Mongolia: towards a Green Development Strategy

Mongolia became the first country to join the PAGE initiative in 2013 with activities aimed to support the implementation of its national Green Development Strategy.

During the inception phase of the PAGE (Partnership for Action on Green Economy) initiative, a “National Capacity Development and PAGE Planning Workshop to Advance a Green Economy and Green Development in Mongolia” took place from 11-12 November 2013 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Both a learning and planning event, the workshop provided an opportunity to enhance knowledge of and facilitate discussions among governmental and non-governmental actors in Mongolia on key green economy issues. The key outcomes of the workshop were presented during the “High Level Forum on Green Development in Mongolia” on 13 November 2013 which followed.

Throughout the course of 2014, the PAGE initiative in Mongolia completed an initial report taking stock of the current situation and a green jobs mapping study was conducted. The findings helped identify and set the initial priority areas for PAGE Mongolia: (i) the promotion of sustainable public procurement, (ii) energy efficient buildings, and (iii) green development learning. These areas for intervention are also in line with Mongolia's Green Development Strategy, adopted by Parliament in 2014.

Besides, modelling, based on the T21 model, and policy assessment work is underway to support a quantitative analysis of the impact and cost of the Mongolia’s transition to a green economy.

Under the framework of PAGE and to respond to capacity development needs on green jobs statistics, Mongolia was selected as one of the pilot countries for implementing and testing the statistical guidelines on employment in the environmental sector that were adopted at the 19th International Labour Statistician Conference. The pilot project is designed to collect information on employment in environmental sector and green jobs through the existing Labour Force Survey and the annual establishment survey.

ILO technical support in Mongolia dates back to 2011 with the implementation of the Green Business Options training scheme. This training programme enables potential young entrepreneurs to better understand and seize the opportunities of developing environmentally friendly, economically viable and socially just business ideas and plans. The training mainly focuses on micro-and-small-scale green businesses and provides relevant methods and skills for business creation and management.