sustainability

Article
Green Deal, Green Growth and Green Economy as a
Means of Support for Attaining the Sustainable
Development Goals
Mieczysław Adamowicz

Department of Economics, John Paul II University of Applied Sciences in Biala Podlaska,

Sidorska 95/97, 21-500 Biala Podlaska, Poland; adamowicz.mieczyslaw@gmail.com; Tel.: +48-83-
344-99-00

Abstract: The aim of the study is to present the concept of green economy and other
notions and concepts related to it and to assess their significance for the formation of
development policy and practical solution of problems of socio-economic
development. In the part focusing on information and definitions, the premises for the
emergence of the issue of the greening of economic processes as a new phenomenon
of contemporary development have been presented, as well as various definitions of
green economy, green growth, the principles of implementing green economy, and the
implementation of green transformation processes. In the further part of the study,
measures and indicators of green economy and green growth are presented, as well
as the connection of these concepts with the idea and objectives of sustainable
development. The review of green economy and green growth indicators includes
indicators prepared by specialised agencies of the United Nations, UNEP, UNCTAD, UN
ESCAP, UN FGG, OECD, the European Union, and the World Bank. Selected indicators
of individual authors and countries have also been presented. The last part of the
study presents the concept of the New European Green Deal and its link to the
implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals adopted for the current
decade. In conclusion, an attempt has been made to present both the expectations
Citation: Adamowicz, M. Green
Deal, Green Growth and Green
and opportunities of emphasising the issue of the greening of the economy, as well as
Economy as a Means of Support the weaknesses and threats resulting from the excessive confidence in this concept.
for Attaining the Sustainable
Development Goals. Keywords: green economy; green growth; green deal; sustainable development;
Sustainability 2022, 14, 5901. green growth indicators; green economy principles
https://
doi.org/10.3390/su14105901

Academic Editor: Mário José

Baptista Franco
1. Introduction
Since 1989, in discussions on development issues, more and more new
Received: 20 April 2022
terms derived from the adjective “green” have appeared, such as “green
Accepted: 6 May 2022
economy”, “green growth”, and “green deal”, drawing attention to the
Published: 12 May 2022
connection between the economy and the biosphere, especially to the role of
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays plants on Earth. The so-called “greening” of development strategies and
neutral with regard to policies refers to different levels of territorial systems and different sectors of
jurisdictional claims in published economy and is one of the topics of discussion, especially in international
maps and institutional affil- politics, on the ways of making the concept of sustainable and balanced
iations. development a reality. For several years, the concept of a “New Green Deal”
has been discussed on a global, European, and national scale. The various
concepts of green economy derive from the greening of the leaves, in which,
through chlorophyll, sunlight and water, natural substances are produced that
Copyright: © 2022 by the humans process into various products for consumption or further processing.
author. Licensee MDPI, Basel, This natural, reproducible, and renewable way of transforming nature’s
Switzerland. This article is an components and the sun’s energy into materials for use in production and
open access article distributed consumption processes has become vulnerable because of the threats to the
under the terms and environment, especially to natural vegetation communities, which have
conditions of the Creative increased since the industrial revolution.
Commons Attribution (CC BY) The use of the adjective “green” in relation to economic phenomena is a
license (https://
symbolic way of drawing attention to the importance and the need to protect
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
the natural factor in the economy. The first to draw attention to this problem
4.0/).
were environmental economists,
Sustainability 2022, 14, 5901. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14105901 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability
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who in 1989 presented a report for the British government called Blueprint for
Green Economy [1]. This report was linked to the need to define the then new
concept of sus- tainable development and the implications this development
might have for the definition of economic progress and the formulation of
development policy and project evaluation methods. The initially unspecified
concept of green economy was further developed in two subsequent reports
by this team of authors (Blueprint 2 and Blueprint 3) published in 1991 and
1994. All three reports were based on the results of research conducted in
previous years. While the first report focused on the use of economics in
formulating national environmental policy, the second and third reports
broadened the focus to global economic problems, including the effects of
climate change, ozone depletion, tropical forest devastation, resource loss,
and deterioration in developing countries. Since then, the issue of greening
economic phenomena and problems has appeared more and more often in
various contexts and situations. One of the factors of such interest in green
economy were the preparations for the so-called UN Millennium Summit,
which took place in 2000, when the Millennium Declaration was announced,
adopted in 2002 at the summit in Rio de Janeiro, in which the Millennium
Development Goals for the first decade of the 21st century were formulated,
focusing on the implementation of the principles of sustainable and balanced
development (Rio + 10). The next special focus on green economy came with
the outbreak of the global financial crisis in 2008. Since then, it has become a
key subject on the agenda of various bodies and international organisations. It
is a topic that also came to the attention of various bodies of the European
Union and then, through their activity, all member states. From the originally
formulated concept of a green economy, new ones have grown, referring to
constantly emerging new problems of growth and development on a global
scale, encompassing individual regions and fields of economy.
The object of analysis and evaluation of this study is to present the
evolution of the concept of green economy, the essence of other related
concepts and notions and to indicate their significance for policymaking and
the practical solution of problems of socio-economic development. The
informative and definition part of the article covers three levels: greening of
economic processes as a new phenomenon of contemporary development;
defining the concepts of green economy and green growth; the principles of
implementing green economy and green transformation processes. The next
part of the study presents measures and indicators of green economy and
green growth and links these concepts with the concept and objectives of
sustainable development. The last part of the study is devoted to the
presentation of the new European Green Deal. The paper is based on the
analysis of documents and literature mainly referring to the concepts of “green
economy”, “green growth”, and “green deal” in the context of “sustainable
development goals”. The paper provides a systematic overview of different
initiatives, official, political, and institutional, and tries to link these with the
theoretical concept of sustainability.

2. The Greening of Economic Processes

Since the dawn of time, man has lived surrounded by nature and used its
elements in farming to satisfy his production and consumption needs. With
low population densities and limited possibilities to transform nature, man ′s
ecological environment was reborn in a natural way. Intensification and
improvement of production processes, economic expansion, and the
extension of industrial centres, urbanisation, population movements, and
development of new areas, accelerated by the industrial revolution and
unhindered development of the free-market economy system, intensified the
pressure on the natural environment and its degradation. The dangers
resulting from the predatory way of manag- ing and exploiting nature were
noticed after the Second World War, when the processes of universal
industrialisation, urbanisation, and demographic densification accelerated.
The traditional industrial-market paradigm of development, which did not
provide solutions to the key economic and social problems of the
globalising world, began to be questioned loudly when, in the 1960s, onerous
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and difficult environmental problems were recognised, and a little later the
adverse phenomena and effects of climate change.
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Recognition of these phenomena led to the emergence in the late 1960s and
early 1970s of the concept of sustainable development, which has been
enriched continuously to this day, as well as the concept of eco-development
and “green economy”, which is particularly related to the natural
environment, and other related concepts, such as “green growth”, “green
governance”, “greening the economy”, and “green transformation”. Threats
posed by the depletion of natural resources, degradation of nature and the
environment, and climate change have drawn attention to the need to protect
nature, preserve the biosphere and environmental values, and restore the
functioning of natural ecosystems. Activities in this area taking place in the
economic, social, and political spheres can be described as “greening”.
The economic aspects of the threat posed by the traditional development
paradigm and the need to green the economy were first recognised by English
environmental economists. Their proposed concept of “green economy” refers
to natural biological processes and the primary production of plants and draws
attention to ways of farming that make the greatest possible use of biological
processes under the influence of solar energy to produce goods, services, and
energy without harming the environment or the climate. For this reason, the
concept of green economy, as well as green growth, is inextricably linked to
the concept of sustainable and balanced development. An enduring link and
interplay between these two concepts can be observed. As a result, first the
concept of sustainable development, creating the possibility of satisfying
current needs without limiting the ability to satisfy the needs of future
generations, and then the greening of the economy, treated as a way to solve
economic, social, and environmental problems, and practical implementation
of the concept of sustainable development began to be treated as a
perspective for a radical transition to a green economy, a more efficient and
socially acceptable economy, a low-carbon economy, an economy that
conserves resources and biodiversity and mitigates climate change [2–4]. The
concept of green economy means moving towards an economic model based
on sustainable and balanced production, exchange, consumption, and sharing
of economic and social benefits, with particular care for nature and the
environment. Green growth means increasing the potential of green activities
and sectors as drivers of economic growth. In relation to climate, similar
importance is attached to building climate resilience by reducing fossil fuel
consumption and greenhouse gas emissions identified with the so-called low-
carbon development.
The concept of greening the economy can be defined as a process of
transition from management according to the traditional industrial-market
paradigm of development to a paradigm of inclusive development, based on
sustainability and restoration of ecological balance. The hierarchical sequence
of concepts related to the greening process is shown in Figure 1. It shows
how green economy is related to other concepts that serve to achieve the
goals of sustainable and balanced development. The hierarchy of these links
was shown in the report: TEEB-The Economics of Ecosystem and Biodiversity
for National and International Policy Makers-Summary: Responding to Value of
Nature published in 2009 and again in 2012 [5] and used in other publications
[3]. Although the different concepts emerged separately and independently,
they were all linked to the revival of these issues during the Great Financial
Crisis, which between 2008 and 2011 disrupted global economic growth [6–
10]. Despite the end of the crisis, these issues are still present in
international, regional, and national politics.
During the financial crisis, the interest in green economy was mainly
political, which was externalized in the actions of various international
agencies and institutions. During a discussion initiated by the United Nations
Environmental Programme (UNEP), as part of the search for anti-crisis
measures in 2008, specific areas were identified where large-scale public
investments could be proposed in the form of so-called “green stimulus
packages” to revive the “green economy” [7]. This inspired a number of
countries to put this concept into practice as an instrument for recovery from
the crisis.
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Figure 1. The hierarchy of green economy concepts [3,5].

