August 2013: The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) organized a ‘Technical Workshop on Tools and Measures to Inform Inclusive Green Economy Policies,’ for sharing African experiences on green economy measures, methodologies and tools.

Participants discussed implementation of inclusive, green economy policies as a way to ensure equitable sustainable development and reduce poverty. The workshop activities are expected to help inform the work of the Green Growth Knowledge Platform and the UNDP-UNEP Poverty Environment Initiative (PEI).

Participants shared experiences in implementing green economy approaches, and discussed how the UN system and its partners can support countries in implementing green economy approaches that address trade-offs across sectors and groups in ways that reduce inequalities, promote social well-being and boost growth. They considered integrated assessment and modeling tools, including Computable General Equilibrium models, Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA), Poverty Social Impact Analysis, Strategic Environmental Assessment and Systems Dynamic Modeling.

Participants also discussed measurement frameworks that include environmental and social dimensions, such as Multi-dimensional Poverty Indices, the System of Environmental and Economic Accounting (SEEA) and Wealth Accounting and Valuation of Ecosystem Services (WAVES).

Over 100 officials from 25 countries participated in the workshop, including officials from ministries of environment, finance and planning, civil society representatives and representatives from UN agencies and development partners such as the African Development Bank (AfDB), DANIDA, the Green Economy Coalition, the Green Growth Best Practices Initiative, Germany Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) and the World Bank.

This workshop, which took place in Nairobi, Kenya, from 2-4 July 2013, is one in a series of events organized by the UNDP-DESA-UNEP Green Economy Joint Programme, which receives support from the European Commission and the Netherlands. The Joint Programme aims to build capacities and strengthen advisory services on green economy measures, policies and tools, and to mobilize support and enhance political engagement for implementation following the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20). [WAVES Press Release] [UNDP-DESA-UNEP Green Economy Joint Programme Factsheet] [UNEP Webpage] [Conference Website] [Green Growth Knowledge Platform] [Publication: Report for the Inter-Regional Technical Workshop on Tools and Measures to Inform Inclusive Green Economy Policies]