EPA NETWORK CONFERENCE, BRUSSELS, 5 JUNE 2015
Green Economy: Opportunities for Jobs, Growth and Innovation in Europe
OPPORTUNITIES OF A GREEN ECONOMY FOR JOBS AND GROWTH
A SENSIBLE PATHWAY FOR EUROPE
The Green Economy is essentially linked to a sustainable society and
envisions the benefits for the citizens. While the (short-term) costs
of a Green Economy are frequently discussed, there is evidence that
a Green Economy also creates important benefits – for business, the
environment and society as a whole. The Green Economy is the only
sensible pathway for Europe if it wants to create economic growth, jobs,
investment and competitiveness while preserving its environment.
THE GREEN ECONOMY AND GREEN GROWTH
•The terms ’green economy’ and ’green growth’ are
often used as synonyms.
“European unity
can create a sustainable
society, make us less
dependent on fossil fuels and
external energy providers,
and benefit citizens.”
Frans Timmermans
@TimmermansEU
11.3.2015
“Eco-innovative
companies of all sizes
are growing, on average,
at a rate of 15 per cent a year,
at a time when their respective
markets have remained flat.”
•“Combining enhanced resource efficiency with environmental resilience,
while boosting prosperity and equity in society” is at the core of a green
economy as defined by the European Environment Agency (EEA).
UNEP 2014
The Business Case for
Eco-innovation
•The green economy and green growth offer the opportunity to combine the
European Union 2020 growth strategy – a smart, sustainable and inclusive economy
– with the 2030 climate and energy targets for a competitive, secure and low-carbon
EU economy, as well as a range of other EU programmes and strategies resonating
with the green economy and green growth targets.
•The main initiators for the green economy and green growth approaches have been
the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
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www.unep.org/greeneconomy
www.oecd.org/greengrowth
www.eea.europa.eu/themes/economy/intro
ec.europa.eu/europe2020
ec.europa.eu/energy
EPANET.PBE.EEA.EUROPA.EU
European Network of the Heads of Environment Protection Agencies
EPA EPA
NETWORK
CONFERENCE,
BRUSSELS,
5 JUNE
20152015
NETWORK
CONFERENCE,
BRUSSELS,
5 JUNE
GreenGreen
Economy:
Opportunities
for Jobs,
Growth
andand
Innovation
in inEurope
Economy:
Opportunities
for Jobs,
Growth
Innovation
Europe
GLOBAL MEGATRENDS CAUSE URGENT NEED FOR
THE TRANSITION TO A GREEN ECONOMY
The assessment of the European Environment State and Outlook 2015 provides a clear message why a green economy
is needed. Despite the environmental improvements of recent decades, the challenges that Europe faces today are
considerable. European natural capital is being degraded by socio-economic activities such as agriculture, fisheries,
transport, industry, tourism and urban sprawl, and climate change mitigation has to be intensified drastically. Global
pressures on the environment have grown at an unprecedented rate since the 1990s, driven not least by economic
and population growth, and changing consumption patterns
►► www.eea.europa.eu/soer
THE GREEN ECONOMY REQUIRES ACTIONS FROM ALL SOCIETAL ACTORS
The transition to a green economy has to occur at different levels, including incremental improvements in technologies such as material and energy efficiency. Finally, however, the transition means a fundamental change in our
production and consumption systems. Central, regional and local government will act as facilitators in creating
the preconditions for a green economy. The private sector has to have a key role in innovating new technologies,
services and business models, but realising green growth also requires changes from consumers and civil society
as a whole. NGOs may also play an important role by encouraging discussion about the most desirable path for
society. As stated by the Green Growth Knowledge Platform (GGKP), there is no uniform strategy for implementing
the green economy; rather, specific policies and actions need to respond to national priorities and circumstances.
The EU Eco-Innovation Scoreboard (2013) and WWF’s Global Cleantech Innovation Index (2014) give evidence
that countries putting significant resources into supporting cleantech innovation are rewarded with more emerging
and commercialised cleantech companies. This validates the approach many governments have taken to actively
promote cleantech innovation nationally.
