitalism has to be developed, and in some people’s eyes it is inconvenient that China is leading the way.
In 2005, the concept of green growth was introduced in the Asia-Pacific region as a strategy for sustainable growth in developing countries. This roadmap, produced by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), is intended for the use of member states to help policymakers find win-win strategies for promoting growth and reducing carbon emissions. Drawing upon innovative approaches, particularly from the Republic of Korea, this manual lays out the challenges, strategies and policy options of green growth in several critical sectors.
The document is divided into two parts, with additional case studies and fact sheets available via CD-ROM. Part one presents an overview of the opportunities and challenges the region faces regarding low carbon green growth. It also discusses the system change required to shift focus to this new development path. Part two of the roadmap shows how to start the process of pursuing green growth through five different tracks, outlined below, which are seen as core elements of necessary systemic change:
This volume discusses several policy challenges facing countries to achieve and sustain inclusive growth. It is based on the proceedings of a conference co-organised by the OECD Economics Department and the World Bank on 24-25 March 2011, which brought together academics and practitioners from advanced, emerging-market and developing economies. While discussions on strong growth typically focus on the pace of economic expansion, those on inclusiveness also delve into the patterns of growth and on how its benefits are shared among the various social groups. An important message that came out of the conference is that strong growth is not necessarily inclusive and that policy action is needed to make sure that pro-growth initiatives also foster inclusiveness.
The concept of green economy has received significant international attention over the past few years both as a tool to address the 2008 financial crisis as well as one of the two themes for the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20). This has resulted in a rapidly expanding literature and emerging international practice as well as new partnerships, coalitions and platforms.
Green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication was one of two themes at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development held in Rio de Janeiro in June 2012 (or Rio+20).
Negotiations on green economy in the lead up to Rio+20 were challenging and the concept became a source of controversy and disagreement. Despite these challenges, governments agreed at Rio+20 to frame the green economy as an important tool for sustainable development; one that is inclusive and can drive economic growth, employment, and poverty eradication, whilst maintaining the healthy functioning of the Earth’s ecosystems. Importantly, the outcome document also recognises that capacity building, information exchange and experience sharing will be critical for implementing green economy policies. In this context, the document invites the UN to work with partners to provide support to developing countries and to develop toolboxes, best practices, methodologies and models to aid green economy policy design and implementation.
In this Issue 4 of A Guidebook to the Green Economy, the focus turns to the various international initiatives that are supporting countries and stakeholders to implement the green economy worldwide by providing a range of services including information exchange, data management, capacity building, finance, and technology services. In doing so, it provides a resource guide to the various existing international green economy platforms, partnerships, programs, funds and other initiatives. The guidebook also aims to map out many of the key actors involved in implementing and supporting the various green economy initiatives, the key services that they provide to countries, and the geographical reach of these initiatives which are now spreading the green economy across the globe. The intent is to provide useful information to practitioners, countries and stakeholders which may assist with coordination and coherence and help countries to find the support that they need. As with the previous UNDESA guidebooks, the review focuses on green economy and the related concepts of green growth and low-carbon development.
The sectors of the built environment are the main sources of emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. They are key contributors to climate change and to the depletion of natural resources. It is essential to make the activities related to the production and use of the built environment an integral part of the solution to these environmental problems. At the same time, efficiency in the built environment encourages the development of new professional skills and can generate employment opportunities.
This Manual provides guidance to ILO units and field offices which wish to engage in studies and projects related to greening sectors of the built environment. First, it provides relevant background data to inform the preparation of studies and projects. Second, it provides a step-by-step guide to the development of such initiatives. The sectors examined include infrastructure & construction, water, energy and sanitation systems, waste management and recycling, urban agriculture. Sector specific analyses are provided, and the connections between sectors (the built environment system) are also explored.
Climate change is now widely acknowledged as one of the great – if not the greatest – challenges facing humanity in the coming decades. Through its impact on average temperature, precipitations and sea levels, it will endanger the livelihood of hundreds of millions and impose increasing costs on our societies if nothing is done.
It is becoming increasingly clear that the only way to get the sort of commitments needed to effectively deal with the challenge is to create a global consensus that involves all stakeholders. Such a consensus will only arise if there is a seemingly “just” sharing of the burden in this battle to keep the planet hospitable to human beings.
This is particularly true when it comes to employment. It goes without saying that climate change and policies to mitigate it will in time have an enormous impact on industries, jobs and workers. Yet, despite the rhetoric about the elusive “social dimension” of sustainable development, until very recently climate change negotiations showed only limited concern about the fate of workers, and far greater efforts were directed at measuring the environmental rather than the social impacts of climate change.
A number of studies for industrialised countries assess how a transition to a sustainable, low-carbon economy might affect employment. These typically find overall job gains compared to “business-as-usual” scenarios. The more detailed of these studies address not just changes in the total number of jobs, but also underlying job movements as well as the quality of jobs. Such knowledge is vital to informing policies that enable a just transition to a green economy, yet there are few comparable studies for developing countries. A key bottleneck is the scarcity of information, particularly employment and production data on green jobs as well as on linkages with the rest of the economy. As part of the ILO’s Global Green Jobs Programme, this guide provides practical solutions tailored to the considerations of developing countries that can help fill these information gaps. The guide adopts a menu approach, providing policy-makers with a range of options that take into account time and resource constraints as well as policy priorities.