The Green Economy is one in which the vital linkages among the economy, society, and environment are taken into account. This selection of articles and excerpts emerged in response to the need to fill the knowledge gap on practical, concrete, and on the ground green economy country experience. It is in this spirit that the articles and excerpts included in this publication have been selected: to provide information and knowledge for policy and decision makers and practitioners on the positive implications of greening some priority sectors, including job creation, resource efficiency, and generally contribution to sustainable development through an extensive review of scientific publications and magazines.
The sectors analysed are water, agriculture, energy, industry, business, ecosystems, technology, waste management. The report contains several case studies, including from China, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and Europe.
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.