Download *The views expressed herein are those of the authors, and not

A Framework for Green Economy Roadmaps
By
John Talberth, Ph.D.
Senior Economist
People and Ecosystems Program
World Resources Institute*
[email protected]
(202) 729-7704
Erin Gray
Research Associate
People and Ecosystems Program
World Resources Institute
[email protected]
(202) 729-7726
Purpose of this Framework Document
One of the two major themes of the 2012 Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio +20) is
the green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication. In
preparation for the conference, many countries have moved forward with developing national
strategies or roadmaps to guide the transition. There is no one size fits all strategy for making
the green economy transition because countries differ greatly in national capacities for
economic governance, existing per capita consumption levels, states of technological and
industrial development, economic composition, and incidence and severity of poverty.
Nonetheless, a significant outcome at Rio +20 would be broad consensus that the transition to a
green economy is a global imperative complemented by commitments from governments at
every level to move forward with making that transition happen. To expedite that process,
stakeholders at the Rio +20 conferences could agree on a general framework document that
provides guidance on what national or sub-national green economy roadmaps should look like
so as to foster international coordination and policy coherence. This paper presents suggestions
on how that framework document could be structured, and what content it may contain.
Roadmap documents should be prepared with transparent, multi-stakeholder participatory
processes that develop evidence-based policy prescriptions. In preparing green economy
roadmap documents, it would be useful to include at least seven major elements: 1
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Imperative to act
Defining the green economy
Guiding principles
Pathways to the green economy
Policy toolkit
Financing strategy
Enabling conditions
*The views expressed herein are those of the authors, and not necessarily representative of
World Resources Institute as a whole.
I. Imperative to Act – An Economy Out of Balance
An effective way to introduce roadmap documents is by asking “What problems are green
economy reforms trying to solve?” and, as a corollary, “What opportunities for economic growth
and prosperity do green economy reforms seek to leverage?” Clearly identifying worrisome
economic conditions and trends and how the pattern of economic growth has failed to advance
the environmental and social pillars of sustainable development is key. Providing a remedy for
these conditions and thereby opening the door to new opportunities for simultaneously
advancing all three pillars thus becomes the key motivation for undertaking green economy
reforms.
Problems with the prevailing economy
At the global level, conventional economic development pathways that have been followed for
most of the last century have improved lives for billions of people but have generated a number
of worrisome conditions and trends that can be synthesized into three fundamental aspects: (1)
inefficiency, (2) unsustainability, and (3) inequity.
Inefficiency is manifested in tremendous quantities of waste, 2 in products with short life spans,
in production processes that consume far more energy, water, and materials than necessary, 3 in
prices that do not reflect true environmental and social costs, in economic activity that does not
advance human well-being and in misallocation of capital by public and private actors to
investments that fail to yield sustainable development returns. 4 Inefficiency is also manifested in
vulnerability and volatility of economies that are overly specialized and trade dependent and
thus exposed to price and supply shocks and international financial, economic, and political
crises on a regular basis. 5
Sustainability is jeopardized by the depletion or degradation of the stocks of natural, human,
built and social capital on which all economic activity ultimately depends. The Millennium
Ecosystem Assessment found that approximately 60% of the world’s ecosystem services are
being degraded or used unsustainably. 6 Our ability to produce food from the land and food from
the sea faces multiple threats in the form of nutrient pollution, climate change, urban sprawl and
harmful agricultural and fishery practices. 7
Local and indigenous ecological knowledge is being eroded as nature-based cultures and
language disappear. Proliferating slums are a stark indication of underinvestment in the built
capital of cities – vital sanitation, water, energy, and transportation infrastructure on which an
increasingly urbanized world must depend. The number of people living in slum conditions has
risen from 657 to 828 million since 1990. 8 Investment in all types of capital is hindered by
extraordinary levels of both consumer and public debt.
Gross inequalities in income, wealth, and opportunity have steadily worsened for several
decades. The U.N.’s World Institute for Development and Economics Research finds that the
richest 2 percent of adults now own more than half of all global wealth, with the richest 1 percent
alone accounting for 40 per cent of global assets. 9 The vast bulk of the world’s wealth, the study
concludes, sits “highly concentrated” in the pockets of a relative few. Persistent poverty,
measured through a multi-dimensional lens affects nearly 3 billion. 10
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Underlying causes
Roadmap documents should also strive to identify the root causes of inefficiency,
unsustainability, and inequity. Some have traced these shortcomings to a series of market and
institutional failures inherent to the neo-classical growth models such as externalities,
inadequate investment in public goods, competitive barriers, and asymmetrical access to
information. 11 Others cite key barriers in the areas of finance, fiscal policy, skills, innovation,
public procurement, and planning. 12 Others trace the origins of economic crises to the lack of
democratic oversight in the institutions of global and national economic governance. 13 Still
others assert that an economy which requires growth in its physical dimensions is doomed to
fail on a planet with finite resources. 14
All or perhaps just a few of these shortcomings and causes may be relevant for any particular
country, state, or city. The important point, however, is for roadmap documents to begin with an
articulation of the problems green economy reforms are designed to address.
