Using 'Inclusive Wealth' to Measure and Model Sustainable Development in Australia: A working example

Australia in 1992 adopted the National Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Development to ensure all future development occurs in a 'sustainable' manner. Measurement of the nation's sustainable development is currently conducted through the OECD Environmental Performance Review and various other ad-hoc indicators or measures have been proposed, such as greening the national accounts (Green Gross National Product) and the Genuine Progress Indicator. No one has identified a clear and precise way to either measure or model sustainable development in Australia. By trialing the implementation of inclusive wealth theory in Australia, this paper aims to identify and comment on the issues of measuring and modelling sustainable development as a stock measure in Australia (measuring the change in composition of national assets over time). Conceptual issues of implementation will be discussed with examples provided from two trial regions Goulburn Broken Catchment (VIC) and Murrumbidgee Valley (NSW).inclusive wealth, sustainable development, capital stocks, production systems, Production Economics,

Promoting Sustainable and Responsible Business in Asia and the Pacific: The Role of Government, Studies in Trade and Investment 72

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is widely accepted as the business sector's contribution to inclusive and sustainable development. Thus, government can harness the CSR agenda in pursuit of this goal. There are several reasons why governments should seek to promote CSR: greater social and environmental sustainability, market competitiveness, economic stability, and good governance. This policy-oriented paper identifies initiatives that policy-makers in the Asia Pacific region should duly consider for promoting CSR practices, at both the regional and national levels, and spanning domestic small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to large multinational enterprises (MNEs). The initiatives are diverse in focus and scope, although there is one common denominator: virtually none can be enacted by government alone. Any initiative to promote sustainable and responsible business needs to be sustainable in itself, and that in turn necessitates the active engagement and tangible inputs of the business community.corporate social responsibility, global compact, Asia and the Pacific, role of government, economic, social, environment, market competition, sustainable and responsible business, inclusive and sustainable development, carbon credit, green bank, policy-makers, SME, MNE, trade, investment

Successful, safe and sustainable cities: towards a New Urban Agenda

There is a growing interest among national governments and international agencies in the contribution of urban centres to sustainable development. The paper outlines the new global agendas to guide this: the Sustainable Development Goals, the Paris Agreement and the New Urban Agenda. It then sets out the key challenges and opportunities facing urban governments across the Commonwealth in implementing these agendas and achieving inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities. This is hampered by significant infrastructure deficits (especially in provision for water and sanitation) and a lack of funding. After outlining the commitments agreed by national governments in these global agendas, the paper discusses the vital role in meeting these of city leadership, financing and investment, urban planning and local economic development. Whilst it is good to see recognition of the importance of cities to national economies, economic success in any city does not automatically contribute to a healthier city, a more inclusive city or a sustainable city. This needs capable and accountable urban governments working closely with local civil society, and the redirection of public funds and development assistance to support them

Impact Investing and Inclusive Business Development in Africa: A research agenda

Impact investing aims to create sustainable social and environmental impacts for investee enterprises and communities as well as adequate financial returns. As an attractive emerging market investment strategy, it involves development finance institutions and philanthropic foundations partnering with mainstream private venture capital to create impact funds with the goal of catalysing inclusive market-based enterprise development in low income countries. In this paper, we present findings from a scoping study discussing the nature and operations of impact funds in African economies and the associated research opportunities on this topic. To facilitate the assessment, we reviewed the existing literature on impact investing, considering this along three interrelated perspectives, namely 1) impact investing as development finance policy for economic development, 2) impact investing as a development in socially responsible investing, and 3) impact investing as capacity-building for inclusive business development in African economies. The interplay of these perspectives shapes the constitution and operational strategies of specific impact funds and provide a conceptual context for understanding impact investing at country level. Drawing on interviews, email exchanges and roundtable discussions with representative global and country-specific (Sierra Leone, Cameroon and Kenya) stakeholders our analysis makes three contributions to the impact investing debate. First we explore a model for understanding the ways in which impact funds are being channeled into inclusive businesses in Africa and the associated catalytic effects on poverty alleviation, social and economic development. Second we identified and tested access to, a range of impact funds and associated sector-specific inclusive businesses for future case writing – hopefully ‘failures’ as well as ‘successes’. Finally, we reflect on some of the unanswered managerial and policy-related questions that require a more rigorous inquiry-led appraisal to better understand and enhance the contribution of impact funds to inclusive business development in Africa

