8 October 2010: The UNCSD Secretariat has issued the first issue of its publication titled “Green Economy Update.” This webpage newsletter updates readers on documentation for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, Rio+20), recent and planned events, and networks and initiatives on the green economy theme.

The webpage indicates that the following documents were expected to be prepared during 2010: Synthesis Report on Best Practices and Lessons Learned on the Objective and Themes of the Conference, for the first Intersessional meeting; Report of the Secretary-General for the second meeting of the Preparatory Committee (PrepCom2); a joint report by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on “Green Economy: Benefits, Risks and Challenges;” a Green Economy Report by UNEP including a section on policy; and a UN system-wide paper on Green Economy by the Issue Management Group (IMG) (established by the Environmental Management Group (EMG)), with a draft expected for comment by PrepCom2).

The webpage lists recent meetings and their outputs, as well as two planned meetings: the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Ministerial Roundtable on Green Growth on 14 December 2010; and the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN ECLAC) meeting of government experts from the region, in preparation for UNCSD, from 15-16 December 2010.

Finally, the page highlights three “Global, Regional and National Networks and Initiatives”: the Green Economy Coalition (GEC); Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI); and Green Economy Network (Canada). [The Update]