II. The Green Economy – What It Is, and What It Is Not
What is the green economy? In the run-up to Rio +20 there has been a wide divergence of
opinion on what the green economy actually is and whether or not it provides a useful basis for
collective action. To dispel these concerns, roadmap documents should clearly articulate what
the green economy is and is not. The United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) defines
the green economy in functional terms: “one that results in improved human well-being and
social equity while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities.” 15 The
green economy has also been described in terms of an overall strategy for growth, one that
fosters economic growth and development, “while ensuring that natural assets continue to
provide the resources and environmental services on which our well-being relies.” 16 The green
economy has also been described in relation to sustainable development, as an economy that
corrects the market and institutional failures of the prevailing economic model and thereby
makes the economy a more efficient vehicle for advancing the neglected pillars of sustainable
development. 17
Key attributes of the green economy
Regardless of the varying definitions, perhaps the most important task of roadmaps is to draw a
distinction between the green economy and the prevailing economy that currently exists. In
contrast with the prevailing economy the green economy can be described in terms of three
overriding attributes:
1. Efficient – an economy whose growth is decoupled from use of energy, water, and
materials in production, includes social and environmental costs in pricing, allocates
investment to its highest and best use, and minimizes the stream of harmful wastes and
pollutants, including greenhouse gas emissions.
2. Sustainable – an economy that builds rather than depletes natural, human, built and
social capital and that is resilient to natural disasters, climate change, political strife, and
financial and economic volatility.
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3. Equitable – an economy that significantly reduces inequalities in the distribution of
wealth, income, and opportunity and ensures that the benefits of growth are distributed
fairly and leave future generations as least as well off as the current one.
Characterizing green economy attributes in terms of these three overriding themes would help
advance a consistent vision of what a successfully greened economy looks like.
Safeguards
In roadmaps, it is also important to identify what the green economy is not, and what risks green
economy reforms seek to avoid. 18 The green economy is not a new playing field for competition
amongst nations, rather, a framework for cooperative action. The green economy is a pathway
to and not a substitute for sustainable development. Green economy reforms are not tools for
further increasing disparities in technological capacity, concentration of wealth, income, or
market share. The green economy is not a one size fits all solution but a framework for solutions
appropriate to particular country situations. Nor is the green economy a new basis for
conditionalities on aid or international investment or for trade barriers against developing world
products. By articulating these safeguards in roadmap documents, countries can help alleviate
concerns about business-as-usual strategies disguised as green economy reforms.
III. Guiding Principles of the Green Economy
What are the principles of the green economy? To establish a basis for evaluating policy and
holding decision makers accountable it may be useful for roadmap documents to articulate a
concise set of guiding principles of the green economy. The forty year history of major summits
and conferences on sustainable development provide a rich body of literature from which to
draw, and include principles related to beneficial management of both renewable and nonrenewable resources, improving quality of life through economic and social development,
protecting natural habitats for their economic values, common but differentiated responsibilities
and respective capabilities, sustainable production and consumption, fair trade, liability for
environmental damages, full-cost accounting and many others green economy roadmaps can
reiterate. 19
More recently, the Earth Charter and proposed green economy principles by various civil society
organizations also provide guidance. 20 Some common principles address:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Economic democracy – The green economy transition should be planned and
implemented through inclusive and transparent participatory processes consistent with
Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration.
Full cost accounting – Prices, public investments, and policy decisions should fully
account for all market and non-market benefits and costs so as to promote decisions
that maximize net public benefits.
Qualitative growth – Growth in the green economy is more about growing the qualitative
dimensions of well-being rather than economic activity for its own sake.
Restoring capital – Stocks of natural, human, social and built capital should be restored
rather than depleted to maintain quality of life for the next generation.
Cooperation –Greater cooperation amongst nations, corporations, workers and
communities is key to ensuring that green economy benefits are broad based.
Resiliency – Diversifying production processes, sources of supply, and employment
opportunities is critical for maintaining adaptability in the face of change.
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•
Fair distribution of benefits –The green economy should place a priority on improving
quality of life for those least well off.
