Inclusive green growth (IGG) combines economic, social and environmental dimensions, which increases the complexity of measurement and monitoring. No single indicator is enough to track progress towards IGG and there is unlikely to be a standardized, “one-size-fits-all” solution. Countries may hence choose different measurement approaches and indicators, depending on their priorities and capacities.
This paper, produced through the GGKP Research Committee on Measurement and Indicators aims to improve the understanding of tools available for measuring IGG. It explore four approaches to measure IGG: a dashboard of indicators, composite indicators, environmental footprints, and “adjusted” economic measures. Moreover, it outlines main measurement themes and aspects relevant for IGG (natural assets, resource efficiency and decoupling, resilience and risks, economic opportunities and efforts, and inclusiveness); it reviews measurement approaches and indicators available for tracking progress towards IGG; and it identifies the main gaps where investments research, indicator development and data collection are needed.
Key gaps identified include: (i) economic values of stocks and flows of natural assets; (ii) qualitative dimensions of natural assets; (iii) sustainable use or extraction of natural assets; (iv) combining micro-level economic and environmental data; (v) resilience of socioeconomic systems to ecological shocks; (vi) tracking of employment effects, investment and other economic effects, in particular on the opportunities side; (vii) aggregate impacts of environmental policies; and (viii) distributional impacts of environmental changes and policies. Based on the stocktaking and gap analysis, the paper calls for mobilizing investment for better indicator development and data collection.
This toolkit focuses on inclusive green growth—growth that not only helps green economies, but also helps move towards sustainable development by ensuring environmental sustainability contributes to, or at least does not come at the expense of, social progress.
Many countries are exploring their prospects for green growth. It has become a hot topic, proving attractive to governments, companies, and civil society groups alike. The 2012 Rio+20 Summit concluded that green growth is best defined and tailored according to the individual country context.
This report was prepared for the G20 Development Working Group to inform the creation of a public-private G20 Dialogue Platform on Inclusive Green Investment to scale up commercially viable financial investments.