ecoglobe The Introduction of UNEP's "Green Economy"report
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A "Green Economy" "can be defined as an economy that results in improved human well-being and and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities" (Q&A)

Foreword GE Introduction

Nearly 20 years after the Earth Summit, nations are again on the Road to Rio, but in a world very different and very changed from that of 1992.


Then we were just glimpsing some of the challenges emerging across the planet from climate change and the loss of species to desertification and land degradation.
Today many of those seemingly far off concerns are becoming a reality with sobering implications for not only achieving the UN’s Millennium Development Goals, but challenging the very opportunity for seven billion people - rising to nine billion by 2050 - to be able to thrive, let alone survive.
Rio 1992 did not fail the world – far from it. It provided the vision and important pieces of the multilateral machinery to achieve a sustainable future.
But this will only be possible if the environmental and social pillars of sustainable development are given equal footing with the economic one: where the often invisible engines of sustainability, from forests to freshwaters, are also given equal if not greater weight in development and economic planning.
Towards a Green Economy is among UNEP’s key contributions to the Rio+20 process and the overall goal of addressing poverty and delivering a sustainable 21st century.
The report makes a compelling economic and social case for investing two per cent of global GDP in greening ten central sectors of the economy in order to shift development and unleash public and private capital flows onto a low-carbon, resource-efficient path.
Such a transition can catalyse economic activity of at least a comparable size to business as usual, but with a reduced risk of the crises and shocks increasingly inherent in the existing model.
New ideas are by their very nature disruptive, but far less disruptive than a world running low on drinking water and productive land, set against the backdrop of climate change, extreme weather events and rising natural resource scarcities.
A green economy does not favour one political perspective over another. It is relevant to all economies, be they state or more market-led. Neither is it a replacement for sustainable development. Rather, it is a way of realising that development at the national, regional and global levels and in ways that resonate with and amplify the implementation of Agenda 21.
A transition to a green economy is already underway, a point underscored in the report and a growing wealth of companion studies by international organisations, countries, corporations and civil society. But the challenge is clearly to build on this momentum.
Rio+20 offers a real opportunity to scale-up and embed these “green shoots”. In doing so, this report offers not only a roadmap to Rio but beyond 2012, where a far more intelligent management of the natural and human capital of this planet finally shapes the wealth creation and direction of this world.
Achim Steiner
UNEP Executive Director
United Nations Under-Secretary General 		Questions:
Acknowledgements