IV. Green Economy Pathways
What are the pathways to the green economy? The core of green economy roadmaps are the
pathways countries adopt to make the transition from brown 21 to green. Green economy
pathways are cohesive sets of policies and practices implemented to achieve specific green
economy goals like replacing inefficient processes with resource efficient ones. Pathways can
be sector specific or economy-wide in nature or based on geography or critical issues.
Examples include:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Eco-efficiency
Low-carbon development
Livable, walkable cities
Transforming agriculture
Investing in natural capital and ecosystem services
Sustainable production
Sustainable consumption
Appendix 1 provides a template for describing major attributes of some green economy
pathways referenced in roadmap documents and the green economy literature. Differences in
initial technological conditions, stage of industrial development, economic composition,
geographies, and political systems all make the selection of which pathways to adopt or
prioritize somewhat unique to each country. For each pathway selected, roadmap documents
should:
1. Define the nature of the transition
For each pathway, the precise nature of the transition – or what needs to change – may vary
greatly from country to country. For example, for low-carbon development, the amount of
renewable energy in a country’s electrical generating mix may already be at a maximum, so
low-carbon development may mean transitioning predominant transportation fuels from
petroleum to biofuels or electricity or significantly reducing personal vehicle use.
Small island developing states may have limited capacity for local agricultural production, so the
transition to food security may be more about securing local benefits of commercial fisheries
and reducing overfishing rather than replacing a certain amount of crops for export with crops
for local consumption. 22
2. Set goals, targets and timelines
An important step in further refining the nature of the desired transition along any particular
pathway is to express that pathway in terms of goals, targets, and timelines. To foster
accountability, quantitative targets should be developed rather than qualitative goals if possible.
The final declaration issued at the 64th annual UN DPI/NGO conference in Bonn contains
examples of both quantitative targets and qualitative goals for the green economy that may
prove useful in preparing roadmap documents. 23 These include goals and targets for 2020 or
2030 related to sustainable consumption and production, sustainable livelihoods, climate
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sustainability, clean energy, biodiversity, water, healthy seas and oceans, healthy forests,
sustainable agriculture, green cities, subsidies and investment, and indicators.
3. Describe current conditions
Pathways have beginning points and end points. End points consist of goals and targets with
specific dates for attainment. As beginning points, roadmap documents should characterize
current conditions with respect to those same goals and targets. For example, in its Green
Economy Report, UNEP noted a current rate of recycling for e-waste of 15% but suggested a
worthwhile green economy target of 100%. Qualitative descriptions may also serve as
benchmarks for evaluating improvement. For each pathway in its national green growth
roadmap, for instance, the Kingdom of Cambodia explains current conditions qualitatively in
terms of challenges the green economy transition seeks to address. With respect to
transportation, these current challenges include “increase of vehicles on the streets leading to
traffic congestion; lack of affordable and convenient public transport options; violation of traffic
rules; little or no control over the number of vehicles; high single occupancy and insufficient
provision of facilities for pedestrians (sidewalks, traffic lights, etc.).” 24
4. Identify, prioritize, and sequence policy interventions
For each pathway, roadmaps should identify policy interventions and how those interventions
will be sequenced over time. It may be useful to rank and prioritize policy interventions based on
cost and impact. Take low-carbon development as an example. Conservation and efficiency
improvements may present high impact options that can be implemented at a low cost, while
carbon capture and storage or new biomass plants may have much less impact and cost far
more. It would make sense, then, to sequence policies to implement low cost-high impact
solutions first. 25
V. Policy Toolkit
What policies could help shift a country toward a green economy? Stimulating the green
economy may require a major overhaul of economic policies and incentives. Roadmaps can
include an in-depth evaluation of current policies to identify those that promote economic activity
that is inefficient, unsustainable, and/or inequitable. Roadmaps could then discuss a strategy for
phasing out or converting those policies into ones that foster resource efficiency, more
sustainable use of natural resources, and more equitable distribution of income and wealth.
Policy options can generally be grouped into four major categories – regulatory based, taxation
based, expenditure based, and institutional based.
Regulatory-based approaches rely on the authority of governments to set standards, control
land use, and issue permits and authorizations through legislation or administrative actions.
Taxation-based approaches include income, sales, property, value added and other traditional
taxes but also taxes on resource use and pollution, tariffs, and impact fees. Expenditure-based
approaches include all forms of government investments, loans, subsidies, contracting,
procurement as well as expenditures on programs that affect economic development such as
research and development. Institutional-based approaches are ones related to government and
corporate accountability, public participation, and property rights.