In 2008, UNEP also announced the so-called Green Economy Initiative to

analyse and develop ways to support investments in the so-called green
economy sectors and actions increasing the greening of environmentally
harmful sectors. Part of this initiative was the preparation of a report entitled
Global Green New Deal, which was published in 2009. The report presents a
proposal for a set of environmental instruments to stimulate recovery from
the crisis and strengthen and balance the global economy. According to the
authors of the report, green stimulation packages targeted at specific areas
could strengthen the development of green economy. The programme called
on governments to stimulate the development of green sectors by allocating
significant resources for three purposes:
(i) economic recovery, (ii) poverty eradication, and (iii) reducing carbon
emissions and ecosystem degradation.
In 2009, in the run-up to the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference,
the UN pub- lished a statement supporting green economy as a possible way
to mitigate the effects of the global financial crisis, boost economic recovery,
strengthen food security, prevent envi- ronmental degradation and other risks
regarding water and energy shortages and climate change. The increased
interest in the green economy was then linked to preparations for the UN Rio
+ 20 Conference on Sustainable Development, which was organised in 2012.
An important document addressing the development of the green economy
was UNEP’s 2011 Green Economy Report, which defined the green economy
as “an economy that improves human well-being and social equity while
significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological shortages. It is low-
carbon, resource-efficient and socially inclusive” [11]. This widely cited
definition has inspired many other similar formulations proposed by various
international organisations and research centres [12].
According to the Guide to Green Economy published by the United
Nations, between 2009 and 2012 there were about 30 reports and studies on
the nature, definition, and implementation of national green economy
strategies [8]. Shorter definitions are known, such as the one given by a
coalition of different NGOs, defining the green economy as “a resilient
economy that provides a better quality of life for all within the planet’s
ecological limits” [6]. There are also more developed definitions, among
which we can mention the definition formulated by Danish NGOs, which
defines green economy not as a state but as a process of transformation and
dynamic progress. Green economy, in this sense, eliminates the systemic
distortions and dysfunctions of mainstream economics and ensures human
well-being and equal access to opportunities for all members of the
community, while maintaining the integrity of the planet. These organisations
argue that an economy cannot be green if it is not fair [13]. The document
Towards a Green Economy [11] describes the stages of implementing a green
economy, specifies the type and use of green investments and the orientation
of development processes mainly towards the provision
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and use of natural capital and energy [12]. The dynamic development of the
green economy concept occurred in 2011–2012, when numerous reports,
documents and studies of various international institutions and national
teams relating to the greening of the economy were published. Leading
among many institutions were: UN World Conferences, various UN Agencies,
including in particular the UN Environment Programme UNEP, the OECD, the
World Bank, the European Union and its Environment Agency (EEA), and
specialized institutions set up to study the issue of green economy
development and implementation, such as the Green Economy Knowledge
Platform (GEKP), the World Resources Institute (WRI), the Global Green
Growth Institute (GGGI), the UN Department for Economic and Social Affairs
(UNDESA), the UN Economic Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP),
various UN specialised agencies, e.g., ILO, FAO, UNCTAD, UNFCCC, and
UNESCO, and others. National institutions have also taken an interest in and
conducted research on green economy. Since 2013, there has been a growing
interest in both the practical implementation of the concept and in ways to
assess progress in implementation and measure outcomes. The chronology of
the emergence of the more important concepts and ideas of green economy
in the context of other related concepts is presented in Table 1.

Table 1. Significant milestones in global and European Green Economy development 1.

1972 UN Conference on the Human Environment. Declaration; We have only one earth.
1987 Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development (WECD)–“Our Common Future”.
1989 Blueprint for a Green Economy, Report 1.
1991 Blueprint for a Green Economy, Report 2.
1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), Rio Earth Summit-Agenda 21.
1994 Blueprint for a Green Economy, Report 3.
1997 UN General Assembly. Review and Appraise the Implementation of “Agenda 21” Rio + 5.
2000 UN Millennium Summit. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), Rio + 10.
2008 UNEP; Green Economy Initiative (GEI), Global Green New Deal (GGND).
2009 UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.
UNEP Global Ministerium Environmental Forum in Nusa Dua. EC: A Strategy for Smart and
201 Sustainable and Inclusive Growth.
0
UNEP Green Economy Report: Towards a Green Economy: Pathways to Sustainable Development and Poverty
Eradication. UN Document: Working Towards a Balanced and Inclusive Green Economy. OECD: Towards
Green Growth. UNEP, ILO:
201 Green Jobs. Towards Decent Work in a Sustainable, Low-Carbon World. WRI: A compilation of Green Economy
1 Policies, Programs and Initiatives from Around the World. WRI: Adapting for a Green Economy: Companies,
Communities and Climate Change. UNCTAD: The Road to Rio+20: For a development-led green economy.
Issue 1, 2, 3. EC: Roadmap to a resource efficient Europe.
UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) Rio+20. UNEP: Measuring Progress Towards a Green
Economy. UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA): A Guidebook to Green Economy: Issue 1 and
2: Exploring Green Economy Principles and Green Economy Transition. EEA: Environmental Indicator Report
201 2012: Ecosystem Resilience and Resource Efficiency in a Green Economy in Europe. World Bank: Inclusive
2 Green Growth: The Pathways to
Sustainable Development.
High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF). Green Growth Knowledge Platform (GGKP):
Moving towards a Common Approach on Green Growth Indicators. EEA: Towards a green Economy in Europe.
201
EU Environmental Policy Targets and Objectives 2010–2050.
3
2014 UNEP: Using Indicators for Green Economy Policymaking.
2015 Transforming Our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development-Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs).
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Table 1. Cont.

2016 Green Growth Knowledge Platform: Measuring Inclusive Green Growth at the Country
Level. 2017 OECD: Green Growth Indicators. PAGE: The Green Economy Progress
Measurement. Application. 2019 European Commission. New European Green Deal
Strategy.
1
Own elaboration using different official documents and publications.

The European Union has been actively involved in building the concept of
sustainable development, but interest in green economy in its documents
only emerged in the run-up to the Rio+20 summit in 2012. At that time,
green economy was defined as “a low-carbon and resource-efficient economy
that delivers growth, creates jobs and eradicates poverty by investing in and
preserving the natural capital on which the long-term survival of the planet
depends. It is a low-carbon, resource-efficient, and socially inclusive economy”
[14,15]. The European Commission then defined its approach to green
economy in an environmental action programme treating natural capital
and biodiversity conservation as a kind of life insurance. The leading
document from the perspective of green economy became the Europe 2020
Strategy, the central element of which is the promotion of sustainable
development in all areas of the economy, environment, and social life. In the
preparation of this strategy and its dissemination, a number of specific
documents directly related to the issue of greening the economy were
developed [12].

3. Defining Green Economy and Green Growth

Green economy can be considered from three perspectives: conceptual–
theoretical, application–implementation and measurement of the results of its
implementation. The theoretical–conceptual perspective is important for the
phase of strategy formulation, policy creation, and the elaboration of
development programmes. Although individual definitions differ in details,
emphasising the aspects which are the main axis of interest for a given
organisation as the entity formulating the definitions, they are all related to
the concept of sustainable development, developed since the 1970s, in which
the three planes: economic, social, and environmental are treated equally and
inseparably. This interconnection between planes and the need to balance
needs and interests between generations should be externalized in the New
Green Economic Deal, which through green economy, green growth and
sustainable development can be achieved as a moving target state. The
concept of green economy focuses on the relationship and interdependence
between economy and the ecosystem providing a basis for operationalising
the concept of sustainability. Most definitions distinguish between the concept
of sustainable development and that of green economy, giving the latter a
role as a tool for achieving sustainable development goals [16].
One of the most widely quoted definitions of a green economy was
proposed by the United Nations Environment Programme UNEP, which defines
green economy as one that results in “increased human well-being and social
equity while reducing environmental risks and ecological shortages” [17]. At
the core of the green economy concept is the conviction that economic
development is structurally linked to policies that protect natural resources
and the quality of the natural environment [18]. In many countries, attention
has been paid to ensure that the packages of the “New Green Deal” include
such fiscal solutions relating to the environment that will be both stimulators
of the current economy and the basis for sustainable development in the
future [19].
Regardless of how it is defined, the concept of green economy includes
such basic elements as: elimination of environmental threats and
preservation of its values; rational management of natural resources and raw
materials; social inclusion and economic effi- ciency. Investments limiting
harmful emissions of gases and pollutants, pro-ecological social behaviour,
and economic activity ensuring economic efficiency and growth are of key
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importance for the implementation of this concept. The concept of green
economy is therefore closely linked to the concept of green growth ensuring
climate resilience and a
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sustainable development process. Green growth, which gained interest

especially during the financial crisis of 2008–2011, was recognised as an
important alternative to the tradi- tional way of recovering from economic
recession by combining ad hoc intervention with ensuring long-term
sustainable growth through the use of green factors that enhance the
sustainability of the economy [20]. For definitions of green economy, green
growth, and low-carbon economy, see Table 2 [21,22].

Table 2. Selected definitions of green economy, green growth and low-carbon

development [11,14,16,17,21–25].

Organisation Definition
Green Economy
The green economy is one that results in improved human well-being and social equity,
UNEP while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities.
(2011)
The green economy is an enabling component of the overarching goal of sustainable
development. It
UNCTAD (2011) is defined as an economy that results in improved human well-being and reduced
inequalities, while not exposing future generations to significant environmental risks
and ecological scarcities.
International
Chamber of
The green economy is an economy in which economic growth and environmental
Commerce, Green
sustainability work together in an mutually reinforcing fashion, while supporting
Economy Task Force
progress and social development.

EEA (2013) The green economy is one in which environmental, economic and social policies and
innovations enable society to use resources efficiently–enhancing human well-being in
an inclusive manner, while maintaining the natural systems that sustain us.
Green growth
Green growth is about fostering economic growth and development while ensuring that
OECD (2011)
the natural assets continue to provide the resources and environmental services on
which our well-being relies. To do this it must catalyse investment and innovation which
will underpin sustained growth and give rise to new economic opportunities.
World Bank (2012) Growth that is efficient in its use of natural resources, clean in that it minimizes pollution
and environmental impacts, and resilient in that it accounts for natural hazards and the
role of environmental management and natural capital in preventing physical disasters.
Green growth ( . . . ) is a strategy of sustaining economic growth and the job creation
UN ESCAP necessary to reduce poverty in the face of worsening resource constraints and climate
(2012)
crisis.
Low-carbon development
Development emphasizing reduction in use of fossil fuels as the engine for
FGG development (climate-resilient development).
(2011)
Low-carbon development strategies are forward-looking national economic development
OECD plan or strategies that encompass low-emission and/or climate-resilient economic growth.
(2011)

