The report entitled ‘Inclusive GG: The Pathway to Sustainable Development’ stressed the importance of GG to sustainable development in the context of increasing climate change while arguing that GG is achievable if countries could handle its major obstacles including political economy constraints, deeply entrenched behaviours and social norms, and a lack of financing instruments.
According to the report, GG is necessary, efficient, and affordable, debunking the myth that a GG approach is a luxury most countries cannot afford as it states “All countries, rich and poor, have opportunities to green their growth.”
The report proposed that governments should ‘think green’ when pursuing growth policies to sustain economic expansion, and to not only measure what is being produced, but also what is being used up and polluted in the process.
The way forward requires multi-disciplinary solutions, blending economics, political science and social psychology to overcome chief barriers to GG, said Chief Economist of the WB’s Sustainable Development Network and co-author of the report, Marianne Fay.
Developing countries like Vietnam have options other than to “grow dirty and clean up later”, she said. She added that nations should focus on developing GG policies and investments that are good for growth, as well as for the environment, such as reforming energy subsidies or trade barriers that protect pollution-intensive sectors, pursuing smart prices and regulation policies, and increasing public investment.
Regarding the adaptation of the GG concept in Vietnam, General Director of Department of Science, Education, Natural Resources and Environment under the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), Pham Hoang Mai said Vietnam has developed a wide range of GG action plans from central to provincial levels. However, major challenges still exist including capital shortage, lack of access to technologies, and weak law enforcement.
The MPI will continue developing a range of measures including setting deadline for localities to accomplish GG action plans, defining benchmarks for local authorities to follow, and strengthening public-private partnership, in addition to issuing green economic support policies.
WB Country Director for Vietnam, Victoria Kwakwa, suggested that GG policies must be carefully designed to maximise benefits and minimise costs for the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly during economic restructuring.
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