The table below identifies some policy tools that roadmap documents can identify and discuss in
each major category. As with other roadmap elements, such policies will vary with initial
technological conditions, stage of industrial development, economic composition, geographies,
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and political systems. Policy tools can be mapped into green economy pathways to provide
clarity on how the green economy transition will actually be implemented over a specified time
period.
Sample of Policy Options in the Green Economy Toolkit
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Regulatory
approaches
Caps on emissions
and effluents
Protected areas
Best management
practices
Land-use zoning
Product standards
Environmental
markets
Fishery quotas
Offset requirements
•
•
•
•
•
Taxation
approaches
Ecological tax reform
Tariffs
Development impact
fees
Tax credits and
exemptions
Preferential taxation
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Expenditure
approaches
Green infrastructure
Workforce training
and development
Subsidies
Research and
development
Loans
Procurement
Grants and aid
Technology transfer
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
26
Institutional
approaches
Transition planning
processes
Performance
indicators
Property rights
Judicial/administrative
remedies
Supply chain
certification
Eco-labeling
Access to information
VI. Financing Strategy
How can the green economy transition be financed? Transitioning to the green economy along
any particular pathway will necessitate changes in how governments, banks, pension funds,
corporations, and even individuals spend, loan, and invest money to build capital and create
quality green jobs. It will also require changes in how money raised so that taxes, tariffs, and
fees provide disincentives for wasteful, polluting, and unsustainable forms of economic activity.
Roadmap documents should specify what those changes should be for both internal (i.e. raised
through taxes or tariffs) and externally (i.e. borrowed or invested from abroad) leveraged funds.
UNEP recently reported that roughly 2 percent of global GDP per year between 2010 and 2050
would be needed to finance a transition to a global green economy. 27 There are many
innovative financing strategies countries are pursuing to achieve their specific green economy
financing goals. For example:
Redirect harmful subsidies
Subsidies play a significant role in perpetuating dependence on unsustainable goods and
services by artificially depressing their prices relative to more sustainable alternatives. Subsidies
fall into two major categories – production and consumption - and come in a variety of forms,
including preferential access rights, public spending on research, development and
infrastructure, import and export restrictions, preferential lending, price controls, tax exemptions,
and mitigation of risks. 28 Redirecting subsidies has been widely noted as a promising strategy
because it requires no new sources of revenue. Globally, fossil fuel subsidies are estimated to
run $US 640 billion per year, so redirecting even a share of these towards renewable energy
solutions may have a major impact. 29 Roadmap documents could identify all the ways harmful
activities are now subsidized and propose long-term strategies for redirecting them to promote
the green economy transition.
Implement ecological tax reform
Eco-taxes are a strategy for internalizing the externalities associated with pollution, waste, and
unsustainable consumption and resource use. Roadmap documents can identify priorities for
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policy experimentation. The number of successful eco-tax programs that have yielded broad
sustainable development benefits is growing. 30 In 1999, Germany introduced its Ökosteuer or
ecotax which shifted the tax burden away from labor costs to tax the consumption of oil and
electricity use. The revenue from the tax is used to lower pension contributions and promote
renewable energy. The ecotax has led to reduced fuel usage, lower emissions, growth in
renewable energy and the creation of new jobs.
Collaborate with patient capital
Pension funds, insurance companies, and mutual funds are often regarded as holders of
“patient capital” that could be an invaluable source of investment for the green economy. In the
OECD alone, these investors held over $65 trillion as of the end of 2009. 31 These entities are
also sensitive to environmental risks, and have a business interest in reducing it. For example,
in response to climate concerns, HSBC Insurance established a “green insurance” program in
Brazil, Argentina and Mexico that put a segment of the premium paid by insurance policy
holders towards forest preservation. 32 With an emphasis on the long-term, institutional investors
are more open to investments that reap sustainable development benefits and not simply the
highest financial return. Roadmap documents could identify ways policy-makers could
collaborate with these investors to match patient capital with opportunities for green growth and
sustainable development.
Develop micro-finance and micro-insurance programs
Green economy finance does not always need to be in large installments. Micro-finance and
micro-insurance programs are often more appropriate and effective in improving economic
conditions in impoverished areas and supporting clean drinking water, sanitation and energy
access. For example, the Grameen Shakti bank in Bangladesh has successfully granted loans
supporting solar home systems. The system has also helped to create new jobs (due to
improved energy access for businesses) and improve income security for villagers. 33
Prepare green stimulus packages
In the wake of the 2008 economic crisis, many countries opted for stimulus packages that
emphasized green technologies, green jobs, and ecological restoration. Globally, it is estimated
that $US 512 billion out of $3.3 trillion in public stimulus funds were allocated to low-carbon and
environmental infrastructure investments. 34 Japan, for example, announced a $US 15.4 billion
stimulus package in 2009 to foster environmentally-friendly technologies. 35 Roadmap
documents could include a long-term needs assessment that would serve as the basis for future
stimulus spending.
