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Mean, lean and green: Finding a new path for sustainable finance
February 8, 2019

I must admit, I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived in Singapore last week for the 3rd Asia Pacific Ministerial meetings. Expecting the worst, I had images of fearsome sky-scrapers and privatised nature reserves sitting atop exclusive buildings, which indeed now exist in Singapore.

Yet I also found something much more exciting: the legacy of a vision of the city as a garden.

Everywhere, trees. Along the road from the airport, along a parkway. Downtown, along every avenue. Coming out of buildings. Everywhere. Trees that were planted ten, twenty, fifty years ago. Redefining, pleasantly, the concept of an urban jungle.

And then I realised that this far-sighted vision of the future seems not isolated to making the city a more livable space, but also extends to the financial ecosystem.

Though more recently planted, the green shoots were well in evidence. Such as the recent introduction by the Singapore Stock Exchange of mandatory sustainability reporting or their progressive stance on looking at the underlying rules governing asset holdings, via the Network for Greening the Financial System.

Our ability to reframe and re-stabilise our climate and our economies will depend on the signals that regulators send to markets and that markets transmit to consumers and investors.

This effort, led by the Central Bank of France and including the Monetary Authority of Singapore as well as the Central Bank of China, seeks to align reserve requirements with potential climate liabilities and risks in bank and investor holdings. Aligning incentives to reflect the social cost of potential liabilities and the threat they may represent to economic and financial stability. 

In the end, our ability to reframe and re-stabilise our climate and our economies will depend on the signals that regulators send to markets and that markets transmit to consumers and investors. This seems obvious, but there is so much more below the surface.

Consider the plastics waste issue that was boiling at the ministerial meetings. In January 2018, China banned the import of plastic waste coming from Europe, which had previously been considered an export of recycled plastic. The value of the “recycled” waste was becoming negative: with all kinds of plastics mixed together, much of it with food waste but more importantly some with toxic chemical compounds, the plastic waste was simply becoming a liability.

Which has now spilled over into the rest of Asia and probably the rest of the world. A minister from Malaysia said at the meeting that in the year 2017 about 500 million tons of secondary plastics arrived on its shores. Last year, after the ban on plastic waste from China, more than 700 million tons arrived just in the first six months of 2018; leading to its own ban on imported plastic waste in November 2018.  

The point is, the world is now deeply interconnected, and we have gone way beyond the point where a country—any country—can act in isolation from others. We need a common frame of action.

In the case of plastic waste, it appears there are proposals afoot to help reform the rules of trade and definitions of what could constitute usable secondary plastic waste, to create both a market internationally for secondary materials and also compel countries to deal with their own waste at origin and thereby contribute to more circular economies at home and around the world.

But creating markets takes work, because it depends on having robust rules and institutions behind them to make them work and operate efficiently and transparently.

Which brings us back to finance, and ultimately, back to our urban jungles. Because the markets, left to themselves, can create outcomes which are possibly mean and lean, but not always green. Nor inclusive. 

It will take vision, and courage, and the same far-sightedness as the planners and builders of Singapore so many years ago, and that still resonate and inspire to today.

To put finance at the service of sustainability, and cities, at the service of their inhabitants.

To channel and direct our wealth and resources, not into rent-seeking and public good depleting activities and transactions, but back into the real economy and the people and skills that will underpin it.

To ensure that, in the words of Mariana Mazzacuto, who argues so well in her new book about the value of everything, we do not confuse how we define and measure those activities that extract wealth as opposed to creating it.

And to ensure we have the policies in place to attack a growing concentration of wealth that is potentially damaging to our democracies, to our environment, and to our planet.

Mean, lean and green - that means redefining the competitive playing field so that we are all pulling in the same direction.

One that increases our wealth, and our chances for prosperity.

So that our cities may eventually resemble the vast urban garden that is Singapore, and that our economies become nurturing ecosystems of jobs, wealth and income for all around the planet.

This article was orginally published on eco-business.com 

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“It is time for a switch, and the opportunities for switching are enormous.”
February 6, 2019

Highlights from the third PAGE Ministerial Conference

10-11 January, South Africa - Cape Town welcomed 500 innovators and leaders from governments, civil society, private sector, development organizations, media and the public for the 3rd Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE) Ministerial Conference, a unique global forum on green economy. Hosted by the Department of Environmental Affairs of South Africa, the conference under the theme Advancing Sustainable and Inclusive Economies, focused on strategies for accelerating the transition to a global green economy.

Unlocking green finance, smoothing the way towards a sustainable future through policies and strategies that promote green economies, social and economic inclusion and sustainable consumption and production were topics that where especially emphasized on.

“There are no jobs on a dead planet.” – Guy Ryder, Director-General of ILO

Several high-level speakers including Elliot Harris, UN Chief Economist, Joyce Msuya, Acting Executive Director of UN Environment, Kimmo Tiilikaiinan, Minister for Environment of Finland, Guy Ryder, Director-General of ILO, and Kumi Naidoo, Secretary General of Amnesty International underlined the crucial importance of transitioning to a sustainable, green economy to ensure safe social and economic environments for every single individual.
“We have to turn the crisis of climate change into a serious economic opportunity that really delivers to the poorest of the poor." – Kumi Naidoo

    


The 2019 Ministerial Conference recognized that the current scale and pace of action is not enough to achieve sustainability but that it is possible for us to radically re-organize the way we produce, consume and invest: finance, investment and systems thinking are key to bringing circularity into our economies. 

We need to focus on economic, social and political inclusion to leave no one behind.
Hence it is crucial to invest equally in social dialogue with labour market institutions, expand social protection, provide incentives to the private sector and provide skills and training. Moreover, education, skills, and awareness building are essential ingredients for meaningful inclusion.
We need to take more effort to create the future of work we want and draw attention to the fact that climate change will fundamentally alter the world of work, and indeed our efforts to ensure human dignity and livelihoods for all. 
Realizing this vision will depend on broad-based partnerships, a stronger multilateral system and effective international cooperation. 

