Green Growth Assessment & Extended Cost Benefit Analysis: A handbook for policy and investment decision makers

This handbook, Green Growth Assessment & Extended Cost Benefit Analysis: A handbook for policy and investment decision makers, is an introductory guide for policy makers to apply the Green Growth Assessment Process (GGAP) and extended Cost-Benefit Analysis (eCBA) in the planning process. Both tools provide an integrated framework to provide a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the economic, social and environmental impacts of the projects. Using results and empirical evidence from four technical studies conducted by the Green Growth Program, this handbook illustrates the basic concepts underlying the eCBA and the methods in its implementation.

The eCBA is a very useful quantitative tool to provide concrete monetary values attached to social and environmental externalities. These costs are often hidden, as they are rarely addressed in conventional financial cost benefit analysis when investors plan their projects. By filling this ‘quantitative gap’, policy makers will be able to use the eCBA as an instrument to demonstrate to the public that investing in green infrastructure projects will yield significant economic and social benefits.

This handbook consists of five chapters, described in more details as follows:

• Chapter 1 introduces the book content;
• Chapter 2 explains the green growth frameworks;
• Chapter 3 gives an overview of methods for environmental decision-making processes, which include cost effectiveness analysis, cost benefit analysis, multi-criteria analysis and safe minimum standards;
• Chapter 4 provides a detailed description of the extended cost benefit analysis method;
• Chapter 5 discusses several environmental valuation techniques which can complement the green growth and eCBA framework.