SPOTLIGHT—Navigating the twin transitions: Going green and digital

The multiple intersections between the digital and green transitions will generate both opportunities and challenges for the societal efforts to shift economies to more sustainable development trajectories. For instance, smart meters and artificial intelligence may support progress towards net-zero power systems, local sensing and earth observation techniques may improve environmental monitoring and enforcement, and digitally-enabled business models could contribute to the adoption of more circular production and consumption practices. Yet at the same time, the growing carbon footprint of computing and increasing e-waste are key challenges, while the need for increased reparability of digital devices may require substantial change to their design. Furthermore, both transitions are likely to drive substantial changes in skills demand and economic structure with important implications for certain households, workers, communities and regions. Under the overarching theme of Navigating the twin transitions: Going green and digital, the 2023 GGSD Forum will discuss the synergies and trade-offs between the digital and green transitions, and policies to help accelerate the sustainability transformation that takes advantage of digitalisation while leaving no one behind.

What opportunities does digitalisation create for the green transition, and how to mitigate its potentially negative environmental impacts, including for SMEs? What is the joint impact of the twin transitions on competitiveness of sectors and regions, labour conditions and migratory flows, and how to ensure that certain workers, social groups, e.g. youth, older people and the most disadvantaged communities are not left behind? What role do subnational governments need to play? Which policies can govern the two transitions systematically rather than in piecemeal approaches also considering the implications of the war in Ukraine and the complexity of value chains? How can smart data support better environmental policy-making and greener business practices? Evidence on how digital technologies can improve environmental democracy (e.g. access to information, participation in policy-making, and access to justice) for a green, digital and inclusive society could also be addressed, as well as their role in strengthening, monitoring & enforcement activities.

...Is an OECD initiative to provide a dedicated space for multi-disciplinary dialogue on green growth and sustainable development. The GGSD Forum brings together experts from different policy fields and disciplines, facilitates the exchange of knowledge and identifies potentials for cross-fertilisation. It is a valuable supplement for the work undertaken in individual government departments and ministries by addressing the horizontal, multi- disciplinary aspects of green growth and sustainable development. In 2023 and 2024, the GGSD Forum will provide a venue to discuss key findings and identify knowledge gaps in the context of the Horizontal Project on "Building Climate and Economic Resilience in the Transformation to a Low-carbon Economy".

The GGSD Forum operates as annual conferences, focusing each year on a different cross-cutting issue related to sustainable development and green growth. The GGSD Forum is open to stakeholders and experts from OECD Committees, government ministries and agencies, academia, businesses civil society and other international organisations.

The GGSD Forum is also a meeting point for policy makers and experts from OECD and partner countries to exchange experiences and identify policy tools and best practices that respond to their specific country circumstances.

Learn more on the past GGSD Forums at: www.oe.cd/ggsdForum