"Inclusion, although it is an abstract concept, is really a multi-dimensional process and not just a stationary event. It involves the social economy, the environmental side and the political side," Margaret Chitiga-Mabugu, Director and Head of the School of Public Management and Administration at the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences at the University of Pretoria.

The conference topped off with PAGE delightfully welcoming the five new partner countries: Argentina, Guatemala, India, Indonesia and Kazakhstan. PAGE is excited to see the partnership constantly growing and looking forward to the next Ministerial Conference which will be hosted by the United Arab Emirates in 2020.

  

Inclusion, action, youth and partnership: these were the most prominent words chosen by participants when asked to best describe the conference – a fitting description of PAGE’s values and mission going forward beyond 2020.

Find out more about the conference here.

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“What Is Wealth?” High-Level Media Debate at the 2019 PAGE Ministerial Conference
February 5, 2019

9 January 2019, Cape Town, South Africa - Has national ‘wealth’ has been miscalculated for decades? Could some countries be wealthier than previously understood because of their natural and social assets? What will happen to our economies if we do not reverse environmental degradation? 

Now governments and corporations are starting to account for wealth in rather different terms. For the first time, natural capital and social capital is being quantified alongside productivity. This new approach is revolutionising what it means for a country or a business to be wealthy and profitable. It has the potential to overhaul historic divisions between rich and poor countries, or profitable and unprofitable companies, as credit rating agencies and investors shift behaviour.

In this context, the Green Growth Knowledge Platform, Green Economy Coalition (GEC), and the Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE) convened a panel discussion to explore the question “What is Wealth?” at the 2019 PAGE Ministerial Conference  in Cape Town. On 9 January 2019, a panel of experts gathered for the High-level Media Debate, What makes your country wealthy?, broadcast live on CNBC Africa.

The panel featured Kumi Naidoo (Secretary General, Amnesty International); Nozipho January-Bardill (Chairperson, UN Global Compact Local Network SA and Non-Executive Director, Anglogold Ashanti, Credit Suisse Securities, and Mercedes Benz SA); Professor Cameron Hepburn (Director of the Smith School, University of Oxford); and Honourable Dr Mary Goretti Kitutu (Minister for Environment, Uganda).

Nozipho Mbanjwa (CNBC Africa Financial Anchor and Fellow of the African Leadership Institute) moderated the debate, keeping panellists on their toes with thought provoking questions, including, perhaps, the most pressing question: “If not GDP, then what?”

The debate started with a stocktake of where we stand in terms of how we account for wealth and related implications for the environment and society.

“We are locked into an existing status quo that has not worked for humanity,” said Kumi Naidoo.

“Some businesses are only beginning to learn the discourse of sustainable development. It is not a conscious, ideological thing that they have in their heads. Most businesses do business to make money, they do not do business to save the environment,” said Nozipho January-Bardill.   

Discussions then shifted to focus on the value of nature to economies.

"27% of [Uganda's] GDP comes from agriculture. Our agriculture is rain-fed and the rainfall comes from the wetlands and the forests – 40% of it. You will find that nobody has ever valued that contribution,” said Hon. Dr Mary Goretti Kitutu.

“The challenge with not valuing, not pricing nature, is that it doesn’t get factored in to decisions. Whether you like it or not we live and operate in a capitalist economy, where people are free to trade, and if you don’t put a value on the things that you actually care about then they’re going to be ignored, and they’re going to be trashed, and that’s exactly where we are,” said Prof. Cameron Hepburn.

 The audience included students from South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) Youth Programme, who continued to challenge the panel.

“How are we going to prevent the 4th industrial revolution from becoming another threat like climate change?”, said Akhona Xotyeni, representing the SAIIA Youth.

Finally, moderator Nozipho Mbanjwa asked the central question of the debate, “What makes your country rich?”

“What makes my country rich is really the people,” said Nozipho January-Bardill. “I think the people are going to get South Africa back on its tracks, because they have a lot of resilience, they know exactly what to do, they just need to go out and do it.”

“Sustainable use of natural resources has made us rich, but more than that: the quality of education,” said audience member Kimmo Tiilikainen (Minister of the Environment, Energy and Housing for Finland). “What do you see as the role of education in an inclusive Green Economy?” 

The discussion wrapped up with unanimous agreement on the value of nature for economies, and emphasis on the opportunities that lie ahead and the urgent need to move things forward.

“Climate change offers us an opportunity,” said Kumi Naidoo. “An opportunity to break down the divisions between north and south, east and west, developed and developing, because we have to realize, we get this right as rich and poor countries acting together”.

“It's not easy, but it is possible. I think we're failing if we don't try,” said Prof. Cameron Hepburn.

“In Uganda, everyone knows [the] environment should be protected if the economy has to grow,” said Hon. Dr Mary Goretti Kitutu.

The event was held in the wake of the GEC Annual Meeting, Giving Everyone A Stake in the Green Economy, and on the eve the eve of the Third PAGE Ministerial conference, Advancing Inclusive and Sustainable Economies.

This story was adapted from GGKP's on a series of related High-level panels, available here: https://bit.ly/2Twt9Dt


The whole media debate is available here: 

https://www.cnbcafrica.com/videos/2019/01/14/wealth-debate-what-makes-countries-rich-or-poor/

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Green economy pioneers: innovative approaches, business models and partnerships
February 5, 2019

10-11 January 2019, Cape Town, South Africa -  Part of the 3rd PAGE Ministerial Conference was an exhibition of pioneers in green economy. The exhibition highlighted and celebrated drivers of innovation and entrepreneurship and demonstrated what South Africa is doing towards implementing tools and strategies to accelerate the transition towards a low carbon and climate resilient green economy.

More than 20 companies, start-ups and NGOs from various sectors such as tourism, waste management, bio-engineering, sustainable technology, renewable energy, market access support, capacity building, environmental protection and inclusive social development showcased their work, ranging from educational initiatives to innovative engineering projects.

Their activities include supporting disadvantaged communities in Cape Town, providing training and education programmes, supporting youth, promoting inclusive sustainable practices in the industry sector, promoting sustainability in big scale events, engaging in waste management in various areas (wastewater, health care waste, biomass waste, marine debris) and recycling, sustainable transport, resource efficiency and an overall aim to raise awareness for these important matters.

