🚀 go-pugleaf

Special Issue: Green Economy and Development
On the road again to Rio+20

This Newsletter guides you to content relevant for international co-
operation and economic development. Reposted from sources linked
below.
Get connected by mailto:subscribe@weitzenegger.de
Get a daily newsletter service at http://tinyurl.com/newsboxx
Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/kweitzenegger

CONTENT

1. UNEP: Green Economy is key catalyst for growth and poverty
eradication
2. OECD: Green and growth go together
3. The Green Star Hotel Initiative supports the greening of Egypt's
tourism industry
4. UNCTAD releases book ''Road to Rio +20''
5. UNEP Report spotlights benefits from boosting funding for forests
6. LDCs set to jump start to a green economy
7. The Africa Competitiveness Report 2011
8. Economic Report on Africa 2011 - Focused industrial policy
9. Climate Change and Asian Development Bank
10. EU renewable energy targets may boost land grabbing in developing
countries
11. German government backs new energy strategy
12. Recommended Publications
13. Recommended Training and Events
14. Recommended Websites
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The human race is challenged more than ever before to demonstrate our
mastery - not over nature but of ourselves. Rachel Carson
--------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Green Economy is key catalyst for growth and poverty eradication,
says UNEP-report

UNEP has launched a report entitled Towards a Green Economy, Pathways
to a Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication, in advance of
Rio 2012, that focuses on innovative ways to reduce poverty and
promote sustainable development.
The report aims to ''demystify” two myths about greening the global
economy. First, sustainable development and economy go together. A
green economy does not inhibit but rather provides opportunities for
employment and wealth creation, it argues. Secondly, a green economy
is not the prerogative of wealthy countries.
According to the report, this investment will set up the transition
towards a green economy, defined as low carbon, resource efficient and
socially inclusive. A large part of this transition, however, implies
policies and investment that dissociate growth from the current
intensive consumption of materials and energy use.
The report also seeks to motivate policy makers to create the enabling
conditions for increased investments in a transition to a green
economy. Investing 2% of global GDP into ten key sectors can kick-
start a transition towards a low carbon, resource efficient Green
Economy, a new United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) report
suggests. The sum, currently amounting to an average of around $1.3
trillion a year and backed by forward-looking national and
international policies, would grow the global economy at around the
same rate, if not higher than those forecast under current economic
models.
In his foreword to the report, UNEP Executive Director Acheim Steiner
writes: ''New ideas are by their very nature disruptive, but far less
disruptive than a world running low on drinking water and productive
land, set against the backdrop of climate change, extreme weather
events and rising natural resource scarcities. A green economy does
not favour one political perspective over another. It is relevant to
all economies, be they State or more market-led. Neither is it a
replacement for sustainable development. Rather, it is a way of
realising that development at the national, regional and global levels
and in ways that resonate with and amplify the implementation of
Agenda 21''
Sources:
http://www.unep.org/GreenEconomy/Portals/93/documents/Full_GER_screen.pdf
http://www.unep.org/greeneconomy/GreenEconomyReport/
http://www.un-ngls.org/spip.php?article3261
http://www.thebrokeronline.eu/en/trackback/id/6181
--------------------------------------------------------------------

2. Green and growth go together, says OECD

The OECD Green Growth Strategy <http://www.oecd.org/document/
10/0,3746,en_2649_37465_44076170_1_1_1_37465,00.html>, and the new
report, Towards Green Growth, provide a practical framework for
governments to boost economic growth and protect the environment.
Governments must look to the green economy to find new sources of
growth and jobs. They should put in place policies that tap into the
innovation, investment and entrepreneurship driving the shift towards
a greener economy. Green growth makes economic as well as
environmental sense. In natural resource sectors alone, commercial
opportunities related to investments in environmental sustainability
could run into trillions of dollars by 2050.
Two broad sets of policies are essential elements in any green growth
strategy: the first set mutually reinforces economic growth and the
conservation of natural capital, including core fiscal and regulatory
settings and innovation policies. The second includes policies that
provide incentives to use natural resources efficiently and make
pollution more expensive.
Replacing natural capital with physical capital is expensive and the
infrastructure needed to clean polluted water can be costly, but the
cost of inaction can be higher still. Greening growth now, the report
argues, is necessary to prevent further erosion of natural capital,
such as increased scarcity of water and other resources, more
pollution, climate change, and biodiversity loss, all of which can
undermine future growth. In addition to the Synthesis Report, the
document Tools for Delivering on Green Growth outlines options
available to policy makers for developing green growth strategies. The
report Towards Green Growth – Monitoring Progress: OECD Indicators
outlines ways to measure progress. http://www.oecd.org/greengrowth
--------------------------------------------------------------------

3. The Green Star Hotel Initiative supports the greening of Egypt's
tourism industry

Tourism key to the economic recovery of Egypt. The Green Star Hotel
Initiative (GSHI) aims to improve the environmental performance and
competitiveness of the Egyptian hotel industry by promoting the
implementation of environmental management systems and environmentally
sound operations, Within the framework of the PPP program oft eh
German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development BMZ,
Egyptian and German tourism key players joined forces with technical
assistance provided by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale
Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) to move the Egyptian hotel industry towards
sustainability. The Initiative is operated by AGEG Consultants eG.
http://www.greenstarhotel.net
--------------------------------------------------------------------

4. UNCTAD releases book ''Road to Rio +20''

UNCTAD has published the first in a series of volumes focusing on
issues pertinent to ''green” economic growth – a low-carbon, resource-
efficient approach to development intended to raise living standards
in sustainable fashion while combating climate change and conserving
biodiversity. The intent is to give practical expression to the
concept of sustainable development adopted at the 1992 Earth Summit in
Rio de Janeiro. The book features 14 articles and is intended to
highlight critical topics and focus global discussion in advance of
the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. The Rio
+20 summit has as its main theme ''the green economy in the context of
sustainable development and poverty eradication. ''It also will focus
on the institutional framework for sustainable development at the
international and national levels. http://www.unctad.org/trade_env/greeneconomy/roadtorioGE.asp
--------------------------------------------------------------------

5. UNEP Report Spotlights Enormous Economic and Human Benefits from
Boosting Funding for Forests

Investing an additional US$40 billion (0.034 Percent of Global GDP) a
year in the forestry sector could halve deforestation rates by 2030,
increase rates of tree planting by around 140 per cent by 2050, and
catalyze the creation of millions of new jobs according to a report by
the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). Backed by the right kinds of
enabling policies, such an investment - equivalent to about two-thirds
more than what is spent on the sector today - could also sequester or
remove an extra 28 per cent of carbon from the atmosphere, thus
playing a key role in combating climate change.
Forests in a Green Economy: A Synthesis was unveiled during this
year's World Environment Day (WED) celebrations. The theme, Forests:
Nature at Your Service, underscores the multitude of benefits that
forests provide to humanity. http://tinyurl.com/6x83hzq
--------------------------------------------------------------------

6. LDCs set to jump start to a green economy

With their low-carbon profile, rich natural assets and promising
policy initiatives, the world’s 48 least developed countries are well-
positioned to jump start the transition to a green economy, according
to a new UN report released at the start of the Fourth UN Conference
on Least Developed Countries (LDC-IV). Carla September reviews the
report, titled Why a Green Economy Matters for the Least Developed
Countries. http://www.world-economy-and-development.org/wearchiv/042ae69ee20b05812.php
According to a new report released by the UN Conference on Trade and
Development (UNCTAD), most of the investments taken in LDCs have not
yet resulted in significant economic growth and job creation. ''Such
investment has not tended to ‘fertilize’ LDC economies by leading to
greater links between foreign businesses and local firms that can
spread know-how and technology and help spur broad-based, long-term
economic growth,” the body emphasised. In order to effectively address
those countries’ economic potential, the international community
should strengthen the ability of LDCs to attract foreign investments
by inter alia setting up a ''LDC infrastructure development fund”, the
report reads. http://tinyurl.com/63op5zt
--------------------------------------------------------------------

7. The Africa Competitiveness Report 2011

The Report highlights areas where the urgent policy action and
investment are needed to ensure that Africa sustains its economic
recovery and continues to grow in the future. It maps out the
continent’s policy challenges and presents a unified vision of the
areas requiring critical attention. The Report can serve as a useful
tool for African decision makers in public and private spheres to
measure the business climate potential for fostering sustainable
growth and prosperity. The Report also contains in-depth assessments
of the state of competitiveness, the impact of foreign direct
investment on the continent, and the trade performance of the region.
It also outlines the potential for increased productivity growth in
agriculture and agribusiness. The final sections include detailed
competitiveness profiles for several African countries.
http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GCR_Africa_Report_2011.pdf
--------------------------------------------------------------------

