Green growth assessment discourse on evaluation indices in the European Union

Abstract

Investigating green growth is a continuing scientific concern within academia, governments, and international organizations in recent years. This paper analyzes the discourse on green growth assessment methods. There are three primary aims of this study: 1. To identify factors influencing or stimulating green growth. 2. To analyze sets, frameworks, and indices of green growth indicators designed by international organizations and scientists. 3. To develop the Green Growth evaluation Index and to validate it on the assessment of green growth status of the European Union countries. The methodological approach taken in this study is a mixed methodology based on data analysis, generalization, and index assessment. The study offers important insights into the discourse on green growth evaluation, analyzes green growth measurement tools, and provides the Green Growth Index which can be applied to evaluate green growth in developing and developed countries. Secondary data have been collected from Eurostat, the World Bank databases, and UNDP Human Development Reports for the year 2018. The results show that green growth is uneven in the European countries; the Green Growth Index and all three pillars vary between countries due to the fact that several countries lag behind all the indicators included in the Green Growth Index.