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Words of wisdom at PAGE Cape Town
February 5, 2019

The PAGE Ministerial Conference on 10-11 January 2019 in Cape Town was full of thoughtful discussion, lively debate and innovative solutions for driving the green economy forward to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

These are the insights captured from the policymakers, academics, business leaders and green economy champions at the conference.

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Walking in the footsteps of giants: pathways from Cape Town towards 2030
January 17, 2019

Every once in a generation an iconic leader emerges, someone who embodies the principles and the spirit of the times, overcoming adversity and showing how to navigate forward against seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

Nelson Mandela was one such leader, a giant among men.

Against the backdrop of Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela spent the better part of 27 years in prison before emerging as President of South Africa and a beacon of hope to people around the world, ministers and leaders met to navigate forward against another seemingly insurmountable obstacle; to build pathways for greener and more inclusive economies.

The conference opened with a call to arms, a reminder from world human rights leader Kumi Naidoo that the clock is ticking – not  only in terms of an increasingly unstable climate but also in terms of an increasingly unstable inequality; and that to reach the 2030 global goals for ensuring our collective wellbeing - the sustainable development goals – we will need to radically rethink and reshape our economies, our behavior and our wealth.

Image by CNBC Africa

The backdrop was fitting, as Cape Town itself embodies many of the urgent challenges facing the planet, a microcosm of the looming constraints and barriers that we ourselves have created and inherited. Recently faced with an acute water scarcity, signs were everywhere that not a drop could be wasted.

It was also fitting as the world environmental community lost another true leader in 2018, the late minister Edna Molewa from South Africa.

Opening the conference, her successor, Minister Mokonyane, said “I am walking in the footsteps of a giant.”

Image by Department of Environmental Affairs, South Africa

And she is. Like Mandela, Edna Molewa reached across lines seen and unseen to bring people together for a common purpose –  elevating the issue of the environment from a boutique concern of conservationists to an issue that gets to the very core of human well-being and therefore economic policy making.

But here is the thing about giants: though they stand out in crowds and it is easy to see the direction of their footsteps, it is often quite hard to follow them, much less fill their shoes.

How did Nelson Mandela overcome his anger and bitterness of his 27-year imprisonment, and go on and reconcile and unify a deeply divided country?

Overcoming fear, anger, and obstacles imposed from outside and within, these leaders showed us how to build bridges, alliances, and a common purpose to concentrate our minds and unify our actions on one goal: our collective and shared well-being.

These traits are needed more than ever, as the world faces its own looming resource constraints and potential tipping points on climate, nature and the social contract.   

As we gathered in Cape Town, and thanks to a lively debate hosted earlier and carried into the ministerial by our colleagues at the Green Economy Coalition, five principles and pathways emerged for advancing sustainable and inclusive economies.

Image by Adobe Stock

First, it is a journey that must include us all. We cannot enjoy prosperity for the few at the expense of the many. We cannot build walls that would keep out a changing climate or dirty air or water that becomes our common heritage.

Second, it is about walking together. It is only together – building bridges across economic, racial and ideological divides – that we can successfully face the challenges of our generation. Partnerships, like the Partnership for Action on Green Economy, represent a way of scaling our individual and joint actions, distribute them across the many to reshape our world and our economies.

Third, this will require a little bit of humility and a lot of listening. The ability to agree on a common purpose starts with the ability to hear and understand each others’ rich and diverse values and approaches to creating sustainability in our lives.

Fourth, we must build trust. We must learn again to recognize the value in our relationships beyond the transactional. Trust is the social capital that underpins our institutions that shape and guide markets to good economic and social outcomes.

And fifth, it means creating a future that works for all – and in which all can work. One that creates jobs and income, and in which access to education and skills acts to counter wealth-concentrating tendencies that a new generation of information technology and machine learning threatens to propagate.

At the opening of the conference, Guy Ryder, head of the International Labor Organization, quoted Nelson Mandela, saying “everything looks impossible - until it is done.”

It is that same spirit and conviction we need now in our lives and in our world to transform ourselves and our economies to make them fit-for-purpose in the 21st century.

This year, 2019, marks the fourth anniversary of the sustainable development goals. In July, countries’ leaders will converge in New York to report on and celebrate the themes of inclusive and sustainable growth, and partnerships.

Unsurprisingly, these sit at the core of PAGE and the broader ecosystem of alliances and movements towards sustainability, with partners such as the Global Green Growth Institute.  

And like the Green Economy Coalition, which opened the week with a global discussion of how to make sure everyone gets a stake in the transition to an inclusive green economy?

And they will underpin efforts, kicked off in Cape Town, to fully align PAGE with the 2030 agenda and radically transform its ability to convene countries and share experiences in forging new pathways towards sustainability.

To walk with giants, we must draw from their strength and commitment and ability to overcome - with joy, with good humor, with knowledge - that many obstacles that we ourselves have created.

To walk in the footsteps of giants, we must make ourselves small and humble and rethink what really brings value into our lives.   

To shed the baggage of what E.F. Schumacher called the legacy of 19th century thinking, based on social Darwinism, Newtonian physics as the foundation of economics, and “enlightened” self-interest.

2019 is likely to be, again, one of the hottest years in history, if the current summer ice melt in Antarctica is any indication. So we need to get the gears in motion.

And that means finding new pathways forward. Like the Cape Town Action Pathways, that can lead us forward to 2030 and beyond.   

Thankfully, we have giants to in whose footsteps we can follow.

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Making the money flow: Policy levers and financing vehicles for circular and green economies
January 21, 2019

Friday 25 January 2019, Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Singapore - "Making the money flow: Policy levers and financing vehicles for circular and green economies" is a side event of the third session of Asia Pacific Ministerial Forum, convening Member States to bring an Asia Pacific perspective to discussions at UNEA-4.

