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The document details a policy dialogue session aimed at transitioning Manitoba to a green economy. It identifies four priority sectors—water, energy, the built environment, and transportation—and outlines specific barriers and policy tools needed to foster sustainable economic growth. Key recommendations include the use of renewable energy performance standards, green procurement, and specialized workforce training, while emphasizing the need for a coherent vision and the inclusion of diverse stakeholders, including Northern and aboriginal communities.

The briefing discusses institutional and policy processes (IPPs) as tools to create conditions for a green economy transition. It highlights Ontario's Green Button program as a method to increase energy-use data access for consumers to improve energy efficiency. In Manitoba, the document notes the use of sustainable development procurement guidelines and idle-free zone awareness. While IPPs are easier to implement than fiscal or regulatory mandates, the text notes they generally have a lower impact and should be balanced with other tools.

The report examines industrial policy as a tool for structural economic transformation, contrasting traditional methods—such as import substitution and export promotion—with 'green industrial policy' designed to address environmental externalities. It argues that while market forces are generally preferred, government intervention is justified by market failures like coordination gaps and credit imperfections. The author identifies best practices, including the use of performance-based 'sunset clauses' and close government-industry collaboration. Green industrial policy is presented as a 'second-best' alternative to carbon pricing, requiring larger-scale intervention to stimulate both supply and demand for environmentally friendly technologies.

The report examines the state of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in Manitoba's post-secondary institutions through presidential interviews and surveys. It identifies five primary institutional orientations toward ESD: community embeddedness, principles-and-values-infused, industry-based focus, strategic innovation, and responsiveness to stakeholders. While many institutions have implemented waste reduction, sustainable purchasing, and energy management programs, significant barriers remain, including financial constraints and the challenge of integrating sustainability into curricula due to academic freedom. The report concludes that Manitoba's higher education sector is more active in ESD than previously anticipated, providing a foundation to support the province's transition to a green economy.

The document serves as a comprehensive manual for Estonian state and municipal agencies to adopt systematic environmental management. It details the differences between ISO 14001 and EMAS, outlining the latter's five-step implementation process: initial environmental review, EMS implementation, environmental statement preparation, verification, and registration. It emphasizes the public sector's role in leading by example through green public procurement and resource efficiency. Additionally, it introduces the 'Green Office' concept as a simplified entry point for organizations to improve their immediate working environment and reduce energy and material consumption.

The report argues that public procurement, representing a significant portion of GDP in many nations, can catalyze green growth by creating secure demand for sustainable products and services. It emphasizes that while incremental improvements are common, 'transformative change' is necessary to decouple economic growth from natural capital depletion. Through case studies in the US, Brazil, China, Denmark, India, and Vietnam, the document illustrates different approaches to Green Public Procurement (GPP), such as the EPEAT rating system for electronics and Denmark's use of output-based specifications. The report concludes that aligning procurement with R&D investment, adopting life cycle costing (LCC), and utilizing performance-based specifications are essential for triggering systemic green innovation.

The report argues that governments can leverage their significant purchasing power to transform industry growth into green growth by incentivizing investment in sustainable products and services. It details various frameworks for innovation—ranging from reactive to transformative—and provides global case studies from countries like Denmark, Brazil, China, India, Australia, and Vietnam to demonstrate the practical application of GPP. Key recommendations include the adoption of life cycle costing, the use of performance-based specifications, and the integration of sustainability criteria into electronic business systems to move beyond a focus on the lowest initial purchase price.

The report analyzes the environmental and social footprints of China's rapid economic growth within three specific sectors: forestry, cotton, and E-products. It argues that because China is a central 'middleman' in global supply chains, it shares responsibility with international partners to address degradation. For forestry, the report highlights China's role as a major importer of illegally logged timber and recommends building capacity in supplying countries and adopting sustainable procurement. In the cotton sector, it notes high water and pesticide use in domestic production and suggests promoting sustainable sourcing and Sino-African cooperation. For E-products, it focuses on the crisis of E-waste and the toxicity of informal recycling, recommending a national E-waste strategy and international cooperation on responsible disposal. The overarching strategy emphasizes national capacity building, leveraging sustainable markets through green procurement, and active participation in international sustainability standards.

The report provides a comprehensive review of Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP) practices globally, noting that while OECD member states lead in national program implementation, local governments in both developed and developing regions are highly active. It identifies critical barriers to SPP, such as the traditional 'best value for money' mindset and high upfront capital costs, and argues for a shift toward full-life costing. The document analyzes the compatibility of SPP with international trade agreements like the WTO's Agreement on Government Procurement and details specific national efforts in countries such as Brazil, China, India, and South Africa, emphasizing the need for dedicated legal frameworks and multistakeholder collaboration to scale sustainable purchasing.

The document explores Environmental Policy Integration (EPI), defined as the integration of environmental objectives into non-environmental sector policies. It identifies a tension between 'rational' EPI (focused on efficiency and avoiding contradictions) and 'normative' EPI (which argues for 'principled priority' for the environment). The author categorizes the means of achieving EPI into normative factors (political leadership), organisational factors (overcoming sectoral compartmentalisation), and procedural factors (impact assessments and sector strategies). Using Sweden and the EU as primary examples, the paper notes that while legal and procedural frameworks are often established, translating these into substantive policy outputs remains a significant challenge.

The document outlines 13 categories of green office solutions for physicians, ranging from reducing paper and energy use to phasing out toxic materials like mercury and glutaraldehyde. It emphasizes that healthcare energy sources contribute to climate change and air pollution, and encourages physicians to educate patients on green practices.

The Green Offices Toolkit offers a comprehensive framework for Canadian health care providers to implement sustainable office practices. It outlines a phased approach to 'greening' a clinic, starting with the establishment of a 'Green Team' and the definition of a vision and mission. The document provides specific technical advice on reducing energy and water consumption, managing toxic substances like mercury and pharmaceuticals, and minimizing waste through recycling and composting. It also emphasizes the role of physicians as community leaders who can influence patient health and environmental behavior through education and by modeling sustainable lifestyles.

The document details how climate-related events disrupt health care delivery in Canada by damaging infrastructure and reducing access to supplies and services. It advocates for the use of resiliency checklists, vulnerability assessments, and stress testing to prepare facilities. To mitigate their own environmental impact, the text suggests reducing high-intensity energy use, phasing out potent inhalation anesthetic gases, and adopting sustainable procurement, as 90% of the health sector's GHGs originate upstream. Specific recommendations include transitioning to plant-based diets, expanding telemedicine to reduce travel emissions, and establishing a sustainability support office based on the English National Health Services model.

The document asserts that Germany possesses the necessary technological innovations to combat climate change and reduce dependence on Russian energy, but lacks the scale for implementation. It highlights that climate tech startups, particularly those focused on hardware for heavy industry (steel and cement) and sustainable fuels, are key to this transition. To increase the number of these startups hundredfold, the author proposes six measures: implementing Carbon Contracts for Difference (CCfDs), adopting Green Public Procurement (GPP) for building materials, focusing public funds like the Deep Tech Future Fund on climate tech, streamlining research-to-startup guidelines at universities, reducing bureaucracy, and expanding 'living labs' for scaling innovations.

The document advocates for a strategic shift in Germany to leverage its existing research and development in climate technology to end dependence on Russian energy. It highlights that while Germany possesses many necessary technological solutions, they have not been consistently implemented. The author proposes six specific policy measures to scale Climate Tech start-ups, including the use of climate protection contracts, green public procurement for construction materials, and the reform of university spin-off practices to accelerate the transition to a sustainable economy.

The document evaluates two policy instruments designed to transition the European basic materials sector to net zero by 2050. Carbon Contracts for Difference (CCfDs) are presented as a way to reduce investment risk and government costs by guaranteeing a fixed carbon price for low-carbon projects. The Climate Contribution is proposed as a weight-based charge on materials (like steel and cement) to ensure a consistent carbon price signal while maintaining carbon leakage protection. The analysis suggests that CCfDs can lower the required carbon price for investment and that the Climate Contribution could generate approximately EUR 17-21 billion in annual EU revenues with minimal, progressive impacts on household consumption in Germany and Poland.

The report evaluates Carbon Contracts for Difference (CCfDs) and a Climate Contribution as tools for decarbonising the basic materials sector in Germany and Poland. CCfDs act as hedging instruments that lower the carbon price threshold required for clean technology investments and reduce the net present value of government funding. The Climate Contribution, a weight-based charge on materials, is estimated to generate EUR 17-21 billion in EU-wide revenues while remaining progressive and having a minimal impact (below 0.5%) on household consumption expenditures.

The document argues that because the energy transition is already underway due to technological shifts, countries must proactively plan for a Just Transition to avoid economic dislocation. It highlights opportunities for economic diversification, such as Ghana's investment plan to generate 400,000 net jobs by 2060, and best practices like Brazil's reallocation of petroleum revenues to reforestation. However, it identifies critical barriers, including fiscal dependence on fossil fuels in countries like Azerbaijan (where oil and gas constitute 90% of exports) and a lack of granular data on workforce impacts in Indonesia. The author proposes actionable solutions including the repurposing of coal infrastructure, the expansion of local financing mechanisms, and the anchoring of transition policies in legal frameworks to ensure long-term stability.

The briefing outlines a pathway for Nigeria to reach net-zero emissions by 2060, emphasizing the need to move away from oil dependency through Public-Private Community Partnerships (PPCP). It identifies critical opportunities in waste management, clean energy access, and the AFOLU sector, while proposing the use of debt-for-climate swaps to fund the USD 410 billion Energy Transition Plan. The authors argue that systemic transformation requires engaging key government stakeholders, such as the Office of the Vice-President, and supporting local cleantech entrepreneurship to create green jobs.

The report examines the transition of the European basic materials sector (cement, steel, paper, aluminium, chemicals) toward carbon neutrality by 2050. It identifies that these sectors account for approximately 16% of European GHG emissions. Through analysis of Hungary, Poland, and Spain, the document highlights a prevalence of short-term policy focuses on carbon leakage and energy costs over long-term structural transformation. It proposes a policy package consisting of carbon pricing mechanisms (Border Tax Adjustments or Inclusion of Consumption), low-emission and circularity standards, and Contracts for Differences (CCfDs) to incentivise breakthrough technologies and ensure a cost-competitive supply of low-carbon electricity.