As various countries explore the merits of green growth in their policies and programs, the Republic of Korea’s (ROK) transition toward green growth serves as an exemplary model.
This report examines why and how the ROK has pursued green growth as a national priority and as a development paradigm, sharing major milestones achieved in various areas such as greenhouse gas emissions, green technology, resource efficiency, and energy security. Drawing on the expertise of sector specialists and practitioners, the report highlights the processes, outcomes, and key takeaways in advancing green growth planning and implementation in the Korean context to address fossil fuel dependency, economic slowdown, and climate change. It highlights how a confluence of milestones created a strong enabling environment for green growth in the ROK, laying out the institutional, legal, and programmatic platform for green growth.
Big cities drive economic growth, 60% of global GDP is generated in only 600 urban centers. At the same time, urban areas consume more than two-thirds of the world’s primary energy and produce nearly four-fifths of all global greenhouse gas emissions (GHG emissions). In this context, mayors have to make strong arguments on economic as well as environmental aspects of green projects to foster viable greening of their cities.
This report is an attempt to provide a bridge between the published estimates of economic benefits and estimates obtained directly from cities, and the use of such estimates by decision-makers in specific settings. The report aims to provide best practice insights into the economic co-benefits of green city initiatives, how they are measured and the data and methodologies used.
Information has been gathered from selected cities and five key sectors where data is available, namely the buildings sector, public and private transportation, energy efficiency and community scale development.
Unemployment is a major challenge for Europe. The crisis has led to budget cuts and it has made the socio-economic integration of people who have low educational attainment, low skills, a history of longterm unemployment and who are vulnerable even more difficult. At the same time, environmental degradation, climate change and unsustainable development are amongst the most serious threats that our society has to address; the environmental and health costs often outweighing the gains from economic activity.
Cities are engines of economic growth and social change. About 85% of global GDP in 2015 was generated in cities. By 2050, two-thirds of the global population will live in urban areas. Compact, connected and efficient cities can generate stronger growth and job creation, alleviate poverty and reduce investment costs, as well as improve quality of life through lower air pollution and traffic congestion. Better, more resilient models of urban development are particularly critical for rapidly urbanizing cities in the developing world. International city networks, such as the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI) and United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), are scaling up the sharing of best practices and developing initiatives to facilitate new flows of finance, enabling more ambitious action on climate change. Altogether, low-carbon urban actions available today could generate a stream of savings in the period to 2050 with a current value of US$16.6 trillion.
