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This document presents UNESCAP capacity development programme on green growth. This programme aims to introduce green growth as a solution for addressing the development challenges facing countries in Asia and the Pacific; to familiarize participants with appropriate assessment tools to measure emerging environmental/economic/social issues in the region; to assist with the integration of green growth concepts into socio-economic policy planning.

This analytical report brings into focus policy options and approaches that can expand economies while simultaneously improving welfare, reducing poverty and protecting natural capital. It explores the potential of measures for promoting green growth such as eco-tax reform, developing sustainable infrastructure, encouraging sustainable consumption and greening business activity. It also illustrates these options with examples from across the Asia-Pacific region. 

This analytical report analyzes green growth in Asia and the Pacific. It discusses what the green growth paradigm shift actually means in the region and what it offers government, private sector, multi-stakeholders, communities and individuals to act differently. Opportunities and incentives provided are also addressed.

This online platform features a series of documents relevant for understanding green growth and the greening of business. It includes background material and case studies and provides information and documents for the 3rd Green Growth Policy Dialogue: The Greening of Business and the Environment as a Business Opportunity.  

This module aims to introduce participants to the significance of resource scarcity and climate change and how adapting low carbon green growth can provide win-win solutions for fostering inclusive sustainable development while mitigating and adapting to climate change. The module is arranged into four subsections: significance of climate change in Asia Pacific’s development agenda; the need for low carbon development; how green growth policy options work for low carbon development; facing green growth.

This technical document presents an overview of the quantified economy-wide emission reduction targets to be implemented by developed country Parties, as well as assumptions and conditions related to the attainment of these targets, and discusses comparison of the emission reduction efforts. This paper is intended to facilitate understanding of these assumptions and conditions. It is based on submissions by Parties and their contributions to the workshop held in Bangkok, Thailand, on 3 April 2011 on assumptions and conditions related to the attainment of quantified economy-wide emission reduction targets by developed country Parties.

This analytical report highlights the need for institutional strengthening and training for countries in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) to benefits from the prospects for sustainable forest management. Such training is necessary at the local level so that stakeholders are made aware of the aims of forest policy as well as their rights and responsibilities. The brief calls for an institutional skills audit to assess current skill levels and potential needs at local, regional and national levels.

This analytical report notes the need for the institutions responsible for forest management to compete with and complement a variety of sectoral interests to prove their worth to society, stressing that traditional forestry institutions that rely on command and control structures are increasingly outmoded. Weaknesses in the sector in many countries include: failure of forest management systems to protect forest resources; failure to safeguard livelihoods of the forest-dependent poor; and sluggishness in reacting to new demands and ensuring the representations of key stakeholders in decision-making. It suggests that assessments of field-level forestry issues may be a first step to revitalize forestry institutions to assess human and financial resources and available knowledge.

This analytical report stresses that climate change, habitat destruction and extraction of high-value species are major threats to biodiversity in protected areas in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS). The publication calls for a focus on awareness raising, environmental impact assessments and improved law enforcement.

This analytical report underscores that, with demands on forests increasing and climate change threatening, efforts to maintain benefits from forests should focus attention on effective management at the field level. The brief calls for efforts to focus on field-level management activities including monitoring of forest health, fire management, forest patrolling, silvicultural activities, reduced impact logging and collection of forest statistics. The brief also stresses the need for foresters to engage in voluntary codes of best practice and to integrate monitoring into responsive management systems.  

This analytical report highlights that although the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS)  has 48% forest cover, reinvestment in forests is necessary to address increased demands for timber, biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation. The brief argues that millions of hectares of grassland and degraded forest could be viable sites for plantation development and assisted natural regeneration. It also stresses the need for a renewed focus on an enabling institutional environment to make the most of forestry investments.

This technical document presents a comprehensive assessment of the benefits that can be derived from practical measures to reduce black carbon—a principal soot component—as well as methane and other gases that contribute to the formation of ozone in the troposphere (ground level to about 10-15km altitude). Both black carbon and tropospheric ozone not only contribute to climate change, but also have negative effects on health, agricultural production and key ecosystems like forests and freshwater.

This analytical report highlights the role of forest tenure reform in achieving sustainable forest management and improved livelihoods, noting the importance of accompanying reform with capacity building and supportive measures to forest users. The publication calls for support for traditional forest management arrangements, and flexibility for forest users to develop their own management systems suited to their particular circumstances. The report also discusses implications of tenure reform for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.

This analytical report evaluates potential health impacts of mitigation options for the residential building sector. It finds that many forms of asthma and allergies, as well as heart disease and strokes related to increasingly intense heat waves and cold spells, could be addressed by climate-friendlier housing measures. It identifies a number of win-win strategies for health and climate change mitigation, including improved and energy-efficient heating and cooking facilities to reduce indoor pollution.

This document includes two modules on green tax and budget reform. The first one aims to provide a brief thematic overview of the fundamental tenets of green tax and budget reform, various methods for overcoming obstacles to implementation, as well as its applicability to the Asia-Pacific region, particularly within the context of developing countries. The second one aims to familiarize participants with the various tax instruments and financing techniques available for greening the transport sector.

This document includes two modules on sustainable infrastructures. It highlights that without careful planning, infrastructure can lock in countries into unsustainable consumption and production patterns. The first module aims to familiarise participants with policy measures to support cost-effective, sustainable construction plans, emphasising the environmentally-efficient delivery of services and the regeneration of natural habitat. The second module aims to introduce ways to design environmentally-efficient, people-centered transportation systems towards enhancing the health, safety and mobility of urban populations.

This document includes a series of five modules on green business and green growth. Green business is defined as enterprises which consider environmental protection as an essential component of their long-term business objectives, both by promoting ecologically efficient production activities and by marketing sustainable products and services. While the first module introduces the key concepts, the second one presents the whole system approach. The third module discusses the role of the government in greening business, and the fourth is a collection of case studies and the fifth analyses social entrepreneurship and green business in developing countries.

This document includes two modules on sustainable consumption and production. The first one aims to familiarise users with key concepts pertaining to these issues. The second is designed to introduce users to the Asia-Pacific region specific facts and findings supporting the needs for sustainable consumption and production. It addresses the economic and social costs of “business as usual” growth in Asia and the Pacific, discusses unexplored opportunities for increasing sustainability and ecological inefficiencies, and analyse the role of the various actors.

This technical document studies North African cities’ vulnerability to climate change risks. Alexandria is found to require climate-smart urban planning to ensure its growing population does not settle in low-lying coastal areas, as well as early warning systems for natural disasters. The document indicates that climate-resilient urban planning, including drainage systems, will also be crucial for Tunis to manage the flooding risks. Casablanca, in turn, has a coastal segment that faces a strong risk of erosion and submersion, requiring upgraded systems for surveillance and early warning.

This analytical report aims to assist journalists to cover disasters in ways to persuade national and local governments to invest more in disaster risk reduction (DRR) policies. It highlights that climate change, environmental degradation, poverty and rapid urbanization contribute to expose more people to disasters, and governments are slow to implement DRR policies by continuing to react to disaster emergencies, rather than looking for ways to prevent them. The report shows that journalists can play a critical role by raising awareness about disasters and making a difference in the way people act, especially with climate change recognized as aggravating the vulnerability to disasters.