The Group of Friends on Green Economy at the UN convened the second workshop in its series, to discuss “Opportunities and Concerns of the Green Economy.” Ambassador Marten Grunditz of Sweden synthesized the panel presentations and interactive discussion into three key messages on the potential of a green economy.
23 March 2011: The Group of Friends of the UN General Assembly’s Thematic Debate on the Green Economy convened the second workshop in its series, to discuss “Opportunities and Concerns of the Green Economy.” The workshop was chaired by Ambassador Maged A. Abdelaziz (Egypt) and Ambassador Marten Grunditz (Sweden).
In addition to Egypt and Sweden, the Group of Friends includes Gabon, Grenada, Hungary, Indonesia, Mexico, Republic of Korea and Switzerland.
The second workshop included presentations by: John Talberth, World Resources Institute; Munyaradzi Chenje, UN Environment Programme (UNEP); José Ocampo, Columbia University; and Adil Najam, Boston University. The presentations were followed by in-depth interactive discussions.
The key messages on green economy emerging from the presentations and discussion, according to closing remarks by Grunditz, were that a green economy can be: a pathway for correcting systemic market and institutional failures of the prevailing development model; an effective tool for advancing sustainable development goals; and compatible with growth, jobs, and competitiveness.
The third and final workshop in the series, on “Green Economy Pathways,” will take place on 19 April 2011, followed by a retreat for Permanent Representatives on the topic “The Green Economy: Building a common understanding and roadmap” in May 2011, and the UN General Assembly’s thematic debate on “Green Economy: A pathway to sustainable development,” on 2 June 2011. [Workshop Summary, Presentations, Other Documents] [Video of Workshop]