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.
The purpose of the study is threefold:
(1) to shed more light on the gender dimension of green growth, especially in the context of private sector development and thereby fill an important knowledge gap in the green growth discourse;
(2) to validate women’s contributions to green growth and sustainable private sector development; and
(3) ultimately to promote women’s empowerment and gender equality.
The overall approach of the study combines three intersecting perspectives, which are dealt with independently as well as in tandem: a gender perspective with a focus on the (potential) participation of women, a greening perspective and a private sector development perspective.
The study contains case studies from Brazil, Ecuador, Egypt, India, Philippines, South Africa, Uganda and Vietnam.
This paper evaluates the emerging green economy in South Africa, using ideas from the concept of sustainable rural livelihoods, which are intimately connected to ecological services many developing countries. It finds that African communities and governments are prioritising green economy for job creation, poverty alleviation and reducing inequalities, while addressing global environmental concerns. What remains problematic, however, is how these objectives are to be achieved. The paper argues that one of the key challenges in South Africa is the gap between policy and implementation of sustainable development, the Millennium Development Goals and other globally driven initiatives. The paper emphasises that green economy policy needs to consider poverty reduction and women’s empowerment in order to promote rural sustainable development.
This summary was prepared by Eldis.
This paper provides a review of literature on energy-efficient sustainable refurbishment in developing countries. To this end, it provides an overview of climate change and its impact on the built and natural environment within the context of sustainable development. In particular, it will show the impact of human activity, focusing on the role of buildings, on Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions, and consequent greenhouse effects. The paper will consider the main elements of sustainable development and refurbishment in the context of developing countries, with special attention to conditions for attaining social sustainability and the role of employment therein. It will also examine the role of construction in development, with a particular focus on its contribution to pro-poor employment generation and social development objectives while meeting CO2 mitigation targets. The paper concentrates on case studies within Brazil, South Africa and the Netherlands to examine the social, economic and environmental effects of adopting sustainable refurbishment.
This report identifies the broad range of policy measures required by national or federal governments to promote and facilitate the greening of industries. It has been prepared as part of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) Green Industry initiative, which focuses on ways that developing countries can green their industries and accelerate growth in their environmental goods and services sector. One of the key objectives of the initiative is assessing the effectiveness of governments in developing countries in supporting the greening of their industries through national strategies, policies and integrated governance structures.