The writing of this report would not have been possible without a coordinated effort from a cast of talented authors and contributors over the past two years. Acknowledgements first go to Chapter Coordinating Authors: Robert Ayres, Steve Bass, Andrea Bassi, Paul Clements-Hunt, Holger Dalkmann, Derek Eaton, Maryanne Grieg-Gran, Hans Herren, Prasad Modak, Lawrence Pratt, Philipp Rode, Ko Sakamoto, Rashid Sumaila, Cornis Van Der Lugt, Ton van Dril, Xander van Tilburg, Peter Wooders and Mike D. Young. Contributing Authors of the chapters are acknowledged in the respective chapters.
Within UNEP, this report was conceived and initiated by the Executive Director, Achim Steiner. It was led by Pavan Sukhdev and coordinated by Sheng Fulai under the overall management and guidance of Steven Stone and Sylvie Lemmet. Additional guidance was provided by Joseph Alcamo, Marion Cheatle, John Christensen, Angela Cropper, Peter Gilruth and Ibrahim Thiaw. Alexander Juras and Fatou Ndoye are acknowledged for their leadership in facilitating consultations with Major Groups and Stakeholders. The initial design of the report benefited from inputs from Hussein Abaza, Olivier Deleuze, Maxwell Gomera and Anantha Duraiappah.
The conceptualization of the report benefitted from discussions involving Graciela Chichilnisky, Peter May, Theodore Panayotou, John David Shilling, Kevin Urama and Moses Ikiara. Thanks also go to Kenneth Ruffing for his technical editing and contribution across several chapters and to Edward B. Barbier and Tim Swanson for their contributions to the Introduction Chapter. Numerous internal and external peer reviewers, acknowledged in the individual chapters, contributed their time and expertise to improve the overall quality and sharpness of the report.
In addition, hundreds of people offered their views and perspectives on the report at four major events: the launch meeting of the Green Economy Initiative in December 2008, a technical workshop in April 2009, a review meeting in July 2010, and a consultative meeting in October 2010. Although they are too numerous to mention individually, their contributions are deeply appreciated. Experts who commented on specific draft chapters are noted accordingly in the relevant chapters. The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) warrants special mention here for its constructive feedback on numerous chapters.
The report was produced through the dedicated efforts of the UNEP Chapter Managing Team: Anna Autio, Fatma Ben Fadhl, Nicolas Bertrand, Derek Eaton, Marenglen Gjonaj, Ana Lucía Iturriza, Moustapha Kamal Gueye, Asad Naqvi, Benjamin Simmons and Vera Weick. They worked tirelessly to engage the Chapter Coordinating Authors, interact with relevant experts in UNEP, solidify outlines, review drafts, facilitate peer reviews, compile review comments, guide revisions, conduct research and bring all chapters to final production.
Additionally, several UNEP staff members provided technical and policy guidance on various chapters: Jacqueline Alder, Juanita Castaño, Charles Arden-Clark, Surya Chandak, Munyaradzi Chenje, Thomas Chiramba, Hilary French, Garrette Clark, Rob de Jong, Renate Fleiner, Niklas Hagelberg, Arab Hoballah, James Lomax, Angela M. Lusigi, Kaj Madsen, Donna McIntire, Desta Mebratu, Nick Nuttall, Thierry Oliveira, Martina Otto, David Owen, Ravi Prabhu, Jyotsna Puri, Mark Radka, Helena Rey, Rajendra Shende, Soraya Smaoun, James Sniffen, Guido Sonnemann, Virginia Sonntag-O’Brien, Niclas Svenningsen, Eric Usher, Cornis Van Der Lugt, Jaap van Woerden, Geneviève Verbrugge, Farid Yaker and Yang Wanhua. Their contributions at various stages of the report development are deeply appreciated.
We acknowledge and appreciate the partnership and support of the team from the International Labour Organization (ILO), led by Peter Poschen. Many ILO staff, in particular Edmundo Werna and those acknowledged in the individual chapters, provided contributions on employment related issues. The tourism chapter was developed in partnership with the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), through the coordination of Luigi Cabrini.
Special recognition and thanks are due to Lara Barbier, Etienne Cadestin, Daniel Costelloe, Moritz Drupp, Jane Gibbs, Annie Haakenstad, Hadia Hakim, Jasmin Hundorf, Sharon Khan, Kim Hyunsoo, Andrew Joiner, Kim Juhern, Richard L’Estrange, Tilmann Liebert, François Macheras, Dominique Maingot, Semhar Mebrahtu, Edward Naval, Laura Ochia, Pratyancha Perdeshi, Dmitry Preobrazhensky, Marco Portugal, Alexandra Quandt, Victoria Wu Qiong, Waqas Rana, Alexandria Rantino, Pascal Rosset, Daniel Szczepanski, Usman Tariq, Dhanya Williams, Carissa Wong, Yitong Wu and Zhang Xinyue for their research assistance, and Désirée Leon, Rahila Mughal, and Fatma Pandey for administrative support.
Many thanks are also due to Nicolas Bertrand and Leigh Ann Hurt for managing the production; Robert McGowan, Dianna Rienstra, and Mark Schulman for editing; Elizabeth Kemf for copy-editing; and, Tina Schieder, Michael Nassl and Dorit Lehr for fact-checking.
Finally, we would like to extend a special thanks to Anne Solgaard and the team at UNEP/GRID-Arendal for preparing the layout and design of the report.
UNEP would like to thank the governments of Norway, Switzerland and United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland as well as the International Labour Organization, the UN World Tourism Organization and the UN Foundation for their generous support towards the Green Economy Initiative.
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