Reflections on the International Seminar

on Green Economy and Official StatisticsLee, Jae-won

Statistical Research InstituteStatistics Korea

2011. 9. 28

1. Seminar Overview

2. Issues Discussed

3. Challenges Ahead

Contents

1. Seminar Overview

• Title: International Seminar on Green Economy and Official Statistics

• Organizers: KOSTAT, UNSD

• Date: July 6-8, 2011

• Venue: Seoul, Korea (Jamshil Lotte Hotel)

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1-1. Seminar Overview

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• High level statistical professionals, policy makers, and experts on green economy

– From advanced, developing countries and major international organizations

• 100 attendees from 22 countries and international organizations (UNSD, EUROSTAT, OECD, etc)

1-2. Participants

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• Session 1: Korea’s Green Growth Initiative and

Official Statistics

• Session 2: Green Economy and Official Statistics

• Session 3: Economic Instruments to Reduce

Greenhouse Gas Emissions and

Statistical Issues Arising

1-3. Topics

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• Session 4: Identifying Green Jobs/Adapting

Statistical Classifications

• Session 5: Statistics on Energy Efficiencies and

Renewable, Production Efficiencies

and Consumption Efficiencies

• Session 6: The Statistical Issues from the

Developing Countries’ Perspectives

1-3. Topics

• To discuss the role of official statistical agencies and international statistical standards for green economy

– The paradigm shift in national development strategies to green economy

– Lack of national statistics on establishing and monitoring green economy policies

• Organized based on the agreement between Statistics Korea and UNSD to annually organize international seminar on global issues

– First seminar : ｢ International Seminar on ICT Statistics ｣ , July 19-21, 2010

in Seoul

– This seminar was the second joint seminar between Statistics Korea and

UNSD

1-4. Motivation for Organizing Seminar

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2. Issues Discussed

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• Economic policies towards environmentally friendly direction

• “Green goods and services” are emerging as new economic engine

– Green economic statistics development efforts throughout the world:

OECD (green growth indicators), India (environmental resource accounts)

– Green is a dynamic concept : the stage of maturity for each society

needs to be considered to quantify green economy

2-1. Economic Polices and Official Statistics

Energy-intensive Society

Energy-efficient

Low carbon society

Brown Economy

Green Economy

Brown Statistics

Green Statistics

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• Need core indicators to ensure international comparability in

green economy/growth indicators

• Also need a set of core indicators between various programs on green economy led by international organizations

2-2. Core Indicators for International Comparison

Green Economy Initiative (UNEP)

EU 20-20-20 Actions on Climate ChangeUN Summit on Sustainable Development

Green Growth Initiative (OECD)

Programs on green economy

Set o

f Core

In

dica

tors

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• System of Integrated Environmental and Economic Accounts (SEEA) as a framework for consistent measurement of green economy

• SEEA Volume1 will be included in the agenda for UN Statistics Commission in 2012

• Need accompanying guidance on how countries may apply SEEA in accordance with their particular priorities

• Significant portion of statistics used in Netherlands’ green growth indicators are based on SEEA

2-3. Importance of Utilizing SEEA

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• The environmental goods and services sector (EGSS) : a critical role as a framework for measuring green economy

• EGSS can be used in harmony with CEPA2000 and SEEA

* CEPA : Classification of Environmental Protection Activities

• Statistics on EGSS can be compared with those of all other industries

2-4. EGSS as Framework for Measuring Green Economy

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• Official statisticians should be prudent in labeling particular phenomena as “green” or not

• The perspectives for “green jobs”

– the perspective of people employed in defined

industries

– the perspective of people working in a defined set of

occupations

• For international comparability, classifications should be applicable to countries with diverse environments

2-5. Green Classification

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2-6. Korea’s Experience for Green Growth Statistics

‘Low carbon green growth’ as one of Korea’s national vision for growth‘Low carbon green growth’ as one of Korea’s national vision for growth

Develop green growth indicators, green industry statistics, green life indicators to statistically support the national strategy for

green growth

Develop green growth indicators, green industry statistics, green life indicators to statistically support the national strategy for

green growth

To monitor the progress of green growth, seminar took place at a mid-point (2011) of the nation’s five-year plan for green growth

To monitor the progress of green growth, seminar took place at a mid-point (2011) of the nation’s five-year plan for green growth

Under study to adopt SEEA frameworks to enhance international comparability based on recommendations of the seminar

Under study to adopt SEEA frameworks to enhance international comparability based on recommendations of the seminar

3. Challenges Ahead

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• Re-establishing the role of official statistical organizations in regards to green growth statistics

• Compiling “SEEA” as framework for measuring green economy

– SEEA and EGSS : a critical role in compiling consistent and

internationally comparable statistics for green economy

– Preparation works by statistical agencies of each country to

compile SEEA and EGSS

Challenges Ahead

Review green growth policies of each countryReview green growth policies of each country

Develop basic conceptual framework and classifications of green growth statistics

Develop basic conceptual framework and classifications of green growth statistics

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• Improving statistics on energy efficiency– Improved statistics on energy are required in the fields of

efficient energy use and renewable energy• As most of greenhouse gas emissions occur during the process

of producing energy

• Compiling green economy statistics tailored for each country’s circumstances– Sharing experiences of each country would be useful in

compiling statistics tailored to each country’s circumstances

• Statistics on consumption and household dimensions are essential to green economy issues

Challenges Ahead

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• Importance of sharing outcomes of the seminar

– Report key conclusions from the seminar to the 43rd Session of

the UN Statistical Commission in 2012

• Upcoming project and meeting

– UNSD: Project on Developing Green Economy Indicators

UNSD project (2012-2015) to support development of green

economy indicators for its member countries

Challenges Ahead

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• UNEP : Workshop on Statistics for Environmental Goods and Services

– UNEP Workshop on the EGSS for measuring green

economy on November 14-15, 2011 in Geneva

Challenges Ahead