Trade has the potential to drive a green economy by fostering the exchange of environmentally friendly goods and services, increasing resource efficiency, generating economic opportunities and employment, and contributing to poverty eradication. If managed poorly, however, unrestrained trade can contribute to environmental degradation, unsustainable resource use, and increased wealth disparities, all of which hinder a green economy transition and sustainable development objectives.
This is the third edition of Dual Citizen’s annual Global Green Economy Index (GGEI), an analytic tool designed to help governments, international organizations and investors improve their “green” branding and communications strategies. This report provides an overview of the 2012 analysis of the GGEI. The GGEI measures perceptions of green reputations of 27 selected countries as judged by hundreds of expert practitioners and benchmarks these against a green economy performance index. These 27 countries represent over 90 per cent of the international green economy.
For governments, having a clear assessment of resource constraints and ecological risks they face, as well as a sound understanding of sectors of their economies that offer the largest potential for green growth, employment creation and efficiency gains, while securing public support, are critical to orient public policy. UNEP’s green economy advisory services are geared towards providing tailored support to countries for them to take appropriate responses.
The future of renewable energy is fundamentally a choice, not a foregone conclusion given technology and economic trends, according to this report. It examines the future of renewable energy in the context of: total energy share by sector; integration between utilities, buildings, industry and transportation; business models and investment; urban planning; national and regional policy; and technology, cost and market growth. The report is based on the opinions of 170 leading experts and the projections of 50 recently published scenarios. It finds a wide range of expert projections of the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix by 2050, with low estimates below 20 per cent to high estimates upwards of 50-95 per cent. Experts predicted that the expansion of renewable will accelerate through 2020, particularly in leading developing countries such as Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Egypt, Ghana, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, the Philippines, South Africa and Thailand.
This report includes case studies on market growth and policy support for the European Union, the United States, Japan, China and India.