Green Jobs
FES Regional Forum
Green Jobs in Asia – Potentials and Prospects for National Strategies
Singapore, 5-7 March 2012
Environmental technologies, such as renewable energies, recycling technologies, technologies for sustainable transport, etc. are increasingly seen as the drivers of future economic growth, while at the same time preserving natural resources and mitigating emissions. This is captured in the OECD’s Green Growth Strategy, which states: “Green growth means fostering economic growth and development while ensuring that natural assets continue to provide the resources and environmental services on which our well-being relies” (OECD 2011). While earlier definitions referred to the growth of specific eco-industries (Jänicke 2011), this new definition calls for a mainstreaming of green growth into “core economic strategies” in acknowledgement of the risks of continued environmental degradation for sustained economic growth.
Similar approaches are also being developed by Asian policy makers. In 2005, at the fifth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Development in Asia and the Pacific (MECD 2005), Asian countries launched the so-called Seoul Initiative Network for Green Growth, officially endorsed by the 61st Session of UNESCAP. The recent UNESCAP (2010) report entitled “Green Growth, Resources and Resilience” acknowledges the limits of current resource-intensive development models in promoting long-term socio economic progress, especially for the most vulnerable sectors of society. It calls for “policies and investments that promote green growth […] to improve the “eco-efficiency” of the economy, which involves minimizing resource use and negative environmental impacts while maximizing the benefits generated by the economy. This action requires integrated strategies that increase the productivity with which energy and other resources are used, while ensuring that the growth rate and the types of economic activities are able to generate jobs
Green Jobs in Asia – Potentials and Prospects for National Strategies
Singapore, 5-7 March 2012
Environmental technologies, such as renewable energies, recycling technologies, technologies for sustainable transport, etc. are increasingly seen as the drivers of future economic growth, while at the same time preserving natural resources and mitigating emissions. This is captured in the OECD’s Green Growth Strategy, which states: “Green growth means fostering economic growth and development while ensuring that natural assets continue to provide the resources and environmental services on which our well-being relies” (OECD 2011). While earlier definitions referred to the growth of specific eco-industries (Jänicke 2011), this new definition calls for a mainstreaming of green growth into “core economic strategies” in acknowledgement of the risks of continued environmental degradation for sustained economic growth.
Similar approaches are also being developed by Asian policy makers. In 2005, at the fifth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Development in Asia and the Pacific (MECD 2005), Asian countries launched the so-called Seoul Initiative Network for Green Growth, officially endorsed by the 61st Session of UNESCAP. The recent UNESCAP (2010) report entitled “Green Growth, Resources and Resilience” acknowledges the limits of current resource-intensive development models in promoting long-term socio economic progress, especially for the most vulnerable sectors of society. It calls for “policies and investments that promote green growth […] to improve the “eco-efficiency” of the economy, which involves minimizing resource use and negative environmental impacts while maximizing the benefits generated by the economy. This action requires integrated strategies that increase the productivity with which energy and other resources are used, while ensuring that the growth rate and the types of economic activities are able to generate jobs