Measuring Progress On “greening” The Economy: Policies

Transcript

An International Technical Workshop on Measuring Progress on “Greening” the Economy: Policies and Practices UNEP-ILO-Eurostat-EEA Best Western Hôtel Chavannes-de-Bogis Geneva, 14-15 May 2014 This workshop, co-organised by Eurostat, the European Environment Agency (EEA), the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), will bring together statisticians, analysts and policymakers from agencies and countries involved in measuring Environmental Goods and Services Sector (EGSS) to take stock of recent experiences. The workshop, made possible by the generous support of the European Commission and the International Climate Initiative of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety, is aimed at motivating widespread applications of the EGSS measurement framework. Background Measuring progress towards a green economy is to measure an important pathway to sustainable development. The two priority areas for green economy indicator development are those that assess the “greening” of conventional economic activities and those that assess the growing share of “green” or environment-related sectors. The EGSS, which encompasses both priority areas, is thus a key element for facilitating the “greening” of the economy. While by no means the last word on the subject, the EGSS accounting framework developed by Eurostat and embedded in the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) Central Framework adopted by the UN Statistical Commission at its 43rd session in 2012, offers a tool that provides descriptions and specifications of activities to be counted as environmental activities and for estimating the “share of green economic activities”, in terms of revenue, value-added, employment and exports. In this context, UNEP had previously hosted a workshop entitled “Measuring ‘Green’ Sectors in a Transition towards a Green Economy” from 14-15 November 2011 in Geneva. Its purpose was to facilitate a discussion on the possibilities of and challenges to measuring “greening” progress, with Eurostat’s EGSS accounting framework as a starting point. There were presentations by Eurostat, UN Statistics Division, UN-ESCWA, OECD and the statistical agencies of Mexico, South Korea, Austria and the Netherlands. Discussions during the workshop focused on questions such as what comes under EGSS and practical issues of data collection. Objectives and expected outcomes The proposed workshop is in part a follow-up to the previous one, aimed at taking stock of developments in the field and bringing together various stakeholders to share ideas as well as 1 get a sense of the diverse conceptions of EGSS. It will also focus on important policy issues such as green jobs and trade opportunities in relation to the EGSS framework, and will endeavor to bring about an outcome inventory of the various approaches to EGSS based on individual policy needs. With the intention of inviting a wide cross-section of countries from different regions, the workshop would be an opportunity for frontrunner countries, such as those in the EU, to disseminate their experiences about application and the challenges they face, as well as for developing countries such as China to share their perspectives on implementing the EGSS framework. The workshop is expected to have the following outcomes: • Propose a vision for EGSS data and applications in the medium term and a roadmap for getting there • Bring about an outcome inventory of the various approaches to EGSS based on individual policy needs • Motivate wider application of the EGSS framework among participating countries by facilitating the sharing of experiences and best practices • Encourage the exploration of uses of the EGSS framework at the country-level by demonstrating its application in important policy issues such as green jobs and trade opportunities The current agenda is attached, along with detailed notes on each session in the workshop. . . . . . . 2 Current agenda Venue: Best Western Hôtel Chavannes-de-Bogis Les Champs Blancs Switzerland - 1279 Chavannes-de-Bogis Time 14 May (Wednesday) Session Organisation 9:00-9:30 Registration and welcome coffee 9:30-10:30 Session 1 Introduction and Context: The Green Economy Initiative and Using Indicators to Measure “Greening” Progress • Mr Sheng Fulai, Head, Research & Partnerships Unit, ETB, UNEP UNEP • Mr Tan Ding Yong, Research & Partnerships Unit, ETB, UNEP UNEP • Dr Marco Orsini, Institute for Consultancy and Studies in Sustainable Development ICEDD 10:30-11:00 Coffee break 11:00-12:30 Session 2 The EGSS Framework: Applicational Issues Developments and Moderator. Mr Tan Ding Yong, Research & Partnerships Unit, ETB, UNEP UNEP •Mr Gerald Weber, Eurostat Unit E2 – Environmental Statistics And Accounts; Sustainable Development Eurostat • Mr Sokol Vako, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Statistics Division UN DESA • Mr Peter Williams, Assistant Director, Centre of Environment Statistics, Australian Bureau of Statistics