Principles, priorities and pathways for inclusive green economies

The report introduces a framework for 'Inclusive Green Economies' (IGE) designed to decouple economic growth from resource consumption while ensuring social equity. It outlines five guiding principles—Wellbeing, Justice, Planetary Boundaries, Efficiency and Sufficiency, and Good Governance—and suggests ten catalytic activities to accelerate this transition. The document emphasizes that the transition is an adaptive process likely taking 10-20 years, requiring collaboration between governments, businesses, and civil society to move from awareness and pressure to policy decisions and behavioral change.

• An Inclusive Green Economy (IGE) is defined as a thriving economy that achieves the combined economic, social, and environmental goals of the Paris Agreement and the SDGs, guided by five core principles: Wellbeing, Justice, Planetary Boundaries, Efficiency and Sufficiency, and Good Governance.
• The Wellbeing Principle asserts that the economy should focus on shared prosperity and wealth that extends beyond financial capital to include human, social, physical, and natural capitals.
• The Justice Principle emphasizes a non-discriminatory approach that supports women's empowerment, protects the rights of indigenous peoples and minorities, and ensures a 'fast and fair transition' that avoids elite capture and supports vulnerable groups through reskilling.
• The Planetary Boundaries Principle requires the economy to recognize the limited substitutability of natural capital and use the precautionary principle to prevent the breach of ecological limits and the loss of critical natural capital.
• The Efficiency and Sufficiency Principle advocates for a global shift to limit natural resource consumption to sustainable levels, implementing 'polluter pays' mechanisms and recognizing a 'social floor' of essential consumption while limiting unacceptable 'peaks' of consumption.
• The Good Governance Principle calls for evidence-based, interdisciplinary institutions that utilize both science and local knowledge, ensuring transparency, democratic accountability, and devolved decision-making for local economies.
• To accelerate the transition, the report suggests ten catalytic activities divided into three categories: understanding needs (diagnosis, awareness-raising, dialogue, empowerment), innovating solutions (new metrics, best practices catalogue, finance catalogue), and driving progress (social protection, policy/legal/fiscal change, investment prospectus).
• The transition to an inclusive green economy is viewed as an adaptive, non-linear process that may take between 10 and 20 years, involving milestones such as growing awareness, pressure to change, the viability of green options, and eventual behavioral change.

APA

Green Economy Coalition (n.d.). Principles, priorities and pathways for inclusive green economies. https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/assets/reports/GEC-Reports/Principles-priorities-pathways-inclusive-green-economies-web.pdf

Chicago

Green Economy Coalition. Principles, priorities and pathways for inclusive green economies. n.d. https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/assets/reports/GEC-Reports/Principles-priorities-pathways-inclusive-green-economies-web.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Green Economy Coalition |title=Principles, priorities and pathways for inclusive green economies |url=https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/assets/reports/GEC-Reports/Principles-priorities-pathways-inclusive-green-economies-web.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{greeneconomycoalitionndprinciples, author = {{Green Economy Coalition}}, title = {{Principles, priorities and pathways for inclusive green economies}}, institution = {Green Economy Coalition}, url = {https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/assets/reports/GEC-Reports/Principles-priorities-pathways-inclusive-green-economies-web.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }