The Economic Policy and Competitiveness Research Center (EPCRC) and the Green Economy Coalition (GEC) are introducing “The Green Economy Barometer 2018 Mongolia” with the support of European Union.
The world is aiming towards a greener and more inclusive economy. Mongolia as well is on the road of building a greener economy by ratifying “Green Development Policy” and committing to “Sustainable Development Goals-2030”.
The purpose of the report is to summarize overall actions taken towards green economy in Mongolia. Green economy is giving us more opportunities and advantages than a current economy-so called brown economy. The EPCRC’s 2017 “Green Policy Assessment Report” suggests that in the long run, supporting green economic planning will offer a more sustainable path for the future. The modelling found that if 4% of GDP were invested for green development, a more stable economic growth, a decreased unemployment rate, a low poverty rate and a reduced green-house gas emissions will be achieved.
In the last three decades, population of urban areas in Mongolia has doubled itself. Along with the urbanization, problems such as air, soil and water contamination have emerged. Also 77.8 % of the land has been affected by desertification to some degree. As a result of climate change, hundreds of Mongolian lakes and rivers drying up, and there is a significant desertification of land, especially in the southern Gobi desert regions, where most mining resources are located. There is only one solution that can tackle all these issues which is a strategic commitment to a fair and green economy.
Mongolia performed very poorly in the Global Green Economy Index, ranking 79th out of 80 countries in 2016. However, due to government green growth policies and Mongolian’s international advocacy for cooperation in the area of sustainable development, Mongolia’s performance in “leadership and climate change” is considered “decent”.
The gap between the official narrative, emphasizing strong commitments, and the actual implementation process remains the main challenge. Using the milestones of the GEC framework, and considering the various achievements and challenges outlined in this report, Mongolia’s progress towards a green economy can be ranked as 3 out of 10.
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