Infrastructure for sustainable development: the role of national development banks

This repository item contains a policy brief from the Boston University Global Economic Governance Initiative. The Global Economic Governance Initiative (GEGI) is a research program of the Center for Finance, Law & Policy, the Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future, and the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies. It was founded in 2008 to advance policy-relevant knowledge about governance for financial stability, human development, and the environment.Development banks are increasingly becoming relied upon to help finance sustainable infrastructure in the 21st century. Much of the emphasis has been on the role of the existing multi-lateral development banks (MDBs), but lesser attention has been paid to the role of national development banks (NDBs). To help fill this gap, Boston University’s Global Economic Governance initiative (GEGI) and the Brookings Institution’s Global Economy and Development program convened a Task Force on Development Banks and Sustainable Development to examine the extent to which development banks are becoming catalysts for achieving a climate friendly and more socially inclusive world economy

Reflections on the Macro Foundations of the Middle Class in the Developing World

In this working paper I define inclusive growth as growth conducive to increasing the size and economic command of the middle class. I suggest a definition of the middle class based on absolute and relative measures of country-based income distributions, and present evidence of change in the size of the “middle class” for selected developing countries. I then review how macroeconomic policies shape the environment and incentives for inclusive growth, focusing on three areas: fiscal discipline, the more rule-based the better; a fair tax and redistribution system; and a business friendly exchange rate. The adoption of macro policies that favor the middle class lays the foundation for more economically and politically sustainable development. While on the whole sound macro policy that is good for the middle class is also likely to be pro-poor, tradeoffs may exist with respect to tax, expenditure and transfer programs and responses to economic shocks. Governments should consider the weighted welfare outcomes of alternative approaches to macro policy, rather than un-weighted growth or overly weighted poverty outcomes.macroeconomics, sustainable development, middle class

The Road to Dignity by 2030: Ending Poverty, Transforming All Lives and Protecting the Planet - Synthesis Report of the Secretary-General On the Post-2015 Sustainable Development agenda

The present report is submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 68/6, in which Member States requested the Secretary-General to synthesize the full range of inputs available on the post-2015 development agenda and to present a synthesis report before the end of 2014, as an input to the intergovermental negotiations.Drawing from the experience of two decades of development practice and from the inputs gathered through an open and inclusive process, the report charts a road map to achieve dignity in the next 15 years. The report proposes one universal and transformative agenda for sustainable development, underpinned by rights, and with people and the planet at the centre. An integrated set of six essential elements is provided to help frame and reinforce the sustainable development agenda and ensure that the ambition and vision expressed by Member States communicates and is delivered at the country level: (a) dignity: to end poverty and fight inequality; (b) people: to ensure healthy lives, knowledge and the inclusion of women and children; (c) prosperity: to grow a strong, inclusive and transformative economy; (d) planet: to protect our ecosystems for all societies and our children; (e) justice; to promote safe and peaceful societies and storng institutions; and (f) partnership: to catalyse global solidarity for sustainable development

The state of sustainable investments in key emerging markets: synthesis report

The report is intended as a summary and synthesis of country reports on the state of sustainable investing in key emerging markets, namely China, India, Brazil and Turkey. In general, the authors have defined sustainable investments as investments that incorporate environmental (E), social(S) and governance (G) factors into the investment processes. The reports primarily investigate sustainable investments through the supply of financial capital to publicly listed firms in the form of equity investments through the stock markets, using strategies that incorporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks into the investment process, with a long-term perspective. These investments can be purposefully ESG-inclusive and marketed as such (theme-based or labelled), or they can include ESG factors somehow in the processes without explicitly referring to sustainability-related factors. The reports also consider the supply of financial capital in various classes and forms to listed and privately held firms with a consideration of the investment’s impact on economic and social development or on investors’ values

STUDY CONCERNING THE AMPLITUDE OF APPLICATIVE-METHODOLOGICAL ELEMENTS IN THE MANAGERIAL DURABLE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

The durability concept has become lately very circulated, inclusive in the economic domain, because of a more accentuated concern of people for the continuous production and consumption growth, in the context of limited character emphasis of resources and environment constrains that are more and more pressing.. It is considered viable, sustainable, durable development, only that development that satisfies the present generation’s needs, without compromising the following generations’ capacity to satisfy their own. In durable development are included a series of elements that can not miss from this development, such as: equity, education, civil rights, culture etc.model, modelling, process, durable development, management