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Business leaders debate green economy in Paris

Staff Reporter
Paris - Some 200 representatives from business and industry, governments and civil society gathered in Paris this week for global talks on the transition to a green economy. Organized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), in collaboration with the International Chamber of Commerce and the French postal service Le Groupe La Poste, which hosted the event at its Paris headquarters, the two-day Business and Industry Global Dialogue aimed to define the private sector's role in moving towards a low carbon, resource-efficient green economy. The event began with opening addresses from UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner, the Secretary General of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Jean-Guy Carrier and the Chief Executive Officer of Le Groupe La Poste Jean-Paul Bailly. Sylvie Lemmet, Director of UNEP's Paris-based Division of Technology, Industry and Economics, delivered a keynote presentation on UNEP's Green Economy Report and stressed how engagement from the private sector is crucial for the scaling-up of a green economy on the road to 'Rio +20' - next year's United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. A high-level panel followed with representatives from the UN Global Compact, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Hungary's Deputy State Secretary for Green Economy and Climate Change. Later, members of the private sector discussed the opportunities and challenges outlined in the report with a panel including the ICC Task Force on Green Economy and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. The second day offered participants a chance to envision and map out their contributions to the Rio+20 conference. During the dialogue, Katrina Destrée Cochran, Director of Corporate Social Responsibility at telecommunications company Alcatel-Lucent, expressed the importance of measuring the environmental and economic effects of 'business as usual' practices. There were further calls from business leaders to encourage greater investment in sustainable practices. Patrick Widloecher from La Poste, a company that is currently investing in electric vehicles, affirmed that a green economy needs to be recognized as a strategic investment for business, rather than a cost. UNEP's Green Economy Report, released in February, challenges the myth that investing in the environment comes at the expense of economic growth. The report shows how redirecting 2 percent of global Gross Domestic Product into ten key sectors - from forests and energy to fisheries and transport - can boost green growth and create more jobs than a 'business as usual' model, while using the planet's resources in a more sustainable way. Meanwhile, Nearly 200 participants of a Green Economy symposium organized by the SEED Initiative, which is hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), met today with the 30 global winners of the SEED Awards to look at ways to accelerate the transition to a Green Economy in the developing world. The Symposium focused on policies needed to accelerate the transition to a Green Economy and on the environmental and social contribution of community-level entrepreneurs in developing countries. The SEED Awards recognize inspiring social and environmental entrepreneurs whose businesses can help meet sustainable development challenges, boost local economies and alleviate poverty. By helping entrepreneurs to scale-up their activities, SEED aims to refocus policies towards promoting Green Economic initiatives such as renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, water and waste management, eco-friendly tourism and green construction and transport. The latest SEED Award winners largely come from Africa, placing particular emphasis on initiatives from Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Senegal and South Africa. Together with Egypt, these are pilot countries in a joint project between SEED and UNEP's Green Economy Initiative which is funded largely by the European Union. Among the winners were a bamboo bicycle project in Ghana that makes use of the country's vast bamboo supplies, a Ugandan enterprise manufacturing stationary from agricultural waste, a Chinese project producing a novel solar device that turns waste heat into electricity and a South African female-run business making a hand-held laundry device that saves water and cuts pollution. Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director, said: "The SEED winners underline how the green shoots of a Green Economy are sprouting across the developing world. Governments and public policymakers can learn a lot from how these entrepreneurs have catalyzed creative solutions to local challenges and in doing so generated livelihoods, employment, environmental benefits and ways of eradicating poverty within and outside their communities." "Next year's Rio+20 meeting is an opportunity to scale-up and accelerate these kinds of transitions. Our SEED winners offer valuable insights and knowledge on what works and how best this can be realized," he added. UNEP's Green Economy report, launched earlier this year, shows that investing only two per cent of global GDP into ten key sectors can kick-start a transition towards a low carbon, resource-efficient economy. The report also highlights the Green Economy as a key catalyst for growth and poverty eradication in developing countries, where in some cases close to 90 per cent of the GDP of the poor is linked to natural capital. Ibrahim Patel, South Africa's Minister of Economic Development said: "The State has a role in supporting small and micro enterprise and the social economy. These activities are crucial for providing new economic opportunities, but there continue to be difficulties in accessing private financing. The Green Economy will be a focus of the Economic Development Department's work in the year ahead." A SEED Initiative survey, which was also launched toda