The side event, jointly organized by Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE) and UN Environment Finance Initiative, will explore best practices and raise awareness in the Asia Pacific region about innovative financing and how it is being used to tackle environmental challenges and sustainable consumption and production. In particular, it will showcase successful PAGE projects and other initiatives to promote spill-over effect around the region. The side event will also provide opportunities to exchange different policies and enabling conditions already in place to promote the transition to green economy, for example, by mobilizing both public and private finance for infrastructure, technology and productive capacity needed to make economies greener and more circular.

Objectives:

  • To demonstrate how countries in the Asia Pacific region are already mobilising green finance to tackle environmental challenges and promote sustainable consumption and production patterns underpinning the circular and green economy.
  • To encourage further engagement between public policy makers and private finance that create the enabling conditions for a transition to economies that are circular and green.
  • To introduce the Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE) and its activities since its inception and encourage further engagement between PAGE and participating governments in the Asia Pacific region

For more information on the side event, including a full programme and list of speakers download the e-flyer

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HOW TO CREATE 600+ MILLION JOBS, REDUCE INEQUALITIES, PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT AND GROW THE ECONOMY
December 14, 2018

Friday 14 December 2018, Cape Town, South Africa - From 10-11 January 2019, 500 innovators and leaders from governments, civil society, private sector, development organizations, media and the public will meet in Cape Town for the third global forum on green economy.  Hosted by the Department of Environmental Affairs of South Africa, the third PAGE Ministerial Conference will highlight and celebrate innovation, entrepreneurship and inclusivity as drivers of green industries and as the bedrock for a better and more sustainable future for all.

As an alliance of five UN agencies –UN Environment, ILO, UNDP, UNIDO, UNITAR – the Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE), supports countries in meeting their sustainability commitments, particularly the Sustainable Development Goals related to the economy, jobs, industrial development and the environment. It also works with them to meet their national commitments to tackling climate change under the Paris Agreement through inclusive green economy approaches.

The third PAGE Ministerial Conference will focus on how to advance inclusive and sustainable economies for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and targets of the Paris Agreement on climate change. Over the course of two days, participants will zoom in on how we can develop and implement innovative policy solutions to green the economy, how to green the financial system and make it work for the future, how to find solutions that work for everybody and empower the most vulnerable and how to enable and incentivize consuming and producing sustainably.

It’s an ambitious agenda, and one that requires expertise from a diversity of our global community. That’s why PAGE is bringing together a group of similarly ambitious innovators and leaders to guide these discussions.  From Chief Economist of the UN, Elliot Harris, to Kimmo Tiilikaiinan, Minister for Environment of Finland, Pierre Venter from the Banking Association of South Africa, and Kumi Naidoo, Secretary General of Amnesty International – PAGE has gathered the most incisive minds from across the spectrum of social, economic and environmental leadership to work together towards real solutions.

Only limited spaces are still available – register now to secure your place.

For more information on the conference, including a full programme and list of speakers, please visit the PAGE Ministerial Conference 2019 website.

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Transforming the economy, empowering people and building sustainable communities in Guyana
December 3, 2018

This month, Guyana’s Ministry of Finance laid out its plans for the country’s budget, in which the importance of accelerating the country’s transformation to a green economy and PAGE’s work in the country are strongly featured. The budget reaffirms Guyana’s commitment to the principles of sustainable development: “It reflects our [Guyana’s] unwavering commitment to building human capital through investment in health and education and meeting the Sustainable Development Goals; a budget that supports the transformation of our economy, recognizes the importance of communication and connectivity through strong, climate-resilient infrastructure; a budget that promotes and incentivizes small businesses.”

The budget, entitled Transforming the Economy, Empowering People and Building Sustainable Communities for the Good Life, focuses on strengthening institutions across sectors, including reinforcing public investment management; expanding opportunities for businesses to grow and flourish; and supporting the Guyanese government‘s green economy initiatives while aiming to support the development of the non-oil sector.

To advance progress towards these ambitions, PAGE has worked with the Department of Environment to develop the Green State Development Strategy, which was presented to the government at the International Small Business Summit last month. In it, a variety of strategic policies, actions and projects aiming to foster low-carbon, climate-resilient sustained economic growth are presented as a strategy for creating decent jobs, rising incomes sustained over generations, equitable access to economic opportunities and social cohesion.

The Green State Development Strategy is at the core of the Guyana budget proposal, as one of its guiding documents, and is explicitly referenced as a commitment of the government under the budget, with encouragement for local agencies and partners to follow its lead. “The Green State Development Strategy: Vision 2040 will guide national development policies for the next 20 years…The “green state” agenda is centred on improving the quality of life for all within the principles of a green economy…”

By taking on the ambitious Green State Development Strategy, and committing state resources to its implementation, Guyana is doubling down on its ambitions to become a green economy leader in the region. This is a strong signal that Guyana accepts that economic diversification, especially ensuring a flourishing and thriving non-oil sector, is crucial to build up a resilient foundation on which the country can stand on when petroleum resources come to an end.  Moreover, resources investing in the human side of development such as in health and education, water and sanitation, decent housing, green energy, transport networks and youth development, is critical for ensuring that this transition is just and inclusive.

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India steps towards a Green and Inclusive Economy
December 3, 2018

New Delhi, India, 30 November 2018 – Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE) held a two-day Inception Workshop in the national capital with multiple stakeholders from UN agencies, Government and other organizations. India, recently welcomed onto the PAGE programme in May this year, is fast becoming one of the largest economies in Asia. With an economic growth averaging 7.4% annually, India faces significant challenges including exploitation of natural resources, rapid industrialization, poverty and unemployment.

The purpose of this workshop was to engage stakeholders such as Government of India, funding partners and UN agencies regarding priority policymaking and capacity building activities that, with the support of PAGE, can make substantial contributions to India’s national targets regarding Inclusive Green Economy, Nationally Determined Contributions to the Paris Agreement, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) initiatives. The workshop also provided an opportunity to identify sectors under resource efficiency where work on green economy could be mainstreamed. It also helped further refine the terms of reference for foundational work that would set baselines and help shape the scope of PAGE’s work in India.

Delivering the keynote address, CK Mishra, Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change said “Green Economy is a part of the Indian mindset. India is working towards equity and responsible growth and climate justice is at the heart of it. India’s PAGE operational strategy should take into consideration key sectors for intervention in India and the understanding of current sectoral policy regime to bring in visible changes.”