Australian Bureau of Statistics 12:30-14:00 Lunch 14:00-16:00 Session 3 Applying the EGSS: International and National Perspectives Moderator. Mr Stefan Ulrich Speck, Environmental Economics And Policies, EEA EEA 3 • Mr Maarten van Rossum, Statistical Researcher, National accounts/Environmental accounts, Statistics Netherlands Case of Netherlands • Dr Josef Behofsics, Environment Sector, Federal Ministry for Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management, Austria Case of Austria • Dr Dong Zhanfeng, Department of Environmental Policy, Chinese Academy of Environmental Planning Case of China • Mr Oscar Ceville, Environmental Specialist, Department of Sustainable Development, Organization of American States Examples from Latin America • Dr Zhou Xin, Principal Policy Researcher, Green Economy Area, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies Case of Japan • Mr Lee Jae Won, Statistic Korea Work done in South Korea 16:00-16:30 Coffee break 16:30-18:00 Session 4 Panel Discussion: Policies and Practices Moderator. Mr Sheng Fulai, Head, Research & Partnerships Unit, ETB, UNEP UNEP Discussants. • Mr Stefan Ulrich Speck, Environmental Economics And Policies, EEA EEA • Mr Gerald Weber, Eurostat Unit E2 – Environmental Statistics And Accounts; Sustainable Development Eurostat • Country presenters from the previous session Various agencies country 15 May (Thursday) 09:00-10:30 Session 5 Green Jobs and the EGSS Moderator. Mr Stefan Ulrich Speck, Environmental Economics And Policies, EEA EEA • Ms Valentina Stoevska, ILO Department of Statistics ILO • Ms Pranvera Elezi, Head of Labour Market Statistics Sector, ISTAT Albania Presenting the work done in Albania ILO • Ms Stoevska will also comment on the results from Albania 10:30-11:00 Coffee break 4 11:00-12:30 12:30-13:00 Session 6 Trade, Green Economy and the EGSS Moderator. Mr Ben Simmons, Green Growth Knowledge Platform UNEP • Mr Joachim Monkelbaan, Trade, Policy and Planning Unit, ETB, UNEP UNEP • Mr Jehan Sauvage, Environment Division, OECD Trade and Agriculture Directorate OECD • Mr Karsten Steinfatt, Counsellor, Trade and Environment Division, WTO WTO Session 7 Presentation by the Green Growth Knowledge Platform Research Committee in Metrics and Indicators • Introduction to Research Committee's work and objectives Dr Ulf Narloch, World Bank World Bank • Presentation on “Taking stock of data and indicators for measuring inclusive green growth at the country level” Ms Ainsley Lloyd, Global Green Growth Institute GGGI 13:00-14:00 Lunch 14:00-15:30 Session 8 Panel Discussion: The Way Forward Moderator. Mr Gerald Weber, Eurostat Unit E2 – Environmental Statistics And Accounts; Sustainable Development Eurostat Panel from UNEP, EEA, ILO, UN DESA 5 Session 1 Introduction and Context: The Green Economy Initiative and Using Indicators to Measure “Greening” Progress 9:30-10:30, 14 May 2014 Purpose  Set out the context of the workshop and suggest key issues that the workshop should address. Themes and questions to be addressed  The theme is “Using indicators to guide the transition to a Green Economy”  What is the broader context for the workshop and for developing a measurement framework for the green economy transition?  What are the lessons learned and best practices from countries' experience in developing and using indicators for a green economy?  What additional efforts would be needed to improve the quality, relevance and practicality of indicators for a green economy?  How is the EGSS framework relevant for a green economy? What are the latest developments in the field? How can it be applied to policy issues such as green jobs and trade? Structure:  Presentations with short time allocated for questions for clarifications Agenda:  Three presentation each of about 10-15 minutes (max 50 minutes total) plus 10 minutes for clarifications, etc.  length of session maximum 60 minutes Speakers/agencies to speak:  Mr Sheng Fulai, Head, Research & Partnerships Unit, ETB, UNEP  Mr Tan Ding Yong, Research & Partnerships Unit, ETB, UNEP  Dr Marco Orsini, Institute for Consultancy and Studies in Sustainable Development 6 Session 2 The EGSS Framework: Developments and Applicational Issues 11:00-12:30, 14 May 2014 Purpose:  To present the role of Environmental Goods and Service Sector (EGSS) statistics as part of the central framework of the system of environmental-economic accounting. Themes and questions to be addressed:  Objectives of monetary environmental accounting at international level  Monetary environmental accounts as a tool for monitoring environmental policy objectives  The role of EGSS in an integrated framework for monetary environmental accounting  Initiatives at international (UN) and supranational (EU, EFTA) level to promote the development and production of EGSS statistics Structure:  Presentations with short time allocated for questions for clarifications Agenda:  Three presentation each of about 20-25 minutes (max 75 minutes total) plus five minutes for clarifications, etc.  length of session maximum 90 