Inclusion Matters
How to take a green transition to scale at speed? Policy insights and lessons from the Green Economy Coalition’s national dialogues.
Greening our economic systems is the most ambitious and urgent transformation the world has ever known. As global temperatures rise and nature is disappearing at unprecedented rates, the question is how such a shift to green economies can happen at scale and speed?
This new report focuses on a series of citizen-led dialogues convened by the Green Economy Coalition in seven national or regional Hubs - India, Uganda, Senegal, South Africa, Mongolia, Peru and the Caribbean region. Each dialogue process was led by local partners who worked with small enterprises, policy makers, civil society organisations, and civil society groups, to identify issues relevant to the transition to green economies.
In each case, the dialogue processes have led to policy changes and new networks to emerge, which have sped up the transition to greener, more inclusive economies. For example,
- In Peru a highly visible alliance of small green enterprises have mobilised around an online platform, lobbying together for key regulatory and fiscal changes to support social entrepreneurship for the first time.
- In India the dialogue process brought together networks of local enterprises in sustainable construction to successfully shift state-wide policy and investment decisions.
- In Uganda, a cross sectoral partnership of business, communities and civil society organisations have come together for the first time to
develop a management plan for the River Rwizi.
The report finds that while governments, institutions and businesses broadly recognise the need for social inclusion in green policy, civil society has too often been marginalised in policymaking.
Inclusion Matters concludes that citizen-led dialogues are a proven and effective way to mainstream inclusion through all stages of the policy cycle. They have succeeded in creating a new dynamic between local citizens, small businesses and communities, and policymakers further ‘upstream’. Inclusion is not a 'nice to have', rather it is core for taking the transition to green economies to scale and at speed.