8. Governing Development in Africa - Economic Report on Africa 2011 -
Focused industrial policy

To catch up and, more important, to meet its own development
objectives, Africa needs to promote rapid industrialization that will
promote innovation, technological adoption, entrepreneurship, high
value added and employment-generating manufacturing. This will enable
the continent to overcome the low contribution of industry and
manufacturing to GDP and employment. The formulation and
implementation of industrial policy will enable African governments to
target particular activities or sectors for support. Each country will
have to identify niche industries where it has competitive advantages
or the capability to develop dynamic advantages. This in turn will
contribute to Africa’s industrial development. However, unlike most
countries in post-independence Africa, which thwarted the emergence of
a capitalist class, the 21st century African developmental state has
to vigorously attempt to build an indigenous capitalist class.
Also, unlike the experiences of the 20th century developmental States
elsewhere, industrialization in Africa in the 21st century will have
to be sensitive to environmental sustainability (chapter 3). The
development of renewable energy and a green economy as part of
Africa’s overall development strategy cannot be over-emphasized.
Renewable energy in particular and the green economy in general offer
Africa a basis for transforming the structures of its economies and to
create sustainable jobs and livelihoods.
The industrial strategy of the developmental States of East Asia
suggests that creating industrial winners through fiscal incentives to
facilitate enhanced productivity and some form of protectionism were
critical for the growth of local manufacturing. While protectionism
may be difficult and largely unfashionable in a globalized economy
regulated by WTO, nonetheless, as part of their industrial policy,
African States should ensure a phasing-out process to protect local
industries, which is necessary for their growth and consolidation.
This will enable them to compete, over time, in the global economy.
http://www.uneca.org/era2011
--------------------------------------------------------------------

9. Climate Change and Asian Development Bank

ADB is helping developing countries shift to low-carbon growth and
protect those most vulnerable against the expected impacts of climate
change. ADB's long-term strategic framework for 2008-2020 (Strategy
2020) makes tackling climate change part of our core operations. ADB
is supporting a comprehensive program of assistance to developing
member countries for climate change mitigation and adaptation
measures, and mainstreaming of climate change considerations into ADB
operations. http://www.adb.org/Documents/Brochures/InFocus/climate-change.asp
--------------------------------------------------------------------

10. EU renewable energy targets may boost land grabbing in developing
countries

The EU’s renewable energy target of 20% of its energy supply from
renewable energies by 2020 will cause widespread ‘land-grabbing’ in
developing countries, according to a new Action Aid report. The EU
adopted the target in the ‘Renewable Energy Roadmap’ in January 2007,
and has come under increasing scrutiny from civil society.
http://tinyurl.com/5ucwlbv
--------------------------------------------------------------------

11. German government backs new energy strategy

The German government now aims to implement the Energy Strategy it
adopted in late 2010 more swiftly and more rigorously than originally
intended. Only ten years from now the last nuclear power plants are to
be closed down. Germany aims to enter the age of renewables as quickly
as possible. Speaking in Berlin, Chancellor Angela Merkel and three of
her ministers presented in detail the steps that will be involved. No
provision has been made for a way back. The strategy will entail
changes to power grid expansion plans and the subsidy system for
renewable energy such as solar and wind. The government already
dropped plans to add a further cut to incentives for photovoltaic
energy. Both chambers of parliament have to agree a change of course
on energy strategy by the parliamentary summer break in July.
http://www.bundesregierung.de/Webs/Breg/EN/Issues/Sustainability/sustainability.html
--------------------------------------------------------------------

12. Recommended Publications

A Global Green New Deal
http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/iez/08087.pdf
Response to crisis or paradigm shift towards sustainability? FES
International Policy Analysis.

A Global Green New Deal: Rethinking the Economic Recovery
http://tinyurl.com/3hprmgw
Edward B. Barbier charts the way for recovering from the recession and
saving the planet at the same time.

A Green Venture Fund to Finance Clean Technology for Developing
Countries.
http://www.cgdev.org/content/publications/detail/1424899
Center for Global Development (CGD) Working Paper 245, by Darius
Nassiry and David Wheeler

Breathe in, breathe out, and drop the Coke
http://tinyurl.com/3db6w4l
Buddhist, economist, two-time nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize and
WFC Councillor Sulak Sivaraksa reflects on the habits of Western
societies in his newest book. In an interview with 'The Independent'
Sholto Byrnes writes, ''Sivaraksa's view is that true happiness is not
to be found in material gains or in the constant pursuit of unlimited
growth, but starts with the search for inner calm.”

Can Green and Lean Go Together?
http://tinyurl.com/3vb7mv5
A workshop explored how the private sector is changing its business
model to incorporate environmental responsibility. Options and
approaches for appropriate regulatory environment for innovation and
adoption of green solutions were also discussed.

Carbon Finance and Pro-Poor Co-Benefits
http://pubs.iied.org/15521IIED.html
International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED),
Sustainable Markets Discussion Papers, Author: Rachel Godfrey Wood

Cooperation for a Green Economy
http://tinyurl.com/3u8zex5
UNEP-DirectorAchim Steiner suggests that Rio+20 could provide the
frameworks, financing and market mechanisms to support transitions to
a Green Economy across the world. It also could provide leadership
that addresses the absurdities of current economic configurations,
while unleashing investments and steering society towards wider
notions of wealth generation, he says.

Designing the International Green Climate Fund: Focusing on Results
http://www.brookings.edu/papers/2011/0425_green_climate_fund_sierra.aspx
A transitional committee met for the first time last month to begin
work on the formation of the Green Climate Fund, a development
stemming from last December’s international climate change talks in
Cancún. Katherine Sierra argues that the new Green Climate Fund must
have a vision for achieving significant and transformative climate
change results, through development strategies and programs, in order
to be effective.

Evaluation of programmatic approaches to support for the environment
in Africa 1996-2009.
http://tinyurl.com/3t3g999
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark evaluation report.

Fair and Green?
http://pubs.iied.org/15518IIED.html
Social impacts of payments for environmental services in Costa Rica.
International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) report,
by Inas Porras.

Global environmental governance at Rio+20: Thinking big - doing
little?
http://tinyurl.com/3dhjlv6
There is little faith in the reform of the UN system; nonetheless, the
United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, to be held in
Rio de Janeiro in 2012 – also known as Rio +20 – is not only to set
the stage for a green economy, but also to provide an impetus for the
institutional reform of the UN environmental sector. The ministerial-l
evel advisory group brought together by the UN Environmental Program
(UNEP) is preparing the reforms. The state of the discussion is
analyzed by Barbara Unmüßig.

Green, fair and productive: How the 2012 Rio Conference can move the
world towards sustainability
http://www.ourfutureplanet.org/newsletters/resources/Business/Green%20Economy%20Coalition.pdf
The Green Economy Coalition has come together in an effort to promote
progress towards a resilient economy that provides a better quality of
life for all within the ecological limits of one planet. There are
strong practical reasons for this transition, but it also taps into
fundamental human values of fairness, environmental stewardship and
careful use of limited resources.

Leveraging private investment: the role of public sector climate
finance.
http://tinyurl.com/6by6bkn
This ODI Background Note focuses on how public finance and risk
mitigation instruments can remove the barriers to private sector
investment and thereby leverage significant amounts of private capital
for climate change mitigation.

Making Growth Inclusive
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/resources/policy/trade/making-growth-inclusive.html
Growth is back on the development agenda, promoted by bilateral and
multilateral donors, and the G20, as the most effective way to lift
people out of poverty. Economic growth has reduced poverty in
developing countries in the past, but by ignoring the issue of
equality, donors and poor country governments have failed to maximise
the benefits of that growth – and in some cases, people have become
worse off. This Oxfam paper by Elizabeth Stuart extracts lessons from
case studies of Brazil, Viet Nam, and Ghana to suggest three key areas
that may deliver growth that is inclusive: a proper redistributive
agenda; appropriate macroeconomic prudence; and a pro-poor private
sector.

