13 June 2012: The 2012 edition of the “Economic Development in Africa Report,” published by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), focuses on options to implement sustainable structural transformation to achieve improvements in human well-being while avoiding intensifying environmental pressures.

The report suggests that the dilemma between structural transformation for growth and increasing environmental impacts can be resolved through sustainable structural transformation, involving measures to promote the relative decoupling of natural resource use and environmental impacts from the growth process.

The report shows how strategic priorities for decoupling can be identified, noting the need for an appropriate international enabling environment, including support measures, such as increased aid for the energy sector and enhanced technology transfer mechanisms.

Policy recommendations include placing green industrial development at the heart of sustainable structural transformation in Africa. The report stresses the need for additional policies designed to increase access to energy, in particular sustainable energy, and for policies fostering a green agricultural revolution in Africa based on the sustainable intensification of agricultural production. [UNCTAD Press Release] [Publication Webpage] [Publication: Economic Development in Africa Report 2012: Structural Transformation and Sustainable Development in Africa]