This report compares Green Public Procurement (GPP) programs from four leading Asian countries (China, Japan, Korea and Thailand) to understand what the frameworks and key success factors that result in high-impact green and sustainable procurement are. It looks at their commonalities and differences with the goal of informing a more effective implementation of green procurement policies and programs across Asia. It will be beneficial for other countries in the early stages of promoting and implementing green public procurement, and it will give practitioners insights into the tools and approaches used to implement and promote it.
Biofuels have received global attention recently as governments across the world seek to address fuel efficiency, air quality and energy security. Biofuels are produced from renewable biological sources and are considered viable alternatives or supplements to fossil fuels. In order to support a broader shift towards biofuels, governments have introduced various policy measures; some of these include mandatory fuel blending programs, incentives for flex-fuel vehicles and agricultural subsidies for farmers. The Government of India in January 2003 launched its Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme for 5% ethanol blended petrol. India’s EBP Programme sought to improve fuel efficiency and ensure protection from the price shocks of the global crude market. In 2009, the Government of India introduced a National Policy on Biofuels. The Policy focussed on further encouraging biofuel usage and reducing the prevailing dependence on fossil fuels, while it sought to mitigate environmental and fuel efficiency concerns. The Policy also recognised the significant opportunity that biofuels offer to India’s agricultural and industrial sectors.
This technical analysis for the Nordic Green to Scale report was commissioned to CICERO (Center for International Climate and Environmental Research – Oslo), which is Norway’s foremost institute for interdisciplinary climate research. The report illustrates the scaling potential of 15 proven Nordic low-carbon solutions and presents an analysis of the greenhouse gas emissions reductions of these solutions and their scalability internationally.
Over the past year, momentum towards a sustainable financial system has deepened, with a specific focus on green finance and climate risks. Clear pathways are bringing together three critical elements: market leadership by financial institutions; policy and regulatory innovation; and, over time, changes in governance, standard and norms. The precise blend and sequencing of these factors differs according to the issue at hand and country level financial cultures.
The result of these actions is the beginning of a new powerful dynamic between the financial system, real economy and progress toward sustainable development. Looking across the range of policy and regulatory measures under way that are driving this dynamic, five priority areas stand out: capital reallocation; risk management; the responsibilities of financial institutions; reporting and disclosure; and national roadmaps for sustainable finance (the '5R's). Added to this, the role of public financial institutions in both market creation and setting market norms is becoming clearer. The linkages between monetary policy and environmental outcomes are also increasingly a focus of attention.
There is a growing body of evidence that environmental regulations can support strong economic performance. This report from Sustainable Prosperity finds that environmental regulation comes with lower compliance costs and greater innovation than previously thought.
In 2014, researchers at the OECD constructed the first comprehensive set of data on environmental strictness and found that “an increase in stringency of environmental policies does not harm productivity growth.” We know this to be true for specific policies as well – the United States SO2 market has led to a greater than expected emissions reduction, at less than half the predicted compliance costs. The same good news story has been seen in Canada – The introduction of British Columbia’s carbon price coincided with a 16% decrease in overall fuel use in its first 5 years, at the same time that the province’s economy grew slightly more quickly than the rest of Canada’s.