Green growth presents a new approach to economic growth - putting well-being at the centre of development while ensuring that natural assets continue to provide the resources and environmental services to support sustainable development. The OECD works with a network of development co-operation agencies, countries and other development partners to share experience, facilitate lesson-learning and to promote good practice in integration of green growth objectives into development planning and policy. The core aim is to ensure that development co-operation activities successfully support country-led development policies and planning to deliver economic growth that is both green and inclusive.

 

Green Growth, Developing Countries and Development Policy - Biodiversity and Development Co-operation -
Tools for Green Growth

 

1. Green Growth, Developing Countries and Development Policy

Rapidly accelerating growth in low- and medium-income developing countries raises the stakes for investments in development but also the opportunities to choose how to develop. Green models for development offer an alternative that relies on and values natural assets, and that promotes the well-being and livelihoods of people in developing countries.

 

(i) Publications and Related Documents

	OECD Post-2015: Global and local environmental sustainability, development and growth (2014)  This is Element 4, Paper 1 of the OECD Reflection papers on the Post-2015 Development Agenda. For more information, see here.
	Putting Green Growth at the Heart of Development (2013) This publication explains why green growth is vital to secure a more sustainable future for developing countries. Covering 74 policies and measures from 37 countries and 5 regional initiatives, this publication outlines an action-oriented twin-track agenda to guide national and international policies and practices to successfully tackle green growth.
	Towards Green Growth in Emerging and Developing Asia (forthcoming in 2014) In the context of the 2012 East Asia Climate Partnership (EACP) programme, the OECD has engaged in a 2-year horizontal project, Towards Green Growth in Emerging and Developing Asia, whose overarching objective is to help promote green growth in ASEAN countries in line with the region’s development objectives. Building on the OECD expertise on green growth, this work will follow up on the OECD Green Growth framework and the OECD Strategy on Development which will be tailored to the specificities of ASEAN economies.
	Green Growth and Poverty Reduction: Policy Coherence for pro-Poor Growth (2013) This paper explores the policy coherence for development dimensions of green growth strategies pursued by OECD member states.
	Making Growth Green and Inclusive: The Case of Cambodia (2013) This report presents a case study on Cambodia that is designed to answer the following questions: Can developing countries strike a balance between economic growth, societal well-being and environmental protection? Can inclusive, green growth be a way forward?
	Making Growth Green and Inclusive: The Case of Ethiopia (2013) This report showcases the holistic approach to growth that the Ethiopian Government has recently developed, which aims to tackle the issues inherent in growth paths that produce environmental problems, and to realise potentials from investing in Ethiopia’s natural assets.

Key OECD documents on Green Growth

This website draws together key OECD documents on green growth from across the whole organisation. This includes the Green Growth Studies series, the Green Growth Papers series, and the OECD Green Growth Strategy Package. 

 

 

(ii) Events

OECD ENVIRONET Expert Workshop: Green Growth, Development Planning and Policy, OECD, Paris, 20 February 2014

The objective of this Workshop was to share experience, identify lessons and promote good practice among development partners on how to advance country-led inclusive green growth through in-country development planning and policy processes. 

 

Green Growth and Sustainable Development Forum: How to Unlock Investment in Support of Green Growth? OECD, Paris, France, 5-6 December 2013. 

The 2013 Forum discussed how governments can improve their investment policy framework to reduce the risk and attract long-term private finance in support of green growth.

 

G20 Development Working Group Workshop on Inclusive Green Growth, Moscow, Russian Federation, 7 July 2013

This Workshop expanded the G20 Development Working Group's (DWG) dialogue with representatives from developing countries on the lessons learned from their own experiences in designing and implementing inclusive green growth strategies.

 

National Scoping Workshop on Inclusive Green Growth in Zambia, Chisamba, Zambia, 4-5 July 2013

This event was organised by the government of Zambia, with support from the OECD, the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) to improve the knowledge base to help the government engage with local stakeholders to plan a transition towards an inclusive green economy. Workshop report available soon. 

 

Green Growth in Africa: Concepts, Tools and Strategies for Building Greener Economies and a Sustainable Future, Lusaka, Zambia, 15-18 January 2013. 

The Government of Zambia hosted two back-to-back workshops in January 2013 under the theme “Green Growth in Africa: Concepts, Tools and Strategies for Building Greener Economies and a Sustainable Future” in partnership with the African Development Bank, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland, and the OECD. The workshops presented conceptual issues and policy tool kits on implementing green growth policy measures and strategic environmental assessments.

 

 

(iii) Related Websites, Blogs and Articles 

OECD work on green growth - topic site

OECD contribution to the G20 Development Working Group: A Toolkit of Policy Options to Support Inclusive Green Growth (Revised version, July 2013)

Green Growth is the Heart of Development, guest article by DAC Chair Erik Solheim, June 2013

World Environment Day - OECD Insights blog post by Serge Tomasi, Deputy Director of the OECD Development Co-operation Directorate, June 2013

 

For more information, contact Jan Corfee-Morlot (jan.corfee-morlot@oecd.org)

or Juan Casado-Asensio (juan.casadoasensio@oecd.org)

 

2. Biodiversity and Development Co-operation

To facilitate green growth and sustainable development in partner countries, development co-operation agencies aim to support countries to integrate local and global environmental concerns into their development policies. In a new project, the OECD is examining how development co-operation partners are advancing biodiversity and development objectives in practice, the challenges and opportunities and the lessons learnt to date.

 

A scoping paper aiming to understand the state-of-play of development co-operation support in promoting the integration of biodiversity into development is currently under preparation, and will:

 

(i) review key statistics and characteristics of Official Development Assistance (ODA) to biodiversity in partner developing countries;

(ii) examine the frameworks, strategies and mechanisms that donor agencies use to mainstream biodiversity into development co-operation and development planning at country level;

(ii) explore how partner countries are managing the synergies and trade-offs involved in the development-biodiversity nexus, and to monitor and evaluate the impacts of their biodiversity projects and programmes; and

(iv) review how donors are aligning with the needs and priorities of partner countries, and how they are harmonising their activities.  

 

The scoping paper will showcase examples of good practice, as well as challenges and bottlenecks.

 

Flyers with present and past OECD DAC statistics and analysis on Aid to Biodiversity is available on the Rio markers website. 

 

The Environment Directorate of the OECD has also done extensive work on Economics and Policies for Biodiversity. 

 

For more information, contact Jan Corfee-Morlot (jan.corfee-morlot@oecd.org) or

Anna Drutschinin (anna.drutschinin@oecd.org)

 

3. Tools for Green Growth

 

Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) and enhancing capacity for environmental management and governance are important tools for green growth, both for developing countries pursuing green models of development, and for development co-operation agencies that are supporting green growth and integrating the environment into their development co-operation activities.

 

Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) consists of a range of analytical and participatory approaches that aim to integrate environmental considerations into policies, plans and programmes and evaluate the inter-linkages with economic and social considerations. Our involvement in the Strategic Environmental Assessment Network has enabled us to produce guidance notes to promote a more harmonised, effective approach to SEA, working alongside key donor and development agencies.

Enhancing Capacity for Environmental Management and Governance is relevant both to environment and development co-operation officials in providing development assistance, and to officials in developing countries themselves. This OECD policy guidance outlines steps to be considered when building capacity for greening national development planning, national budgetary processes and key economic sector strategies. It identifies the key actors to be engaged in the decision making processes, possible institutional capacity needs and suggests how these can be addressed.

For more information, contact Jan Corfee-Morlot (jan.corfee-morlot@oecd.org) or

Juan Casado-Asensio (juan.casadoasensio@oecd.org)