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Incorporating Green Growth and Sustainable Development Policies into Structural Reform Agendas
OECD, World Bank, United Nations, 2012
by: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

This report was prepared by the OECD, World Bank and a number of United Nations agencies as an input to the G20 Summit in Los Cabos in June 2012. The report, was prepared in response to the request from G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in February 2012 that asked the OECD, with the World Bank and the UN, to prepare a report that provides options for G20 countries on inserting green growth and sustainable development policies into structural reform agendas, tailored to specific country conditions and level of development.

The report highlights that green growth is a tool for achieving the broader goal of sustainable development, and implies a medium‐ to long‐term policy strategy that understands and addresses potential poverty and resource scarcity gaps; provides opportunities for fostering alternate economic, production and livelihood models; and intends to shield development and growth prospects from future resource price volatility, as well as the impacts of environmental degradation. Green growth that is inclusive can help to implement social and sustainable development goals.

The report provides a toolkit of policy options that are available for countries to draw upon when designing a green growth strategy:

• Reforms of the structure of taxes and charges with a view to pricing negative environmental externalities.

• Reforms that improve the working of product markets.

• Other policies such as regulations and standards and other approaches to address information failures, measurement issues and behavioural biases.

• Conditions for assuring the right policy framework for greening infrastructure provision.

• Innovation policies, and trade and international investment policies.

• Broader social policies to better harness synergies and minimise tradeoffs.

United Nations