The Pan-European Strategic Framework for Greening the Economy guides the transition to an inclusive green economy that will bring investment in innovation, foster the transfer of green technology and products, and stimulate sustainable consumer behavior. It will result in the reduction of environmental risks and ecological scarcities, create green jobs and minimize negative consequences for enterprises and vulnerable groups. The Framework proposes a vision, objectives and focus areas supporting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. BIG-E operationalizes the Framework until 2030 through voluntary commitments by countries and organizations in the form of green economy actions, directly contributing to SDGs.

The initiative is jointly serviced by UNECE and UN Environment and is promoted through the Green Growth Knowledge Platform. Through successful fundraising efforts, countries will be supported in advancing on their pledged commitments on specific themes starting in 2018. Regional exchanges and thematic fora will be organized on a regular basis to build capacity, create synergies and support stakeholders in sharing knowledge, best practices and learning from successful and inspiring actions of other stakeholders.

Given the cross-cutting nature of the BIG-E actions, as well as the universality of stakeholders from developed countries, countries with economies in transition, NGOs, international organizations and the private sector, the BIG-E initiative promotes knowledge exchange, capacity building and technology transfer for countries in transition. As an illustrating example, Kazakhstan pledged to establish an International Center for Green Technology and Investment that will, among others, promote the transfer and adaptation of green technologies and best practices, develop green funding, and promote capacity-building for green growth in support of SDGs 9 and 17. The Regional Environmental Center for the Caucasus Region pledged to build the capacity of the state and private sector for the application of resource efficient and cleaner production in the South Caucasus countries in support of SDG 9. UNECE and UN Environment, in support of SDGs 9, 12, 17, pledged to support capacity building and promote information sharing in Central Asia on strategic plans, actions, new technologies and approaches on shifting to a green economy. Concrete capacity building in support of the BIG-E implementation on specific topics will be carried out as of 2018.

The Pan-European Strategic Framework for Greening the Economy a tool supporting countries efforts in transitioning to green economy and, at the same time, contributing to the implementation of the SDGs was developed and adopted by the UNECE Committee on Environmental Policy, with support from UNECE and UN Environment and in consultation with other partner organizations, and endorsed by the Eighth Environment for Europe Ministerial Conference (Batumi, Georgia, 8-10 June 2016). BIG-E is an initiative developed under the leadership of Switzerland with the involvement of green economy experts from UNECE member States, international organizations, and NGOs. BIG-E was launched at the Batumi Conference. In their Declaration, ministers welcomed the BIG-E and encouraged countries and other stakeholders to implement commitments under the BIG-E in order to facilitate the transition to a green economy, and to report on progress thereon to the UNECE Committee on Environmental Policy in accordance with the Strategic Framework. The initiative is serviced by UNECE in collaboration with UN Environment and is promoted through the Green Growth Knowledge Platform. Stakeholders report their progress at the regular meetings of the UNECE Committee on Environmental Policy, as well as at relevant events organized specifically to promote the exchange of experiences and lessons learned among stakeholders and stakeholder groups that have not yet joined the initiative. Starting from 2018, BIG-E stakeholders will be invited to submit a progress report every two-and-a-half years to the UNECE Committee on Environmental Policy on the implementation of commitments. The progress reports will be assessed in a summary report, which will help to monitor and inform the overall progress towards the implementation of the Pan-European Strategic Framework for Greening the Economy and SDGs. The dedicated and user-friendly section on the BIG-E pledges established on the Green Growth Knowledge Platform, as well as the UNECE website provides continuous updates on the status and progress of the BIG-E implementation.

Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Uzbekistan; Central Asia Interstate Commission for Sustainable Development, Cittadellarte-Pistoletto Foundation, European EcoForum, Green Growth Knowledge Platform, Group of Friends47/UN Environment/GRI, International Resource Panel / UN Environment, IPEN-IEE-EcoForum, OECD, REC Caucasus, REC Central Asia, REC Central and Eastern Europe, UNECE, UN Environment.