Steps to accelerate a transition towards a “low-carbon, resource-efficient and socially inclusive green future” are being undertaken by both governments and business on a global scale, stated the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) following the release of its primary report, Towards a Green Economy: Pathways to Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication.
Some three years in the making, the UNEP state the global research report shows that “from China to Barbados, Brazil to South Africa, countries are developing green economy strategies and activities to spur greater economic growth and jobs, environmental protection and equality”.
A statement accompanied the report from UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, who said “with the world looking ahead to the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development in June 2012, the UNEP Green Economy report challenges the myth that there is a trade-off between the economy and the environment”.
“With smart public policies, governments can grow their economies, generate decent employment and accelerate social progress in a way that keeps humanity’s ecological footprint within the planet’s carrying capacity”, added Mr Moon.
Key messages outlined in the report include the UNEP confirming that an “investment of two per cent of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) across 10 key sectors is what is required to kick-start a shift from the current brown, polluting and inefficient economy to a green one”.
Estimates in the report outline that this transition to a green economy would see the global economy grow at approximately the same, if not a higher rate than forecasts based on current economic models, all the while free of the “rising risks, shocks, scarcities and crises” involved in the existing brown economy.
A complete transition to a green economy would reduce the ‘ecological footprint’ by nearly 50 per cent in the year 2050, when compared to projections outlined in the current model, according to the UNEP report.
The UNEP acknowledge that a transition towards sustainability will result in a degree of employment loss, with the report acknowledging “that in the short-term, job losses in some sectors- fisheries for example- are inevitable if they are to transition towards sustainability”.
“However, it adds that over time the number of “new and decent jobs created” in sectors – ranging from renewable energies to more sustainable agriculture – will, however, offset those lost from the former “brown economy”, state the UNEP.
China, the world’s leading investor in renewable energy, has committed to the spending of US$468 billion on key industries, including renewable energy, clean technologies and waste management over the next five years, a monetary figure that is more than twice that spent by the country in the previous five years.
Director General of the Department of Resource Conservation and Environmental Protection in China’s National Development and Reform Commission, He Bingguang, stated that “China considers the green economy to be a strategic choice in an increasingly resource constrained world, and we have made that choice in our development plans”.
“We appreciate UNEP’s contribution in promoting a global green economy transformation, which holds the potential for all countries to benefit,” added Mr Bingguang.
According to the UNEP report, countries including Barbados, Cambodia, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea and South Africa have already put in place Green Economy plans that adhere with recommendations made by the report.
Greening priority sectors, such as agriculture, renewable energy, tourism and clean technologies are the focus of other countries including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Kenya, Jordan, Malaysia, Mexico, Nepal, Senegal and Ukraine, according to the report.
“The elements of a transition to a Green Economy are clearly emerging across developing and developed countries alike”, said Achim Steiner, UN Under Secretary General and Executive Director of the UNEP.
“There are now some nations going further and faster than others which is in many ways generating a ‘pull factor’ that, if maintained, may bring others along over the coming months and years.
“The Durban climate convention meeting in a few week’s time and Rio+20 next year are key opportunities to accelerate and scale-up the Green Economy.
“Central cooperative actions range from advancing Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+), moving on green procurement to switch national efforts into the sustainability space up to a new indicator of wealth that goes beyond GDP and internalizes the costs of pollution and degradation while bringing the true value of the planet’s nature-based assets into calculations of a successful and sustainable economic path”, concluded Mr Steiner.
The UN Conference on Sustainable Development, commonly known as the Rio Earth Summit, was held in Rio De Janiero, Brazil in 1992 to address the state of the environment and sustainable development.
The Rio+20 Summit is the follow-up meeting to the Rio Earth Summit, and is scheduled to convene in June 2012, where one of the primary themes of focus expected to be addressed by governments is a Green Economy “in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication”.
The full UNEP report, Towards a Green Economy: Pathways to Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication, can be viewed in its entirety online at: http://www.unep.org/greeneconomy/