New SID Development issue: Challenges to sustainability
http://tinyurl.com/6xat5ee
Produced for the SID World Congress in July 2011, development opin ion
leaders share their ideas on sustaining economic growth in balance
with nature while ensuring local people’s rights, identity and
livelihoods.

New guide for SMEs on ''Greening China''
http://www.eurochambres.eu/Content/Default.asp?PageID=1&DocID=3215
Following the publication of the policy brief ''Winning China's
markets'', a new guide was produced in the framework of the
Understanding China programme. ''Greening China'' highlights the
opportunities for European small and medium enterprises (SMEs) arising
from the green growth in China, which is expected to be boosted by
China's recently published Five-Year Plan.

Powering the Green Economy. The Feed-In Tariff Handbook.
http://www.worldfuturecouncil.org/energy_climate_change.html
The climate and energy book from the World Future Council is a
collaborative effort, written by Miguel Mendonça, the WFC Research
Manager, David Jacobs and Benjamin Sovacool. It provides detailed
analysis of feed-in tariff design, and provides a guide to campaigning
for them. It includes discussion of other support schemes, of barriers
and technical issues, and of the place of good policy in driving a
green collar economy.

Regional Trade Agreements and the Environment: Developments in 2010
http://tinyurl.com/3dkrzwt
This report provides an update on recent developments in the field of
Regional Trade Agreements and the environment. Issues arising in the
implementation of RTAs with environmental considerations are examined
as well as experience in assessing their environmental impacts. It is
the fourth update prepared under the aegis of the Joint Working Party
on Trade and Environment. The report covers developments over the
period from late 2009 to December 2010 and is based on publicly
available information

The costs to developing countries of adaptation to climate change: new
methods and estimates.
http://tinyurl.com/42nnrxv
World Bank (WB) report, by Sergio Margulis et al.

The State of Sustainability Initiatives Review 2010: Sustainability
and Transparency
http://pubs.iied.org/G03066.html
International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) report,
by Jason Potts, Jessica van der Meer, and Jaclyn Daitchman.

The Transition to a Green Economy: Benefits, Challenges and Risks from
a Sustainable Development Perspective.
http://www.uncsd2012.org/rio20/content/documents/Green%20Economy_full%20report.pdf
Report by a Panel of Experts to Second Preparatory Committee Meeting
for UNCSD.

Towards a Global Finance System at the Service of Sustainable
Development
http://www.eadi.org/index.php?id=997&rid=t_360&mid=406&aC=f67c7c9b&jumpurl=8
Assessing the development impact of European and global financial
reforms. By Stichting Onderzoek Multinationale Ondernemingen (SOMO).

Whose Crisis, Whose Future? : Towards a Greener, Fairer, Richer World,
by Susan George
http://tinyurl.com/3ol83tm
Today we are in the midst of a multifaceted crisis which touches the
lives of everyone on the planet. Whether it's growing poverty and
inequality or shrinking access to food and water, the collapse of
global financial markets or the dire effects of climate change, every
aspect of this crisis can be traced to a transnational neoliberal
elite that has steadily eroded our rights and stripped us of power.
And yet our world has never been so wealthy, and we have, right now,
all the knowledge, tools and skills we need to build a greener,
fairer, richer world. Such a breakthrough is not some far-fetched
utopia, but an immediate, concrete possibility. Our future is in our
hands.

World Development Report 2011: Conflict, Security, and Development
http://vx.worldbank.org/t/3093660/23001220/19461/0/
With more than 1.5 billion people living in countries affected by
conflict, the World Development Report 2011 looks into the changing
nature of violence in the 21st century. Interstate and civil wars
characterized violent conflict in the last century; more pronounced
today is violence linked to local disputes, political repression, and
organized crime. The report underlines the negative impact of
persistent conflict on a country's or a region's development
prospects, and notes that no low income, conflict-affected state has
yet achieved a single Millennium Development Goal.

World on the Edge
http://www.earth-policy.org/books/wote
How to Prevent Environmental and Economic Collapse. Earth Policy
Institute book, by Lester R. Brown.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

13. Recommended Training and Events

Capacity WORKS - Qualification for the consulting industry
http://www.ageg.de/ageg/capacity_works_what_is/
Capacity WORKS is the German Technical Cooperation's (GTZ) management
model for sustainable develoment. This method supports steering and
management of international cooperation projects and is applied widely
in GTZ's programmes and projects. AGEG was selected as accredited CB
provider for GTZ in the roll-out trainings to implement its CAPACITY
WORKS management model. Open 2,5-day basic courses as well as inhouse
courses for clients are offered on a regular basis.