minutes Speakers/agencies to speak:  Moderator. Mr Tan Ding Yong, Research & Partnerships Unit, ETB, UNEP  Mr Gerald Weber, Eurostat Unit E2 – Environmental Statistics And Accounts; Sustainable Development  Mr Sokol Vako, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Statistics Division  Mr Peter Williams, Assistant Director, Centre of Environment Statistics, Australian Bureau of Statistics 7 Session 3 Applying the EGSS: International and National Perspectives 14:00-16:00, 14 May 2014 Purpose:  Present the EGSS approaches developed and used by different national statistical offices and in the European Statistical System. Themes and questions to be addressed:  Which policy questions are aimed to being addressed by EGSS in the national and international policy context, i.e. what is the purpose of EGSS?  Do we have a common understanding of the EGSS concept between countries?  How do EGSS approaches applied by countries differ? o Current situation: data sources and methods used, data availability and coverage? o Future plans Structure:  Presentations with short time allocated for questions for clarifications Agenda:  Six presentation each of about 15 minutes (max 90 minutes total) plus five minutes for clarifications, etc.  length of session maximum 120 minutes  The session (Panel Discussion: Policies and Practices) will follow these presentations emphasising the applicability of EGSS in the policy discussion and taking aboard the results/findings presented here. Speakers/agencies to speak:  Moderator. Mr Stefan Ulrich Speck, Environmental Economics And Policies, EEA  Two frontrunner EU member states o The Netherlands: Mr Maarten van Rossum, Statistical Researcher, National accounts/Environmental accounts, Statistics Netherlands o Austria: Dr Josef Behofsics, Environment Sector, Federal Ministry for Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management, Austria  China: Dr Dong Zhanfeng, Department of Environmental Policy, Chinese Academy of Environmental Planning  Latin America: Mr Oscar Ceville, Environmental Specialist, Department of Sustainable Development, Organization of American States  Japan: Dr Zhou Xin, Principal Policy Researcher, Green Economy Area, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies  South Korea: Mr Lee Jae Won, Statistic Korea 8 Session 4 Panel Discussion: Policies and Practices 16:30-18:00, 14 May 2014 Purpose  Following on from the earlier session (Applying the EGSS: International and National Perspectives), this session allows participants to channel feedback from previous sessions and discuss the broader applicability of EGSS Themes and questions to be addressed  What are the lessons learned from countries' experience in applying the EGSS framework?  What are the technical limitations encountered and how best to overcome them?  What are the national policy or political challenges?  What sorts of policy issues can the EGSS be applied to? Structure:  Panel discussion, facilitated by a moderator Agenda:  A moderated and interactive panel discussion will take place following on from the earlier session. In the first 45 minutes, the two discussants will express their perspective on the preceding session and/or provide discussant comments. The moderated discussion then proceeds to address specific questions to the panel, which is made up of presenters from the previous session.  The session will be opened up to the floor for comments for the next 30 minutes.  In the last 15 minutes, the moderator will extract and open for discussion what he has heard on the key themes and objectives of the session. At the end, the moderator and discussants will summarize relevant discussions and suggest 2-3 key take home messages/recommendations emerging from the session. Speakers:  Moderator. Mr Sheng Fulai, Head, Research & Partnerships Unit, ETB, UNEP  Discussants. o Mr Stefan Ulrich Speck, Environmental Economics And Policies, EEA o Mr Gerald Weber, Eurostat Unit E2 – Environmental Statistics And Accounts; Sustainable Development o Country presenters from the previous session 9 Session 5 Green Jobs and the EGSS 09:00-10:30, 15 May 2014 Purpose:  The aim of this session to present the ICLS guidelines concerning employment in the environmental sector and green jobs, and feasibility of implementing these standards in practice (the Green Jobs Pilot Survey conducted in Albania).  The session will also cover the green jobs assessment methodology developed by ILO. Themes and questions to be addressed:  What are the policy needs for green jobs statistics?  What types of data sources are available (survey and non-survey data sources)?  What are the practical issues concerning data collection?  