VII. Enabling Conditions
What enabling conditions should be in place to expedite the transition to a green economy?
Enabling conditions establish a general economic environment that makes green economy
reforms possible, and effective. Key enabling conditions may include good governance,
compatible trade regimes, technology transfer, regulatory authority, new indicators of progress,
innovation, green workforce skills, education, and policy coherence. 36 For state and local
governments, the most important enabling conditions may be provided by national governments
– for example, the authority to implement certain kinds of taxes or impose certain regulatory
constraints. For national governments, the most important enabling conditions may relate to
supportive trade regimes or international programs for transfer and dissemination of green
technologies. There has been a wealth of research on enabling conditions for the green
economy that could be incorporated into roadmap documents.
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For example, good governance is critical, and has been well addressed in the green economy
literature. If a green economy is to be a tool for achieving sustainable development and poverty
eradication governments need to highlight the importance of improving national environmental
governance. Roadmap documents provide a forum for doing so. Achieving sustainable
development will require making policy decisions that involve balancing competing interests and
reaching environmentally sustainable, economically sound and socially equitable outcomes. If
decision making processes are secret, non-participatory and unaccountable, a few selected and
powerful interests will influence policy and developmental decisions. Principle 10 and good
national environmental governance which recognizes coordination, efficiency, transparency,
engagement and accountability becomes a foundational and enabling requirement for the
success of a green economy and sustainable development. 37
As another example, research on new sustainable development and green economy indicators
has been ongoing for decades and provides a basis for roadmap documents to establish
metrics that “measure what matters” and hold decision makers accountable for monitoring the
effectiveness of green economy reforms. The OECD has proposed a set of indicators capturing
major aspects of green growth. These include socio-economic attributes, environmental and
resource productivity, natural asset base, environmental quality of life, and economic
opportunities and policy responses. 38 The World Bank has launched an ambitious initiative on
wealth accounting that incorporates changes in stocks and flows of natural capital and
ecosystem services. In the U.S., the State of Maryland recently adopted a Genuine Progress
Indicator to supplement GDP, guide policy and provide an indication of how well the state was
growing with respect to sustainable development by taking economic costs associated with
depleting natural capital, carbon emissions, and inequality into account. 39
Fostering green innovative capacity is another enabling condition that is considered a high
priority. Innovative capacity is defined as how well entrepreneurs are supported in their efforts to
find new business models, create new technologies and develop new processes. The key is to
find ways to create an environment that maximizes the potential for innovations in either
products or processes that result in an environmental gain by way of reduced material, water, or
energy use. Policymakers and international agreements are critical for setting the stage for
innovation as they can support targets for energy and resource efficiency as well as waste
reduction. An innovation is more likely to succeed when the rules of the game are clear and
consistent. These rules tell the innovator the bounds within which they must work and the
characteristics his solution must include. For example, efficiency standards drive innovators to
create and provide products that meet a set of criteria. Japan’s Top-Runner program sets
energy-efficiency standards for appliances and vehicles higher than the best performance value
of each product currently on sale in the market. 40 By encouraging a global “race to the top”, the
international community can challenge innovators and entrepreneurs to think outside the box.
By explaining the imperative to act, what the green economy is and is not, what principles on
which it operates, pathways, policies, financing approaches and enabling conditions, green
economy roadmap documents will provide clear signals that governments are making long-term
commitments to make the green economy transition occur. This, in turn, will provide a measure
of certainty with respect to future regulatory and policy environments that may help motivate
equally longer-term investments by both public and private actors. Preparing roadmaps through
inclusive, transparent, and participatory processes will ensure that the transition to a green
economy receives widespread public support. For these reasons, a global framework for
preparation of green economy roadmaps should be a priority outcome for the Rio +20 process.
Page 9
Appendix 1: Illustration of Green Economy Pathways (not exhaustive)
Pathway
Nature of Transition
Key Policies and Practices
Working Examples
Indicators
Eco-efficiency
Decoupling economic growth
from growth in a country’s
ecological footprint by reducing
the amount of energy, water,
and materials used in
production processes,
buildings, transportation, and
other sectors.
