A Guidebook for the Green Economy

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AGuidebooktotheGreenEconomy
Issue2:exploringgreeneconomyprinciples
UnitedNationsDivisionforSustainableDevelopment,UNDESA
ThisdocumentwaspreparedbyCameronAllen,UNDivisionforSustainableDevelopment,November2012

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Note
TheviewsandopinionsexpresseddonotnecessarilyrepresentthoseoftheSecretariatofthe
UnitedNations;thedesignationsemployedorterminologyusedconcerningthelegalstatusofany
country,territory,cityorareaofitsauthorities,orconcerningthedelimitationoffrontiersdonot
implytheexpressionofanyopinionwhatsoeveronthepartoftheSecretariatoftheUnited
Nations.Thedesignationsofcountrygroupsinthetext,figuresortablesareintendedsolelyfor
analyticalconvenienceanddonotnecessarilyexpressajudgementaboutthestagereachedbya
particularcountryorareainthedevelopmentprocess.Mentionofnamesoffirmsandcommercial
productsdoesnotimplyendorsementoftheUnitedNations.Thisdocumenthasbeenissued
withoutformalediting.

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AGuidebooktotheGreenEconomy
Issue2:exploringgreeneconomyprinciples
Contents
1. Introduction .................................................................................................................... 4
2. PrinciplesforthegreeneconomypublishedintheleaduptoRio+20 ............................. 5
2.1. TheGreenEconomyCoalition(2012):NinePrinciplesofaGreenEconomy ........................ 6
2.2. StakeholderForum,BioRegional&EarthCharter(2012):15PrinciplesfortheGreen
Economy............................................................................................................................ 6
2.3. ICC(2011):10ConditionsforaTransitionTowardaGreenEconomy ................................. 7
2.4. ITUC(2012):Principlesforagreeneconomythatmeetstheneedsofworkersandtheir
tradeunions ...................................................................................................................... 8
2.5. ANPED(2012):PrinciplesforaFairandGreenEconomy .................................................... 8
2.6. TheDanish92Group(2012):FiveWorkingPrinciplesofanEquitableGreenEconomy....... 9
2.7. UNEMG(2011):WorkingtowardsaBalancedandInclusiveGreenEconomy.................... 10
2.8. GlobalSustainabilityPanel(2011).................................................................................... 11
3. Aguidetocommongreeneconomyprinciples...............................................................11
3.1. GreeneconomyprinciplesandtheRio+20outcomedocument........................................ 14
4. Areaswherethegreeneconomymightbeexpectedtodeliveraddedvalue..................18
4.1. ComparisonofgreeneconomyprincipleswiththeRioPrinciplesonsustainable
development ................................................................................................................... 19
4.2. Areaswheregreeneconomymightbeexpectedtodeliveraddedvalue .......................... 21
5. Conclusion......................................................................................................................21

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1. Introduction
Theconceptofgreeneconomyhasreceivedsignificantinternationalattentionoverthepastfew
yearsbothasatooltoaddressthe2008financialcrisisaswellasoneofthetwothemesforthe
2012UnitedNationsConferenceonSustainableDevelopment(Rio+20).Thishasresultedina
rapidlyexpandingliteratureandemerginginternationalpracticeaswellasnewpartnerships,
coalitionsandplatforms.
Despitethegrowinginternationalinterestingreeneconomy,negotiationsamongMemberStates
forRio+20werechallenging.Thiswaspartlyduetothefactthattheconceptwasquitenewand
therewasalackofaninternationallyagreeddefinitionoruniversalprinciplesforgreeneconomy.
Importantly,whentheconceptwasfirstadoptedasathemeforRio+20,therewasalsoalackof
clarityaroundtherelationshipbetweengreeneconomyandinternationallyagreedobjectivessuch
assustainabledevelopmentandpovertyeradication,aswellasalackofunderstandingregarding
thepotentialchallenges,risks,costsandbenefitsofimplementinggreeneconomypolicies.The
concernsraisedearlyonbyanumberofgovernmentsincludedtheneedforanyoutcomeon
greeneconomytoaddressthethreedimensionsofsustainabledevelopmentinabalanced
mannerandfullyrespectallofthepreviouslyagreedRioPrinciples.
Theadoptionofgreeneconomyinthecontextofsustainabledevelopmentandpoverty
eradicationasoneofthetwothemesforRio+20focusedinternationalattentionandprovidedthe
catalystfornewpartnerships,consultationsandcollaborativeresearchthatledtothepublication
ofasignificantvolumeofliterature.ThenegotiationofthegreeneconomytextintheRio+20
outcomedocument,whilechallenging,alsoprovidedanimportantforumforgovernmentsto
voicetheirviewsandconcernsandreachacommonunderstandingontheconcept.However,
whilegovernmentsagreedtoframethegreeneconomyasanimportanttoolforsustainable
development,adegreeofuncertaintyandambiguityremainsaroundhowgovernmentsshould
nowapplythisconcept.
FollowingRio+20,theUNDivisionforSustainableDevelopmentbeganpublishinganewseriesof
guidebooksonthegreeneconomy.Theseguidebooksprovidepractitionersandother
stakeholderswithaseriesofresourceguidestothegreeneconomyandrelatedconceptssuchas
greengrowthandlow‐carbondevelopment.Theyaimtoenhanceourunderstandingofgreen
economy.Todoso,theyendeavourtosummarisetherapidlyexpandingliteraturefromexperts
andpractitionersaswellassomeemerginginternationalexperiencetoshednewlightonour
understandingofthisconcept.
Issue1ofAGuidebooktotheGreenEconomywaspublishedinSeptember2012andprovideda
guidetothehistoryandemergingdefinitionsofgreeneconomyandrelatedconceptssuchas
greengrowthandlow‐carbondevelopment1.Italsoincludedaconciseguidetoapproximately90
recentgreeneconomypublicationsincludingreports,policypapers,toolkitsandnational
strategies.Itcontainsnumerousdifferentdefinitionsofgreeneconomyandgreengrowth
publishedintherecentliterature,mostofwhichembracedeconomic,environmentalandsocial
issues.Themorerecentdefinitionsandinterpretationsofgreeneconomyoftenbroadenedthe
1SeeAGuidebooktotheGreenEconomy–Issue1:history,definitionsandaguidetorecentpublications
http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/index.php?page=view&type=400&nr=634&menu=35

