For
the purposes of the Green Economy Initiative, UNEP has developed a
working definition of a green economy as one that results in improved human well being and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities In its simplest expression, a green economy can be thought of as one, which is low carbon, resource efficient and socially inclusive.
Practically
speaking, a green economy is one whose growth in income and employment
is driven by public and private investments that reduce carbon emissions
and pollution, enhance energy and resource efficiency, and prevent the
loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services.
These
investments need to be catalyzed and supported by targeted public
expenditure, policy reforms and regulation changes. This development
path should maintain, enhance and, where necessary, rebuild natural
capital as a critical economic asset and source of public benefits,
especially for poor people whose livelihoods and security depend
strongly on nature.
Green economy and Sustainable Development
Sustainable
development has been defined as “development which meets the needs of
the present without compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their own needs.” It gained international attention in the late
1980s following the Brundtland Commission’s landmark report, “Our Common
Future", and further prominence at the 1992 Earth Summit where it
served as a guiding principle for international cooperation on
development. Achieving sustainable development requires the advancement
and strengthening of its three interdependent and mutually reinforcing
pillars: environmental protection, social development, and economic
development.
Moving
towards a green economy can be an important driver in this effort.
Rather than being seen as a passive receptor of wastes generated by
economic activity or as one of many substitutable factors of production,
the environment in a green economy is seen as a determining factor of
economic production, value, stability, and long term prosperity -
indeed, as a source of growth and a spur to innovation. In a green
economy, the environment is an “enabler” of economic growth and human
wellbeing. Additionally, since the poor are most dependent on the
natural resource base for their livelihoods and least able to shield
themselves from a degraded environment, movement towards a green economy
also promotes equitable growth.
As
such, the shift to a green economy can be seen as a pathway to
sustainable development, a journey rather than a destination. The nature
of a ‘green economy’ sought after by a developed or developing nation
can vary greatly, depending on its geographical confines, its natural
resource base, its human and social capital, and its stage of economic
development. What does not change however are its key tenets - of
targeting improved human well-being and social equity, whilst reducing
environmental risks and ecological scarcities.
Green economy is helpful to eradicate poverty
Today's
economic wealth, as traditionally defined and measured through GDP, is
often created through the overexploitation and pollution of our “common”
natural resources, from clean freshwater to forests to air essential to
our very survival. This type of economic growth, as traditionally
defined, has resulted in high economic and social costs, especially for
the poor who depend on these resources for their livelihoods and are
especially vulnerable to environmental contamination and degradation.
The current unprecedented loss of biodiversity and ecosystem degradation
is affecting sectors such as agriculture, animal husbandry, fishing and
forestry - the very sectors which many of the world’s poor depend on
for their livelihoods.
Equally
important, the move towards a green economy aims to increase access to
basic services and infrastructure as a means of alleviating poverty and
improving overall quality of life. This includes, for example, providing
energy access to the 1.4 billion people who currently lack electricity,
and another 700 million who are deprived of modern energy services.
Renewable energy technologies, such as solar and wind power, and
supportive energy policies promise to make a significant contribution to
improving living standards and health in low income areas, particularly
to those that currently lack access to energy.
Finally,
significant opportunities exist to discontinue and redirect
environmentally harmful subsidies. For instance, governments around the
world are currently spending an estimated US $700 billion annually to
subsidize fossil fuels. This represents f've times the amount of money
countries worldwide spend on development assistance. The largest part of
these subsidies is being allocated by governments of developing
countries, in an effort to cushion the shock of price increases on the
poor.
Yet,
many studies have shown that fossil fuel subsidies are inefficient in
targeting the poor, and are often benefit disproportionately higher
income groups. Removing or dismantling environmentally harmful subsidies
and replacing them with more targeted support, such as cash transfers,
can increase social protection goals while easing fiscal constraints and
improvement environmental outcomes.
Green economy protect and preserve biodiversity
The
loss of biodiversity has caused some people to experience declining
well-being, with poverty in some social groups being exacerbated. If
that, loss continues, it may also compromise the long-term ability of
ecosystems to regulate the climate and could lead to additional,
unforeseen, and potentially irreversible shifts in the earth system and
changes in ecosystem services. Furthermore, the ecosystem is the prime
provider of a number of raw materials that serve as an engine for
economic development. For these reasons, the preservation and protection
of ecosystems is at the heart of the green economy agenda and green
investments aim at reducing the negative externalities caused by the
exploitation of natural capital.
