1. ECO-tax Reform (ETR)
This economic tool promotes a revenue-neutral green tax and budget reform that uses pollution/emission levels as a basis for taxes, while reducing income tax. Many tax-and subsidy-policy measures indirectly promote environmentally damaging activities and thereby undermine sustainable development. In order to avoid this, more taxes on environmentally damaging goods – by means of ecological fiscal reform – need be introduced, while counterproductive subsidies and tax privileges have to be reduced.

2. Development of Sustainable Infrastructure
An important determinant of eco-efficiency is the pattern of infrastructure development. As cities grow, highways lengthen and water, energy and sanitation services are expanded. The region’s growing populations are locked into energy and water consumption patterns determined by the infrastructure delivering these services. Sustainable infrastructure is an infrastructure which provides increased transport, energy and water services, but with less consumption of material and other resources, thereby enabling ‘green growth’ and socio-economic development, especially in relation to developing countries.

Facts about Sustainable Infrastructure (under construction)

3. Demand-side Management
As the growth pattern is defined by the sum of production and consumption patterns, sustainable consumption can be an opportunity for improving the eco-efficiency of economic growth. Changing production patterns has taken a very good speed and cleaner production is relatively enhanced by various governmental initiatives throughout the region. Enhancing the consumption patterns of the society needs to be taken more seriously now, when the countries are setting up their development patterns, since this is directly reflected and has strong impact on the lifestyle and forming consumer behaviour. Demand Side Management is emerging as a tools with critical importance that can regulate and stimulate sustainable consumption. The role of the public sector is to creates a conducive environment for more investments necessary to provide for sustainable consumption choices and in applying demand side management with the active support of citizens groups and the civil society.

Facts about Demand-side Management (under construction)

4. “Greening” the market and green business
Across the region corporations and small and medium-sized enterprises are becoming the agents of change for sustainability and have managed to turn protection of the environment through enhancing the eco-efficiency of their production into a business opportunity. However, many eco-products cannot pick up speed on the market. There is a need for the intervention of the governments of the courtiers which need to create markets for green products by introducing a system of incentives, economic mechanisms and policy and regulations.

Facts about Greening the Business and Markets (under construction)

3rd Green Growth Policy Dialogue on Greening the Business

Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES)

Link to: - Policymakers forum: Economic policy and financial innovation for investment in forest environmental services, Bangkok, Thailand, 28-29 May 2007

- ESCAP-IDDRI study on strategic approaches to PES in Viet Nam (PDF)

- Development of Policy for the Payment of Environmental Services in Viet Nam (PDF 3.9mb)

-The Corporate Ecosystem Services Review (PDF 4.5 mb)

- Guidelines for Identifying Business Risks and Opportunities Arising from Ecosystem Change (useful presentation introducing the concept) (PPT 2.1 mb)

5. Eco-efficiency Indicators
To enable countries in the region to improve the ecological efficiency of the national, system-wide economic development planning, UNESCAP has identified the need to develop the Eco-efficiency Indicators (EEI). The purpose of the EEI is to measure and compare the eco-efficiency of economic growth of different countries and to identify policy measures to improve this for achieving economic benefit. The EEI will strengthen the role of the public sector and will provide it with powerful policy formulation tools to increase its influence on the pattern of economic growth of the countries in the region on a national system-wide level.