•
•
Resource efficiency standards
Cap-and-trade system for pollutants
(e.g., SO2)
Ecological taxes on excessive
energy, waste, and materials use
Incentives for use of remanufactured
or recycled materials
Clean production centers
Ökosteuer
(Germany)
Emission Trading Scheme
(European Union)
Fuel efficiency standards
(United States)
Top Runner Program
(Japan)
•
Removing, reforming or reducing
subsidies for high-carbon products
(e.g., coal fired electricity)
Regulating or taxing high emissions
products
Subsidizing or otherwise supporting
the deployment of low-carbon
technologies
Cap-and-trade system for emissions
Fuel efficiency standards
Phase out inefficient fossil
fuel subsidies
(G20 and APEC)
Carbon neutral targets
(Costa Rica/New Zealand)
Solar Mission
(India)
New South Wales GHG
abatement scheme
(Australia)
Carbon tax
(South Africa)
Bus Rapid Transit System
(Mexico)
Cleveland’s stormwater
program
(United States)
Freiburg green city
(Germany)
Electronic road pricing
(Singapore)
Curitiba master plan
(Brazil)
•
Low-carbon
development
Altering the traditional
development path by
decoupling poverty eradication
and economic development
from the growth of greenhouse
gas emissions.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Livable,
walkable cities
City planning at all levels
fosters compact, walkable and
mixed-use urban development
that minimizes energy use and
maximizes resident´s health.
•
•
•
•
•
•
Investment in sustainable public
transportation systems
Investments in green infrastructure
for stormwater and drinking water
Establish energy and water efficiency
standards for all buildings
Invest in infrastructure and design to
promote walkability and bikeability
Congestion pricing
Establish green areas for parks and
recreation.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Resource-use intensity
3
indicators (e.g., m of
water/GDP)
Emissions intensity measures
(e.g., ton of pollutant/GDP)
Waste intensity measures
(ton of waste/GDP)
Average fleet fuel efficiency
by vehicle class
Greenhouse gas emissions
total and per capita
Energy efficiency ratings for
standard household
appliances
Change in the carbon
intensity of GDP
Percent of buildings meeting
green standards
Percent of waste recycled or
reused per resident
Area of urban green space
per resident
Concentration of key air
pollutants
Impervious surface area
Number without access to
clean drinking water and
sanitation
Percent urban transport
needs met by modern public
transport systems
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Pathway
Nature of Transition
Key Policies and Practices
Working Examples
Indicators
Transforming
agriculture
Agricultural production
replaces chemical fertilizers,
pesticides and herbicides with
organic alternatives where
possible, diversifies crops and
strains to enhance food
security and resiliency, and
implements state of the art
best management practices to
protect and restore ecosystem
services vital to long-term
agricultural productivity.
•
Modify tax and credit programs to
encourage a decentralized system of
small farms
Provide subsidies for
environmentally-friendly agricultural
practices such as integrated pest
management
Reduce food waste from farm to fork
Restore degraded lands
Establish organic farming standards
and policies
Local food procurement
Integrated pest
management farmer field
schools
(Indonesia)
Organic farming policies
and standards
(Uganda)
Farmer managed natural
regeneration
(Niger)
•
Marine protected areas
Wilderness, parks, and refuges
Strengthen CITES
Payments for ecosystem services
Forest and watershed restoration
Best management practices for
forest, range, and agricultural lands
Green infrastructure investments
Catch shares
Fishing catch shares
(Canada)
Green stormwater
infrastructure
(USA)
Marine protected area
(Sierra Leone)
Sustainable supply chain
procurement standards
Certification
Sustainability reporting
Training and educational programs to
promote green skills and clean
production research
National Clean Production
Centres
(UNIDO)
Green Skills Agreement
(Australia)
Eco-labeling programs
Footprint calculators
Public transportation benefits
Tax incentives or rebates for
purchasing eco-friendly products
Carbon tax on vehicles
Bike-sharing programs
Green label
(Thailand)
BikeShare
(USA)
Plastic bag tax
(Ireland)
Myfootprint calculator
(Global)
Investing in
natural capital
and ecosystem
services
Reversing the depletion and
degradation of natural capital
by protecting remaining intact
ecosystems and restoring
degraded lands and waters.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Sustainable
production
Sustainable
consumption
Infusing sustainable
development considerations
into every stage of the
production life cycle.
Changing the way consumers
choose and use goods and
services by educating
consumers on life-cycle
impacts of consumption
patterns.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Pesticide or chemical use per
hectare of farmland.
Nitrogen, phosphorous,
sediment runoff
Crop diversity index
Percent of livestock under
“humane” care
Payments to farmers for
sustainable agricultural
practices
Percentage of foods sourced
locally
Protected area extent by
GAP classification and
ecosystem
Share under agriculture and
forestry best management
practices
Share certified as sustainably
managed
Green infrastructure share of
capital improvement budgets
Percent of all goods and
services certified as
sustainably produced
Number of companies filing
sustainability reports
Number of green jobs
Number of eco-innovation
patents approved
Public transport usage for
commuting
Household energy
consumption
Recycling rates by
households
Number of products under an
eco-label or fair-trade
certification
Page 11
1
These elements are common themes addressed in the emerging green economy literature but are not
exhaustive.
