Green growth is not just in the limelight here in Denmark. The OECD, for one, has initiated work on drawing up a strategy for green growth.
The purpose of the strategy is to recommend how OECD countries to a larger extent can develop into green growth societies by focusing on the following:
• Green jobs and social conditions
• Green taxes and regulation
• Industrial restructuring
• Fiscal consolidation
• Green technologies
• Green indicators
• Peer review
• Collaboration between OECD countries and new economies
• Involvement of interested parties
It is expected that the strategy will be published at an OECD Minister Council Meeting in May 2011.
See more information on OECD’s work on Green Growth here
Furthermore, green growth is also a priority of the EU, and Denmark is pushing actively to promote this agenda. The connection between the shift towards independence from fossil fuels, and the need for job-creating growth in Europe is highlighted in the European Council conclusions of 4 February 2011. The council conclusions are an extension of the EU’s long-term growth strategy, the Europe 2020 Strategy. It stipulates that one of the overall priorities is sustainable growth, i.e. a more resource-efficient, greener and more competitive economy.
The 2020 strategy stipulates that the three EU climate and energy targets must be met by 2020:
1) 20% CO2 emission mitigation compared to the 1990 level
2) renewable energy must be increased to 20% of the total energy consumption
3) 20% energy consumption reduction must be attained by 2020.
The 2020 strategy’s focus on a green economy, and the three specific climate and energy targets are an important signal to the market that there is considerable political focus on the climate and energy agenda, and on a larger domestic market for green technologies. This contributes towards stimulating innovation and development in the corporate world, and creates an incentive for private investors on a market, which most probably also will be politically driven in the years to come.