In addition to the definitions formulated by teams of researchers working

for interna- tional organisations, the issue of green growth and green
economy has been addressed by researchers in various academic centres and
working independently. Cato et al. presented the view that the academic
literature on green economy covers a wide range of topics relat- ing to both
green economics and green growth and points to the need to assess
economic growth not only in terms of its impact on the size of GDP, but also
on the assessment of welfare and environmental quality. Many studies point
to the limited capacity to design rational development policies that take into
account all the necessary rationally related elements [26,27]. The global
green economy cannot be directed only at increasing GDP with the help of
green stimulators, it should provide the opportunity to carry out the necessary
structural changes; the structure of resources used, modes of production, the
level and structure of consumption, reducing emissions and losses, etc.
actions to prevent environmental degradation and climate change. However,
greening the economy cannot be seen as a panacea for ensuring growth [28].
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An important aspect of the concept of green growth and greening the

economy is that it can be linked to the transformation processes taking place
rapidly and widely at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries both in the
countries of Central and Eastern Europe and in many developing countries.
Transformation emerges as an important concept referring both to the
economic and social system and to its adaptation to environmental
requirements and sustainable development goals. Green transformation
enables the transformation of existing systems in terms of economic
structures, governance institutions and the role of actors into new
alternative forms that take into account the adaptation of sustainable
development principles [29].
In the application–implementation dimension, green economy includes
elements such as green products and services, green investments, green
economic sectors, green pub- lic procurement, green taxes and other
management instruments, green jobs, and green economy-friendly
consumption [9]. The first element is formed by products and services that
have a low environmental impact throughout their life cycle. This means that
they are manufactured or offered using components that are not harmful to
the environment and can be reused in the recycling process, especially by
implementing the so-called “closed loop economy”. Green products and
services must meet certain environmental require- ments. Green investments
include both the construction of infrastructure to protect the environment,
investments producing products and not emitting greenhouse gases, saving
energy, as well as other types of activities in the sphere of production, use of
raw materials and energy. Green sectors have always been associated with
agriculture and forestry, the protection of the natural landscape, production of
renewable energy, and development of the bio-economy and environmentally
friendly technologies. Green public procurement and green taxes are
instruments, activities, and processes in which public authorities posi- tively
influence the procurement of environmentally beneficial goods, services and
other forms of action and economic and social growth and development.
Green jobs are forms of employment that contribute to reducing consumption
of energy and natural resources, limiting the amount and types of waste and
pollution, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and protecting ecosystems and
conserving biodiversity. Sustaining green economic sectors also depends on
consumption that avoids waste, losses and manages waste rationally.
Companies, households, and citizens are primarily responsible for
implementing green economy, but also local and regional communities,
states, public authorities and organisa- tions, and international organisations.
The key question is to what extent the right concepts are feasible and are
implemented in economic and social practice. The concepts themselves are
not always universal or optimal proposals for solutions, and the solutions
themselves may also show weaknesses or contain solutions that are difficult
to achieve at a particular time or under particular conditions. Some such
weaknesses are shown in Table 3, which includes characteristics of the green
economy and green growth concepts formulated by various international
organisations.

Table 3. Characteristics of green economy and green growth in different organizations

reports [3].

Key Aspects
Organisation/Authors Title Definitio Measurement Agenda Key Shortcomings
of n

Europe 2020: a Green economy Thematic areas are

European strategy for smart, broadly defined as National and broad but do not
Commission sustainable and ‘smart, sustainable EU level cover the full
inclusive and inclusive indicators spectrum of the
growth (2010) growth’. green economy.
Good economic Unequivocal
policy at the heart support for
of green potential of
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Towards growth. Economy 30 OECD green unlimited ‘green’
OECD green must be ‘flexible’, growth growth. Economic
growth ‘dynamic’ and use indicators. policy with added
(2011) the resource environmental
efficiently. benefits.
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Table 3. Cont.

Key Aspects
Organisation/Authors Title Definitio
Measurement Agenda Key Shortcomings
of n

Solutions offer little

Moving towards a
Questions role of innovation. Based
green economy can
GDP in assessing only on mainstream
Towards a green be profitable, it is
UNEP well-being. sustainable
economy (2011) possible to combine
Indicators for development
healthy living with
decision (markets,
strong economic
-making and technology,
growth.
policy regulations).
design.
Based on need for
strong, sustainable
and balanced
growth and strong
economic
Enabling the Social imperatives
arguments for
transition to a Government to of the green
HM immediate action
green provide information economy are
Government on climate change.
economy (2011) on expected absent. Regulation
Green economy
impacts of climate framed as solely a
defined by its
change and burden on
benefits to the UK
resource risks. businesses.
economy: new
Measurement not
international
on ‘Policy
markets to be
Timeline’.
captured and
opportunities
for growth. Insistence that
‘Inclusive green growth must be
growth is the green but not
pathway to How green policies slower. Narrow
sustainable affect conventionally range
Inclusive green development’ Policy frameworks measured GDP.
World growth (2012) (World Bank 2012, will be context Incorporating the
Bank xi). ‘Growth itself is specific. environment
good, but it has not Resilience, equity into accounting.
been green or and inclusivity
inclusive enough’. are important.
Approach based on
communication need,
Moving towards a
Claims existing not monitoring. Adopts
common approach
GGKP definitions have a OECD’s headline
on green growth
lot in common. indicators. Wealth
indicators (2013)
States no definition accounting as
of its own for its complementary.
‘common approach’.

‘Green growth
seeks to fuse
sustainable
development’s
economic and
environmental
pillars into a single
GGGI focuses on
intellectual and Based on GDP. Set by
Global Green green growth
policy planning particular
Growth Institute implementation
process, thereby national contexts.
(GGGI) across various
recasting the very
national contexts essence of the
development model
so that it is capable
of producing strong
and sustainable
growth
simultaneously’
(Samans 2013, 3).
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of economic Masks green production
perspectives economy under function only. Focuses on green
considered. green growth. growth, no
Heavily reliant Bases indicators criticism of
on existing on natural assets growth.
solutions. as input to a
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Green growth can be one of the pillars of sustainable development, and

green economy is one of the three main planes of this concept already
developed earlier, mainly since the early 1970s. However, the two terms,
“green economy” and “green growth, contain common elements and their
differences have gradually blurred and have often been used
interchangeably. This was also due to the search for an integrated approach
combining all elements and planes of the concept of sustainable
development, to which both concepts were closely related. Differences
occurred depending on which elements in a given plane were brought to the
fore.
The concept of green growth, although similar to that of the green
economy, has a clear quantitative aspect referring to the growing demand for
goods and services resulting from population growth, increased development
aspirations and the need to reduce poverty. It grew out of the interest in
greening issues by institutions, such as the World Bank, the OECD, the Global
Green Growth Institute (GGGI), and the United Nations Economic Com- mission
for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP). According to the OECD [21], green
growth means striving for economic growth and development while
preventing environmental degradation, loss of biodiversity, and irrational use
of natural resources (investing in the environment according to this concept
should be the driving force of economic growth). Green growth policies serve
to promote economic development and the standard of living of the
population by conserving and making good use of natural capital, which
includes natural and economic resources in the form of raw materials, energy,
water, biomass, and many other products or services that affect human well-
being.
The relevance and effectiveness of such policies depend on a good
understanding of green resources and growth drivers and the relationships
between them. This requires adequate information resources, measurement
indicators and monitoring and evaluation methods. The implementation and
monitoring of green economy and green growth in individual countries should
enable international comparisons leading to a more complete identification of
problems and coordination of actions on a global scale [8,13]. To this end,
various international organisations and research teams are developing
packages, indicators, and ways to measure greening and assess its impact.
According to the World Bank, green growth is one that ensures resource
efficiency, results in reduced pollution and environmental degradation, and
averts various disasters through proper management of natural capital and
the environment as a whole. According to the GGGI (Global Green Growth
Institute), green growth is a revolutionary new develop- ment paradigm that
sustains economic growth while ensuring climate and environmental
resilience. It targets poverty reduction, job creation, social inclusion, and
ecosystem sustain- ability, mitigating climate change, supporting biodiversity,
providing access to clean water and energy [30]. GGGI is an international
institute that collects information and conducts research on green growth and
its promotion. It supports the preparation of green growth plans especially in
developing countries in four priority areas: energy, water, land use and green
cities [13].
The concepts of green growth and green economy were formed in a
similar period, at the beginning of the second decade of the 21st century, but
in different environments and addressed to different audiences. The notion of
green economy refers to the state and structure of the economy, its nature
and way of functioning, while the term green growth has a dynamic character
and refers to the use of green production factors to increase economic effects
(production resources, production, consumption, income), which can be used
to accelerate development processes. Growth has a quantitative character,
while development is a phenomenon with a broader content, including,
besides quantitative changes, also qualitative changes, such as structural
changes in the economy, technical and technological progress,
implementation of innovations, reduction of labour intensity of production and
burdensomeness of work, provision of social services, and the protection of
environmental and cultural values. Growth is generally necessary for
development to occur, which may be delayed or indirect. Green growth can
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take green economy to a
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higher level of development, so the concept of green growth can be useful in

formulating development strategies and policies, green transformation
policies.
According to the OECD [21], green growth policies serve to promote
economic devel- opment and human well-being through the conservation and
appropriate use of natural capital, which includes natural and economic
resources in the form of raw materials, energy, water, biomass, and many
other products or services that contribute to social well-being. The relevance
and effectiveness of these policies depend on a good understanding of green
resources and growth drivers and the relationships between them. This requires
appropriate information resources, measurement indicators, and monitoring
and evaluation methods.

4. The Principles of Green Economy and the Elements of Green

Transformation
While the definition of green economy was supposed to serve the
interpretation of the concept itself, ways of concretising this concept and
ways of achieving the desired state were also sought. This was to be
achieved by developing principles of implementation and ways of operation.
Various organisations defining the green economy proposed a number of
proposals in this regard, especially in the run-up to the Rio + 20 Conference.
An overview of these proposals was published by UNDESA in 2012 in the
second edition of its Green Economy Handbook [31]. A list of the most
frequently proposed green economy principles in relation to the fundamental
planes of sustainable development is provided in Table 4.

Table 4. Green Economy Principles [31].

