On March 30th, 2017, PAGE organized a strategic planning meeting on Burkina Faso to assess the country’s progress on inclusive green economy and formulate a plan of action for 2017 to 2018. Bringing together representatives from all five PAGE partner agencies along with the designated government focal point for PAGE, Mr. Lamine Ouedraogo, the General Director of Green Economy and Climate Change at the Ministry of Environment in Burkina Faso, the meeting served as an opportunity to look back at Burkina Faso’s progress over the previous year and to identify opportunities and challenges that lie ahead.
As a Sahelian country, Burkina Faso is vulnerable to adverse effects of climate change, which are exacerbated by unsustainable management of energy, water and land resources. Since 2010, the country has embraced a transition towards a green and inclusive economy. This commitment accelerated with the election of President Kaboré in December 2015, whose government has placed inclusive green economy at the heart of its development agenda.
At the meeting, Mr. Ouedraogo highlighted the strong institutional backing for green economy in Burkina Faso at the national level through the National Economic and Social Development Plan 2016-2020 (PNDES) and most recently, the National Strategy for Green Economy (SNEV). The strategy, currently being developed with support from PAGE, aims to improve green economy governance, combat climate change and promote sustainable modes of production and consumption. PAGE is currently supporting the country in the process of finalizing this strategy and submitting it to the government for adoption, which would open up key opportunities to support the transition to green economy in upcoming years.
Mr. Ouedraogo also noted a need to incentivise sectoral reform to align with national green economy priorities and to strengthen individual and institutional green economy capacities. Building on these challenges underlined by Mr. Ouedraogo, representatives from each PAGE agency suggested several initiatives to tackle these needs at the sectoral level:
- United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) plans to integrate green economy principles within the current industrial policy and with accordance to Burkina Faso’s Green Industry Assessment
- United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) will lead the implementation of thematic reforms on taxation and fiscal policy
- International Labour Organization (ILO) will strengthen green entrepreneurship among youth in the aim of supporting the government on green jobs and promoting social inclusion
- United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) will focus on building individual and institutional capacities for inclusive green economy action through a series of learning needs assessment and follow-up trainings
- United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment) will support the government on the National Green Economy Strategy, lead the work on Sustainable Trade and provide tailor made training on green economy modelling techniques
The meeting concluded with the representatives drafting a comprehensive workplan to underpin PAGE’s support in the country for 2017-2018. PAGE will also continue to collaborate with other initiatives in Burkina Faso, including the Poverty Environment Initiative (PEI), Switch Africa Green (SAG), and the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) in order to exchange information, identify synergies, and create further opportunities for collaboration. Mr. Ouedraogo, PAGE, and its partners look forward to continuing collaboration for the advancement of green economy with the aim of preserving biodiversity, ensuring sustainable urban living conditions, creating jobs and strengthening social equity.