July 2013: The Poverty-Environment Initiative (PEI), a joint initiative of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), have recently facilitated: a green economy event in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS); a meeting on measuring green growth progress in the countries of Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia (EECCA); and an initiative in Uruguay to catalyze a green economy transition through a waste management law.

Government and private sector officials from Cambodia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR), Thailand, Myanmar/Burma, Viet Nam, China’s Yunnan province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region examined ways to support and scale up investments in green economic development and sustainable land management at a GMS Forum held in Bangkok, Thailand in June 2013. Participants recognized that economic growth and industrialization place pressure on the region’s biodiversity and discussed options for more inclusive, environmentally sustainable development and green growth. Young-Woo Park, UNEP Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, said “a transition to green economy is happening in the region,” drawing attention to the Global Environment Outlook 5 (GEO 5), which highlights GMS green growth initiatives, including water management in China and payments for ecosystem services (PES) schemes in Viet Nam.

PEI Kyrgyzstan has collaborated with the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) on green growth indicators, including at a regional meeting in Prague, Czech Republic, in March 2013. Participants presented experiences in formulating green economy policies and strategies and stressed the need to coordinate green economy frameworks and indicators. A representative of the Kyrgyz Republic, which pilot tested OECD’s green growth indicators, highlighted concordance between Kyrgyzstan’s economic and social statistics and OECD indicators.

PEI’s work with the Government of Uruguay illustrates how efforts to change waste management perceptions to include environmental and social performance resulted in a shift towards a green economy focus in national policy-making. Uruguay pilot tested a management system that incorporated human and social dimensions into the waste cycle and revised its Packaging Law, to prioritize health, sanitation and social security in waste management and generate economic, environmental and social benefits. Following this work, several Uruguay Ministries increased their support for integrating environment and poverty into development policies. [PEI July Newsletter] [GMS Forum Press Release] [OECD Press Release] [Summary Record of Prague Meeting on Green Growth Measurement] [PEI Story on Uruguay]