23 November 2012: The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) convened the first annual Green Growth and Sustainable Development (GG-SD) Forum, aiming to encourage discussion on the links between green growth and sustainable development issues. This year’s forum focused on natural resource use and accounting.

The theme of the Forum, which took place on 23 November 2012, in Paris, France, was “Encouraging the efficient and sustainable use of natural resources: policy instruments and social acceptability.” The forum brought together representatives from OECD, the African Development Bank (AfDB), national ministries, the International Energy Agency (IEA), the UN, the World Bank, the European Commission, the private sector, academia and civil society.

The forum was organized in five sessions on: the case for green growth; natural resources and risks to growth; measuring and valuing natural resources; tools for the efficient and sustainable management of natural resources; and trade of biodiversity-based products. Presentations in these sessions addressed: global material flows and accounting; green growth in Africa and AfDB; green growth in Sierra Leone’s Agenda for Prosperity; green productivity; IEA’s World Energy Outlook 2012; natural resource indices; the Wealth Accounting and the Valuation of Ecosystem Services (WAVES) partnership; green growth indicators; global resource consumption patterns; resource rent taxation and fiscal support measures, with examples from Norway, Denmark, Indonesia, and the EU; and biotrade companies WELEDA and KAITE. [OECD Press Release]