Green economy: assessing the greenness of the Malaysian economy

The purpose of this study is to provide a comprehensive definition of a green economy and further to assess the greenness of the Malaysian economy. The study also shows how different definitions and policy approaches are likely to meet economic development goals. The study is entirely based on secondary data (e.g. academic journals, trade journals, books, magazines, government reports, corporate reports on green economy). The findings indicate that, although recognised as an early pioneer in environmental policy, its disjointed implementation capacity and incongruent policy perspective has led to limited achievements in sustainability performance. We conclude that though there are both, institutional and market constraints to fully realise the green growth potential, Malaysia is mid-way in terms of readiness of embracing green growth, and it scores slightly lower in terms of distance to a green economy destination. Its limitations and further research proposals are discussed.