Along with the five UN agencies that form PAGE (UN Environment, UNIDO, UNITAR, the ILO and UNDP), Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is the coordinating Ministry on PAGE. Joint Secretary Nikunja K Sundaray, PAGE focal point, spoke about India’s approach and Additional Secretary Anil Jain spoke about the way forward. Senior representatives from European Union – one of PAGE’s seven funding partners, Ministry of Finance and TERI as well as members of other organizations actively participated in sessions focussing on resource efficiency such as sustainable public procurement, end of life management in emergent sectors, fiscal policies, skill and capacity building for a green economy transition, to name a few.

"I would like to congratulate India on being successful in obtaining PAGE approval. The government is committed and in the process of formulating a resource efficiency roadmap. The PAGE inception workshop is a stepping-stone to identifying green economy initiatives and processes as well as resource efficiency sectors in India which could potentially be a game changer,” said Yuri Afanasiev, UN Resident Coordinator, India.

 The workshop concluded with a robust discussion on green and circular economy with some concrete outcomes:

  • PAGE India would bring in transformational shift through global green economy learning forum where in UN Agencies and other international organizations form a conglomerate and offer advice on emerging policy issues
  • Through the forum a series of interactive and programmatic high-level regional consultations will be organised that will help finalise PAGE workplan in India, primarily identifying sectors for intervention.

“This is an exciting time to join the Government of India in its search for new pathways to greener and more circular economies.   The focus on sustainable consumption and production builds on a strong tradition of resource efficiency and circularity in India, and the PAGE team is grateful to be a part of this effort,” said Steven Stone, Chief, Resources and Markets Branch, Economy Division, UN Environment.

The Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE) was launched in 2013 as a response to the call at Rio+20 to support those countries wishing to embark on greener and more inclusive growth trajectories.

PAGE seeks to put sustainability at the heart of economic policies and practices to advance the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and supports nations and regions in reframing economic policies and practices around sustainability to foster economic growth, create income and jobs, reduce poverty and inequality, and strengthen the ecological foundations of their economies. 

NOTES TO EDITORS

About UN Environment

UN Environment is the leading global voice on the environment. It provides leadership and encourages partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing, and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations. UN Environment works with governments, the private sector, civil society and with other UN entities and international organizations across the world.

About PAGE

Since 2013, The Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE) has grown into an increasingly prominent alliance of UN Agencies, international partner organizations and governments. The partnership is recognized as an innovative and efficient model of excellence for delivering on the 2030 Agenda. Drawing on the expertise of five UN Agencies – UN Environment, the International Labour Organization, the UN Development Programme, the UN Industrial Development Organization, and the UN Institute for Training and Research – PAGE challenges business-as-usual growth and business models, and places sustainability at the heart of economic systems. At the global level, PAGE partners with the donor community, the wider UN system, governments, civil society and the private sector to amplify and accelerate transitions to greener, more inclusive development, and to support future generations and sustainable development pathways.

For more information, please contact:

Jasleen Dhanota Kanwal, UN Environment, Country Office India, jasleen.dhanota@un.org

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BUILDING CAPACITY FOR ACTION AT THE 2ND GLOBAL FORUM ON GREEN ECONOMY LEARNING
November 30, 2018

“Universities and training institutes have a key role to play in equipping decision-makers with the knowledge and tools they need to design and implement green economy solutions that offer major opportunities for people, businesses and economies,” says Gunnar Köhlin, Director of the Environment for Development (EfD) initiative.

These include national schools of public administration, civil service training institutes, and universities, as well as development partners active in green economy capacity development, and non-governmental organizations and business associations that deliver green economy-relevant training.

This was the focus of the PAGE 2nd Global Forum on Green Economy Learning, which took place earlier this week on the theme of "Green Economy: New Challenges, New Skills". The Forum targeted education and training institutions geared towards public officials that are or are interested in engaging in green economy policymaking.

“It is important that we meet to share our thoughts on what makes training and skills development for the green economy work well. We know that there are many success stories in the work that we do and I am delighted that PAGE provides this forum to make sure that what works well can be replicated,” says Angus Mackay, Director of the Division for Planet at the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR).

The aim of the Forum was to scale up knowledge and skills development for current and future decision-makers, technical staff in Ministries, and others involved in the design and implementation of inclusive green economy solutions.

The Forum sessions focused on:

  • The critical knowledge and skills gaps for designing inclusive green economy policies, as well as the key challenges faced by education and training institutions in delivering effective training for green economy policy-making;

  • The learning solutions that work – lessons learned, recommendations and best practices distilled from global experiences;

  • How learning institutions can join forces – fostering long-term partnerships for green economy learning.

A key objective of the forum was to explore opportunities for collaboration with the goal of increasing the effectiveness, scale and impact for green economy learning.

“We hope this forum provides the foundation for new, long-lasting partnerships and plants seeds for further collaboration,” says Ben Simmons, Head of the Green Growth Knowledge Platform (GGKP) Secretariat. 

Participants highlighted the main challenges in setting up and sustaining collaboration and defined actions towards partnerships for green economy learning, building on existing networks and initiatives.

In the days following the Forum, the Sixth GGKP Annual Conference and the OECD’s 2018 Green Growth and Sustainable Development (GGSD) Forum addressed the political economy of green and low-carbon policy reforms, identified their distributional impacts, and explored inclusive solutions for households, workers, sectors and regions so that they can contribute to a greener future.

The 2nd Global Forum on Green Economy Learning was jointly organized by the Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Environment for Development (EfD), the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI),  and the Green Economy Coalition (GEC), and the Green Growth Knowledge Platform (GGKP).

