22 October 2008: The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has launched a Green Economy Initiative, which seeks to respond to the global economic downturn by focusing economic growth and job creation in environmental industries.

The initiative, which was launched on 22 October 2008, in London, UK, is funded by the European Commission, Germany and Norway. It builds on the G8+5 study on the Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity, which emphasized the economic implications of ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss, as well as their link to poverty.
The US$4 million Green Economy Initiative will look to clean and rural energy and technologies, sustainable agriculture, ecosystem infrastructure, reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and sustainable cities to promote its priorities, which include valuing and mainstreaming nature’s services, generating employment through green jobs and policy, and accelerating the transition to a Green Economy via instruments and market signals. [UNEP Press Release]