►► www.greengrowthknowledge.org/about-us
►► www.eco-innovation.eu
►► www.cleantech.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Global_Cleantech_Innov_Index_2014.pdf
POLICY OPTIONS TO PROMOTE A GREEN ECONOMY
Governments have a clear role in the transition towards a green economy. They have to provide stable conditions
for investments in innovation and a green growth strategy in order to provide dividends later on. A concrete longterm policy ambition with measureable targets forms a necessary step in the greening of the economy. Continuous
evaluation of the progress is another important element, and indicators to support this evaluation have been suggested by many organisations, e.g. OECD and UNEP.
The set of policy instruments that can be used to promote the green economy include environmental pricing
(e.g. by tax reforms) and abolishing environmentally harmful subsidies (to reflect the currently often hidden environmental costs), as well as dynamic regulation. By setting dynamic standards, requirements for clean technologies
can be tightened over time and innovative companies are rewarded. Governments can also promote eco-innovation
by facilitating access to finance and using public procurement as a tool to stimulate eco-innovation. In order to
realise a green economy it might be necessary for a government to go beyond the role of correcting market failures. According to Mazzucato (2015) it is also necessary to shape and create markets for innovation led-growth. A
targeted innovation and R&D policy aimed at the big societal challenges is also advisable.
►► www.pbl.nl/en/news/newsitems/2013/conditions-for-greening-the-dutch-economy;
►► w ww.pbl.nl/en/publications/green-gains-in-search-of-opportunities-for-the-dutch-economy
►► Mazzucato 2015, Mission Oriented Finance For Innovation
EPA NETWORK CONFERENCE, BRUSSELS, 5 JUNE 2015
Green Economy: Opportunities for Jobs, Growth and Innovation in Europe
BUSINESS POTENTIAL FOR A GREEN ECONOMY IS HUGE
Green economy solutions have significant worldwide potential, which is currently evident particularly in the rapid
growth of cleantech demand and eco-innovative companies. The potential appears both in developing and developed
countries and in all sectors of society. For example, as estimated by the World Bank (2014), the expected investment
across a wide range of clean technology sectors, just in the world’s developing and emerging economies, will exceed
$6.4 trillion over the next decade. The circular economy, a closely related concept to the green economy, has also
been estimated to offer a huge business potential. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation (2012) calculated that European
companies could save $380-630 billion on material costs each year. For the whole Dutch economy, opportunities
related to the circular economy have been calculated at € 7 billion and more than 50,000 additional jobs (TNO
2013), and similar estimates also apply to many other countries, e.g. Finland (Sitra 2014).
Successful actors will be more material- and energy-efficient than their competitors, and they will be able to
provide services and goods flexibly for a resource-efficient and low-carbon society. A green economy will bring
opportunities for entirely new kinds of business activities and models with radical innovative solutions, and create
new companies and jobs. But the traditional industries also have a key role in the transition towards more sustainable
production and consumption systems. Companies that fail to do so can become vulnerable to higher or fluctuating
raw material prices. A transition to a green economy is not just a win-win proposition; it will also lead to the fall
of companies in the process of creative destruction.
►► World Bank. 2014. Building Competitive Green Industries: The Climate and Clean Technology Opportunity
for Developing Countries
►► www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org ► Circular economy
►► TNO. 2013. Kansen voor de circulaire economie in Nederland.
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SOUTH WALES ENCOURAGES THE USE OF RENEWABLE ENERGY
From the second half of the 18th century the South Wales Valleys developed into Britain’s iron and coal heartland
with booming populations and a buoyant economy. Over the last 50 years we have witnessed significant decline to
the point that only a few traditional industries remain while we suffer high levels of social deprivation.
In order to reverse the economic and social decline Wales is perfectly placed to harvest nature’s assets of wind,
sun, rivers and tides and in doing so create high quality jobs from clean energy as well as addressing the dependence
on fossil fuels and enhancing the environment.