This story was adapted from GGKP's announcing the event on their website, available here: https://bit.ly/2RwkVuj

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OPEN CALL: PAGE NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR NEW PARTNER COUNTRIES
November 29, 2018

29 November 2018, Paris, France – The PAGE family is set to grow even larger as the Partnership is inviting applications from new countries to join PAGE. Applications will be accepted until 15 February 2019., Ligia Noronha, head of the Economy Division of UN Environment announced the call for applications and said, “The recent UN-wide reforms have reinforced the usefulness of PAGE’s “one UN” joint-delivery model that is driven by expressed needs of the member states. It is the firm conviction of all PAGE partners that an inclusive and green economic future and Sustainable Development Goals can only be achieved through a collaborative approach that builds on and extends a vibrant network of partnerships - across disciplines, countries and stakeholders from around the globe”.

Since its inception in 2013, the Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE) has grown into a prominent alliance of five UN agencies, eight funding partners and eighteen countries that work together for transforming economies into drivers of sustainability to foster economic growth, create income and jobs, reduce poverty and inequality and strengthen the ecological foundations of global economy. Thanks to the wide-ranging “specialised’ expertise of the five UN agencies and PAGE partners, as well as a unique model of delivering as “one UN” PAGE is increasingly recognized as a model to deliver comprehensive and coordinated support to countries for achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and addressing climate change.

More than 90 countries, so far, have benefited from PAGE activities and while governments of 18 countries are receiving multiyear support to create evidence-based policies that place sustainability at the heart of economic growth and investment decisions.

“The transformational changes needed for greening the economy and achieving SDGS are unlikely to take place automatically; they often need to be mobilized by public policy, in particular, fiscal and investment policies, monetary and credit policies, trade policies, industrial policies, and pro-active labour policies, in addition to the more familiar rules, regulations, standards and other economic instruments”. said Asad Naqvi, head of the PAGE Secretariat. “PAGE is an effort to break down the old silos and bring the science and economics together to identify win-win-win opportunities, in which we can grow the economy, reduce inequalities, and protect the environment.”

PAGE itself is an embodiment of this principle: an interdisciplinary partnership of five UN agencies specializing in the environment, labour issues, social development, industrial development and capacity building, PAGE know that the challenge of bringing together all the relevant actors is absolutely necessary to address the interconnected challenges that underpin the Sustainable Development Goals.

PAGE provides a range of tools and services, which can be employed in partner countries to inform evidence-based policymaking, understand gaps and challenges, and build coalitions to work across silos. The PAGE programme also emphasizes the value of peer-to-peer learning and south-south and triangular cooperation: the experiences of sharing experiences and knowledge between Kyrgyz Republic and Mongolia was recognized in a recent report highlighting best practices in south-south and triangular cooperation throughout the entire UN system.

The culture of knowledge-sharing and cooperation is also embodied in PAGE’s Ministerial Conferences, at which ministers from PAGE partner countries, PAGE funding partner countries, as well as technical experts, academics, business leaders and innovators gather to exchange ideas and share their expertise. The next PAGE Ministerial Conference will be held in Cape Town, South Africa, on 10-11 January 2019.

The new PAGE countries will be chosen taking into account the PAGE selection criteria described in the PAGE Application Form. Applications close on February 15, 2019.

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More information on applying to the Partnership for Action on Green Economy.
More information about the Partnership for Action on Green Economy
PAGE’s 2018 results
PAGE Resources
Latest PAGE news

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IDENTIFYING GOALS FOR GREEN AND BLUE ECONOMY IN BARBADOS
November 26, 2018

In early November, representatives from PAGE met with lead decision-makers and stakeholders of the green economy transition in Barbados. The meetings – involving the Prime Minister, Minister of Environment Trevor Prescod, along with various representatives from the Barbadian government, and academia, the acting UN Resident Coordinator, the European Commission and the Caribbean Development Bank and Ambassador Elisabeth Thomson – were held to discuss further goals and priorities of the PAGE programme in Barbados. 

Having recently elected a new government, Barbados has reaffirmed its commitment to a green economy and, more specifically for the island nation, its enthusiasm for developing the blue economy. Barbados PAGE’s objectives are to integrate inclusive green economy goals and targets into SDG-aligned national economic and development planning, to implement evidence-based sectoral and thematic reforms in line with inclusive green economy priorities, to strengthen capacities at the national level and to improve the inclusive green economy knowledge base.

During the meetings, the Prime Minister, Mia Amor Mottley, affirmed her support to PAGE, highlighting PAGE’s alignment with Barbados’ green and blue economy priorities. She addressed the need for technical support, training and skill development for all people at all levels. She committed to support PAGE by establishing an inter-ministerial and cross-sectoral committee as well as to provide participation at the national level. Going forward, PAGE’s work in Barbados will support policies and economic incentives to drive sustainable entrepreneurship, jobs in the green and blue economy as well as leverage access to new resources for implementation.

As a result of the fruitful discussions, PAGE will develop a work plan in collaboration with the Barbadian government. Several key points of action have been identified. Early inputs into this process include plans to:

  • review the existing national green economy policies, strategies and plans
  • survey opportunities, identify skills gaps and develop knowledge tools to build skills for green jobs in the green and blue economy
  • to develop a pilot to encourage green transformation of the agro- and fish sub-sector processing to support production and export development; and
  • to conduct trainings for the public sector, to develop green and blue economy-centered academic curricula, and to establish a knowledge hub to build capacity, and sustain knowledge and skills beyond PAGE.
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Recognizing the role of small business in Guyana's green economy
November 1, 2018

22 October 2018, Georgetown, Guyana - Guyana’s inaugural Green Expo and International Small Business Summit was held in Georgetown from the 18th – 21st October 2018.  The event, held under the theme Sustainable economic growth through small business innovation, entrepreneurship and transformative government policies was made possible through the collaborative efforts of the Ministry of the Presidency, UN Environment, Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE), IDB, the African Business Roundtable, and the Small Business Bureau of the Ministry of Business.  

PAGE participated at both events and took the opportunity to enhance public awareness on the Guyana Green State Development Strategy: Vision 2040 and PAGE's work in the country. UN Environment and the Department of Environment presented the first draft of the Strategy to the Government of Guyana International Small Business Summit. 

