In 2005, the concept of green growth was introduced in the Asia-Pacific region as a strategy for sustainable growth in developing countries. This roadmap, produced by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), is intended for the use of member states to help policymakers find win-win strategies for promoting growth and reducing carbon emissions. Drawing upon innovative approaches, particularly from the Republic of Korea, this manual lays out the challenges, strategies and policy options of green growth in several critical sectors. The document is divided into two parts, with additional case studies and fact sheets available via CD-ROM. Part one presents an overview of the opportunities and challenges the region faces regarding low carbon green growth. It also discusses the system change required to shift focus to this new development path. Part two of the roadmap shows how to start the process of pursuing green growth through five different tracks, outlined below, which are seen as core elements of necessary systemic change.

Countries must improve the quality of their growth: solely focusing on the quantity of growth will ultimately prove unsustainable in the long-term.
The invisible structure of the economy, including prices, institutions and lifestyles, requires changing for green growth: the most important factor is that prices accurately reflect the real costs of production and consumption.
Infrastructure planning and design must be radically transformed to achieve system change for green growth, including the retrofitting of existing buildings and investment in new technology.
Green must be embraced as a business opportunity and a driver of growth: governments can help by bridging the gap between short-term costs and long-term benefits.
Governments must take an integrated, comprehensive and coordinated approach to constructing the necessary low carbon development strategies.

The paper concludes with a series of policy suggestions and long-term goals required for system change. These include the need to drastically improve resource efficiency (countries within the region use three times the amount of emission per unit of GDP compared to the rest of the world), a requirement for collective action and partnerships to share risk and the importance of a unified Asian and Pacific voice to spearhead global partnerships at the regional level.