Which countries are taking steps towards a green economy transition? What does a national green development plan look like? How are countries greening industry in specific sectors? What are key elements to national green growth strategies?
To shed light on these key questions, the Green Growth Knowledge Platform (GGKP) has launched the Green National Documents Database – a library of official national documents that outline plans, policies and programs adopted by national governments to advance inclusive green economic development.
The GGKP National Documents Database currently features 180 documents and is growing. The database highlights high, middle and low-income countries’ actions towards green growth. It provides users with direct access to 40 countries’ national development plans that include a green growth strategy, national climate change plans, green growth plans and documents, or plans and documents related to greening specific sectors.
Users can filter national green growth documents by sector, theme, country or document type to quickly access the knowledge most relevant to their needs or areas of interests, or simply browse through the most comprehensive index of national green growth documents.
“The Green Growth National Documents Database demonstrates that countries around the world are not waiting for greener economies – they’re taking action,” says Frank Rijsberman, Director General of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI).
"GGGI member countries are global leaders in green growth. The database provides relevant ministries with access to official documents showing where countries stand in their transition to a greener economy as well as the approach that they have taken to pro-poor green growth."
What makes a national document green?
Green growth national documents can come in various forms, including plans for national development, green growth, sustainable development, climate change, and important sectors like energy or agriculture. The database also includes analysis documents that were officially adopted by national governments and reflected in important national laws related to green growth.
“This database provides direct access to almost two hundred official documents that lay out the steps that high-, middle- and low income countries are taking to green their economies,” says Benjamin Simmons, Head of the GGKP Secretariat.
“It facilitates knowledge exchange by consolidating real-world national-level approaches to designing and delivering green and inclusive growth, and makes it easy for users to access the knowledge most relevant to their needs and circumstances.”
Building on a growing body of green growth knowledge
The Green National Documents Database builds on the GGKP’s existing databases, which collectively serve as the leading source of knowledge on green growth. These include:
- The Resource Library - the largest existing collection of green growth reports, articles, books, and other publications produced by leading institutions and experts. Users can filter library resources by sector, theme, region, country and organization for quick access to the knowledge most relevant to their needs.
- The Learning Database - a selection of green growth courses, videos, webinars, and tools offered by leading organizations.
- The Data Explorer - a user-friendly set of tools to graph and visualize green growth patterns and trends, drawing together national-level data for 20 green growth indicators over the period 1960 to present day.
- The Projects Database - a catalogue of national-level projects carried out by leading organisations and institutions to advance green growth on the ground.
- The BIG-E Database - tracks over 100 commitments to action on green economy made by more than 30 countries and organizations under the Pan-European Strategic Framework for Greening the Economy, also known as the Batumi Initiative on Green Economy or BIG-E.
- The Case Studies Database, which hosts over 200 case studies of on-the-ground lessons from 90 countries across six continents. These case studies highlight key sectors for green growth like energy, agriculture and forestry, and important themes like climate change, good governance, and natural capital. The Case Studies Database was built in collaboration with the Global Green Growth Institute’s (GGGI) Green Growth Best Practices Initiative.