June 2011: A Public-Private Roundtable on Green Economy brought together public and private sector leaders to discuss “Challenges of a Green Economy and Green Societies: Attitudes, Policies, Governance.” The Roundtable was organized by the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) on 24 May 2011, in Paris, France.

According to the “UNECE Weekly” newsletter, in the first panel discussion, titled “On the Road to the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20),” UNECE Executive Secretary Ján Kubiš emphasized that “putting a price on pollution and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and on the over-exploitation of a scarce resource must be a central component of any policy mix” to effect a behavioral change for a transition to the green economy. Kubiš advocated for subsidy reform to correct and realign incentives for the green economy. He also highlighted the significant role of the UN system and the Bretton Woods Institutions (BWIs) in driving forward social, political and economic change for the green economy, by: encouraging the ratification and implementation of relevant multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs); developing relevant international standards and guidelines; and promoting good regulatory practice, providing a good basis for setting national regulations and standards.

Sha Zukang, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs and Secretary-General of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20), identified the need to change unsustainable consumption and production as a precondition for a green economy. Sha said this also requires changes in trade, government policies, corporate behavior and values. He highlighted the critical role of technology and green infrastructure, which he said should be adapted to specific local and sectoral needs and scaled up to reduce their costs, and advocated for greater government intervention to help accelerate the required technological innovation and diffusion, as well as to help mobilize large-scale, long-term financing for green infrastructure investments.

In the second panel discussion, “Voices for New Pathways,” speakers focused on international governance reform to deliver on the green economy and on its ethical dimensions. Danilo Türk, President of Slovenia, delivered a keynote address calling for strengthened international governance structures and outlining the main areas for reform. René Passet, Professor Emeritus, Sorbonne University, made an economic case for sustainable development, while Peter Sloterdijk, Philosopher and Rector, Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design, delivered a lecture on the philosophical foundations for building the green economy. [Publication: UNECE Weekly, No. 428]