Asian countries ahead in green investment

NEW YORK, May 4 (UPI) -- Asian nations -- particularly China and South Korea -- are ahead of other major world economies when it comes to the "green" investment portion of economic and employment recovery plans, says a new book co-published by the United Nations.

In his book, "A Global Green New Deal: Rethinking the Economic Recovery," Edward Barbier, a leading economist and consultant to the U.N. Environmental Program's Global Green New Deal/Green Economy Initiative, urges Group of 20 countries to unite to promote a sustainable global economic recovery.

"Without a long-term vision on how to further catalyze and embed the environment within the economy, Barbier said in a release, "there is a real danger that many of the G20's green stimuli will wither and simply go to waste."

When the UNEP launched its Green New Deal policy brief during its annual gathering of environment ministers in February 2009 it recommended that each country spend 1 percent of gross domestic product on green initiatives.

With the exception of several Asian economies, U.N. Undersecretary-General and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner said, "there remains a gap between ambition and action."

China and South Korea each spend 3 percent of GDP on environmental sectors, Barbier's book reports. That compares with the United States' green stimulus, which accounts for 0.7 percent of GDP and the European Union, which represents 0.2 percent of GDP.

"The problems of energy insecurity, climate change, environmental degradation and global poverty will only worsen if we fail to green our current global economic recovery efforts," warns Barbier, an economics professor at the University of Wyoming.

Barbier notes in the book that China, the world's second biggest energy consumer, spent more than one-third of its stimulus package -- 3 percent of GDP -- on initiatives such as high-speed rail systems as well as boosting the country's already-accelerating growth in wind and solar power and energy-efficient lighting.

China is the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases.

With a renewable energy sector valued at $17 billion, China is the leading global producer of solar cells, wind turbines and solar water heaters, employing nearly 1 million people.

As for South Korea, Asia's fourth-largest energy consumer and polluter, it is allocating 95 percent of its fiscal stimulus -- also 3 percent of GDP -- for environmental sectors, including low-emission vehicles.

When opening a global environment summit in Seoul last month, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak cited the $19.8 million restoration of South Korea's four major rivers as a "representative" Green New Deal project aimed both at protecting the environment and fostering economic growth.