GIZ 14th International Business Forum Berlin 2011
http://www.gc21.de/ibt/en/modules/gc21/ws-FLEXdialogue/info/ibt/ibf2011.sxhtml
Berlin, Germany, 5-7 June 2011
Investment Climate for Climate Investment - fostering business
dynamics for inclusive low carbon growth

TrainEval - Training for Evaluation in Development
http://www.traineval.org
TrainEval is an advanced training programme for evaluation in
development, which is specifically focused on the European Development
Cooperation and the EC evaluation approach. TrainEval's four modules
take place in Brussels.

4th World Economic and Environmental Conference
http://www.wec-wec.net
Qindao, China, 18-20 June 2011

Eschborn Dialogue 2011: Responsible economic action - sustainable
development: new ways forward for national economies?
http://www.gtz.de/en/25641.htm
Eschborn, Germany, 21-22 June 2011, GIZ
How can resource efficiency and environmental and climate protection
be synchronised with economic growth? What will it take to broker out
solutions to the conflicts of interest between the North and South as
well as between global committees, individual states and peoples? What
kind of innovations and technologies are needed to secure standards of
living without destroying the natural resources that sustain them?
Under the title, ‘Responsible economic action – sustainable
development: New ways forward for national economies?’‚ we want to
debate the opportunities and challenges inherent in a structural shift
towards a more sustainable economy.

Green Growth and Development Workshop
http://tinyurl.com/3mk9ou2
Paris, France, 28 June 2011

International Conference on Renewable Energy and Gender
http://www.area-net.org/index.php?id=3585
Abuja, Nigeria, 29 June - 1 July 2011

7th International mesopartner Summer Academy on Economic Development
http://tinyurl.com/3qwnhtc
Duisburg, Germany, 4-8 July 2011

Third International Conference on Climate Change: Impacts and
Responses
http://on-climate.com/conference-2011/
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 21-22 July 2010

Challenge of the Balance
http://www.cseindia.org/node/1259#
New Delhi, India, 1-30 August 2011
A course on Policies, Politics & Practices of Environmental Management
in the Developing World

Systemische Ansätze in der Evaluierung: Möglichkeiten und Nutzen
http://www.ageg.de/training_opportunities/systemische_evaluation/
Two workshops about systemic approaches in evaluation with Trainer
Richard Hummelbrunner in German language.

4th International Conference on Higher Education for Sustainable
Development
http://www.leuphana.de/institute/infu/unesco-chair/conferences-2011.html
Lüneburg, Germany, 14.-16.09.2011,
Higher Education for Sustainable Development: Moving the Agenda
Forward

Green Economy and Sustainable Development: Bringing Back the Social
Dimension
http://www.unrisd.org
Davos, Switzerland, October 10-11, 2011
United Nations Research Institute for Sustainable Development

Rio+20 - United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development
http://www.uncsd2012.org/rio20/
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 4-6 June 2012

The objective of the Conference is to secure renewed political
commitment for sustainable development, assess the progress to date
and the remaining gaps in the implementation of the outcomes of the
major summits on sustainable development, and address new and emerging
challenges. It is envisaged as a Conference at the highest possible
level, including Heads of State and Government or other
representatives. The Conference will result in a focused political
document.

Master's degree in Anthropology, Environment and Development
http://tinyurl.com/3o65qkq
London's Global University, United Kingdom.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

14. Recommended Websites

Chance2sustain: The first three publications available online
http://www.chance2sustain.eu
Chance2Sustain examines how governments and citizens in cities with
differing patterns of urban economic growth make use of participatory
(or integrated) spatial knowledge management to direct urban
governance towards more sustainable development.

Clean Energy Information Portal - reegle
http://www.reegle.info
reegle acts as a unique clean energy information portal, targeting
specific stakeholders including governments, project developers,
businesses, financiers, NGOs, academia, international organizations
and civil society. Alongside comprehensive country energy profiles,
energy statistics and a directory of relevant stakeholders it also
offers the clean energy search and an extensive glossary. There is
also an insightful clean energy blog with interesting and up-to-date
background information.

