Page 274 - Special Topic Session (STS) - Volume 1
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STS429 Margarita R.
                  stemmed from the identification of the need to address multiple issues in an
                  integrated way, to overcome these existing interrelated crises and to better
                  avoid any further ones. The green economy looks for the growth of the Gross
                  Domestic Product (GDP) and jobs through shifting investments towards clean
                  technologies  and  natural  capital  as  well  as  human  resources  and  social
                  institutions. According to the UNEP, the basic principles of green economy are
                  following:
                        Justice and objectivity, both within a single generation and between
                         generations;
                        Coherence with the principles of sustainable development;
                        A preventive approach to social and environmental impacts;
                        Evaluation  of  natural  and  social  capital,  for  example,  the
                         internationalization of external costs, green accounting, costs over the
                         entire life cycle and improved management;
                        Sustainable  and  efficient  use  of  resources,  consumption  and
                         production;
                        The  need  to  achieve  existing  macroeconomic  goals  through  the
                         creation of green jobs, poverty eradication, increased competitiveness
                         and growth in key sectors.
                      Additionally,  the  OECD  has  developed  and  introduced  the  concept  of
                  “green growth”, defining it as the maximum guarantee of economic growth
                  and development, without affecting the quantity and quality of natural assets
                  and using the growth potential that arises during the transition to a green
                  economy. That is, “green growth” is GDP growth, which is subject to “green”
                  conditions and focuses on “green” sectors as new growth engines.
                      It  is  important  to  say  that  there  is  no  single  internationally-accepted
                  definition of the green economy until now. Besides the concepts mentioned
                  above, other international organizations created their own definitions of green
                  economy and green growth, highlighting the following:
                        Global  Green  New  Deal  (2009):  “The  economic  crisis  provides  the
                         opportunity to introduce a global green new deal, which consists in
                         stimulating the economy towards the development of green sectors,
                         green  infrastructure  and  green  jobs.  A  greening  infrastructure  is  a
                         process  of  transforming  a  business  activity  such  that  it  reduces
                         emissions  of  greenhouse  gases  and  consumption  of  resources,
                         produces less waste, and reduces social inequalities at the same time,
                         ensuring the return on natural, human and economic capital”.
                        World Bank (2012): “Green growth is an effective growth in terms of
                         using  clean  resources,  i.e.  reducing  pollution  and  environmental
                         degradation,  resistant  to  natural  hazards  and  using  environmental
                         management to prevent other disasters”.



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