Green economy

The Green Economy, as it is understood in the 21st century, is an economic model designed to function in harmony with the environment, as opposed to against it. It actively seeks to reduce environmental risks and ecological scarcities while aiming for sustainable development. It also champions the notion of not only economic, but also social well-being. Central to this model are two guiding principles – reducing emissions and minimizing waste, while increasing efficiency in the use of resources. Thus, the Green Economy and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations (UN) are inextricably linked, both attempting to create an integrated approach to solving environmental, societal, and economic challenges.

The 17 SDGs are aimed at eradicating poverty, fighting inequality, and addressing climate change, among others. Many of these goals are directly linked to the principles of the Green Economy. For example, SDG 7 advocates for affordable and clean energy, which echoes the Green Economy's push for the efficient use of resources and lower emissions. Similarly, SDG 12, which is about responsible consumption and production, corresponds to the Green Economy's focus on minimizing waste and resource efficiency.

The Green Economy acts as a driving force to achieve these SDGs by fostering economic growth and job creation, through sustainable and environmentally-friendly practices. By directing investments into sectors such as renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, and green construction, it helps not only in achieving SDGs related to climate action and responsible consumption but also those associated with poverty eradication, zero hunger, and decent work, to name a few. Through this holistic approach, the Green Economy ensures the synergistic attainment of SDGs, promoting an inclusive, resilient, and sustainable future for all.

The relationship between the Green Economy and the SDGs is a symbiotic one, where each feeds into and strengthens the other. The Green Economy offers a practical pathway to reach the SDGs, while the SDGs provide a comprehensive framework that gives direction to the Green Economy. It’s a sustainable match made in heaven, where the implementation of one enhances the achievement of the other, making them two sides of the same coin in the quest for global sustainability and a better future for all.

The SDG Impact of COVID-19 podcast series gathers expert opinion exploring the impact of COVID-19 on the Sustainable Development Goals. In this segment, we get the view of Andy Dewis, Vice President of International Solutions, Energy & Sustainability Services at Schneider Electric.
This book chapter advances SDGs 11, 12, and 15 by discussing the key drivers, obstacles, and opportunities in plastics sustainability, offering a balanced analysis of current challenges and solutions supporting the more sustainable production, use, and re-use of plastics, which are valuable materials with critical applications across civilization.
The recovery of resources from waste streams including food production plants can improve the overall sustainability of such processes from both economic and environmental points of view. This is because resource recovery solutions will be instrumental in overcoming the grand societal challenges in relation to the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) nexus in one of many aspects.
Global and regional trends indicate that energy demand will soon be covered by a widespread deployment of renewable energy sources. However, the weather and climate driven energy sources are characterized by a significant spatial and temporal variability. One of the commonly mentioned solutions to overcome the mismatch between demand and supply provided by renewable generation is a hybridization of two or more energy sources into a single power station (like wind-solar, solar-hydro or solar-wind-hydro).

Circular economy strategies seek to reduce the total resources extracted from the environment and reduce the wastes that human activities generate in pursuit of human wellbeing. Circular Economy concepts are well suited to the building and construction sector in cities. For example, refurbishing and adaptively reusing underutilized or abandoned buildings can revitalize neighborhoods whilst achieving environmental benefits. Cultural heritage buildings hold a unique niche in the urban landscape.

The UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the 169 targets have been considered in multidisciplinary approaches worldwide. Whereas, several environmental, economic and social development concerns have been covered by the UN 2030 Agenda. The aim of this research is to investigate the complexity of the interactions between building materials and the SDGs, in an attempt to establish a knowledge-based decision support system for policy-makers, designers and construction stakeholders regarding the implementation of 2030 agenda.

This book chapter addresses goals 9 and 12 by describing recycling methods including primary, mechanical, chemical and quaternary, to create new valuable products from plastic wastes and keep them out of landfill.
Global warming, air pollution, and energy insecurity are three of the greatest problems facing humanity. To address these problems, we develop Green New Deal energy roadmaps for 143 countries. The roadmaps call for a 100% transition of all-purpose business-as-usual (BAU) energy to wind-water-solar (WWS) energy, efficiency, and storage by 2050 with at least 80% by 2030. Our studies on grid stability find that the countries, grouped into 24 regions, can match demand exactly from 2050 to 2052 with 100% WWS supply and storage. We also derive new cost metrics.
Elsevier,

One Earth, Volume 1, Issue 2, 25 October 2019, Pages 159-162

Across the lower- and middle-income world, investors are acquiring rights to large swathes of land for agricultural development, threatening both existing livelihoods and the environment. The full weight of future impacts remains uncertain. But research on sustainable agriculture offers avenues to mitigate, diffuse, and avoid negative environmental and social consequences.
This report showcases business leadership on climate action aligned with limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C. Advancing SDGs 12, 13 and 17, this report features solutions and strategies developed by companies that have taken the 1.5°C pledge and examines how business leaders are integrating this process into corporate strategies and generating employee buy-in.

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