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United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Sustainable Development
Publications

Building an Equitable Green Economy

Publication Year: 2012 Publisher: The Danish 92 Group Forum for Sustainable Development.

Background

This paper lays out how a ‘green economy’ must be designed to contribute to – rather than distract from – sustainable development. The authors define the equitable green economy as one that is ‘not a state but a process of transformation and a constant dynamic progression. The Green Economy does away with the systemic distortions and dis‐functionalities of the current mainstream economy and results in human well‐being and equitable access to opportunity for all people, while safeguarding environmental and economic integrity in order to remain within the planet’s finite carrying capacity. The economy cannot be Green without being Equitable.’

The paper proposes five key working principles that aim to help inform policy and market decisions in progressing the green economy and providing the link between an equitable green economy and sustainable development. The principles are that the Green Economy:
1. Links to policies specifying clear goals for key cross‐cutting pre‐requisites (enabling conditions) to address systemic distortions and dis‐functionalities in order to establish the foundation for equitable transformation and achieving sustainable development.

2. Establishes clear objectives for the necessary means for action to be mobilised (technology, capacity, finance) and defines the approach, nature and profile of these means, e.g. the role of technology within the context of building an equitable Green Economy.

3. Creates the necessary aligned framework of institutions at all levels with clearly defined roles and mandates to enable them to actively advance an equitable Green Economy.

4. Is transparent and engages all involved and affected actors, with powerful actors having clearly defined responsibilities and forms of accountability, while making sure other stakeholders are empowered to act both as beneficiaries of and contributors to the Green Economy.

5. Includes clear timelines for action to achieve objectives, introduce new systems for measuring progress and success, and integrate the tracking of the well‐being of people, places, and the planet.

The report puts a heavy emphasis on an equitable green economy to the extent to which it appears that they do not believe that a green economy is equitable per se. Each working principle is described in relation to the framework that needs to be in place. Each chapter also contains references and links to the proposal in the Zero Draft document for Rio+20.