Climate Impacts: Global and Regional Adaptation Support Platform
(ci:grasp)
http://cigrasp.pik-potsdam.de/
ci:grasp aims to support decision-makers and climate change adaptation
practitioners in developing countries by providing structured and
coherent climate information. Information is presented following an
impact chain logic, where climate change stimuli lead to climate
impacts, which in turn require adaptation measures. Information is
currently available for nine focal countries. The platform contains
almost 1,000 thematic maps and nearly 300 outlines of existing
adaptation projects. It will be expanded continuously. Users are
invited to contribute to the adaptation project database, share their
knowledge on adaptation, and give feedback on ci:grasp.

DEW Point Resource Centre
http://www.dewpoint.org.uk
The DEW Point Resource Centre generates and disseminates knowledge on
behalf of DFID staff and their development partners in environment,
water resources, water and sanitation and climate change.

energypedia
http://www.energypedia.info
Energypedia is a wiki platform where you can write, create, revise and
disseminate articles providing information and your experience about
technologies and approaches related to renewable energy and
development aid. Furthermore you can jointly organize discussion
processes and groups. Energypedia will optimize the exchange of
knowledge and the joint work amongst energy experts around the world.
Developed by the Dutch-German Partnership Programme Energising
Development (EnDev)

EnviroWindows - EEA platform for knowledge sharing and development
http://ew.eea.europa.eu
EnviroWindows makes available the web technologies of the European
Environment Agency (EEA) to facilitate collaboration on projects,
organise partnership activities, and connect geographically
distributed users working on research, policymaking, and eco-
innovation.

FuturePolicy.org - Best Policies for Future Generations
http://www.futurepolicy.org
The objective of FuturePolicy.org is to present policy solutions and
provide users with many helpful tools, such as background information,
details on policy elements and benefits, sample texts, case studies,
and further links.

German Council for Sustainable Development (RNE)
http://www.nachhaltigkeitsrat.de/en/home/
The RNE supports Germany on its way towards sustainability, to promote
sustainability as an issue for public discussion, to support the
German government in all matters of sustainability. On this website
you will find details on the members of the Council, its topical work
programme, the mandate given by the German government, the fact sheet
as well as information about the Council´s office and its bid
invitations.

Green Growth Leaders
http://greengrowthleaders.org
''Shaping sustainable economies is the fundamental challenge of our
time. Facing it, however, requires outstanding leadership, new means
of communication and innovative collaborations across borders, sectors
and mindsets. This is the founding idea of The Green Growth Leaders
(GGL), a global alliance of cities, regions, countries and
corporations, sharing a vision of building prosperous, green economies
and communities -and a better tomorrow for their citizens.

ILO - Green Jobs
http://www.ilo.org/global/topics/green-jobs/lang--en/index.htm
The ILO agenda for Green Jobs promotes a socially fair transition, in
which vulnerabilities, changes in the labour market and new business
models are addressed through an inclusive social dialogue. Green jobs
help reducing negative environmental impact, ultimately leading to
environmentally, economically and socially sustainable enterprises and
economies.

Institute for Environmental and Sustainability Communication (INFU)
Database
http://www2.leuphana.de/infutools/chair/networking/search.php
Here you have the opportunity to select or to search for specific
institutions dealing with sustainability in Higher Education. You can
also register your institution.

Local coping strategies database
http://maindb.unfccc.int/public/adaptation/
Community-based adaptation can greatly benefit from knowledge of local
coping strategies. The secretariat has developed a local coping
strategies database to facilitate the transfer of long-standing coping
strategies and knowledge from communities which have adapted to
specific hazards or climatic conditions, to communities which may just
be starting to experience such conditions as a result of climate
change.

New World Bank resources and research tools
http://data.worldbank.org
The World Bank's Open Data portal offers free access to more than 60
data sets. This session will provide an introduction to and demo of
the site and its more than 7,000 development indicators. Born from the
World Bank's Open Data, the eAtlas of Global Development helps
visualize the world's most pressing development challenges through
mapping, charting, and graphing of data. See how to use it in
presentations, research, and more. The World Bank eLibrary is a
subscription product that includes the World Bank's full-text
collection of more than 6,000 books, reports, journals, and other
documents on social and economic development.

OECD - Green Growth
http:// www.oecd.org/greengrowth
By analysing economic and environmental policies together, by looking
at ways to spur eco-innovation and by addressing other key issues
related to a transition to a greener economy such as jobs and skills,
investment, taxation, trade and development, the OECD can show the way
to make a cleaner low-carbon economy compatible with growth

Start Your Waste Recycling Business - ILO Business Manual
http://www.ilo.org/emppolicy/what/pubs/lang--en/WCMS_114978/index.htm
The ILO has on demand now adapted training material originally
developed for Zambia and Tanzania on waste management, to suit the
Zimbabwean context, with a focus on waste recycling as a business idea
for community based organisations. The adapted training package Start
Your Waste Recycling Business comprises four key documents (i)
Technical Handouts (ii) Business Manual (iii) Business Plan and (iv)
Trainers Guide

Sustainable Development Online
http://sdo.ew.eea.europa.eu
In the drive for sustainable production and business the needs of
small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) must be met. SMEs
(enterprises) often lack the resources, information and trained
personnel that are essential to move towards more sustainable business
practice. This gap has been recognized at official level with the
result that a large number of initiatives have been undertaken to
address the specific needs of SMEs. This SDO database identifies and
describes a cross-section of such initiatives and will grow to include
other types of information (case studies, good / best practice
examples) relevant to SMEs.

The Center for Global Development
http://www.cgdev.org/section/topics/climate_change/
CGD’s work on climate change examines current and future impacts on
developing countries, identifies how rich countries can help
developing countries become more climate resilient, seeks policy
mechanisms to create low-carbon economies in rich and developing
countries, and gathers and discloses emissions-related data to inform
the policy dialogue and boost incentives for steep cuts in the
emissions of heat-trapping gases.

Sustainable Development Policy & Practice
http://uncsd.iisd.org
Knowledge management project on international activities preparing for
the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, also referred to
as Rio+20).

The Earth Summit 2012 Stakeholder Forum
http://www.earthsummit2012.org/index.php/institutional-framework-for-sd/sdg2012
SDG2012 is Stakeholder Forum's programme on Sustainable Development
Governance (SDG) towards Rio+20. The programme includes our work as
secretariat for the sustainable development network which is managed
by the Climate and Sustainability Platform, ANPED and IUCN.

The World Future Council (WFC)
http://www.worldfuturecouncil.org
The WFC consists of up to 50 respected personalities from all five
continents. They come from governments, parliaments, the arts, civil
society, science and the business world. Together they form a voice
for the rights of future generations. BAsed in Hamburg, Germany, the
WFC staff working in Brussels, London, Washington and Johannesburg.

UNCSD 2012 - Green economy in the context of sustainable development
and poverty eradication
http://www.uncsd2012.org/rio20/index.php?menu=62
Green Economy focus of the the United Nations Conference on
Sustainable Development (UNCSD) - RIO+20.

UNCTAD's Green Economy site
http://www.unctad.org/trade_env/greeneconomy/index.asp
UNCTAD's mandate on Trade and Environment, to be achieved in
cooperation with other relevant organizations, focuses on helping to
ensure balance in the trade and environment debate by highlighting
issues of concern to developing countries and strengthening the
development dimensions.

UNESCAP - Green Growth
http://www.greengrowth.org/
Green Growth is a policy focus for the Asia and Pacific region that
emphasizes environmentally sustainable economic progress to foster low-
carbon, socially inclusive development. Green Growth is a globally
relevant approach to sustainable economic growth that was developed in
Asia. It is impeartive that countries in the Asia and Pacific region
continue their economic growth to alleviate poverty and to achieve
social progress. However, increased environmental degradation, climate
change and diminishing natural resources require an unconventional
approach to support the export-driven economic activities of the
region.

World Bank Business Planet - Mapping the Business Environment
http://rru.worldbank.org/businessplanet/
Take a trip around the world to discover how easy (or difficult) it is
to do business in 183 economies. View data on new business creation
around the world. Measures of entrepreneurial activity are calculated
from data collected directly from registrar of companies on the number
of newly registered corporations.
--------------------------------------------------------------------