Type Principles
Recognizes natural capital and values
• Integrated in economic development and growth
models
Economic • Internalizes externalities
• Promotes resource and energy efficiency
• Creates decent work and jobs data
Protects biodiversity and ecosystems
• Invest in and sustains natural capital
Environment • Recognizes and respects planetary
al boundaries and ecological limits
• Advances international environmental sustainability
goals
Delivers poverty reduction, well-being, livelihoods, social
protection and access to essential services
Social • Is socially inclusive, democratic, participatory,
accountable, transparent, and stable
• Is equitable, fair and just–between and within
countries and between generations

The principles and guidelines for the practice of implementing green

economy were the result of consultations and cooperation within the so-called
Green Economy Coalition, 2012, a global network of institutions working for
the transformation of the existing economic model into a new green, rational
and inclusive economy operating on the principles of sustainability and
durability. The key principles include: the sustainability principle, the justice
principle, the dignity principle, the healthy planet principle, the inclusion
principle, the good governance and accountability principle, the resilience
principle, the efficiency and sufficiency principle, the generations principle.
These principles are quite general and can be adapted for inclusion in more
specific programmes for the development and transformation of the green
economy.
The transition to a green economy was presented in a joint report by
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UNDESA, UNEP and UNCTAD [32], in which the invited authors addressed the
benefits, challenges and risks of implementing the green economy concept in
the perspective of achieving the sustainable
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development goals. The report mainly addresses three areas: macroeconomic

development issues; international trade and challenges for green policies in
the context of achieving sustainable development goals; and poverty
eradication and social equity implementation. From UNEP’s perspective, the
green economy is not only an opportunity to improve well- being and reduce
inequality, but also to reduce environmental risks and constraints. It was
pointed out that most of the publications on this topic refer to the
microeconomic scale, whereas macroeconomic analyses are also needed. On
the macroeconomic scale, it was pointed out that there is a need to develop
analyses and research on inter-generational welfare, the effectiveness of
environmental expenditure, the policy of supporting supply (production) and
demand (consumption), structural changes in economic growth and global
financial support for initiatives in the green economy. In the trade sphere, it is
necessary to look for potential opportunities and threats that may arise during
the transition to a green economy, to identify the relative position of leading
trading partners implementing the green economy concept, as well as the
role of the international community in ensuring that trade and investment
policies serve recognised green economy objectives.
On the level of challenges to the green economy, it was pointed out that
green economy is the leading theme in which the problems arising from the
environmental crisis have focused. The divergences in defining green
economy and the consequences that may arise from this between ecologists
and economists were defined. It was pointed out that green economy is a
huge complex of issues on a global scale, and it is difficult to reach a
consensus in this respect, especially on a microeconomic scale and in the
short term. On a general and long-term scale, however, green economy is
environmentally friendly, sensitive to the needs of conservation of natural
resources, minimising the emission of harmful substances and ecological
threats. One of the dangers that is pointed out is that green economy is
considered as something definitive, replacing the concept of sustainable
development. Green economy should support, not replace, sustainable
development. This risk is important when applying the policy of green
protectionism or attempts to transfer and adapt ready-made models.
The following are considered key elements of green transformation:
proper valuation of natural capital, selection of appropriate ways of regulation
and support incentives, appropriate use of economic and legal instruments for
environmental regulation, devel- opment of a sustainable model of
production and consumption, equitable distribution of income and ensuring
social standards, investing in education and dissemination of knowledge, and
building green skills. Natural capital began to be treated as an important
factor of production and a determinant for raising the welfare of the
population [21]. The transition to a new green deal should take place with
broad inclusion and adaptation of economic greening programmes to regional
and local conditions [22]. The main objective of the transition is to strengthen
the changes leading to the transition from the traditional economy model to a
green economy model providing economic growth, higher income levels and
other economic benefits while maintaining environmental sustainability and
social inclusion. An interesting proposal for the practical transition from a low-
carbon economy to a green economy on a national, business, and community
scale was proposed by P. Szyja [9], which is presented in Table 5.
This proposal points to practical tasks and activities that can be
undertaken at each of the three stages of transformation. It is important that
the proposed actions can be framed in the form of measurable quantitative
indicators.
Despite the presence of various definitions of the green economy and
green growth, especially in the sphere of influence of international
organisations, these concepts and ways of defining them are often criticised
due to the high flexibility and difficulty of delimitation and overlapping with
issues falling under the concept of sustainable development and the
achievement of sustainable development goals. The search for appropriate
measures and indicators for green growth, green economy and green
economic governance is therefore still on-going.
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Table 5. Stages of transformation towards the green economy [16].

Entit
y Countri Enterpris Societ
Stag es es y
e • achieving the
emission • low-carbon
• low-carbon
targets; vehicle
Low-carbon technology
• defining the investments;
economy implementations;
emission standards • increasing the
• purchase of low-
for machines and share of public
carbon machines
devices; transport and
and vehicles.
• Emission Trading bicycles users.
System introduction.

• thermal upgrading
of public buildings;
• renewable energy • production
sources development; plant
• thermal upgrading
• supporting modernization;
Greening the of residential
ecological • environmental
economy buildings;
investments management system
• purchase of
through financial introduction;
ecological goods
instruments; • enriching the
and services.
• subsidizing range of ecological
green vehicles; products;
• green • creating green jobs.
public
procureme
nt.

• green tax reform;

• raising the share
of renewables in
energy • zero emission • green houses;
Green consumption; production; • microelectric
economy • ecological • dominant share of power plants;
transport ecological products and • solar panels.
development; services;
• industrial policy • green jobs.
focused on green
sectors;
• restrictions and
controls in waste
generation.

5. Measures and Indicators for Green Economy and Green Growth

Conventional assessment of the state of the economy and economic
growth is usually performed using the GDP measure. In the assessment of
economic and social development, a number of other indicators characterising
economic, social, and environmental aspects of management are used. In the
transition to a green economy, additional characteristics gain importance,
especially from the environmental sphere. When traditionally understood
economic growth is usually treated as synonymous with welfare
improvement, green growth additionally takes into account security aspects
(Ferguson, 2014). When assessing green growth and the transformation to a
green economy, the need arises to broaden the assessment criteria to include
new or alternative measures of economic, social and environ- mental progress,
especially when linking the transformation processes to the pursuit of a new
green deal that ensures the achievement of sustainable development goals.
Indicators are also needed to determine the level of transformation of the
economy to the goals set by the new green economic deal, to new sustainable
development goals. It is therefore important to correctly formulate the
objectives of green transformation, to determine the level and timetable for
their achievement, to formulate measures and indicators, and to search for
appropriate data to carry out an evaluation of the implemented development
strategy and policy.
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The implementation and monitoring of green economy and green growth
in individual countries should enable international comparisons giving a more
complete understanding of the problems and coordination of actions on a
global and national scale [8,12,13,16]. To this end, research teams and
international organisations are developing packages of metrics,
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indicators, and ways to measure the level of greening and its assessment.
Individual elements of green economy and green growth drivers should be as
precisely defined, quantified and measurable as possible.
One of the earlier proposals are indicators proposed by the United
Nations Environ- mental Programme (UNEP). The intention of this organisation
is to use green economy indicators for an integrated assessment of policies
and methods for shaping green devel- opment processes on a national and
global scale. In order to evaluate changes in national development policies, it
proposes to place emphasis on investing in and applying clean technologies,
strengthening environmental services, and supporting environmental pro-
tection. Each national programme should take into account the specific local
political, economic, and institutional circumstances. The set of environmental
and social indica- tors proposed in 2012 for measurement in the three areas is
as follows: 1. indicators of environmental problems and objectives (climate
change, ecosystem management, resource efficiency, chemical and waste
management); 2. indicators of policy interventions (green investment, green
fiscal reform, valuation of externalities and ecosystem services, green skills
training); 3. indicators of quality of life and social equity (employment,
environmental products and services sector, well-being, access to resources,
health). The detailed set of indicators is presented in Table 6. Each of the
specified groups of indicators contains from two to four (39 in total) specific
indicators. The indicators are collected on a dedicated Green Growth
Knowledge Platform (GGKP), which in addition to these indicators includes a
global list of scientists and experts [33]. The GGKP was launched in January
2012 in Mexico by the GGGI, OECD, UNEP, and the World Bank.

Table 6. Review of green economy indicators by UNEP [16,33].

Environmental
Carbon emissions (ton/year)
Climate change Renewable energy (share of power supply)
(%) Energy consumption per capita
(Btu/person)
Ecosystem Forestland (ha)
management Water stress (%)
Land and marine conservation area (ha)
Energy productivity
(Btu/USD) Material
Resource efficiency productivity (ton/USD) Water
productivity (m3/USD) CO2
productivity (ton/USD)
Chemicals and waste Waste collection (%)
management
Waste recycling and reuse (%)
Waste generation (ton/year) or landfill area (ha)
Policy
R&D investment (% of GPD)
Green EGSS investment (USD/year)
investment
Fossil fuel, water and fishery subsidies (USD or %)
Green fiscal Fossil fuel taxation (USD or %)
reform Renewable energy incentive (USD
or %)
Pricing Carbon price (USD/ton)
externalities and Value of ecosystem services (e.g., water provision)
valuing
Expenditure in sustainable procurement (USD/year and %) CO2
Green and material productivity of government operations (ton/USD)
procurement
Training expenditure (USD/year and % of GDP)
Green job skill training
Number of people trained (person/year)
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Table 6. Cont.

Well-being and equity

Construction (person, %)
Operation and management (person, %)
Employment
Income generated (USD/year)
Gini coefficient
Value added (USD/year)
EGSS performance Employment (jobs)

Natural and
Value of natural resource stocks (USD)
human capital
Net annual value addition/removal (USD/year)
Literacy rate (%)
Access to modern energy
Access to (%) Access to water (%)
resources Access to sanitation (%)
Access to health care (%)
Level of harmful chemicals in drinking water (g/litre)
Health Number of people hospitalized due to air pollution
(person)
Road traffic fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants (transport
related)

In 2014 the UNDP published a document entitled “Using indicators for

shaping the green economy policy”, which are framed under four groups: (1)
problem identification,
(2) policy formulation, (3) policy evaluation, and (4) policy monitoring and
evaluation [16]. This set goes beyond the scope of green economy and green
growth.
The OECD has developed its own set of indicators with a list from 1917,
including 26 core indicators, each of which may have additional component,
complementary or substitutive indicators (Table 7).

Table 7. Review of green growth indicators by OECD [16,34].

Environmental and Resource Productivity of the Economy

1.CO2 productivity
1.1.Production-based CO2 productivity GDP per unit of energy-related CO2 emitted
Carbon & 1.2.Demand-based CO2 productivity Real income per unit of energy-related CO2 emitted
energy 2.Energy productivity
productivity 2.1.Energy productivity (GDP per TPES unit)
2.2.Energy intensity by sector (manufacturing transport, households, services)
2.3.Share of renewable energy In TPES, in electricity production
3.Material productivity (non-energy)
3.1.Demand based material productivity (comprehensive measure; original units in
physical terms) Real income per unit of materials embodied in final demand, materials
mix
3.2.Production-based (domestic) material productivity GDP per unit of materials
consumed, materials mix
• Biotic materials (food, other biomass)
Resource • Abiotic materials (metallic minerals, industrial minerals)
productivity 3.3.Waste generation intensities and recovery
rations By sector, per unit of GDP or value
added, per capita
3.4.Nutrient flows and balances (N, P)
• Nutrient balances in agriculture (N, P)
Per agricultural land area and change in agricultural output
4.Water productivity
Value added per unit of water consumed, by sector (for agriculture: irrigation
water per hectare irrigated)
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Table 7. Cont.

