The Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) was established as an international organization during a signing ceremony at Rio+20, with 16 countries agreeing to serve as its founding members, once it is launched later this year.
The Initiative aims to develop and promote green growth as an economic model around the world.
20 June 2012: The Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) was officially established as an international organization at a signing ceremony held at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20), co-hosted by Australia, Denmark and the Republic of Korea, on 20 June 2012.
The Republic of Korea initiated the GGGI in June 2010 to develop and promote the economic model of green growth as a pathway to sustainable development. The GGGI is a multi-stakeholder partnership between developed and developing countries and the public and private sectors.
According to GGGI, the agreement signed in Rio de Janeiro prepares the legal framework for the Institute’s conversion into an international organization, which will take place later this year, during the preparatory ministerial meeting in Seoul, Republic of Korea, ahead of the 18th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 18) to the UNFCCC, to be held in Doha, Qatar.
Australia, Cambodia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Ethiopia, Guyana, Kiribati, Korea, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, the Philippines, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the UK, and Viet Nam signed the establishment agreement. These 16 countries will serve as founding members of the GGGI.
Former Korean Prime Minister Han Seung-soo, who serves as the Chair of the GGGI Board of Directors, said the establishment agreement “marks a new chapter in the institutional development of GGGI, more forcefully committing itself hereinafter to the global promotion of green growth paradigm. I am sure that this will help herald a new era of global sustainability as well as human welfare.”
The GGGI is headquartered in Seoul, Korea. The GGGI currently works in ten countries and is expected to expand its partner countries. [GGGI Press Release] [IISD RS Sources]