Evaluation and Research on the Level of Inclusive Green Growth in Asia-Pacific Region

• Main Authors: Meng Li, Yifan Zhang, Ziyu Fan, Hao Chen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-07-01
• Series: Sustainability
• Subjects: Asia-Pacific; inclusive green growth; sustainable development; factor analysis; indicator evaluation
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/13/7482

Focusing on the Asia-Pacific region and the concept of inclusive green growth, this paper designs a four-dimensional analysis framework of economic prosperity, social inclusion, resource utilization, and environmental sustainability. It constructs a scientific and reasonable inclusive green growth indicator system for the Asia-Pacific region. In order to make the research results more robust, the research method mainly uses factor analysis, supplemented by clustering method and entropy method to evaluate and cross-validate the inclusive green growth level of 37 countries and regions in the Asia-Pacific region. The study finds that the level of inclusive green growth in the Asia-Pacific region is highly affected by the country’s economic development level. The latent heterogeneity in the distinct development stages of various countries explains why the in-region countries differ vastly regarding their inclusive green development levels. The inclusive green growth indicator system integrates the availability, accuracy, and standardization of data in selecting indicators, making the measurement results more referentially valuable. It helps grasp the actual state of inclusive green growth in the Asia-Pacific region. The paper summarizes the policy suggestions to promote inclusive green growth in the Asia-Pacific region, involving accelerating economic development and institutional improvement, and reinforcing regional cooperation in the Asia-Pacific area for elevating the overall regional inclusive green transformation.