5. Environmentally adjusted multifactor productivity (comprehensive measure; original

Multifactor productivity
units in monetary
terms)
Natural Asset Base
6.Index of natural resources
Natural resources Comprehensive measure expressed in monetary terms
stock
7.Freshwater resources
Available renewable resources (groundwater, surface water) and related abstraction rates
(national, territorial)
Renewable 8.Forest resources
stocks Area and volume of forests; stock changes over time
9.Fish resources
Proportion of fish stocks within safe biological limits (global)
10. Mineral resources
Non-renewable Available (global) stocks or reserves of selected minerals (tbd): metallic minerals, industrial
stocks minerals, fossil fuels, critical raw materials; and related extraction rates
11. Land resources
Land cover conversions and cover changes from natural state to artificial state
• Land use: state and changes
12. Soil resources
Degree of topsoil losses on agricultural land, on other land
Biodiversity and
• Agricultural land area affected by water erosion, by class of erosion
ecosystems
13. Wildlife resources (to be further refined)
• Trends in farmland, forest bird populations or breeding bird populations
• Species threat status, in percentage of species assessed or known
• Trends in species abundance
The environmental dimension of quality of life
14. Environmentally induced health problems and related costs (e.g., years of
Environmental healthy life lost as a result of degraded environmental conditions)
health and risk
• Population exposure to air, and the related health risks and costs
15. Exposure to natural or industrial risks and related economic losses

Environmental 16. Access to sewage treatment and drinking water

services and 16.1. Population connected to sewage treatment (at least secondary,
amenities in relation to optimal connection rate)
16.2. Population with sustainable access to safe drinking water
Economic opportunities and policy responses
17. Research and development expenditure of importance to green growth
• Renewable energy sources (% of energy-related R&D)
• Environmental technology (% of total R&D, by type)
Technology
and • All-purpose business R&D (% of total R&D)
innovation 18. Patents of importance to green growth (% of a country’s patent families worldwide)
• Environmental-related and total patents
• Structure of environment-related patents
19. Environment-related innovation in all sectors
20. Production of environmental goods and services (EGS)
• Gross value added in the EGS sector (% of GDP)

Environmental • Employment in the EGS sector (% of total employment

goods and services • To be complemented with:
Environmentally related expenditure (level and structure)
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Table 7. Cont.

21. International financial flows of importance to green growth % of total flows and % of
International GNI
financial 21.1 Official development assistance
flows 21.2 Carbon market financing
21.3 Foreign direct investment
22. Environmentally related taxation subsidies
• Level of environmentally related tax revenue (% of GDP, % of total tax revenues;
in relation to labour-related taxes)
Prices and transfers
• Structure of environmentally related taxes (by type of tax base)
• Level of environmentally subsidies
23. Energy pricing (share of taxes in end-use prices)
24. Water pricing and cost recovery (tbd)
Regulations and
management 25. Indicators to be developed
approaches
Training and skill 26. Indicators to be developed
development

The authors of this classification avoid creating synthetic indicators but

use an exten- sive, two-tier set of indicators that allow for a detailed
characterisation of the problem with particular attention to the social context
and country specificities. The list of indicators is not closed and can be
supplemented. The proposed indicators can be aggregated into four internally
consistent groups of indicators [34]:
1. Environmental and resource productivity indicators, which reflect the
impact on productivity and economic efficiency of factors, such as
energy and other resource use, with a focus on carbon economy.
2. Natural assets base, which includes indicators to monitor the use of
natural capital- renewable and non-renewable resources, biodiversity,
and ecosystem features in accordance with the principles of sustainable
development.
3. Environmental dimension of quality of life. Indicators of this group
concern the environmental impact on human health and the possibility of
generating risks and threats, resulting from the contamination of air,
water, and other factors.
4. Economic opportunities and policy responses. Indicators in this group
verify the potential for welfare improvements and opportunities for
growth and development through processes of greening the economy.
Indicators on green economy and green growth are also collected and
published by the European Environment Agency (EEA). In its 2012 report, it
included a set of 225 indicators grouped into the following five groups: (1)
driving force indicators: 50 indicators relat- ing to socio-economic
development, including transport, tourism, energy consumption;
(2) pressure indicators: 71 indicators relating to greenhouse gas emissions
and other air, water and soil pollutants; (3) condition indicators: 33 indicators
describing the state of the environment; (4) impact indicators: 46 indicators
describing changes in the environment and their impact on ecosystems, the
economy and human health; (5) response indicators: 25 indicators that
illustrate how politicians and the public react to environmental prob- lems
[14]. The Central Statistical Office in Poland has also proposed a set of
indicators to characterise the state of greening of the economy [35]. Against
the background of general indicators showing socio-economic conditions and
economic performance (population, labour market, education, living
conditions, information society, national accounts), the following four groups
of measures and indicators for monitoring and assessing the state of green
economy were distinguished: (1) natural capital indicators: 16 indicators
divided into three groups (biodiversity and the state of ecosystems, renewable
resources, non-renewable resources); (2) indicators of environmental
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production efficiency: 18 indicators divided into
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three groups (resource management, energy use and greenhouse gas

emissions); (3) indi- cators of the environmental quality of life of the
population: 16 indicators relating to the relationship between human health
and the state of the environment, as well as access to and use of
environmental services; (4) indicators relating to economic policies and their
consequences in the economic, social, and environmental spheres. This group
includes 19 indicators concerning agricultural policy, environmental policy,
fiscal policy, implementa- tion of new technologies and innovations,
management, and public procurement. In total, the set of green economy
indicators in Poland includes 34 groups of thematic indicators divided into 85
detailed indicators. An overview of green economy indicators in Poland is
presented in Table 8.

Table 8. Review of green economy indicators in Poland by CSO [16,35].

Natural Asset Base

1.Share of legally protected area in total country area.
Biodiversity 2.Farmland Bird index.
3.Forest Bird index.
4.Share of endangered species in total number of species.
1.Agricultural land designated for non-agricultural purposes and forest land
Land use designated for non-forest purposes.
2.Degree of reclamation and management of devastated and degraded land.
1.Forest cover.
Forest resources 2.Forest growing stock
3.Timber removal.
4.Share of damaged forest stands area in total forest area
1.Indicator of surface waters availability per capita.
Freshwater
2.Exploitable underground water resources.
resources
3.Water exploitation index
1.Share of extraction in hard coal resources.
Mineral resources 2.Share of extraction in lignite resources.
3.Share of extraction in natural gas resources
Environmental and resource productivity of the economy
Domestic 1.Resource productivity (GDP/DMC).
material 2.Domestic material consumption per capita
consumption
1.Share of waste recovered in waste generated.
2.Share of waste disposed in waste generated.
3.Municipal waste generated per capita.
Waste 4.Municipal waste collected separately in relation to total waste.
management 5.Recycling of packaging waste.
1.Gross nitrogen balance.
2.Gross phosphorus balance.
Nitrogen and
phosphorus
balances
1. Primary energy productivity.
Energy productivity 2. Final energy intensity of the economy
Renewable energy 1. Share of renewable energy in gross final energy consumption
1.Greenhouse gas emissions.
Greenhouse gas 2.Greenhouse gas emissions by emission
emissions source.
3.Greenhouse gas emissions in non-ETS
sectors.
Environmental quality of life
Gaseous air pollutants 1.Average number of days with exceeded value of 120 µg/m3 by 8-h ozone concentration.
2.Urban population exposure to air pollution by ozone (SOMO35).
3.Premature deaths attributable to ozone exposure
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Table 8. Cont.

1.Emissions of PM10 and PM2.5 per capita.

Particulate air 2.Urban population exposure to air pollution by PM10.
pollutants 3.Urban population exposure to air pollution by PM2.5.
4.Premature deaths attributable to PM2.5 exposure.
1.Percentage of plants exceeding industrial noise limits.
Noise 2.Percentage of population exposed to road traffic noise in agglomerations
of over 100 thousand inhabitants.
3.Percentage of households exposed to excessive noise
Access to drinking water 1. Access to drinking water.
Municipal
1.Percentage of population using sewage network.
sewage
treatment 2.Wastewater treatment facilities per 1000 population not using the sewage network.

1.Green areas in cities per capita.

Green
2.Green areas in cities as % of total area of cities.
areas
Economic opportunities and policy responses
1.Organic agricultural area as % of total agricultural area.
Organic farms 2.Payments for organic farming as % of total payments for agriculture
under the agri-environmental programme.
1.Outlays on fixed assets for environmental protection in relation to GDP.
Outlays on 2.Share of outlays on fixed assets for environmental protection in investment outlays
environmental of the national economy.
protection 3.Household expenditures on environmental protection per capita.
1.Share of environmental tax revenues in GDP.
Environmental 2.Share of environmental tax revenues in total revenues from taxes and social
taxes
contributions
1.Research and development (R&D) intensity.
Research and 2.Research and development (R&D) expenditure per capita.
development (R&D) 3.Outlays on fixed assets for environmental protection in research and development
intensity activity in % of total outlays on fixed assets for environmental protection. Inventions
and patents
1.Patent applications in environment-related technologies as % of total patent
applications filed at the European Patent Office.
2.Patents in environment-related technologies granted as % of total patents granted by
the European Patent Office.
Inventions and patents
3.Patent applications in environmental technologies as % of total patent
applications filed at the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland.
4.Patents in environmental technologies granted as % of total patents granted by the
Patent Office of the Republic of Poland.
Eco-innovation 1. Eco-innovation index
Green technology 1. Participants of
GreenEvo.
Eco-Management 1.Organisations with Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) registration.
and Audit Scheme 2.Sites of organisations with Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) registration
(EMAS)
Green public procurement 1. Green public procurement in % of total public procurement.

Similar sets of indicators relating to green growth and green economy,

based on OECD and UNEP indicators, have been developed in many other
European countries. It should also be noted that there are also other
proposals for indicators relating to the global scale (GGEI-Global Green
Economy Index) or for assessing the green growth policy and the degree of
implementation of green economy principles (Green Economy Progress-GEP).
The Global Green Economy Index was published in 2010 by Dual Citizen,
a US- based consulting firm. The index proposes to measure green economy
in four main areas: leadership and climate change; performance sectors;
markets and investment; and the environment. These indicators are grouped
into 20 thematic areas, the number of which, as well as the number of specific
indicators, can be increased. In addition to indicators of a quantitative nature,
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a number of qualitative indicators of a different nature have been
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proposed in this set. This means that the assessment using these indicators
can be highly subjective. The set of these indicators is presented in Table 9.

Table 9. Review of indicators of the Global Green Economy Index [16,36].

