Green economy

The concept The concept of a green economy is receiving increasing international attention as countries explore new patterns of development that take into account economic, social and environmental sustainability considerations. The term green economy appeared for the first time in a 1989 report for the government of the United Kingdom entitled Blueprint for a Green Economy (UN, 2012). The report dealt with the definition of the term ‘sustainable development’ and its implications for the measurement of economic progress and the appraisal of projects and policies. Apart from the title, the report had no further reference to a green economy. The concept of a ‘green economy’ re-emerged in the early twenty-first century amid the convergence of several interrelated global crises (economic, social and environmental). In 2008, UNEP launched its Green Economy Initiative to provide analysis and policy support for investment in green sectors and for greening resources, and revived the term in the context of discussions on the policy response to multiple global crises. As part of the Green Economy Initiative, UNEP commissioned Edward Barbier, an original author of the Blueprint for a Green Economy, to prepare a report entitled a Global Green New Deal (GGND). The GGND, released in 2009, proposed a mix of policy actions that would stimulate economic recovery while improving the sustainability of the world economy. The GGND called on governments to allocate a significant share of green stimulus funding to green sectors and set out three objectives:

1 Economic recovery, 2 Poverty eradication, and 3 Reduced carbon emissions and ecosystem degradation.