The search is on for Rio and Los Cabos deliverables: how about a ‘green growth guarantee’?

This briefing by Simon Maxwell of the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) proposes a 'green growth guarantee' as a concrete deliverable for the G20 summit in Los Cabos and the Rio+20 Summit in 2012. The author argues that while technical discussions on green growth are advancing, political leaders need a high-profile commitment to support developing countries in planning and implementing sustainable growth through indicators, financial engagement, and peer review.

• The author proposes a 'green growth guarantee' to be pledged by the G20 and carried over to the Rio+20 outcome document. This initiative would provide support to developing countries committing to green growth in both planning and implementation, utilizing indicators based on OECD green growth measures and the green economy index, alongside a process of peer review.
• There is a tension regarding the terminology of 'green growth' among international actors. While the Mexican Chair of the G20 has prioritized it, many developing countries are hostile to the term due to fears that it could constrain their development paths, leading to its absence from the zero draft of the outcome document.
• The G20 Development Working Group (DWG) agreed to focus on two main areas for the Los Cabos summit: recommendations on best practices for inclusive green growth policies and improving financing to help developing countries access resources and increase private sector participation.
• The author notes a significant increase in 'catalyst funds' that use public money to leverage larger amounts of private capital from sources such as venture capital or pension funds. Examples include the IFC's Climate Catalyst Fund and the AsDB's Climate Public-Private Partnership Fund (CP3), both of which are potentially larger than $1 billion.
• The World Bank argues that green policies alone are insufficient and require the correct overall growth context. For instance, in South Africa, the Bank suggested that without proper national policies, the primary beneficiary of green growth policies would be China through expanded exports.
• UNEP highlights that green growth can reduce poverty and increase resource efficiency through 'engines of growth' such as clean technology, natural capital, and environmental improvements. One cited statistic indicates that increasing life expectancy by one year leads to a 9% increase in foreign direct investment.
• The author identifies a lack of clarity and potential overlap between various development frameworks, including 'green growth', 'climate compatible development', 'low emissions development', and 'sustainable development'. This creates a burden for developing countries that may feel pressured to produce multiple different plans for different agencies.

APA

Maxwell, S. (2012). The search is on for Rio and Los Cabos deliverables: how about a ‘green growth guarantee’? Climate and Development Knowledge Network. https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/Green-growth-guarantee-SM-03-121.pdf

Chicago

Maxwell, Simon. The search is on for Rio and Los Cabos deliverables: how about a ‘green growth guarantee’? Climate and Development Knowledge Network, 2012. https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/Green-growth-guarantee-SM-03-121.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Maxwell |first1=Simon |title=The search is on for Rio and Los Cabos deliverables: how about a ‘green growth guarantee’? |publisher=Climate and Development Knowledge Network |date=March 2012 |url=https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/Green-growth-guarantee-SM-03-121.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{maxwell2012search, author = {Maxwell, Simon}, title = {{The search is on for Rio and Los Cabos deliverables: how about a ‘green growth guarantee’?}}, institution = {Climate and Development Knowledge Network}, year = {2012}, month = mar, url = {https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/Green-growth-guarantee-SM-03-121.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }