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Published: 16 January 2012
Deep knowledge sharing to help protect world’s natural capital
Four leading global organisations have signed an agreement to create a Green Growth Knowledge Platform, a global initiative that will identify and address major knowledge gaps in green growth theory and practice.
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A solar powered house on Lake Titicaca, Peru: governments worldwide are being encouraged to look at ways of greening infrastructure. Credit: Sebastien Cote/iStockphoto
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The agreement was signed by the Global Green Growth Institute, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the World Bank.
‘This MoU marks the formal launch of essential international cooperation on testing, exploring, and refining policies and actions on green growth for practical implementation in both developed and developing countries,’ said Richard Samans, Executive Director of the Global Green Growth Institute.
He added that developing countries can factor ‘green’ into their new investments in infrastructure and can further develop agriculture and other natural resources to improve livelihoods, create jobs, and reduce poverty.
‘Governments seeking to re-ignite growth after the [global economic] crisis should harness innovation, investment, and entrepreneurship to drive the shift to greener economies,’ continued OECD Secretary-General, Angel Gurría. ‘We must intensify our efforts to move towards green growth to preserve natural capital and reduce pollution.
‘It will be essential to avoid path dependency by breaking old habits of consumption and investing in new technology and infrastructure. The Green Growth Knowledge Platform will be key for facilitating collaboration among our four institutions, to provide governments with the best possible tools to achieve this goal.’
The MoU signing took place on the eve of the inaugural Green Growth Knowledge Platform conference held in Mexico recently.
‘This conference is taking an important step in convening a community of experts and practitioners to develop a shared, evidence-based vision of the contributions greener growth can make to sustainable development,’ said Rachel Kyte, Vice President for Sustainable Development at the World Bank.
‘By joining forces and sharing data, we can equip policy makers everywhere with better tools to manage the choices and trade-offs that greener and more inclusive growth may entail.’
Source: OECD
