The montane forests of Kenya, better known as Kenya’s “Water Towers”, produce direct economic value for its citizens. This value accrues not only from the production of various timber- and non-timber forest products, but also from a range of regulating ecosystem services that provide an insurance value to several key economic sectors. There is also a secondary or indirect multiplier effect associated with the direct economic value of the Water Towers.
This report estimates these economic values, by means of best international analytical practices and environmental and economic evidence from Kenya, and shows that montane forests have consistently been undervalued in conventional national accounting. The findings underline the need for better management, increased investment in montane forests and innovative policy instruments (such as Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+)).
Green industrial policy (GIP) is the pursuit by governments of national economic excellence in key green economy sectors, with a view to creating globally competitive domestic firms. It differs in only a few respects from traditional industrial policy, most significantly with respect to the potential global environmental benefit that comes from private sector innovation and competition in these sectors.
GIP is increasingly used by governments in the developed and developing countries, a trend that is likely to be reinforced in coming years by the desire to capture the environmental and economic benefits of green economy sectors. However, as with traditional industrial policy, it is easy to implement policies that undermine rather than support the intended goals.
Fossil-fuel subsidies matter: for sustainable development; for government budgets; for the poor; for women; and for the environment. Subsidies amounted to $544 billion (2012) and are largest in MENA and Southeast Asia. Reforming and redirecting subsidies will be an important piece of the jigsaw if we are to solve the climate change puzzle. Savings enable governments to manage deficits; could be redirected at building energy networks; or targeted at social spending. This paper finds opportunities for Nordic countries to increase cooperation around reform and makes specific recommendations. The paper is part of the Nordic Prime Ministers' overall green growth initiative.
This paper explains why the Republic of Korea adopted green growth as a new national development strategy and details how it has been implemented by the government. The author suggests that Korea adopted green growth as a new economic growth paradigm to create new growth engines and jobs through green technology and the greening of industries. The green growth path was seen as essential not just for sustainable economic growth, but also to improve the quality of life and well-being of the Korean people. The paper also details how green growth was implemented by the Korean government; draws together key outcomes to date from Korea’s green growth policy; and suggests lessons learnt which could be applied to other countries.
This paper is the first from the Korea Green Growth Partnership and World Bank's new "Green Growth in Action, Knoweldge Note Series".
This book provides a much needed look at the impact of climate change on the poor. It convincingly demonstrates that issues of poverty and livelihoods must be integrated into climate change policies to help achieve sustainable development gains. The high incidence of natural disasters, growing urbanization, and increased water scarcity combined with the acute impact of these phenomena on the poor and vulnerable complicates the already enormous challenge of reducing poverty and inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean. This publication lays bare the social implications of climate change and equips the reader with a framework for understanding how climate change and climate variability affect livelihoods, poverty, income, health, and migration. These scenarios call for greater efforts to incorporate poverty, livelihood, and social considerations into climate change adaptation and mitigation policies. Purposefully targeted policies and investments can support economic growth and poverty reduction efforts and help achieve sustainable development goals. In other words, good climate change adaptation policies can also be good development policies.