Inclusive Green Growth: The Pathway to Sustainable Development

In this publication, the World Bank indicates that inclusive green growth is the pathway to sustainable development. The report begins by stating that although economic growth has lifted more than 660 million people out of poverty over the past 20 years, it has often come at the expense of the environment. Long]term sustainability of growth and progress on social welfare are threatened by inefficient and wasteful use of the earthfs natural capital resources without adequate reinvestment of other forms of wealth or sufficient reckoning of the true social costs. The report maintains that this can be blamed on market, policy and institutional failures. Inclusivity is at the heart of the concept: the report states that there are still many people who have been excluded from the benefits of economic growth. 1.3 billion still do not have access to electricity, 2.6 billion do not have access to sanitation and 900 million lack access to clean drinking water.

Similarly to the Danish 92 Groupfs report on the eEquitable Green Economyf the World Bank states that we cannot assume that green growth will be inclusive and equitable. Green growth policies must be developed to ensure maximised benefits and minimised costs to the poor and most vulnerable, and policies and actions with irreversible negative impacts must be avoided. The report also calls for better measures to monitor economic performance and mentions ecomprehensive wealthf, which includes natural capital, as an example. The five key messagesfrom the report are: 1) Greening growth is necessary, efficient, and affordable 2) Obstacles to greening growth are political and behavioural inertia, and a lack of financing instruments 3) Green growth should look at what needs to be done in the next 5]10 years 4) The way forward requires a blend of economics, political science, and social psychology and 5) There is no single green growth model.