GREEN-WIN

The GREEN-WIN project is a major international transdisciplinary research collaboration applying a solution-oriented approach targeted at increasing the understanding of links between climate action and sustainability and overcoming implementation barriers through win-win strategies. The project critically assessing where and under which conditions win-win and in particular green growth strategies work in practice and where fundamental tradeoffs must be faced. The project team is focusing on four critical barriers that have been identified by practitioners and policy makers. These include:

• Develop transformative narratives highlighting opportunities in climate and sustainability action in order to contribute to overcoming cognitive barriers and empowering people.
• Examine climate and sustainability finance policies and governance arrangements in order to contribute to overcoming financial barriers to mitigation and adaptation.
• Substantiate the economics of green growth in order to contribute to overcoming economic and collective action barriers to de-carbonisation. Towards this end we introduce major innovations into the GEM-E3 computable general equilibrium model required to discover green growth strategies. These include developing a network-based model of technological diffusion, and introducing financial market constraints and adaptive expectations of agents.
• Contribute to overcoming economic and institutional barriers through identifying win-win strategies, sustainable business models and enabling environments in three action fields of coastal zone flood risk management, urban transformations and energy poverty eradication and resilience.

All these activities are embedded within a sustained international dialogue involving stakeholders from policy, research, civil society and the private sector, and an open knowledge management and capacity building strategy to promote knowledge transfer and learning beyond the project lifespan.

The overall objectives of GREEN-WIN are:

• To identify, develop and critically assess win-win strategies, green business models and green growth pathways that bring short-term economic benefits, while also supporting mitigation and adaptation goals within the broader sustainable development agenda.
• To co-develop shared narratives around win-win strategies, business opportunities and green growth pathways amongst scientific, policy, business and civil society sectors.

The project will critically assess where and under which conditions win-win and in particular green growth strategies work in practice and where fundamental trade-offs must be faced. We thereby focus on four critical barriers that have been identified by practitioners and policy makers. First, we develop transformative narratives highlighting opportunities in climate and sustainability action in order to contribute to overcoming cognitive barriers and empowering people. Second, we examine climate and sustainability finance policies and governance arrangements in order to contribute to overcoming financial barriers to mitigation and adaptation. Third, we substantiate the economics of green growth in order to contribute to overcoming economic and collective action barriers to de-carbonisation. Towards this end we introduce major innovations into the GEM-E3 computable general equilibrium model required to discover green growth strategies. These include developing a network-based model of technological diffusion, and introducing financial market constraints and adaptive expectations of agents. Fourth, we contribute to overcoming economic and institutional barriers through identifying win-win strategies, sustainable business models and enabling environments in three action fields of coastal zone flood risk management, urban transformations and energy poverty eradication and resilience. We embed all these activities within a sustained international dialogue involving stakeholders from policy, research, civil society and the private sector, and an open knowledge management and capacity building strategy to promote knowledge transfer and learning beyond the project lifespan.

Information on GREEN-WIN project deliverables is available on the project's website.

• Workpackage 1 has initiated a sustained global dialogue that has promoted mutual learning on green-business and green economy opportunities amongst representatives from international organizations, UN Agencies, finance institutions, business, and research. Two Global Stakeholder Dialogue Workshops have been held to co-produce, amongst stakeholders and GREEN-WIN researchers, a rich collection of win-win strategies, green business models and enabling environments.

• Workpackage 2 empirically analysed financial governance arrangements in key G20 countries in order to identify opportunities for and barriers to redirecting financial flows towards climate-friendly investments. A huge potential for additional sustainable finance from Institutional investors was identified, but also a number of barriers were found that prevent this potential from being realized (e.g., unstable regulatory frameworks, lack of liquid financial instruments such as green bonds, small project size, etc.).

• Workpackage 3 has developed network-based models of technological diffusion to investigate the synergies between mitigation and economic development through endogenous technological progress. Preliminary findings suggest that regional hubs such as Brazil for Latin America play a significant role in the diffusion process. The economic model GEM-E3 has been extended to account for flows of financial capital in the transition to a low-carbon economy. A first application to Italy puts forward the key role of financing arrangements for distributional impacts and highlights the large benefits that would accrue from a stable sovereign debt market in Europe with low spreads between countries.

• Workpackage 4 reviewed the literature on green finance and green business, developed a typology of win-win opportunities, and supported Workpackages 5, 6 and 7 by critically assessing the viability of the green business models and win-win strategies identified. WP4 also investigated the main barriers impeding green investments. These include: i) too little interest in green projects due to the assumption that green is economically not viable and less profitable; ii) lack of solid green business models; and iii) lack of common methodology for analysing the environmental impact of green business models.

• Workpackage 5 illustrated the various synergies and trade-offs between economic and climate goals in coastal flood risk management, identifying three kinds of win-win strategies that can help public actors to overcome financial barriers to coastal adaptation: i) Generating real estate development revenues through land reclamation; ii) Generating tourism revenues through beach nourishment (replacing eroded sand); and iii) Generating non-monetary nature benefits that attract additional funding from environmental NGOs.

• Workpackage 6 conducted interviews, participant and non-participant observations and a first round of stakeholder workshops, identifying the following win-win strategies in urban transformations: i) Emerging sharing economy business models towards a greener and smarter mobility sector in Shanghai; ii) Green business models in the building sector in Istanbul, emerging within the context of new seismic regulations; iii) Private entrepreneurs developing ICT-based smart solutions to improve resource efficiency in Barcelona.

• Workpackage 7 action-researched a number of cases of win-win solutions in India, Indonesia and South Africa at community level, unveiling the following synergies and win-win strategies: i) Deployment of community-owned, community-operated renewable-energy systems in India; ii) Implementation of green coffee business and biogas digester technology in Indonesia; and iii) Implementation of integrated organic farming and compost-production in South Africa.

• Workpackage 8 has promoted knowledge and capacity building both within and beyond the GREEN-WIN project through a number of activities, including the GREEN-WIN website, a webinar featuring key research projects.