Hosting the first UN Partnership for Action on Green Economy (Page) conference on March 4-5 in Dubai, the UAE has indicated its keenness to persue a sustainable path.

The event will be an opportunity to highlight green economy approaches, initiatives and practices globally. Page will bring together global leaders in green technology, officials, academics, people from the finance sector and CSOs.

Globally, the event will work on implementing the Rio+20 declarations by supporting countries interested in making the transition towards the green economy.

In addition, the conference will be a chance to take stock of best practices and lessons learnt in advancing an inclusive green economy through policy reforms and shifting investment into key areas of the economy that produce green jobs, social equity, real investment and income.

Locally, it will be a platform for the UAE to showcase its initiatives in the field of green economy. If we take into consideration the mountain of challenges facing the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region, especially the nexus between water, energy and food, one can realise that for both the UAE and Mena, it is very important to have green competitive economic sectors — whether they be industry, water, agriculture, tourism, transportation and the like. Renewable energy can especially play a key role in this nexus and the shift towards a greener economy.

In the driver’s seat

Over the last few years the UAE has taken a lead in the field of sustainable development. This is very clear from the various projects and policies that the UAE leadership has adopted such as solar energy plants, an eco-friendly metro, a zero carbon Masdar City, green building codes, and the like. It is worth mentioning that the UAE announced early last year its new strategy of green growth, which focuses on four elements — policies, information management, capacity building and the execution of pioneering projects in the field of green growth. In fact, UAE has all the elements of success for a greener economy: Labour is relatively cheap, funds can be secured and technology is being developed through companies like Masdar. Most importantly, there is clear political will to lead in this comparatively new field.

Undoubtedly, there is a pressing need for a number of enabling conditions in order to encourage various sectors to go green. A policy mix of economic instruments (mainly incentives), legislation and awareness and education campaigns should be adopted to support the shift towards the green economy.

In this regard, it is very crucial to seek localisation and technology transfer in this process. We cannot repeat the mistakes of the past by not having the know-how for such new fields. Take the petro-leum industry, for instance, in which to date most of the know-how is in the hands of a handful of international petroleum companies. Also, it is very essential here to encourage partnerships and joint projects with Arab countries as well as encouraging south-south cooperation in the fields of green technology, especially renewable energy and in general.

New Indicators

The shift towards a green economy requires new indicators that are inclusive of environmental, social and economic aspects of progress. Economic indicators such as gross domestic product (GDP) were never designed to be comprehensive measures of prosperity and well-being. GDP which was introduced over 50 years ago is simply too one-dimensional to provide a complete measure of a nation’s progress. We need innovative indicators to address global challenges of the 21st century such as climate change, poverty, resource depletion, health and quality of life. Indicators that can better help governments, policymakers and the private sector to improve their planning and take better development decisions.

In addition, such indicators can play an important role for the valuation of natural capital assets and impact to better recognise planetary boundaries, the development of a safe operating space for humanity and the provision of a sustainable and high quality life for humans and nature.

Many alternative indicators beyond GDP are being developed and tested currently across the globe to provide a truer reflection of human well-being such as the Genuine Progress Indicator, which had already been adopted by certain governments, and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s ‘Better life index’.

It is very important to have an easy-to-apply indicator to monitor and assess capital assets, and human well being. Events such as the first UN Partnership for Action on Green Economy can bring together the various international efforts under consideration and development with regard to those new indicators.

Dr Mohammad Abdel Raouf is an independent environmental researcher.