Informal economy and green growth conference pinpoints need for new policy agenda

Participants focus on the need for a new framework to link informality and green growth.

News, 31 March 2016
A man transports logs by bicycle. Services provided by informal economies, such as small-scale logging, are often not integrated into plans for green growth (Photo: Jolien Schure/CIFOR, Creative Commons, via Flickr)

A man transports logs by bicycle. Services provided by informal economies, such as small-scale logging, are often not integrated into plans for green growth (Photo: Jolien Schure/CIFOR, Creative Commons, via Flickr)

Experts from government, civil society, businesses and research organisations gathered in London on 25 February to discuss how the informal economy can be integrated into plans for inclusive green growth.

The conference highlighted the variety and vigour of informal economies around the world and the importance of linking informal economic activity to international strategies for promoting green growth and sustainable development. 

Green growth aims to deliver economic sustainability, reduce poverty and protect the environment. The green growth agenda has become a key international priority and many countries are working on green growth plans. Yet many green growth strategies overlook a major driver of economic activity: informal economies. 

In developing countries the informal sector employs more people than formal economic activity. The informal economy is broadly defined as economic activity that is not subject to government regulation or taxation. Many people working in the informal economy are essentially operating as micro, small and medium enterprises, making this the world's biggest private sector. 

The London conference was titled 'The biggest 'private sector': what place for the informal economy in green and inclusive growth?'. It featured speakers from research, policy and practice, including from Ethiopia, Ghana, Indonesia and Brazil.

Benefits and challenges

Many speakers highlighted the lessons and benefits that the informal economy has to offer – such as providing employment and livelihoods to the poorest in society, and delivering key services and enhancing social cohesion.  

The main aim of the conference was to start developing a new policy framework that will integrate informality into plans for inclusive green growth. By the end of the event, a set of key principles had emerged which could guide the way to a new agenda.

Establishing ways to protect, support, and document informal economic activity is a complex challenge. The conference looked at the challenges and highlighted some success stories of successful formalisation.  

The conference also featured a photo exhibition that illustrated the diversity of informal economic activity around the world. The exhibition illustrated how people in the informal sector, from Colombia to India, are beginning to organise to protect their rights. 

Conference resources

IIED published a detailed round-up of the conference using Storify - you can read it below.

Some of the presentations are available on IIED's Slideshare platform:

Other resources

 

The second plenary session, moderated by Oliver Greenfield of the Green Economy Coalition, during an event on 'The biggest ‘private sector’: What place for the informal economy in green and inclusive growth? ' on Thursday, 25 February 2016.

The conference took place at Church House Conference Centre, Westminster, London, and was intended to help build a new policy agenda to integrate the informal economy with inclusive green growth and sustainable development.

The event reviewed informal economies in diverse contexts – from food distribution and mining to forestry and waste collection – and featured speakers from the International Labour Organisation, and from Ethiopia, Indonesia and Brazil.

It was hosted by IIED and the Green Economy Coalition, WIEGO, the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and the OECD's Sahel and West Africa Club.

Eleven audio recordings from the event are available:

The biggest private sector: informal AND illegal AND unsustainable?

Download audio

The biggest private sector: recognition as a first step

Download audio

The biggest private sector: a different approach to policy

Download audio

The biggest private sector: first plenary session

Download audio

The biggest private sector: second plenary session

Download audio

The biggest private sector: synthesis with Steve Bass

Download audio

The biggest private sector: informality and rural transition

Download audio

The biggest private sector: the missing majority

Download audio

The biggest private sector: keynote address by Marty Chen

Download audio

The biggest private sector: Q&A with Marty Chen

Download audio

The biggest private sector: introduction with Oliver Greenfield

Download audio

About the organisers

The conference was organised by IIED, together with the Green Economy CoalitionWomen in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO), the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and the OECD's Sahel and West Africa Club.