Since the GGKP was first launched in January 2012, it has grown from a simple concept for improving collaboration on green growth analysis among a few institutions to a global partnership of over 30 leading international organizations and research institutes – all committed to the transition to a green economy.
In our first annual report, we set out the results of GGKP’s efforts in 2012 and 2013 to promote organizational collaboration, identify and address green growth knowledge gaps, promote knowledge sharing, and stimulate the development of a vibrant green growth community of practice.
At the heart of these efforts have been GGKP’s annual conferences. The inaugural conference took place in January 2012 in Mexico City on the topic of “Green Growth: Addressing Knowledge Gaps”, and a second conference was convened in Paris in April 2013 on the topics of “Greening Global Value Chains” and “Measuring and Reporting for Green Growth”. Overall, more than 450 experts from international organizations, academia, government, business and NGOs discussed green growth research and analysis and identified a number of priority areas for green growth research.
The GGKP also expanded its online efforts to raise global awareness about new developments in green growth theory and practice. In January 2012 we launched a monthly GGKP “Knowledge Update” newsletter aimed at professionals in the field; a robust social media presence through Twitter, LinkedIn, Flickr and YouTube; and our “Insights” blog, a forum in which green growth experts can share their perspective on recent research, upcoming events or newly launched projects.
Throughout 2013 we conducted extensive user outreach and needs analysis to guide us in developing our second-generation web platform. The insights gained from this exercise helped us understand how we can ensure green growth professionals have access to the latest policy guidance, good practices, tools and data to support their efforts. Based on these efforts, a new web platform was released in early 2014.
Finally, towards the end of 2013, we launched four pilot research committees, focused on a range of priority topics, including: trade and competitiveness, indicators and measurement, technology and innovation, and fiscal instruments. Core to the GGKP’s mission of collaboratively identifying and addressing knowledge gaps, these research committees have successfully drawn together over 50 experts from across our partner organizations. The committees have now set the scope for their work and identified priority areas of focus for the coming year.
We are encouraged by these developments and by the increasing interest the GGKP has received from organizations and professionals focused on bridging the traditional divide between economics and the environment.
Our annual report takes stock of our main accomplishments from our first two years of operation, and outlines key priorities as we move forward. It starts with an overview of our background and mission, including details on our governance and partners. This is followed by a detailed description of our main activities, structured according to our work strategy: generating, managing and sharing knowledge. Finally, you can learn more about our affiliated programmes and view our joint financial statement. I encourage you to read this report, learn more about GGKP’s activities, and engage with this growing community and partnership.