The Green Business Expo provided small-scale entrepreneurs with an opportunity to showcase their green and innovative products. Patrons also had an opportunity to find out more about PAGE's work in Guyana, including the macroeconomic modelling and green industry assessments undertaken to inform the elaboration and support the implementation of the Green State Development Strategy Vision 2040. The significance of intermingling policy and small business was clear: entrepreneurs cannot make the shift to becoming competitive, green and social enterprises without a supportive financial, legal, regulatory and technical environment. 

Throughout the summit and expo you will see evidence of how small business are innovating in Guyana today, and the success of Government efforts to support them. Public initiatives like the small business procurement programme, the assistance offered by the Small Business Bureau, and the small business tax procedures, all strengthen the enabling environment and help small businesses thrive.

Leo Heileman, Director of the Deparment of the Environment, Guyana

At the International Small Business Summit, the connection between small business and green economy was also in focus. In his keynote address, Winston Jordon, the Minister of Finance, noted that small and medium-sized businesses have a vital role to play in the transformation of Guyana into a green economy. The Summit provided the platform for experts, entrepreneurs, academia, politicians and the other representatives from 16 countries to exchange information and experiences in green economy initiatives. 

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Green economy: From theory to practice in Kyrgyz Republic
October 22, 2018

22 October 2018, Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic - A Green Economy week was held in the Kyrgyz Republic last week, with a message that a transition to a greener and more inclusive economy is key for advancing the sustainable development of the country. 

The week was full of the side-events throughout the country focusing on various themes, culminating in a Green Economy Forum entitled Progress and Perspectives of Green Economy Development in the Kyrgyz Republic. It was here that a government program on the transition to green economy was discussed and accepted by almost 200 participants and a resolution developed. Already, the country has been out front on this issue: green economy concepts have already been integrated into the national strategic documents, including the long-term Strategy 2040 and midterm government program Unity, Trust and Creation.

To achieve sustainable development that improves social wellbeing, justice, efficient use of resources and a wide application of environmentally friendly technologies and innovations, the Kyrgyz Republic is well on the way to having a robust policy framework to enable its transition to an inclusive green economy.

“Green economy is a platform for sustainable economic development.” said Minister of Economy Oleg Pankratov. “For Kyrgyzstan, the green economy is considered as a prospective accelerator of sustainable development with water resources in the center of this model. Investment policy will be shifted to principles of minimization of nature intensity.”

Daniyar Imanaliev, head of the Economy and Investment Department of the Government's Executive Office said that the sectors of the economy in the Kyrgyz Republic such as agriculture, tourism, hydro-energy, and energy are heavily dependent on natural resources. Therefore, greening these sectors must be a priority, leading to a more thoughtful approach to consuming natural resources, more effective production, and national competitive advantage from the application of new technologies. 

“During the upcoming five years, we will make a transition to green economy. We have developed and phased in this transition, starting from the adoption and working with legislature, establishment of new institutions for promotion of the green economy, such as Center of Climate Financing, Fund for Project Preparation, Green Loan Fund, et cetera, and currently we are working on sectoral strategies along with the massive raising awareness campaigns”, said Daniyar Imanaliev.

Various other activities and events were held throughout the week. At the conference Green Funds of the Kyrgyz Republic: Trends and Prospects of Sustainable Finance Development, financial experts gathered to discuss and identify the role of the finance sector and potential finance mechanisms that could promote sustainable economic growth. In the subregions of Naryn and Karalol, producers and exporters learned about technologies to improve organic farming, and processes for gaining organic certification for exports.

In a presentation on sustainable public procurement, Z. Bayamanova, the State-Secretary of the Ministry of Finance noted, “a transition to sustainable public procurement in the Kyrgyz Republic is already a priority,” citing sustainable procurement targets inside the government’s current Program, and an ongoing project on Strengthening sustainable public procurement for the regional transition to an inclusive green economy.

Under the leadership of the Ministry of the Economy, the Green Economy Week was supported by PAGE Kyrgyz Republic, in partnership with the German Society of International Cooperation (GIZ), the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE ) and the UN Development Programme’s Biodiveristy Finance Initiative (Biofin).

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Cross-sectoral modelling training session in senegal
October 3, 2018

17-18 September 2018, Dakar, Senegal – Earlier this month, PAGE supported a cross-sectoral training session in Senegal on the integrated Threshold 21 SDG model (T21-iSDG), a tool used to support green economy policy development by predicting the effects of policy interventions throughout the national economy. The training was led by a team from the Ministry of the Economy, Finance and Planning, and was attended by representatives from the Ministries of Environment, Fisheries, Agriculture and Energy, along with a number of academic participants.

 T21-iSDG is a system dynamics model designed to support comprehensive, integrated long-term development planning. It characterises feedback loops between social, economic and environmental factors, enabling insights into how strategies can interact and influence the sustainable development goals in addition to particular policy objectives.

The training in Senegal consisted of five key sessions over two days. The first day focused on establishing a grasp of the system dynamics approach more generally, whilst the second day dealt with the specific T21-iSDG Senegal model in more detail. The initial session focused on introducing system dynamics modelling, including how models are constructed, and their strengths and weaknesses related to their use for different planning strategies and time horizons. The next session outlined several key concepts of the system dynamics approach, such as stock and flow characteristics, accumulation and the concepts of delay and non-linearity. The days’ activities were capped off by a practical demonstration of the tool. The following day, the opening session provided an understanding of the T21-iSDG Senegal model and the various interlinkages between sectors, the second focused on the application of the model to the greening of the national economy with a focus on priority sectors (agriculture, forestry, water, energy, waste management and biodiversity), and the final session involved hands-on training and group exercises focused on simulating the effects of green economy policy interventions. The sessions highlighted the potential synergies between specific interventions at the national and sectoral level, and their overall contributions to achievement of the SDGs.

The Director of Green Financing and Partnerships expressed his delight in the insightful and enriching exchanges of the training sessions, which have deepened the understanding of the T21 iSDG tool used in the exploratory report on green economy.

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Building Capacity on Monitoring Green Economy Progress
September 24, 2018

On September 13th 2018, PAGE held a workshop in collaboration with the International Training Centre of the ILO to engage experts in the field of indicators on the development of two dedicated training modules. The modules, consisting of an introductory and an advanced course, seek to enhance the understanding and application of indicators for green economy policymaking and their linkages to the SDGs within partner countries.

