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Marc Ackermann Conservation Innovation at the Harvard Forest November 13th, 2013
Introduction
Over the past decades, Chile has entered the world stage as a remarkable story of growth in the developing world. As the country closes the gap between itself and the worlds largest economies, new concerns have emerged; the rapid expansion of the Chilean economy inevitably requires a focus on sustainability, especially in the energy sector. Renewable energy in Chile has bright prospects over the coming years, as renewable energy has reached parity with traditional sources. Moving forward, the importance of policy on conservation and energy are essential to the long-term stability of Chile. However, this simplified equation leaves out a key variable: societal well-being. For long term viability, Chilean Energy Policy should incorporate a stance on social impact as a driver in the national policy. This synergistic trio of economic growth, social inclusion, and conservation has been dubbed green growth by the OECD. According to the OECD, Governments that put green growth at the heart of development can achieve sustainable economic growth and social stability, safeguard the environment, and conserve resources for future generations (OECD (2013b), 1). Green growth is an attractive tool to supplement progress in developing nations. From the perspective of another developing nation, Cambodia is an interesting case study on sustainable growth and conservation with an added twist of social inclusion. While green growth is focused on more than just energy initiatives, a large portion of the takeaways are applicable to policy for renewable energy. As a leading nation in inclusive green growth, Cambodia has pushed to consider all relevant stakeholders, especially the underrepresented poor. Cambodia has led by example and implemented nationwide green growth goals focused on social inclusion. On the other end, Chile has experienced rapid economic growth with extreme inequality. Bridging the economic divide with inclusive sustainable energy growth could be vital for Chilean development, especially in the poorer northern region. For this reason and others, Cambodias attention to the impact of sustainable energy on the poor can be a very effective element of Chilean Policy. In order to draw away lessons from Cambodia, there must be a comparison of Chile and Cambodia, especially highlighting the differences and similarities in background. The analysis will follow by evaluating the effectiveness of the green growth theory of change, concluding with key takeaways of the most relevant lessons for Chile from Cambodia.
representing 19 ministries, to establish a green growth policy; the group designed the Green Growth Roadmap for Cambodia in 2010 and the National Strategic Plan on Green Growth. This plan incorporates seven accesses that are carefully tailored to the poor and marginalized communities. For both nations, this separation of players has hindered policy making in the green growth arena. However, Cambodia has made considerable progress on integrating policy makers through the GGWG. Moving forward, Chile has an opportunity to follow a similar path to coordinate discussions between policymakers. A viable option is to develop a cross-party, cross-ministry organization that works in unison to strategize and implement sustainable energy policy with an emphasis on inclusion. Overall, the political landscape in Chile has the opportunity to give rise to a green transformation in the energy sector.
conservation - and even on health outcomes. Overall, inclusive green growth has the potential to be an important element of Chilean Policy.
Appendix
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Cited Sources
"Central Intelligence Agency." The World Factbook. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. Mohammed, E. Y., S. Wang and G. Kawaguchi (2013), "Making Growth Green and Inclusive: The Case of Cambodia", OECD Green Growth Papers, No. 2013/08, OECD Publishing. OECD (2013a). "Hows Life?" OECD Better Life Index. OECD, 2013. Web. 09 Nov. 2013. OECD (2013b). "Putting Green Growth at the Heart of Development - Summary for Policymakers."OECD. N.p., Mar. 2013. Web. 09 Nov. 2013.