This scoping paper was produced jointly by the Global Green Growth Institute, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the United Nations Environment Programme, and the World Bank as part of the Green Growth Knowledge Platform’s program on green growth measurement and indicators.
The paper lays out a conceptual framework for green growth indicators that can help communicate the central elements needed for the transition to a green economy. The indicators alert governments and citizens to pressing environmental issues where policy action and societal responses are needed. They also help the public to better understand how it can contribute to green growth and support the transition to a green economy. The paper illustrates how strong international cooperation on testing, exploring, and refining measurement tools on green growth is essential for supporting practical implementation and assessing progress of policies in both developed and developing countries in their transition to green economies.
This publication is a concrete example of GGKP's mission to help address knowledge gaps in green growth theory and practice and to support design and implementation of policies to move towards a green economy. It also sets out an agenda for further progress, highlighting outstanding challenges for the measurement, interpretation and implementation of green growth indicators in practice.
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.
Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) is a powerful process for integrating environmental and linked social and economic concerns into policy-making, planning, programme development, mega projects and development decision-making.
As the financial and environmental costs of resource depletion and negative ecological impacts begin to affect economic growth, countries around the world need to find ways to manage finite resources while meeting the needs of a growing and increasingly urban world population.
Green growth initiatives to date have often placed the economy and environment front and centre. However, for green growth to fulfil its promise, it needs to also focus on people and address systemic causes of poverty and social exclusion.