The development and implementation of good indicators is fundamental to a country’s inclusive green economy transition, as they enable the effective identification of issues, formulation and assessment of policy, and tracking of progress, and therefore help policymakers make informed green economy decisions. A good indicator framework for green economy is policy-relevant, evidence-based, and easily measured and interpreted, and, importantly, is tailored to a country’s unique environmental and socioeconomic context. Whilst PAGE already offers countries support in this area, the training modules aim to further build knowledge and expertise on indicators for green economy policymaking, specifically on their development and application.

The introductory module targets policymakers within ministries involved in PAGE activities together with governmental and non-governmental decision makers interested in green economy policymaking. The advanced module offers deeper engagement and is aimed predominantly at technical monitoring professionals, in particular: statisticians, analysts and researchers in ministries of finance, planning, labour and environment, as well as staff and researchers in national statistical offices and universities within partner countries.

The workshop brought together experts from the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), and four PAGE agencies: UN Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), UN Environment, International Labour Organisation (ILO) and UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), who shared their varied expertise and perspectives to holistically improve the course material and delivery approach. The group deliberated the course chapter outline, reviewed exercises and provided recommendations on the course delivery. The process exemplifies the value added from the cross-cutting, collaborative engagement that is at the core of PAGE’s approach. The training materials are expected to be released by June 2019.

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South-South Cooperation on Green Economy
September 14, 2018

14 September 2018 - South-south cooperation has gained increasing attention in recent years as a powerful mechanism to accelerate sustainable development, and as such has become a focal point of UN work. There is a growing consensus that the shared ideas, knowledge and skills promoted through these partnerships can stimulate effective solutions to common challenges and build on mutual strengths. On International South-South Cooperation Day, the 12th of September 2018, PAGE’s work in Mongolia and the Kyrgyz Republic was recognized in a report highlighting best practices in south-south and triangular cooperation throughout the entire UN system.

The Kyrgyz-Mongolian cooperation included peer-to-peer learning sessions on the development and implementation of the policy reform for green economy and the use of green technologies in business. The initiative emerged within the framework of an agreement between the International Labour Organization and the UN Institute for Training and Research – two PAGE partner agencies – to strengthen south-south cooperation between PAGE countries, which is technically and financially supported by the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ). 

This is a clear example of triangular cooperation and of how countries with similar political, historical, cultural, economic and social contexts can strongly benefit from peer-to-peer learning. PAGE provides an ideal platform to facilitate this learning, by bringing together countries at varying stages of their inclusive green economic transformation. While the Kyrgyz government recognizes sustainable development as a national priority, the country is at the relatively early stages of its inclusive green economy transition. Conversely, Mongolia is transitioning towards the end of its PAGE-supported programme, and is in a strong position to share best practices and learnings from its experience.

Mongolian and Kyrgyz participants at the Kyrgyz Republic Green Economy Forum in Bishkek last year

Mongolia’s expertise and experiences have been instrumental in shaping the Kyrgyz Republic’s identification of priority areas as they green their economy, particularly in green finance, sustainable public procurement and green jobs. Due to the similarities in the national contexts, replication and adaptation of policies and practices between the two countries has been especially effective.

On the back of these exchanges and complementary PAGE advisory support and technical guidance, the Kyrgyz Republic recently passed a new Development Program that places these priorities in the fore.

The experiences between Mongolia and the Kyrgyz Republic demonstrates how fostering productive south-south relationships can strengthen and accelerate the global transition towards an inclusive green economy, and emphasizes the importance of effective partnerships, collaboration and learning that is at the heart of PAGE’s work.

 

 

For more on the south-south cooperation between Mongolia and the Kyrgyz Republic, see Page Steering Committee Meeting and Sustainability Week Take Place in Mongolia and Kyrgyz Republic: Green Economy Forum Features New Opportunities for Business from Theory to Action.

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Making it official with inclusive green economy in Kyrgyz Republic
August 29, 2018

29 August 2018, Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic - With an economy mainly driven by agriculture, extractive industries and hydropower, land degradation and desertification poses serious threats to the health of the economy in the Kyrgyz Republic, as well as its people and environment.

The Government of the Kyrgyz Republic is committed to reversing environmental degradation trends and capturing opportunities for economic growth that is both inclusive and sustainable. The need to transition to more sustainable development pathways through advancement of green economy approaches have been recognized as a national priority in various policy frameworks. Since 2016, PAGE has been working in the Kyrgyz Republic to develop the basis the basis on which the country could transition to an inclusive green economy.

The Ministry of Economy is responsible for integrating inclusive green economy principles into the long-term and medium-term strategic documents for the Kyrgyz Republic, and, as such, the Kyrgyz Government Development Program recently adopted by the Kyrgyz Parliament contains key targets towards transition to green economy. The research and analysis conducted by PAGE’s national experts formed a key component of the inputs provided by the Ministry of Economy.

The national PAGE expert team worked in the following nine areas, which have all become integral parts of the Kyrgyz national development agenda:

  1. Sustainable finance
  2. Sustainable procurement
  3. Climate change and environment
  4. Fiscal policy
  5. Macroeconomiс forecasting and analysis
  6. Private sector and SME
  7. Sustainable energy
  8. Green cities
  9. Green strategy and policy 

Through active consultations, the Ministry of Economy has decided to develop a separate national Inclusive Green Economy Program for 2019-2023, for Kyrgyz Republic’s transition, as well as a step-by-step Action Plan for 2019-2021. National consultations for the Inclusive Green Economy Program are expected to take place during the upcoming Green Forum on October 19th this year, in the context of “Green Week,” scheduled from October 15 to October 19, 2018.

Alongside the broader macroeconomic policy advice and analysis, PAGE is working in Kyrgyzstan to develop a Sustainable Finance roadmap, and on a project to enhance sustainable public procurement. It is envisaged that robust sustainable finance and public purchasing will be cornerstones for accelerating both the supply and demand for sustainable products and services in the country.

 

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South Africa News
August 24, 2018

South Africa

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