Founded in June 2010 and headquartered in Seoul, the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) is an international organization that helps developing and emerging countries pioneer a new green growth paradigm – economic growth with environmental sustainability.
Promoting a new model of economic growth and sustainable development The Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) was established on June 16, 2010. GGGI is dedicated to pioneering and diffusing a new paradigm of economic growth: green growth. Green growth integrates key aspects of economic performance, such as poverty reduction, job creation and social inclusion, with those of environmental performance, such as mitigation of climate change and biodiversity loss and security of access to clean water and energy. The Institute mobilizes world-class technical support and builds local capacity for the design and implementation of green growth strategies. It helps countries create action-oriented policy options and institutions tailored to their respective economic circumstances and constraints. Headquartered in Seoul, and with offices in Abu Dhabi, Copenhagen and London, GGGI has received financial support from Australia, Denmark, Germany, Japan, Korea, the UK and the UAE. GGGI is also partnering with Ethiopia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Mongolia, the Philippines, Rwanda, Vietnam, the United Arab Emirates and other countries in the development of green growth economic development plans.
August 15, 2008
December 18, 2009
June 16, 2010
At the COP-15 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, plans were announced to establish the reach of GGGI as a global asset.
GGGI was launched publicly and established as a nonprofit foundation at the East Asia Climate Forum 2010.
‘Low Carbon, Green Growth’ became Korea’s new national vision for the next 60 years.
2008-2012
GGGI’s Conversion into an International Organization GGGI successfully transitioned into an international treaty-based organization on October 18, 2012. Under international law, three countries must ratify the treaty to convert GGGI into an international organization. GGGI is a unique multi-stakeholder, hybrid international organization focused on green growth, bringing together developed and developing countries and public and private sector representatives in collaboration to achieve GGGI’s vision and mission.
Ratification Update No. Country 1 Denmark
as of May 30, 2013
Ratification Status
The Inaugural Meetings of the Assembly and the Council As part of the organization’s new governance structure as a multistakeholder, hybrid international organization, representatives from all 18* founding member nations convened to adopt the rules and procedures of the Assembly and Council as well as nominated and appointed GGGI’s Director-General, Chairman of the Council, and President of the Assembly.
GGGI received Letter of Approval on August 16, 2012
2 Guyana
GGGI received Instrument of Ratification on September 4, 2012
3 Kiribati
GGGI received Instrument of Ratification on September 18, 2012
4 Philippines
GGGI received Instrument of Ratification on October 9, 2012
5 Korea
GGGI received Instrument of Ratification on November 29, 2012
6 Vietnam
GGGI received Letter of Approval on December 12, 2012
7 Qatar
GGGI received Letter of Acceptance on February 22, 2013
8 Cambodia
GGGI received Instrument of Ratification on February 22, 2013
9 Papua New Guinea
GGGI received Instrument of Ratification on March 11, 2013
10 UAE
GGGI received Instrument of Ratification on April 29, 2013
11 United Kingdom
GGGI received Instrument of Ratification on May 28, 2013
* Australia, Cambodia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Ethiopia, Guyana, Indonesia, Kiribati, Korea, Mexico, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Philippines, Qatar, UAE, United Kingdom, and Vietnam
May 11, 2011
July 7, 2011
June 20, 2012
October 23, 2012
GGGI opened its office in Copenhagen and signed agreements with the Danish government’s Global Green Growth Forum, and with GGGI’s first private sector partner, Danfoss Group.
GGGI opened its office in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE.
The Signing Ceremony for the Agreement on the Establishment of GGGI was held on the occasion of Rio+20, United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
GGGI held the Inaugural Meetings of the Assembly and the Council in Seoul.
vision and mission The Institute was founded on the belief that economic growth and environmental sustainability are not merely compatible objectives; their integration is essential for the future of humankind.
GGGI works to enable stronger and more sustainable economic growth around the world by: • Supporting developing and emerging countries in the design and implementation of green growth economic development plans at the national or provincial level. • Facilitating public-private cooperation to strengthen the enabling environment for resource-efficient investment, innovation and diffusion of best practice in the private sector. • Pursuing research to advance the theory and practice of green growth, drawing particularly from the experience of the governments and industries with which GGGI works.
Green Growth Planning and implementation The Institute provides analytical and institutional support to developing countries that wish to develop green growth strategies, which are aligned with other national economic goals. A typical GGGI country program consists of green growth plan (GGP) analysis and design, domestic capacity building, and public-private partnership to support GGP implementation. The Institute provides support for the development of green growth plans (GGPs) when it receives a high-level request from a developing or emerging market government. The precise scope of work for a GGP in each country depends on the starting conditions and specific challenges. In order to stimulate a South-South dynamic of collective learning and refinement of GGP methodology, the Institute’s country program research series is an open architecture knowledge platform designed to facilitate the exchange of experience and knowledge by policymakers and experts engaged in GGP development around the world, whether or not such plans have been directly supported by GGGI.