Are the data/indicators produced the data needed for monitoring purposes? Structure:  Presentations with short time allocated for questions for clarifications Agenda:  Three presentation each of about 15-20 minutes (max 60 minutes total) plus five minutes for clarifications, etc.  length of session maximum 80 minutes Speakers/agencies to speak:  Moderator. Mr Stefan Ulrich Speck, Environmental Economics And Policies, EEA  Ms Valentina Stoevska, ILO Department of Statistics  Ms Pranvera Elezi, Head of Labour Market Statistics Sector, ISTAT Albania  Ms Stoevska will also comment on the results from Albania 10 Session 6 Trade, Green Economy and the EGSS 11:00-12:30, 15 May 2014 Purpose:  The aim of this session is to discuss some key methodological issues in assessing the contribution of trade in EGS to the Green Economy transition. UNEP's Trade, Policy and Planning Unit will present research on South-South trade flows in renewable energy technologies, and the methodological issues that this research ran into. Also, it will point out some environmental services-related classification issues.  The WTO’s Trade and Environment Division will provide an overview of the environmental goods proposed for liberalization in the WTO negotiations, followed by a look at the pros and cons of the main parameters that WTO members have used to identify such goods (i.e. end-use characteristics, HS classification, and links to internationally-agreed environmental objectives).  Finally, the OECD will point out the positive relationship between strict environmental regulations and specialization in EGS. The OECD will also highlight the synergies that arise between the removal of barriers to EGS trade and the adoption of stringent, well-designed environmental regulations. Themes and questions to be addressed:  What are the policy needs for encouraging increased trade – both exports and imports – of environmental goods?  What are the practical issues concerning data collection in international trade flows?  How can international negotiating discourse aid modellers and researchers?  To what extent is trade (in EGS) an important factor in measuring progress towards a green economy?  How can data be used for policy-making on EGSS? Structure:  Presentations with short time allocated for questions for clarifications, followed by a panel discussion which will be opened to the other participants Agenda:  Three presentations of about 15-20 minutes plus five minutes for clarifying questions, followed by a panel discussion Speakers/agencies to speak:  Moderator. Mr Ben Simmons, Green Growth Knowledge Platform  Mr Joachim Monkelbaan, Trade, Policy and Planning Unit, UNEP  Mr Jehan Sauvage, Environment Division, Trade and Agriculture Directorate, OECD  Mr Karsten Steinfatt, Trade and Environment Division, WTO 11 Session 7 Presentation by the GGKP Research Committee in Metrics and Indicators 12:30-13:00, 15 May 2014 Purpose:  To present the work of the GGKP Research Committee on Measurement and Indicators, which is aimed at catalysing research related to measuring inclusive green growth. Themes and questions to be addressed:  Introduce the GGKP Research Committee on Indicators and Measurement and its objectives.  Outline the research questions and findings from a first scoping study on a common approach for green growth measurement.  Present ongoing work for a new scoping study, which is taking stock of existing metrics – in terms of both coverage and methodology at the country level.  Discuss some of the emerging gaps and opportunities for new efforts in data collection, methodological work and indicator development. Agenda:  Introduction to the Research Committee's work and objectives (10min)  Presentation on “Taking stock of data and indicators for measuring inclusive green growth at the country level” (10 min)  Discussion (10 min) Speakers/agencies to speak:  Dr Ulf Narloch, World Bank  Ms Ainsley Lloyd, Global Green Growth Institute 12 Session 8 Panel Discussion: The Way Forward 14:00-15:30, 15 May 2014 Purpose  To round up the workshop and suggest key takeaways from the workshop. Themes and questions to be addressed  What kind of vision for the EGSS do we envisage?  How do we get from here to the vision (legal base, available methodological guidelines, main problems identified (technical, political, financing, staffing), methodological development in the pipelines, can we reuse already existing data for EGSS data compilation?) What are the intermediate objectives (next 2-3 years)?  How can we produce an outcome inventory of the various approaches to EGSS based on individual policy needs? Structure:  Panel discussion, facilitated by a moderator Agenda:  For this moderated and interactive panel discussion, panelists will express their perspective on the key themes of the session and/or provide discussant comments during the first 45 minutes.  The session will be opened up to the floor for comments for the next 30 minutes.  In the last 15 minutes, the moderator will extract and open for discussion what he has heard on the key themes and objectives of the session. At the end, the moderator will summarize relevant discussions and suggest the key take home messages/recommendations emerging from the session. Panelists:  Moderator. Mr Gerald Weber, Eurostat Unit E2 – Environmental Statistics And Accounts; Sustainable Development  Panel. UNEP, EEA, ILO, UN DESA 13