2
According to a recent FAO analysis, “[r]oughly one-third of the edible parts of food produced for human
consumption, gets lost or wasted globally, which is about 1.3 billion ton per year.” See Gustavsson,
Jenny, Christel Cederberg, Ulf Sonesson, Robert van Otterdijk, and Alexandre Meybeck. 2011. Global
Food Losses and Food Waste – Extent, Causes, and Prevention. Rome: Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations.
3
Of particular concern is that growth in economic activity, as measured by GDP, is “coupled” with growth
in consumption of energy, water, and materials. See, e.g. Giljum, Stefan, Christine Polzin, Monika Dittrich,
and Stefan Bringezu. Resource Use and Resource Efficiency in Asia – A pilot study on trends over the
past 25 years. Prepared for UNIDO’s Green Industry Programme. Vienna: Sustainable Europe Research
Institute. Wuppertal: Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment, Energy.
4
According to UNEP, a key cause behind converging environmental and economic crises is the “gross
misallocation of capital” into property, fossil fuels, and structured financial assets with embedded
derivatives at the expense of investments in renewable energy, energy efficiency, public transportation,
sustainable agriculture, ecosystem protection, and land and water conservation.” See UNEP. 2011.
Towards a Green Economy – Pathways to Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication. A
synthesis for policy makers, www.unep.org/greeneconomy.
5
Due to crises caused in part by trade dependency, a recent Asian Development Bank study concludes
that “[i]t will be necessary not only to rebalance domestic and external components of demand, but also to
embark on industrial restructuring necessitated by a shift from export-led growth to growth led by
domestic demand and intraregional trade.” See Akyüz, Yılmaz. 2011. The Global Economic Crisis and
Trade and Growth Prospects in East Asia. ADB Economics Working Paper Series No. 242. Manila, Asian
Development Bank. For a helpful analysis of global economic vulnerabilities that stem from unregulated
financial integration see Nouriel, Roubini and Stephen Mihm. 2010. Crisis Economics – A crash course in
the future of finance. New York: Penguin Press.
6
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. 2005. Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Synthesis.Washington,
DC.: Island Press.
7
By 2050 an estimated half of current arable land will become unusable due to desertification and land
degradation. See IFAD. 2002. Tackling Land Degradation and Desertification. Rome: International Fund
for Agricultural Development. According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report The
State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2010, 85 percent of the world’s fisheries are fully exploited,
overexploited, depleted or recovering from depletion—the highest such estimate ever.
8
United Nations. 2010. Millennium Development Goals Report 2010, Page 62.
9
Davies, James B., Susanna Sandström, Anthony Shorrocks and Edward N. Wolff. 2008. The World
Distribution of Household Wealth. Helsinki: The World Institute for Development Economics Research.
10
Over 3.1 billion live on less than $US 2.50 per day. See Chen, Shaohua and Martin Ravallion. 2008.
The Developing World is Poorer than We Thought but No Less Successful in the Fight against Poverty.
Washington, D.C.: World Bank, Development Research Group. Over 2.6 billion lack alternatives to
biomass for cooking, a key indicator of energy poverty. See International Energy Agency. 2010. World
Energy Outlook 2010. Paris: IEA.
11
Talberth, John, Peter Hazlewood and Gregory Mock. 2011. Poverty Eradication and the Green
Economy Pathway - Prepared for the Secretary General’s High Level Panel on Global Sustainability
Working Group on Poverty, Employment and Social Inclusion. Working draft. Washington DC: World
Resources Institute.
12
Raingold, Andrew. 2011. Greening the Economy: A strategy for growth, jobs and success. UK:
Aldersgate Group.
13
Varma, Sabrina. 2002. Improving Global Economic Governance. Geneva: South Centre.
14
Heinberg, Richard. 2011. The End of Growth - Adapting to our new economic reality. Gabriola Island,
BC: New Society Publishers.
15
UNEP. 2011, note 4.
16
OECD. 2011. Towards Green Growth: A summary for policy makers. Paris: Organization for
Cooperation and Development.
May 2011
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17
Talberth, John et al. 2011, note 11. See also Lit Ping Low. 2011. Green Growth: Implications for
development planning. Climate Development and Knowledge Network.
18
For an overview of risks and concerns of the green economy, see Khor, Martin. 2011. Risks and Uses
of the Green Economy Concept in the Context of Sustainable Development, Poverty, and Equity.
