Regional Development
Why is greening growth so important?
Worldwide, risks to development are rising as the current models of growth continue to erode the stocks of natural assets and undermine services provided by ecosystems. A lack of action to preserve natural capital will result in increasing costs to substitute it. Moreover, policy needs to take account of evidence that changes in ecosystems, and their capacity to support growth, do not necessarily follow a smooth, foreseeable trajectory. New ways of production and consumption, as well as new approaches for defining growth and measuring human progress, are required in order to avoid the degradation of current living standards.
Green growth strategies aim to foster economic growth and social development while ensuring that natural assets continue to provide the material inputs and services on which our economies and well-being rely. The green transformation can bring many positive development outcomes, such as enhanced productivity and innovation, creation of new jobs and markets, and fiscal revenue generation. Furthermore, by achieving climate change resilience, water and energy security, and adequate functioning of ecosystems, the likelihood of abrupt changes that may trigger economic and social shocks is reduced. To enable greener growth, market signals and policies must catalyse investment and innovation into new ways of sustainably managing natural capital and extracting higher, long-term benefits from its use. Innovation primarily needs an adequate overall framework, including supportive labour, trade, and investment policies.
There is an urgent need to develop a clear and common understanding of green economy
The green economy is not sector specific and both green economy and resource efficiency apply to the whole economy. By artificially constraining interpretation of these concepts to specific sectors or topics, we risk overlooking some cross-sector synergies and efficiencies. To encourage more integrated assessments and to enhance understanding and effectiveness in decision-making, an agreement should be made on a number of critical elements which will help define the green economy concept. This could form the basis of developing a tool-kit and guidelines to support capacity building and implementation, as well as a suite of indicators for use in regularly reporting progress towards a green economy. It should involve, at a minimum, the UNECE and other UN organisations, the OECD, the European Commission and the EEA.
A system of information exchange is needed
A clear and agreed shared environmental information system would improve consistency and credibility of subsequent assessments, as well as showcasing good practice in assessments and aiding capacity building and knowledge transfer. Such a system would also help to ensure knowledge gaps are recognised and addressed in a coordinated way. Gathering and disseminating such case studies, including good and bad examples and practices, should be seen as an integral part of the information system.
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