livelihoods depend on natural resources in areas such as agriculture, fishing, and water. In sectors that consume a relatively large amount of energy and resources (such as transportation, energy conversion, and production) the potential associated with energy and resource conservation are mentioned. These reports emphasize the importance of environmental considerations, not only for improving economic efficiency, but also for creating social equality.

## 2 Green Growth for the OECD

## (1) Concept of Green Growth

In the OECD report, Green Growth is considered to be a way for sustainable use of our natural resources, which we rely upon for our livelihood, and reduction of environmental impact, while at the same time achieving economic growth. The decisive factors necessary for achieving Green Growth are enhancing productivity, promoting investments for dealing with environmental issues and technology in the environmental sector, creating new markets, investor trust, and the stability of macroeconomic conditions. Green growth has the potential to reduce the risk of irreversible socioeconomic impacts such as resource limitations that may cause the degradation of investment efficiency; and nature imbalance such as a loss of biodiversity that may cause a cost increase of harvesting or mining natural resources.

To address these challenges, it is considered necessary to have consistent long- and medium-term measures that strengthen economic and environmental policies. In terms of a concrete institutional scheme, the report lists economic approaches including tax systems, fair subsidy policies, and a regulatory approach that includes setting standards. These policies are thought to play a major role in a variety of socioeconomic activities, such as technological innovation, spurring environmentally conscious investments, and innovative approaches to coordinated management.

Table 1-2-2 Critical Factors for Green Growth

Improvement of productivity	Incentives for greater efficiency in the use of resources and natural assets: enhancing productivity; reducing waste and energy consumption.
Technical innovation in environmental sector	Opportunities for technical innovation, spurred by framework conditions that allow for new ways of addressing environmental problems.
Creation of new markets	Creation of new markets underpinned by green technologies, thus creating the potential for new job opportunities.
Confidence in stable policies	Boosting investor confidence by reinforcing the predictability and stability of environmental policy.
Balanced macroeconomic conditions	Secure more balanced macroeconomic conditions by reducing resource price volatility and supporting fiscal consolidation.
Resource bottlenecks	Prevent undermining of the ability to sustain future economic growth, due to the loss of natural resources exceeding the gains generated by socioeconomic activity.
Stability in ecosystems	Avoid imbalances in ecosystems that raise the risk of irreversible effects.
Source: Ministry of the Environment based on information from the OECD's Towards Green Growth (2011)

The significance of paying attention to socioeconomic transition is emphasized, since new markets are created during the transition to Green Growth, causing widespread effects on employment, markets, and households. In terms of employment, job creation can be expected, however, some forms of employment would be exposed to risk. Therefore, improving skills to catch up with the new technology is required. Business concerns, such as changes in the climate of competition during the transition, ought to be addressed through multilateral policy coordination. Transitional changes can also affect product prices, which can have an impact on consumption behavior and households, and thus they require careful consideration.

Figure 1-2-1 Assessing the Green Growth System

Source: Created by Ministry of the Environment based on the OECD's Towards Green Growth: Monitoring Progress

(2) OECD Measurement Framework for Green Growth Indicators

The OECD proposed and established a set of twenty-five indicators to assess the progress of Green Growth initiatives. The set of monitoring indicators consists of four groups, categorized according to their relationship between economic growth and the environment: (1) the level of productivity and efficiency; (2) the level of natural resources that remain unused; (3) the possibility of socioeconomic activities having a negative impact on human health and the environment; and (4) the implementation of effective policies to support Green Growth. The assessment is carried out using statistical methods (Figure 1-2-1).

Indicators for carbon productivity and resource productivity are used to measure productivity. Loss of biodiversity and the abundance of forest resources and underground resources are used to measure the amount of natural resource assets. The impact on human health and the environment is assessed according to hazardous material conditions and air pollution. Policies related to Green Growth are measured using socioeconomic indicators for research and development budgets and employment.

These indicators can also be interpreted as a means of expressing the goals of OECD Green Growth using statistical data. To further promote Green Growth initiatives, it is absolutely imperative to carry out assessments using these kinds of objective numerical data in addition to developing medium- to long-term policies.

## Relationship among the Environment, the Economy, and the Society from the Perspective of Ecological Footprints

The future vision of the OECD’s Green Growth and the UNEP’s Green Economy can be considered to be the same, since both of them view resource bottlenecks and environment issues as critical risks, and pursue sustainability for the environment, the economy, and the society based on this view.

At the same time, the Green Growth and Green Economy are different in terms of the priority placed on these three aspects. The OECD's concept can be interpreted as particularly focusing on the interaction between the environment and social issues, since it simultaneously seeks to conquer resource bottlenecks and reduce environment impact while achieving economic growth. This interpretation is based on the fact that for developed countries entering a socioeconomically mature phase, achieving future growth and mitigating environmental impact are indispensable. The position of the UNEP, on the other hand, can be interpreted as placing importance on the interactions between the environment and social issues as well for human welfare and improvement of inequalities while mitigating environmental risks, based on the fact that in developing countries, resolving poverty and environmental issues are considered critical.

This discussion interprets the interactions between the environment and the economy and between the economy and the society using the concept of the Ecological Footprint (EF). The EF is a figure that converts the demand quantity of a biological product to bolster human livelihood into a virtual two-dimensional space called a “global hectare” (Gha). The Gha reminds us that human socioeconomic activities impact the earth as a whole. In other words, as Gha value increases, the earth sustains greater environmental impact through the consumption of more natural resources.

The figure shows EFs with country Gross Domestic Product (GDP) indicated on the horizontal axis. It shows that developed and other countries with higher per-capita GDP tend to have a higher EF value. This suggests that developed countries are still involved in socioeconomic activities that heavily impact the environment. It further suggests that future environmental impact is most likely to increase in BRICs and other emerging countries where there is significant economic growth, unless their current socioeconomic structures change.

The diagram shows EFs on the vertical axis and the Human Development Index (HDI) on the horizontal axis. The HDI is an integrated indicator representing the degree of quality of life and development, calculated by weighting indicator values of GDP, average life expectancy, literacy rate, and educational standards. The diagram shows the actual conditions in today's world—regardless of whether countries are developed or developing—as being far removed from an ideal society where good quality of life is achieved with less environment impact. Specifically, in a significant portion of developing countries (particularly African countries), the environmental impact is low, but quality