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concepttomoreexplicitlyencompassallthreedimensionsofsustainabledevelopment,
repackagingitinamorebalancedwayasthe‘inclusivegreeneconomy’.Theguidebookconcluded
that,despitethecontroversyaroundtheconceptandcompetingdefinitions,akeybenefitofthe
emergenceofthegreeneconomyconcepthasbeenthatithasstimulatedinternationalattention
andrenewedglobaleffortstotransformourcurrenteconomicmodelintoonewhichbetteraligns
withsustainabledevelopment.
Issue2ofAGuidebooktotheGreenEconomyaimstofurther‘unpack’or‘demystify’thegreen
economyconceptbymovingbeyondthesimpledefinitionsofgreeneconomyandprovidinga
briefoverviewofseveralsetsofgreeneconomyprinciplesthatwerepublishedintheleadupto
Rio+20.Thepaperalsocomparesthesesetsofprinciplesagainstthelanguageadoptedongreen
economyintheRio+20outcomedocumentaswellastheoriginalRioPrinciplesonsustainable
developmentthatwereagreedtobygovernmentsattheEarthSummitinRioin1992.Indoingso,
itexplorestheemergenceofamorebalancedunderstandingofgreeneconomythatintegratesall
dimensionsofsustainabledevelopmentandhighlightssomecommonguidingprinciplesthatmay
beofparticularrelevanceforimplementation.Finally,italsoattemptstoidentifysomepriority
areaswherethegreeneconomymightbeexpectedtodeliveraddedvaluewithinthebroader
contextofsustainabledevelopmentandpovertyeradication.
2. Principlesforthegreeneconomypublishedintheleadupto
Rio+20
ThefirstissueofAGuidebooktotheGreenEconomyprovidedaresourceguidetoover90recent
publicationsongreeneconomy,greengrowthandlow‐carbondevelopment,aswellasabrief
historyoftheseconceptsandananalysisoftheirrecentdefinitions.
Theguidebookidentifiedatleasteightdifferentdefinitionsfor‘greeneconomy’andthirteen
differentdefinitionsfor‘greengrowth’fromrecentpublications.Fromthesevariousdefinitionsit
concludedthat,whiletheconceptsmightimplyastrongfocusontheintersectionbetweenthe
environmentandtheeconomy,manyauthorswereclearlyincorporatingasocialemphasis.More
recentpublicationsmadethissocialdimensionexplicitbybroadeningtheconcepttothe‘inclusive
greeneconomy’,‘inclusivegreengrowth’orothervariations2.
Whilethesedefinitionsareusefulforinterpretationofthegreeneconomyconcept,theyprovide
limitedvaluewithregardtoapplicationandimplementation.IntheleaduptoRio+20,anumber
ofpublicationsandpapersattemptedtomovebeyondsimpledefinitionsofthegreeneconomyto
defineasetofguidingprinciples.Thesesetsofprincipleshelptoprovidefurtherclarityaroundthe
interpretationofthegreeneconomyconceptbydifferentinternationalorganisationsandother
stakeholders.Theyalsohelptoguidepractitionersintheapplicationofthegreeneconomy
conceptandaddressperceivedrisksandconcerns.
2Seeforexampleseerecentpublicationsby:theWorldBank(2012)InclusiveGreenGrowth:ThePathwayto
SustainableDevelopment;theUNEMG(2011)WorkingtowardsaBalancedandInclusiveGreenEconomy:A
UnitedNationsSystem‐widePerspective;andTheDanish92Group(2012)BuildinganEquitableGreen
Economy.