OECD Workshop Shares National Experiences on Green Growth

20 February 2014: Participants shared regional and national examples of good practice on green growth at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Expert Workshop on ‘Green Growth, Development Planning and Policy.' Participants emphasized the need to understand the economic rationale behind existing green business initiatives and the possibility to 'green' existing jobs, as opposed to creating more green jobs.

The workshop, which took place in Paris, France, on 20 February 2014, aimed to share experiences, identify lessons and promote good practice on advancing country-led green growth through national development planning and processes. Discussion topics included: experiences in establishing objectives and priorities and managing tradeoffs between short and long-term costs and benefits; and integration of climate adaptation and natural resource management into development policies.

The workshop included five sessions. Two sessions focused on ‘Experience in greening national development plans,' including the entry points, barriers and tradeoffs for integrating environmental goals into development planning. Panelists presented and discussed case from Zambia and Cambodia. The session on ‘Regional perspectives: challenges and opportunities for green growth' included presentations on greening growth in Southeast Asia and greening value chains in Africa.

‘Beyond planning: leadership, organizational change and capacity development' considered national and regional green growth initiatives in Ethiopia and the Caribbean, including a discussion on how to overcome institutional constraints and harness existing resources to move from planning to implementation. In a presentation on ‘Green Economy Initiatives in the Caribbean,' Michael Witter, University of the West Indies, highlighted the importance of ensuring that green growth policies do not create barriers to trade and ensuring that green growth approaches are inclusive. The Caribbean region has developed green growth strategies in its agriculture, energy, forestry and infrastructure planning sectors, including regional initiatives through the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), such as a regional framework for achieving climate resilient development.

A roundtable discussion on ‘Strengthening development co-operation to support inclusive green growth in developing countries' discussed how development partners can support national green growth efforts. Participants, inter alia, presented plans to implement the Busan Partnership commitments on climate finance, and shared experiences in including biodiversity and climate change priorities in their green growth and development policies.