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• Green Paper
  Green Paper

  noun

  a report presenting the policy proposals of the government, to be discussed in Parliament.
• green paper
  green paper

  noun

  (often capitals) (in Britain) a command paper containing policy proposals to be discussed, esp by Parliament

Green Paper

American  

noun

British.

1. a report presenting the policy proposals of the government, to be discussed in Parliament.

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green paper British  

noun

1. (often capitals) (in Britain) a command paper containing policy proposals to be discussed, esp by Parliament

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Etymology

Origin of Green Paper

First recorded in 1945–50; apparently so called from the color of the paper on which they are printed

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Green Paper green paper

The Department for Work and Pensions has consulted with charities, but even before the Green Paper has seen the light of day some of those organisations have been firing off denunciatory press releases.

From BBC ● Mar. 12, 2025

A Green Paper - an early draft of a plan - should have been published more than a year ago but has been kicked down the line.

From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2018

The government launched a Green Paper on the corporations future in July.

From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2015

But he said he was "a little surprised that the BBC expressed such disappointment at the Green Paper".

From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2015

That office promulgated first a Green Paper and then, after further hearings, a White Paper, on "Intellectual Property and the National Information Infrastructure."

From The Public Domain Enclosing the Commons of the Mind by James Boyle

The UK government is expected to publish its proposals for change in a green paper on welfare next week, with full details at the Chancellor's Spring Statement on 26 March.

From BBC ● Mar. 13, 2025

Huang speculates that might be because a green paper may appear in multiple repositories—institutional and discipline-based—whereas gold papers tend to appear in only one, the publishers’ website.

From Science Magazine ● Jan. 24, 2024

Trees and shrubbery made from green paper littered the rig, particularly on the helipad, where a farm thrived under a transparent cellophane biodome.

From Slate ● Dec. 16, 2023

British retailer Marks & Spencer apologised after posting a picture from its Christmas advert showing red and green paper hats in a burning fireplace that were compared to a Palestinian flag.

From Reuters ● Nov. 3, 2023

The gift is beautifully wrapped in thick green paper, looped with rainbow shades of ribbon.

From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti