
This publication provides a summary for policy makers of the OECD’s Towards Green Growth publication. The publication summarises the development of the OECD’s Green Growth Strategy and covers issues such as what green growth is and why it is needed, sources of green growth, a framework for green growth strategies, green growth initiatives, how green growth will affect employment, addressing distributional concerns, international co-operation, monitoring progress towards green growth, constructing green growth strategies and the next steps of the OECD Green Growth Strategy.
Policies that promote green growth need to be founded on a good understanding of the determinants of green growth and of related trade-offs or synergies. They also need to be supported with appropriate information to monitor progress and gauge results.
Monitoring progress towards green growth requires indicators based on internationally comparable data. These need to be embedded in a conceptual framework and selected according to well specified criteria. Ultimately, they need to be capable of sending clear messages which speak to policy makers and the public at large.
This report responds to these needs and accompanies the OECD Green Growth Strategy. It presents a conceptual framework, a proposal for developing green growth indicators and results for selected indicators derived from OECD databases.
The indicators presented in this report are a starting point: they will be further elaborated as new data become available and concepts evolve. They are accompanied with a measurement agenda that will help addressing the most pressing data development needs.
This report addresses two of the defining challenges of the twenty-first century: achieving environmental sustainability and turning the vision of decent work for all into a reality. It shows that not only are both challenges urgent, but they are also intimately linked and will have to be addressed together. While it is certain that environmental degradation and climate change will increasingly require enterprises and labour markets to react and adjust, the goal of environmentally sustainable economies will not be attained without the active contribution of the world of work.
In many OECD countries, governments have invested large amounts of public money to support renewable energy (RE) development and are requiring significant quantities of it to be sold by energy providers. But what are the economic impacts of these policies on the rural regions where deployment takes place? How can RE bring the greatest benefit to host regions?
These are some of the questions explored by this study. Drawing on case studies in 16 regions within 10 countries, the research finds that while RE indeed represents an opportunity for stimulating economic growth in rural communities, its development benefits are not automatic.
Realising them requires a complex and flexible policy framework and a long-term strategy, as well as a realistic appreciation of the potential gains from RE deployment. Making a positive connection between RE development and local economic growth will require more coherent strategies, the right set of local conditions, and a place-based approach to deployment.