Working with Vattenfall and other renewable energy developers, Natural Resources Wales is facilitating 7 major
windfarms across Wales, in excess of 70 small-scale hydro schemes and encouraging the afore-mentioned developers to use their new grid connections to develop solar and biomass power generation as well as other renewable
energy sources that our estate can host and provide Wales with a clean, sustainable source of energy.
Emyr Roberts, Natural Resources Wales
IMPORTANT ROLE OF THE GREEN ECONOMY IN ICELAND’S RECOVERY
Shifting the course towards a greener economy in a time of crisis is maybe not the first thing that comes to mind
in crisis management. For Iceland, reestablishing itself and taking steps towards a greener economy after a time of
economic crisis was a clear shift towards the right direction.
In 2011 the Parliament accepted a proposal on strengthening the green economy. The Icelandic Parliament voted
unanimously for the proposal during a difficult political climate. There was a strong focus on how the principles of
a green economy could bridge the gap between a strong demand for growth and creation of new jobs as well as a
sustainable use of natural resources.
To stimulate the integration the proposals focused on practical projects. The main strategic points focused on the
government as a role model, green investments and green innovation, and a dramatic change in renewable energy
for the transport sector.
Kristín Linda Árnadóttir, Environment Agency of Iceland
EPA NETWORK CONFERENCE, BRUSSELS, 5 JUNE 2015
Green Economy: Opportunities for Jobs, Growth and Innovation in Europe
EPA NETWORK CONFERENCE, BRUSSELS, 5 JUNE 2015
Green Economy: Opportunities for Jobs, Growth and Innovation in Europe
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G r e GREEN GROWTH INDICATORS SUPPORT POLICY DECISIONS IN SLOVAKIA
In Slovakia in 2010, there emerged a challenge to develop a national set of indicators that would cover all
relevant areas of the green growth and would be relevant to development in Slovakia.
We already had in place some indicators for the economy, environment and social issues, but they were
not „consolidated“ or „comprehensive“. The OECD publication on Green Growth Indicators was the inpetus for our work. The Ministry of Environment (MoE), together with its organisation Slovak Environmental
Agency (SEA), established a cross-sectoral working group on the Green Indicators with the presence of other
relevant ministries and governmental agencies. We benefited a lot from the previous cooperation among ministries that had been deepened during the Environmental Performance Review process in 2010-2011. Finally,
in 2014 the publication „Selected Green Growth Indicators in the Slovak Republic“ was released. It contains
indicators based on the OECD work and some country-specific indicators (e. g. voluntary instruments) have
been added. The publication is designed to serve as a source for the policy decision-making process, as well
as a source of information for a wide range of users.
Martin Darmo and Mária Vidová, Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic
► Publication: Selected Green Growth Indicators in the Slovak Republic; available at: www.oecd.org
CRITICAL FACTORS FOR THE PRACTICAL IMPLEMENTATION OF THE GREEN ECONOMY
– LEARNINGS FROM FINLAND, FRANCE, THE NETHERLANDS AND GERMANY
The transition to green and circular economies has been mediated by concrete initiatives and experiments
on different industrial and social sectors. Sometimes experiments have remained temporary, at other times
local initiatives and experiments have transformed into successful practices or even national policies. Comparative assessment of case studies of different types and scales in four European countries (Finland, France,
the Netherlands and Germany) revealed that the transition towards a green economy is never purely based
on win-win solutions, but requires taking into account the potential trade-offs among multiple goals, across
sectors and international leakage. Critical factors for implementing the green economy in practice include
market drivers and barriers, technical and R&D-related skills and knowledge, policy and regulation, networks
and social capital, and public acceptance. Commitment and mutual trust between actors within the networks
as well as public demand for green economy solutions is crucial and reduces the risk of conflicting interests.
Coherent support of national and European policies is required to pave the way towards a green economy.
Riina Antikainen & Kati Pitkänen, Finnish Environment Institute based on project PEER GE read more:
► w ww.syke.fi/en ► Research & Development ► Research and development projects ► Projects ►
Bioeconomy and green engineering as foundations for future circular green economy (PEER GE)
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European Network of the Heads of Environment Protection Agencies
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