The report highlights that a shift to green economies involves "top-down" government action to change "the rules of the game," which shape and are shaped by "bottom-up" green innovations that are emerging in communities and the private sector.
It also emphasizes that innovation by businesses and communities has a crucial role to play in this shift.
November 2012: The WWF has released a report, “Building Green Economies: Creating prosperity for people and the planet,” highlighting that the benefits of economic development have failed to reach over a billion people who live in extreme poverty, and that current patterns of resource use are both inequitable and unsustainable. It concludes that current economic problems threaten to undermine political commitment to environmental sustainability, and economic recovery depends on a shift to green economies.
The report further notes that: current global trends in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions present a high risk of dangerous and irreversible disruption to the climate system; human activities are the main driver of an almost 30% decline in biodiversity since 1970; and environmental degradation undermines Earth’s ability to meet essential human needs.
The report highlights that a shift to green economies involves “top-down” government action to change “the rules of the game,” which shape and are shaped by “bottom-up” green innovations that are emerging in communities and the private sector. It also emphasizes that innovation by businesses and communities has a crucial role to play in this shift. [Publication: Building Green Economies] [Green Economy Coalition Press Release]