The overall aim is to facilitate a virtuous circle of experimentation and evidence-based learning by which developing and emerging countries accelerate the creation and implementation of a new approach to economic development that leapfrogs the resource-intensive and environmentally unsustainable strategy pursued by advanced countries in an earlier era. Currently, GGGI is working in 17 countries including Cambodia, China, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Mongolia, the Philippines, Rwanda, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam. While still a new organization, GGGI’s green growth planning has yielded tangible results and will continue to expand in scope and content. In just over two years, GGGI has built a solid foundation for the sustained implementation of multiple GGPs. GGGI will monitor the progress of its GGPs and report the results.
Public-Private Cooperation The organization also works to accelerate the world economy’s transition to green growth by facilitating industry-government cooperation to scale resource efficient investment, innovation and management best practice within the private sector.
GGGI facilitates public-private cooperation at two levels: • Linking companies to developing country governments that are seeking private sector finance, technology and expertise to accelerate implementation of their green growth economic development plans; and • Building intra-and cross-industry programs of cooperation, and linking them to relevant intergovernmental processes, to expand markets for resource-efficient products, services and industrial processes. The first annual Global Green Growth Forum (3GF) organized by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in partnership with GGGI was held in Copenhagen (October 2011).
3GF – GGGI Signed Partnership Agreement The Global Green Growth Forum (3GF) and the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) signed a partnership agreement on May 2, 2013 in Copenhagen. The agreement cements the already comprehensive cooperation going on between the two institutions sharing the same goal of contributing to global green growth. The agreement outlines further strengthening of cooperation around development of public-private partnerships that can promote the transition to a green pathway.
Ambassador Claus Grube Permanent Secretary of State, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark (left) signed a partnership agreement with Dr. Mattia Romani, GGGI Deputy Director-General for GGP&I (right) in Copenhagen (May 2013).
3GF will provide the primary platform for launching public-private partnerships initiated or otherwise developed by GGGI. Another important area will be GGGI using 3GF as a platform for presenting and soliciting private sector and investor interest in financing green investments based on GGGI country plans. Finally, 3GF and GGGI will make joint outreach to the private sector including through a Joint 3GF/GGGI Corporate Advisory Board to be launched later in 2013.
Research GGGI’s research program seeks to advance the development of a new paradigm of economic growth by conducting research into various aspects of green growth theory and practice. The Institute’s research portfolio is under active development in cooperation with other organizations. It is likely to include research on: • Macroeconomic modeling of a full-scale transition to green growth • Employment and poverty reduction potential of green growth strategies • Country and industry best practice • Trade and technology policy
GGGI’s research will focus on the economic aspects of green growth in which there is the greatest need for additional research particularly as perceived by senior economic policymakers and leading development economists, including: • Green growth planning tools and methodology • Lessons from in-country green growth planning experience • Economic theory and policy of green growth • Resource-efficiency and green growth, including sectoral opportunities and approaches • Technological innovation and green growth • Employment and poverty reduction • Social innovation, welfare and political economy dimensions of green growth • International economic cooperation and green growth
Green Growth Knowledge Platform (GGKP)
Green Growth Best Practice (GGBP)
The Green Growth Knowledge Platform (GGKP) is a global network of researchers, development practitioners and policy makers established to identify and address major knowledge gaps in green growth theory and practice. Through world-class research, GGKP aims to provide practitioners and policy makers with a clearer understanding of how to foster economic growth and sustainable development through better policy and more effective implementation.
The Green Growth Best Practice (GGBP) initiative seeks to improve the quality and effectiveness of green growth planning and implementation internationally. It is designed to facilitate peer learning by compiling, analyzing, and broadly disseminating best practices at all levels of government, the private sector and civil society.
GGKP is a partnership among the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and the World Bank (WB).
Steered by ongoing dialogue with end-users, GGBP is conducting rigorous and comprehensive analysis and making available publications and various interactive tools to inform green growth decision making, planning and implementation by practitioners and policy leaders. Launched in October 2012, GGBP is supported by three organizations – the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), the Climate Development and Knowledge Network (CDKN), and the European Climate Foundation (ECF).
Donor Countries : Australia, Denmark, Germany, Japan, Korea, Norway, Qatar, Switzerland, UAE, UK
GGP Partner Countries/Regions : Amazon Basin, Brazil, Cambodia, China, Ethiopia, Indonesia, India, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Mongolia, Peru, Philippines, Rwanda, South Africa, Thailand, Vietnam, UAE
GGGI’s Partner Institutions: ADB, Climate and Development Knowledge Network, Danfoss Group, EBRD, European Climate Foundation, GIZ, Global Green Growth Forum (3GF), National Research Council for Economics, Humanities and Social Sciences (NRCEHS), OECD, POSCO, UNEP, Vestas, World Bank, World Economic Forum (WEF)
CONTACT INFO : Global Green Growth Institute, Seoul, Korea Tel: +82-10-9530-9957 www.gggi.org 05/2013