Figure 4-1-1 OECD's Efforts towards Green Growth

Source: Created by the Ministry of the Environment, using information from the OECD's "Outline for the Green Growth Strategy's Synthesis Report"

report says that innovation will be a critical driver of green economies and job creation. Policies to accelerate the development and the diffusion of clean technologies and related knowledge will be another key part of the policy mix.

In addition, regarding the establishment of a sustainable society the OECD is working on a new approach called Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA). According to the OECD, SIAs have two main functions.: (1) a methodological soft policy instrument for developing integrated policies which take full account of the three sustainable development dimensions, environmental, economic and social, and which include cross-cutting, intangible and long-term considerations; and (2) a process for assessing the economic, social and environmental effects of policies, strategies, plans and programmes before they have been formulated. There is still no real consensus on procedures or framework for using SIAs, and OECD says that SIA consists of eight steps (Figure 4-1-2). In the Report an example using Belgium was given to show how this SIA was used in policy-making. In Belgium the SIA was only introduced in 2010 and although there are still problems, the law stipulates that it is necessary to conduct assessment of impact on sustainability in advance for some of federal laws, and, when assessing, it is necessary to review and consider the necessity of assessment for those laws and desirable alternatives.

The United Nations (hereafter in this section referred to as the "UN") is also proceeding with reviews related to world sustainability. In order to promote sustainable development and discuss solutions aimed at the challenge saving the people of the world from poverty, the UN launched the "High-Level Panel on Global Sustainability," and its first meeting was held in September 2010. Japan's participant in this panel was a former prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama. At the first meeting, the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, made an appeal for the "50 -50 -50 Challenge," which says that although by 2050 the population will grow by approximately 50% over the current population, it is necessary to reduce greenhouse gases by 50% by that year. The final report of that meeting is to be made by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the end of 2011.

In addition, in 2012, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (hereinafter in this section referred to as "Rio+20") is scheduled to take place. Rio+20 will mark the 20th anniversary of 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and will focus on a "green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication" and on "the institutional framework for sustainable development." Preparatory meetings are currently being held and preparations are now in progress for the meeting in 2012.

The Asian Development Bank (hereinafter in this section referred to as the "ADB" in this Section) is also making efforts aimed at the promotion of sustainable