For
instance, investments in the preservation of forests which sustain a
wide range of sectors and livelihoods and at the same time preserve 80%
of terrestrial species. By boosting investment in green forestry, a
green economy agenda would preserve the economic livelihoods of over 1
billian people who live from timber, paper and fibre products, which in
their turn currently yield 1 % of global GDP (this is far outweighed bly
the non-market public goods derived from forest ecosystem services)
Green economy and Developing countries
Green
economy policies can help developing countries attain economic and
social gains on several fronts, such as through the deployment of
cleaner energy technologies and improved access to energy services;
improved resource efficiency through investments in cleaner production
approaches; increased food security through the use of more sustainable
agricultural methods; and access to emerging new markets for their green
goods and services.
Improvements
in resource efficiency and in diversifying the energy matrix can reduce
import bills and protect a country from price volatility in energy
markets, while reducing the environmental footprint and associated
health costs of economic activity. Of course, each country must assess
and evaluate its own resource endowment to determine hoyv to best
optimize its opportunities for sustainable economic growth.
As
highlighted in UNEP’s jrecent report, “Developing Countries Success
Stories”, there are a number of ongoing developing country initiatives
that are demonstrating a positive benefit stream from specific green
investments and policies, and if scaled up and integrated into a
comprehensive strategy, could offer an alternative sustainable
development pathway, one that is pro-growth, pro-jobs and pro-poor.
Funds established under the multilateral climate change regime
Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF): This
fund is managed by the GEF and finances projects relating to:
adaptation; technology transfer and capacity building; energy,
transport, industry, agriculture, forestry, and waste management; and
economic diversification.
Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF): The
Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) supports a work programme to
assist LDC’s in the preparation and implementation of National
Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPA’s). As of December 2011, LDCF had
approved some US $217 million for projects and mobilized more than US
$919 million in co financing.
Adaptation Fund (AF): This
fund was established under the Kyoto Protocol to finance concrete
adaptation projects and programmes in developing country Parties to the
Protocol. The Adaptation Fund is financed from the 2 per cent share of
proceeds on the clean development mechanism project activities and other
sources of funding. The Adaptation Fund is supervised and managed by
the Adaptation Fund Board (AFB). The most important characteristics of
this Fund are that Parties have direct access which has led to increased
country ownership over adaptation projects.
Green Climate Fund (GCF): At
COP 17 held in Durban, South Africa, the COP established a Green
Climate Fund (GCF) under the Convention to support projects, programmes,
policies and other activities in developing nations. The Fund will
start operating from 2013 where developed natidns will provide the fund.
Long term finance of $100 billion by 2020 has been decided by the
nations and the GCF is expected to manage significant part of this. GCF
is expected to be one of the most important sources of international
finance. The important distinction of GCF is that it has an independent
legal status and personality and nationally designated authorities have a
paramount role to play. This has been achieved after many rounds of
different negotiations.
Green Technology
“Green
technology is the development and application of products, equipment
and systems used to conserve the natural environment and resources,
whith minimizes and reduces the negative impact of human activities”
Criteria of Green Technology:
- It minimizes the degradation of the environment;
- It has a zero or low green house gas(GHG) emission;
- It is safe for use and promotes healthy and improved environment for all forms of life;
- It conserves the use of energy and natural resources; and
- It promotes the use of renewable resources.
Need of Green Technology Green Technology :
- solve the problems of destruction of the environment and natural resources
- increase health levels and the quality of life
- conserve the ecosystem as well as costs to the government in overcoming the negative effects from development
- an alternative to improving the national economy without harming the! environment
Types of Green Technology
Energy :
The most important and urgent concern and want for green technology is
for energy purposes. We need better, more efficient was to produce
energy without burning the entire world’s coal and using all the world’s
fossil fuels and natural resources.
Green Building: Basically, speaking, green building is an innovative way to build buildings and houses so to use the tools and materials most efficiently towards the environment. Environmentally preferred purchasing: Green
preferred purchasing is a new way to find products and methods of
production that have the smallest impact on the environment. This
searching and researching yields products that are deemed to be the
environmentally preferred purchases.
Green chemistry: The invention, design and application of chemical products and processes to reduce or to eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances.
Green nanotechnology: Nanotechnology
involves the manipulation of materials at the scale of the nanometre,
one billionth of a meter. Some scientists believe that mastery of this
subject is forthcoming that will transform the way that everything in
the world is manufactured, ‘preen nanotechnology” is the application of
green chemistry and green engineering principles to this field.