Dimension Area Example of Indicator/Data Source

Climate
Emissions per capita (data from International Energy Agency–IEA)
Change
Performance
Country behaviour during international forums (analysis of ECO
International
Leadership & reports)
Climate Forums
Climate Change
Analyses the Google search results with name of head of state +
Head of State keyword “green economy” (analysis of actions towards the
development of the national green economy)
Analyses the Google search results with name of the country +
Media Coverage keyword “green economy” (analysis of actions towards the
development of the national green economy)
Extent of sustainable buildings in the countries (data obtained from
Building
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design LEED)
s
CO2 transport emissions data published by The International
Transpor Energy Agency–IEA
Efficiency t
Qualitative analysis of national tourism website (assessment in
Sectors Touris promoting sustainable tourism)
m
Data on national renewable electricity outputs as a percentage of
Energ total electricity output (statistics from IEA and World Bank)
y
Resource Efficiency Recycling rate (access from WASTE ATLAS)
Renewable Energy Attractiveness of national markets for renewable energy
Investment investment measure (data access from IRENA)
Number of companies located listed on the Cleantech Group′s
Cleantech Innovation annual Cleantech 100 list and measure of clean energy patents
reported by the Clean Energy Patent Growth Index CEPGI
Markets & Identification of the top 3 companies in each country in terms of
Investment market capitalization and assessment of the effort to improve the
Corporate
sustainability of their business by Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP)
Sustainability
and Science Based Targets (SBT)

Assessment of national investment websites

Green Investment
Promotion and
Facilitation
Agricultur
Performance scores based on the Environmental Performance
e Air
Environment Index (EPI)
quality
Water resources
Water and
sanitation
Biodiversity and
habitat Forests

One of the ways to measure the progress of building green economy is a

composite indicator developed by PAGE-Partnership for Action on Green
Economy called GEP-Green Economy Progress. This indicator was developed
with the cooperation of several organ- isations forming the so-called Green
Flagship Initiative for building an Inclusive Green Economy. The index
contains two components: GEP Index, a set of green economy ad- vancement
level indicators, and Dashboard of Sustainability of Indicators. The GEP Index,
a set of advanced indicators, contains thirteen indicators, which are included
in Table 10.
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Table 10. Review of indicators of the Green Economy Progress Index [16,37].

Indicator Description
Green trade Export of environmental goods according to OECD and APEC (% of total export).
As a measure of green technology innovation, patent publication in environmental
Environmental technology by filing office (% of total patents).
patents
Renewable energy sources Share of renewable energy supply (of total energy supply).
Energy use Energy use (kg of oil equivalent) per USD 1000 GDP (constant 2011 PPP).
Palma ratio Ratio of the richest 10% of the population′s share of income divided by the share of
the poorest 40%. This is a composite measure created by the average access to three
basic services with key social and
Access to basic environmental implications: Access to improved water sources (% of total
services population), Access to electricity (% of total population), Access to sanitation
facilities (% of total population).
Air pollution PM2.5 pollution mean annual exposure (micrograms per cubic
meters) Material footprint Raw material consumption of used biotic and abiotic materials
(tons/person).
Marine and Sum of terrestrial protected area (% of total land area) and marine
terrestrial protected area (% of territorial waters).
protected areas
A composite reflecting inequality in achievements between men and women across three
Gender inequality
dimensions:
index
(a) reproductive health; (b) empowerment; and (c) the labour market.
Share of population above statutory pensionable age receiving an old age pension, by
Pension coverage
and
contribution
sex.
Education (Mean Average number of years of education received by people aged 25 and older,
years of schooling) converted from education attainment levels using official durations of each
level.
Life expectancy at birth indicates the number of years a new-born infant would live if
Life prevailing patterns of mortality at the time of its birth were to remain stable throughout
expectancy
its life.

Sets of indicators describing green growth and the green economy are
also proposed by individual researchers and research teams. They are often
synthetic indicators based on data from Eurostat, UN, OECD, or national
statistical offices. An example of such a set is the Green Economy Index
presented in Table 11 developed by Boz˙ ena Ryszewska, which contains 21
indicators grouped into the following seven areas: Ecosystems, biodiversity
and natural capital; Emissions, pollution and waste; Resource consumption;
Poverty and social inequalities; Economics; Environmental policies and
strategies; Green economy sectors [8].

Table 11. Areas and Indicators of Green Economy Index [8]. The permission was
received from the publisher Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Ekonomicznego we Wrocławiu.

Area Indicator
I. Ecosystems, biodiversity
1.Changes within forests and other woodlands
and natural capital
2.Common bird occurrence

II. Emissions, pollution and 1.Greenhouse gas emissions per capita

waste 2.Amount of hazardous waste generated per capita
3.Sulphur oxides (SO2) per capita
1. Primary energy use per capita
III. Consumption of resources 2. Resource productivity
1. People at risk of poverty or social exclusion
IV. Poverty and social
inequalities V.Economy
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2.Gini coefficient of 1.Unemployment rate
equivalent disposable 2.Gross Domestic Product
income 3.Competitiveness
3.Subjective well-being
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Table 11. Cont.

Area Indicator
1. Share of environmental taxes in total tax income
VI. Environmental policy and 2.Green public procurement
strategies 3.Public expenditure on environmental research and development
4.Surface of protected areas
1.Ecological/sustainable agriculture
2.Renewable energy production
VII. Green economy sectors 3.Recycling
4.Green patents per capita

The six sets of green economy indicators have many features in common.
However, their specificities, strengths and weaknesses should be pointed out.
Comparing them in four dimensions: economic, social, environmental, and
political, it can be concluded that the set of OECD indicators has the relatively
broadest, fullest, and most equal scope. The UNEP set of indicators, focusing
on aspects of greening and social issues omits economic indicators in favour
of political indicators. The Global Economy Index is less representative of social
aspects but pays attention to cross-cutting relationships. The indicators
measuring the progress of the green economy (GEP Index) emphasise social
aspects rather than political ones. The indicators developed and applied in
Poland are comprehensive and emphasize synthetic forms of assessment.

6. Green Economy and Green Growth as Compared to Sustainable

Development
After the Second World War, in the 1950s and 1960s, there was an
explosive growth in industrial production, widespread intensification of
agricultural production, and intensified urbanisation. These processes took
place without paying much attention to the progressive degradation of the
natural environment, the growing problem of waste and pollution and the
increasing threat of regional and global environmental disasters. The lack of
rationality in the environmental sphere created the risk of crisis phenomena in
the economic and social spheres. The awareness of the emerging threats was
perceived in various circles, which made it the subject of the deliberations of
the 23rd Session of the UN General Assembly in 1968, resulting in the
publication of a report on the state of the environment and the resulting
threats in 1969. The growing international interest in environmental
protection issues led to the adoption of the so-called Stockholm Declaration at
the UN conference in 1972 under the slogan “We only have one earth”, which,
despite its non- binding character, became the interpretation and point of
reference in shaping international relations connected to the use of natural
environment [38]. It states that human beings have the right to freedom,
equality, and adequate living conditions in an environment of a quality that
ensures dignity and well-being. However, man bears responsibility for
protecting and improving the environment for present and future generations.
The developed action programme included 109 recommendations grouped
under the following six headings:
(1) land use and shaping of human settlements; (2) environmental
management of natural resources; (3) identification and control of harmful
substances; (4) environmental education and information; (5) environmental
protection in poor countries; (6) international basis for environmental action
[39].
The Stockholm Declaration raised environmental protection to the status
of a fun- damental function of every state and indicated the need to establish
a specialised UN organisation for environmental protection. This became the
aforementioned United Na- tions Environment Programme, which from 2012
began to develop the concept of a green economy. The concept of sustainable
development, on the other hand, has been the respon- sibility of the UN World
Commission on Environment and Development since 1983. This Commission,
under the chairmanship of Gro Harlem Brundtland, is credited with formu-
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lating a universal definition of sustainable development, in the report Our
Common Future,
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published in 1987 and leading the discussion on its implementation. The Rio
Conference in 1992, taking into account the challenges of the 21st century,
produced the “Agenda 21 Strategy”, a global action programme for the
United Nations and other organisations, as well as governments, local
authorities, and various sectors of society. International declara- tions and
programmes were successively transferred into the strategies of the
European Communities and individual countries. Sustainable development
was recognised as one of the most important future challenges for the
European Communities as early as 1990, as reflected in the Maastricht Treaty
and the Treaty establishing the European Community in 1992. Since then, the
concept of sustainable development has been introduced into various
Community acts and into policies, strategies, and programmes concerning
environmental protection, agriculture, fisheries, forestry, energy, transport,
and waste management. In 1992, Poland developed the so-called First
Ecological Policy based on the principles of sustainable development.
Initially, the concept of sustainable development had a declarative and
programmatic character, for which implementation and practical solutions
were sought. The idea was sustained at subsequent world conferences
organised by the UN, including the so-called Millennium Summit in 2000, the
Earth Summit in 2002 in Johannesburg, and the Rio + 20 Earth Summit in Rio
de Janeiro in 2012. The Millennium Declarations and Goals are aligned with
the idea of sustainable development seen from a global perspective. The
Johannesburg Summit, referring to previous declarations, highlighted
humanitarian issues and human dignity. The Rio + 20 summit summed up the
achievements of the previous decade and highlighted new phenomena, such
as the global economic crisis and the fight against terrorism. As regards
sustainable development, the debate focused on the issue of green economy
and the institutionalisation of cooperation at three levels: global, national, and
local, and on three planes: economic, social, and natural. The concept of green
economy developed in the OECD and World Bank environment seemed to
meet the criteria of a more targeted, practical way of implementing the idea
of sustainable development. The Rio + 20 Summit recognized that the most
important problems to be solved concern issues such as: jobs, energy, cities,
food, water, oceans, natural disasters, i.e., issues falling mostly under the
concept of green economy. The final document of the Rio + 20 summit,
entitled “The future we want”, includes a list of sustainable development
goals to be achieved by 2030. It points to the need to integrate action in three
basic areas of sustainable development: long- term economic growth and the
equitable distribution of benefits among nations and social groups; protection
of natural resources and the environment to preserve the environmental
heritage for future generations; and social development that provides food,
education, energy, health care, water, sanitation, and other services to people
around the world. One form of achieving these goals could be green growth,
leading to the strengthening of the green economy.
The concept of sustainable and balanced development, defined in 1987
by the UN World Commission on Environment and Development, growing out
of the need to coun- teract degradation of the natural environment, soon
covered the social and economic spheres. Over the decades, it has been
enriched by contributions from various scientific disciplines, so that it has
become the basic paradigm for all development strategies, policies and
programmes formulated both by international organisations, national
governments, and local government bodies. Its essence is still to ensure
sustainable improvement of the quality of life of contemporary and future
generations by shaping rational proportions between different types of
capita, economic, human, and natural [40–42]. The concept of sustainable
development is used by various scientific disciplines, entrepreneurs and
economic activists, and politicians. Three parallel processes can be observed.
The first consists in expanding the field of sustainability to spheres beyond
the environmental, social, and economic, e.g., to the legal or institutional
plane. The second means intensifying and strengthening the internal links
between the planes [38]. The third one focuses on the search for new forms
of realization and practical implementation of the concept into socio-economic
practice. In this third trend, more than a dozen concepts and forms can
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be listed, which also include various attempts to green the economy, green
growth, and green economy [12,43]. In the European Union, the concept of
sustainable development was introduced in legislation, which enforced
relevant practical actions. The programme adopted for the period 2010–2020
called the “Strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth”, abbreviated
as the “Europe 2020” strategy, was of particular importance. The European
Union adopted for implementation a plan containing five objectives in the
areas of employment, innovation, education, social inclusion and climate
change and energy management, which were to be implemented by 2020. In
each of these areas, Member States set their own national targets. Particular
importance was attached to shaping green economy. Its implementation was
conditioned on the efficient use of resources (especially primary resources),
transition to a low-carbon economy, greater use of renewable energy sources,
increasing energy efficiency, and implementation of new technologies and
innova- tions (especially of ecological nature). Green economy, like the entire
concept of sustainable development, relates directly to agriculture, forestry,
and rural areas, which are associated with food security, the maintenance of
environmental resources, and regeneration of labour resources, preservation
of landscapes, and national and regional cultural heritage.
Of key importance for the consolidation of the concept of sustainable and
balanced development was the agenda adopted in 2015 at the UN World
Conference in New York, “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development” (Figure 2). By adopting the “Agenda 2030”
document, more than 190 countries committed to pursue 17 sustainable
development goals in their policies, broken down into 169 specific tasks. The
goals adopted in “Agenda 2030” can be grouped into five areas marked by
the following concepts, the 5P: people, planet, prosperity, peace, partnership.
These goals cover a wide range of challenges related to poverty, hunger,
health, education, gender equality, climate change, peace, and social justice.
They replaced the previously adopted Millennium Development Goals, which
were to be met by 2015 [44].