Geneva: South Centre.
19
A useful compilation of major agreements on sustainable development can be found at:
http://www.un.org/esa/dsd/resources/res_majoagreconvover.shtml.
20
See Stoddart, Riddlestone, and Vilela. 2011. Earth Summit 2012. Principles for the Green Economy: A
collection of principles for the green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty
eradication. Stakeholder Forum, BioRegional, and the Earth Charter Initiative. See also, The Earth
Charter, accessible at: http://www.earthcharterinaction.org.
21
UNEP uses the term “brown” economy to describe the prevailing economy. See UNEP 2011, note 4,
page 01-02.
22
See, e.g. Oceans at Rio plus 20: Discussions with UN Delegations. Global Ocean Forum, Statement by
H.E. Ambassador Peter Thomson, Permanent Representative of Fiji on behalf of the Pacific Small Island
Developing States, 12 September 2011: Viewable at: http://pacificsids.org/statements/20102011/20110912.pdf.
23
Declaration of the 64th Annual UN DPI/NGO Conference, Chair’s Text , Bonn, Germany, 3-5
September 2011. Viewable at:
http://www.un.org/wcm/webdav/site/ngoconference/shared/Documents/Final%20Declaration/Chair's%20T
ext.pdf
24
Kingdom of Cambodia. 2009. National Green Growth Roadmap. Kingdom of Cambodia in partnership
with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.
25
McKinsey & Company. 2009. Pathways to a Low-Carbon Economy: Version 2 of the Global
Greenhouse Gas Abatement Curve. Downloadable at:
https://solutions.mckinsey.com/ClimateDesk/default.aspx.
26
For an overview of green economy policy approaches see UNEP 2011, note 4. For those most
applicable to developing world situations, see UNESC – Economic Commission for Africa. 2011. A Green
Economy in the Context of Sustainable Development: What are the implications for Africa? Prepared
jointly with the United Nations Environmental Program. Downloadable at:
27
Clements-Hunt, P. et al., 2011. Finance: Supporting the transition to a global green economy. UNEP.
Viewable at: http://www.unep.org/greeneconomy/Portals/88/documents/ger/GER_15_ Finance.pdf.
28
Sources of fossil fuel subsidies have been especially well-researched, see, e.g. Koplow, D. 1998.
Quantifying Impediments to Fossil Fuel Trade: An overview of major producing and consuming nations.
Paris: OECD Trade Directorate.
29
UNEP 2011, note 4.
30
See, e.g. UNEP. 2010. Driving a Green Economy Through Public Finance and Fiscal Policy Reform.
Working Paper. V1. Nairobi: United Nations Environmental Program.
31
OECD. 2011. Institutional Investors and Long Term Investment. Paris: Organization for Cooperation
and Development.
32
Environmental Finance. 2009. “HSBC makes ‘green’ insurance push.” March 26, 2009. Viewable at:
http://www.environmental-finance.com/news/view/763.
33
Green Economy Coalition. 2011. Profile of Grameen Shakti (Bangladesh). Viewable at:
http://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/glimpses/grameen-shakti-bangladesh.
34
Barbier, E.B. 2010. ”A global green recovery, the G20 and international STI cooperation in clean
energy”. STI Policy Review 1(3):1-15.
35
McCurry, J. and J. Kollewe. 2009. Japan goes green with £100 bn economic recovery. Viewable at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/10/japan-recession-stimulus-green-economy.
36
See, e.g. H.M. Government. 2011. Enabling the Transition to a Green Economy: Government and
business working together. Downloadable at: www.official-documents.gov.uk; UNEP. 2011, note 4;
Pardee Center. 2011. Beyond Rio +20: Governance for a Green Economy. Henrik Selin and Adil Najam,
Co-conveners. Boston: Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer Range Future, Boston
University.
37
Governance reforms listed here are drawn from The Access Initiative’s submission to the Rio +20
process. Viewable at:
Page 13
http://www.accessinitiative.org/sites/default/files/The%20Access%20Initiative%20Input%20into%20compil
ation%20document%20with%20annexes.pdf.
38
OECD. 2011. Towards Green Growth: Monitoring progress – OECD Indicators. OECD Publishing.
39
An overview of Maryland’s GPI project can be found at:
http://www.green.maryland.gov/mdgpi/mdgpioverview.asp.
40
Agency for Natural Resources and Environment and Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry. 2010.
Top Runner Program: Developing the world’s best energy-efficient appliances. Japan. Viewable at:
http://www.enecho.meti.go.jp/policy/saveenergy/toprunner2010.03en.pdf.
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