Enhancing Social Equity in the Green Economy: Linking the ‘E’ and the ‘S’ in ESG

There is no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to green growth. As such, policies and strategies need to be established based on specific circumstances, which vary from country to country and according to the level of development, institutional settings, resources and social structures. To transform the economic growth model of the past, green growth must equally focus on people.

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors have typically focused on the “e” at the expense of the “s”, despite both playing an equal role in developing the green economy and fostering green growth. This briefing paper addresses the need for an integrated approach that simultaneously tackles both environmental sustainability and social concerns such as poverty, exclusion, and inequalities to allow green growth projects to achieve real change and societal transformation.