Figure 2. Sustainable development goals [45].

7. Greening the Economy and the New European Green Deal

The European Union has also actively participated in the processes of
developing the concept of green economy initiated by the UN, OECD, and other
international organisations. In 2012–2013, the European Environment Agency
formulated its own definition of a green economy and a set of 225 indicators
to assess progress and monitor the implementation of the concept of green
growth and green economy. The issue of greening the economy was also
present in the activities of individual Member States. This led to the
formulation of the New European Green Deal concept.
The concept of a green deal in Europe has been shaped especially since
the Paris Climate Agreement signed in 2018. Underpinning the various
measures in this area was the conviction that it was necessary to reduce
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greenhouse gas emissions by almost a half in
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a decade to 2010 levels and to achieve the so-called climate neutrality by

2050 at the latest. To achieve these goals, the economy needs to be
decarbonised in just three decades. In addition to reducing greenhouse gas
emissions, there is a pressing need to halt the strong trend of disappearance
of many species and forms of biological life.
Climate and environmental change required the introduction of a new
economic model-low-carbon but economically efficient and respecting social
justice. The European Green Deal strategy aims to achieve net zero
greenhouse gas emissions in 2050, furthermore it will decouple economic
growth from resource consumption and not discriminate against any person
or region. It was announced in December 2019 and has been endorsed by
Par- liament and the Council of Europe. It is gradually being implemented
[46]. The European Green Deal is a new strategy for growth that aims to
transform the European Union into a just and prosperous society living in a
modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy. As already mentioned, it
aims to achieve zero net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, with economic
growth decoupled from the use of natural resources. It also aims to protect,
preserve, and enhance natural capital and to protect the health and well-
being of citizens from risks and adverse effects of environmental and climate
change. The implementation of this strategy should be equitable, inclusive,
and sustainable. The European Green Deal includes a complex of ambitious,
multi-directional guidelines relating to the policies that shape the ways in
which the environment is managed, as well as to the direct entities
manging the use of environmental resources. The pathway to the final goal
involves further rigorous commitments made to reduce gas emissions from the
current 40–55% compared to 1990 levels, increase the production and share of
renewable energy consumption to 32%, and reduce energy demand by 32.5%
[7,46,47]. To achieve these targets, it has become necessary to introduce new
regulations for industry, transport, and agriculture, as well as restrictions on
energy consumption in residential buildings. The transition to a “clean”
closed-loop economy, counteracting biodiversity loss and reducing pollution
levels will require action in all sectors of the economy in the form of: new
investments in environmentally friendly technologies, supporting industrial
investments, introducing cleaner, cheaper, and healthier forms of transport,
decarbonising the energy sector, ensuring greater energy efficiency in
buildings and working with international partners to set reasonable
environmental standards. The implementation of the strategy requires
financial support and technical assistance for those who will be most affected
by the transition to a green economy. The mechanism for a just transition will
serve this purpose. The idea of the European Green
Deal is shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3. Elements of the European Green Deal [48].

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The European Green Deal is the European Union′s first such

comprehensive strategy to protect the natural environment and combat
climate change. With it, Europe aspires to be the first climate-neutral
continent. This means that all the Member States have to make
appropriate commitments. In order to achieve the ambitious goal of climate
neutrality-necessary for the protection of human, animal and plant life-it is
essential to transform energy, rebuild production systems and ensure the
safe existence of people. It is necessary to develop measures for clean, waste-
free technologies and to implement circular economy systems. To achieve
this, changes are needed in many areas of Community and national policy.
The diversification of European energy sources and the creation of an
integrated energy market require both new technical or legal solutions and an
assurance of security, solidarity and mutual trust. In an effort to reduce EU
dependence on energy imports, energy efficiency must be improved. All
measures that strengthen the EU′s overall competitiveness should be
supported by scientific research and innovation processes. At the heart of the
European Green Deal lies the need for consistent adherence to the principles
of sustainable development in all areas of economic and social life. The
following ten principles have been identified:
1. a pollution-free Europe-covers air, water and various industrial pollution
issues;
2. the transition to a circular economy—a roadmap for the introduction of a
clean, closed-loop industrial economy began to be developed in 2000;
3. the “From Farm to Table” programme, which involves creating a fair,
healthy, and environmentally friendly food system. It is a programme for
greening the agricultural economy, which mainly involves reducing the
use of pesticides, artificial fertilisers and increasing the area of organic
farming;
4. the Green Common Agricultural Policy, a reform ensuring the development
of agricul- ture, environmental protection, reduction of gas emissions and
positive externalities of rural farming;
5. building transformation mechanisms, providing support for regional
energy transfor- mation programmes, new solutions, housing renovation,
etc.;
6. financing the transition, creating funds for green innovation and public
investment;
7. supporting Member States′ national plans to improve energy systems
that produce clean, secure, and affordable energy, as well as climate
improvement plans;
8. sustainable transport, to adopt strategies for sustainable and intelligent
mobility and improve alternative fuel production and infrastructure;
9. protecting Europe′s natural capital, a proposal for an EU biodiversity
strategy by 2030;
10. achieve climate neutrality by 2050 by preparing a new climate law
linked to the European Climate Pact.
In the areas indicated, work and activities continue on developing
concepts and seeking ways to implement them both at the level of various EU
bodies and in individual Member States.
One of the elements of the European Green Deal is the European Climate
Pact, which should focus society′s attention on measures to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions and seek potential ways to improve the climate and
preserve the viability of the natural environment. The European climate targets
for 2030 envisage a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50%
and potentially up to 55% compared to 1990 levels. This will involve
reviewing all significant climate policy objectives, including, inter alia, the
emissions trading scheme, the identification of climate-sensitive locations in
individual economic sectors and the level of carbon and other gas emissions
charges across the economy. The modification of the tax system, especially
for energy products and electricity, will be part of these changes. In
agriculture, the important issue is the emission of gases related to land use
and animal husbandry, sustainable use of materials and means of production,
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waste reduction and recycling. However, the zero emissions target to be
achieved by the new European Green Deal by 2050 will not be easy.
The popularisation of the concept of a green economy and green
growth, which for many years has attracted the attention of scientists,
social activists, and politicians,
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has translated into attempts to introduce into economic policy provisions

supporting pro- environmental practical actions in various sectors of the
economy, which can be described as “greening”. This was particularly true for
polluting sectors-industry, energy, transport, and agriculture. To this end,
various measures and instruments were used, both of a normative nature
(e.g., introduction of protection zones, bans or orders), and of an economic
and financial nature. In implementing the concept of green economy, the
emphasis was initially placed on the use of a tax system that applied the
“polluter pays” principle. It prevented the generation of pollution and enabled
the accumulation of resources for environmental restoration. This system of
management was particularly important in areas of high natural value and in
productive sectors making intensive use of natural environmental elements.
Its value is still significant, but it is not sufficient to solve the problems that
grow with the increase of adverse climatic events. The concept of
sustainable development and green economy requires searching for new tax
solutions, new types of investments, new resource management systems-
especially energy sources that ensure both the preservation of environmental
values and sustainability and effectiveness of economic processes and social
progress. According to the calculations of OECD [21], the continuation of the
current model of economic growth based on the use of fossil fuels would lead
to an increase in greenhouse gas emissions by 50% in 2050 and doubling of
the number of premature deaths to 3.6 million people per year. Projections
also indicated a global increase of 55% in water demand and a possible 10%
decrease in terrestrial global biodiversity. This indicated the need for a deeper
greening of the economy and the search for new instruments to make it a
reality. Such opportunities should be sought in a new structure for the
generation and use of energy sources, as well as in new green resource-
saving technologies and green tax reform. Work to increase renewable
energy production has produced visible results. Renewable energy production
in the EU increased from 3847.3 to 17,066.6 MWh between 2005 and 2013
alone. Green economy efforts and the state of progress varied from country to
country. Calculated for the beginning of the second decade of the 21st century
by Boz˙ena Ryszawska, the Green Economy Index (GEI), based on indicators
relating to seven areas [8], indicates that Poland was then in a rather distant
20th position among the then 27 EU member states. Only in the area
concerning emissions, pollution and waste did Poland rank 7th. The countries
most advanced in implementing the green economy concept were Sweden,
the Netherlands, Denmark, and Austria (Table 12). The Green Economy Index
assesses the countries in a synthetic way, as a summary of all seven assessed
areas. Within each of these, a country ′s position can deviate quite significantly
from the overall GEI. Taking Sweden as an example, the leader in terms of the
summary index, it ranks only 26th in the sphere of diversity of ecosystems
and biodiversity, and 22nd in the sphere of resource consumption. The
Netherlands, ranked 2nd overall, is only 11th in Area VII-green economy
sectors. Last placed, Greece and Bulgaria are 8th in resource use and 6th in
diversity of ecosystems and biodiversity. Leading positions in individual areas,
apart from Sweden (Areas IV and VII), are held by: Ireland-area I, Latvia-II,
Malta-III, Germany-V, and Denmark-VI.
Modern economy uses energy produced mainly from non-renewable
resources, the
main component of which is coal. There is also a shift away from a coal-based
economy to an economy using renewable energy sources, including those of
biological origin, produced in accordance with the green economy principles.
Measures are therefore needed to stimulate the search for and investment in
new energy generation technologies that do not emit greenhouse gases.
Financing is needed for investments in new infrastructure and new energy
sources, which can be raised by issuing green bonds. Changing the structure
of energy production and increasing energy efficiency can be achieved
through increased taxation of fossil fuel energy and fiscal support for
renewable energy production. One form of this could be a carbon tax levied on
fossil fuels in an amount proportional to the amount of carbon dioxide emitted
when the fuel is burnt. The trading of emissions and the right to use
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resources, which has become a practice in many European Union member
states, is also used to support the greening of the economy. Hopes for a
green economy became
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particularly evident during the widespread economic and financial crisis of

2007–2011 and the post-crisis search for ways to revive the economy.
According to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee
(EESC), an important tool for such a revival could be environmental fiscal
reform, “encouraging a shift of the tax burden from labour to the use of
natural resources, facilitating the preservation of existing jobs and the creation
of new ones in many sectors of the economy [9].

Table 12. Positions of the UE countries in respect to the overall GEI (Green Economy
Index) as well as for the particular areas [8]. The permission was received from the
publisher Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Ekonomicznego we Wrocławiu.

EU 27 IZG I II III IV V VI IV
Austria 4 22 15 13 5 2 6 2

Belgium 7 7 20 15 8 9 8 12
Bulgaria 26 6 16 24 27 19 16 26
Cyprus 24 11 24 21 14 24 15 25

Czech Republic 19 25 18 25 9 15 25 15
Denmark 3 23 13 7 4 8 1 3
Estonia 18 3 26 26 20 11 9 8
Finland 10 5 23 27 2 5 18 5
France 9 9 9 3 13 10 19 17
Germany 5 27 5 9 11 1 3 4
Greece 27 19 19 8 24 27 24 18
Hungary 17 2 4 12 21 22 27 22
Ireland 8 1 14 10 15 16 23 14
Italy 15 24 11 5 19 21 10 10
Latvia 13 4 1 18 26 7 17 7
Lithuania 16 8 3 14 23 13 20 20

Luxemburg 12 20 25 16 6 17 4 16
Malta 14 21 22 1 10 12 12 27
Netherlands 2 10 8 4 3 3 2 11

Poland 20 14 7 20 17 14 21 24
Portugal 25 13 27 11 22 25 22 13
Romania 23 18 2 17 25 18 26 23

Slovakia 21 17 21 23 12 20 11 21

Slovenia 11 15 12 19 7 23 14 6

Spain 22 16 17 6 18 26 13 9
Sweden 1 26 10 22 1 4 5 1
UK 6 12 6 2 16 6 7 18
Legend: I. Ecosystems, biodiversity and natural capital; II. Emission, pollution and waste; III.
Consumption and resources; IV. Poverty and social inequalities; V. Economy; VI. Environmental
policy and strategies; VII. Green economy sectors. The last positions are marked with dark grey,
and the first positions with light grey.

Green economy is usually treated as a tool aimed at achieving sustainable

development and as an element combining economic, social, and
environmental objectives. However, it does not replace the concept of
sustainable development, but represents its narrower scope allowing
operationalization on three main levels and demonstrating the effects of
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management. Green economy can therefore be seen as a set of principles,

objectives and actions that include [11,14,17,21,49]:
• adherence to the principles of sustainable development, i.e., the rational
use of re- sources to achieve economic and social objectives by present
generations without compromising the interests of future generations;
• rational use of natural and social capital through the application of
various tools, such as internalisation of external costs or ecological
accounting;
• holistic programming of resource use, guiding production and consumption
processes, calculating the costs of the whole and individual stages of the
product life cycle, and improving production and consumption
management;
• aligning economic systems with macroeconomic objectives and global
trends, through the creation of green jobs, poverty eradication, and
enhanced competitiveness and growth in key sectors of the economy.
The practical application of the above principles and actions is revealed in
green growth, expanding the reach of green economy and increasing its share
in GDP creation. The dynamic growth of green economy slowed down during
the crisis years 2012–2014 (Table 13). The greening mechanism referred not
only to individual economic sectors and productive activities. Currently, the
concepts of sustainable development and greening are increasingly directed
also to the sphere of consumption and consumer behaviour.

Table 13. Value and production dynamics of the green economy sectors in the
Visegrad Group countries and the EU (in million EUR) in the years 2008–2014 [49].

Year 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

European Union–28 countries 571.834 553.748 618.261 681.132 691.737 700.305 709.543
Dynamics - 96.84 111.65 110.17 101.56 101.24 101.32
Poland 47.212 49.831 50.316 52.159 52.431 53.002 53.488
Dynamics - 105.55 100.97 103.66 100.52 101.09 100.92
Czech
28.574 29.190 32.475 32.733 36.186 35.876 35.066
Republic
Dynamics - 102.16 111.25 100.79 110.55 99.14 97.57
Slovakia 11.824 12.769 13.474 13.849 14.952 15.584 16.437
Dynamics - 107.99 105.52 102.78 105.37 104.23 105.47
Hungary 17.989 19.422 19.717 19.258 20.613 20.972 21.031
Dynamics - 107.97 101.52 97.67 107.04 101.74 100.28

Not only the popularisation of appropriate production practices and

techniques, but also environmentally friendly household operations and
consumer habits have begun to take on greater importance.

8. Conclusions
The problem of the threats posed by increasing pollution and
environmental degra- dation grew in the second half of the 20th century as
the population grew, urbanisation and industrialisation progressed,
agriculture intensified, and the level of knowledge and awareness increased.
First, biologists recognized that the population was, for the first time in its
history, standing on the edge of a precipice and should radically change its
attitude towards nature and the entire natural environment. The degradation
of ecosystems has already affected a third of the population living on our
planet, and the threat of degradation affects most of the areas inhabited by
humans. The threats have also been recognised by climatologists, who have
pointed out that climate change is evident not only in inhabited areas but also
in the polar regions, with negative impacts on the entire planet.
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The awareness of global threats perceived by scientists gradually began

to permeate the sphere of international politics, and entered the sphere of
interest of various national, social and business bodies. The degradation of
ecosystems, the devastation of forests and other plant communities,
greenhouse gas emissions, global warming, rising ocean levels, etc. caused
by the burning of fossil fuels, overexploitation of nature, urbanisation, and the
concentration of the population and economy in metropolitan areas, as well
as various errors in the management of natural resources, have been
publicised at global conferences and through the activities of various
international institutions, especially the UN and OECD. UNEP reports pointed
to the growing threats, the need to take preventive action and the costs
associated with saving the earth′s biosphere.
The threats perceived in the 1970s and 1980s were rationally embedded
in the concept of sustainable development, which became the basic paradigm
for development policies and strategies across the world and in individual
countries. This issue has also taken an important place in the strategies,
policies, and development programmes developed and implemented in the
European Union. Green economy and green growth have become one of the
forms of implementation of the sustainable development concept. The
interest in the issues of nature protection, preservation of biodiversity and
regeneration of ecosystems has entered general awareness as a symbolic
“greening” of the economy.
In the initial period of shaping the concept of sustainable development,
the interest in the environmental plane prevailed, which was reflected in the
popularisation of activities related to eco-development or organic farming.
After the period of equal treatment of the environmental, economic, and
social planes at the time of recovery from the financial crisis in the first
decade of the 21st century and the search for new anti-crisis strategies, there
was a return to a special treatment of the issue of greening the economy in
the form of the concept of the green deal, not only as an anti-crisis remedy,
but also as a way of preserving the values of the natural environment and
biodiversity and, perhaps most of all, as a way of counteracting excessive
emission of greenhouse gases considered to be the main cause of climate
change. The need to adapt to climate change has become particularly
important in agriculture and rural area.
Nowadays, the process of greening, which expresses concern for the
environment, does not only concern sectors which make intensive use of land,
water, and other natu- ral components, but also the entire economy and
human communities. The concept of greening has therefore been a constant
preoccupation of international organisations and global institutions, with the
European Union also following in its footsteps. Following the adoption of the
“Agenda 2030” strategy by the United Nations, the European Union in
December 2019 announced a Communication on the “European Green Deal”
Strategy [48]. The idea of a new European Green Deal is only one of many
detailed concepts of sustainable development addressed by various
international organisations, most notably the UN. The UN resolution
“Transforming our world: 2030 Agenda for Sustainable De- velopment”,
adopted in 2015, detailed 17 Sustainable Development Goals, which can be
considered as an integrated way of implementing socio-economic
development processes in all countries of the world. The European Green Deal
is a new strategy, to be implemented in the member states of the European
Union, for economic growth, the protection of ecosys- tems and biodiversity,
and the strengthening of equitable prosperous societies, with the sparing use
of natural resources, the increasing use of renewable energy sources, and the
minimisation of greenhouse gas emissions contributing to climate change.
The awareness of environmental and climate risks, knowledge gathering,
and the dissemination of information on green economy, green growth, and
the need for green development is only a preparation for practical action. This
stage of practical prevention and mitigation of undesirable changes has
certainly begun and has already reached varying levels of progress in
individual countries. The paper provides a systematic overview of different
initiatives (official, political, institutional), and tries to link them with the
Sustainability 2022, 45 of
14, 5901 50
theoretical concept of sustainability. The analysis seems to assume more
greening and more cooperation by stable nations. These also require
continued peace and cooperation
Sustainability 2022, 46 of
14, 5901 50

between major world actors. Even if the present international situation will
not permit these in the short term, the green movement constitutes a
promising idea instead of passive attitudes and chaos. The implementation of
green management concepts cannot be merely declarative; it requires
specific forms of investment and educational support. There is a need for
scientific research to obtain a deeper understanding of the state of
implementation and possible forms of green management as one of the
important forms of implementing the concept of sustainable socio-economic
development.

Funding: This research was funded by John Paul II University of Applied Sciences in
Biala Pod- laska, Poland.
Institutional Review Board Statement: Not applicable.
Informed Consent Statement: Not applicable.
Data Availability Statement: Not applicable.
Conflicts of Interest: The author declares no conflict of interest.

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