New York, 25 June 2009
- At least 21 UN agencies today backed the
call for a world-wide transition to a low
carbon, resource efficient Green Economy
able to deliver multiple economic, social
and environmental opportunities in the 21st
century.
Such a transition is
needed to catalyze a sustainable global
economic recovery while generating decent
jobs, enhancing food security, and reducing
dependence on finite fossil fuels.
A Green Economy can
also address multiple persistent and looming
crises from overcoming poverty and combating
climate change to reversing the degradation
of multi-trillion dollar ecosystems and
their services, experts argue.
In a statement, issued
at the General Assembly Conference on the
World Financial and Economic Crisis and
it Impact on Development held in New York
during 24-26 June, the agencies noted that
the current financial and economic crisis
required a collective response from the
global community which would lay a solid
foundation for shared growth and sustainable
development. Leading economies should ensure
that developing countries should have the
fiscal resources to launch their own stimulus
programmes and have increased access to
international markets for a rapid resumption
of trade.
Over the past six months
a wide variety of agencies in the United
Nations System including the Bretton Woods
Institutions and Secretariats of Multilateral
Environmental Agreements have been involved
in the design and implementation of a Green
Economy Initiative.
"I am very pleased
to present this statement on behalf of sister
agencies in the UN System," said Achim
Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General and
UNEP Executive Director. "Delivering
a transition to a low carbon, resource efficient
Green Economy cannot occur without the creativity,
vision, actions and support of a broad cross
section of society-this rapid harmonization
of perspectives from so many agencies reflects
their determination to be agents of change
towards a sustainable 21st century. The
statement is also a strong signal from the
international system backing the UN Secretary
General in his repeated calls for a deal
to be sealed in Copenhagen," Mr. Steiner
added.
"This statement,
the result of hard and cooperative work
by the staff of all the cooperating agencies
in a short span of time, seeks to reflect
and harmonize the perspectives of all agencies
on the urgent global and national responses
to the current crisis with a particular
focus on a resolute, yet fair and just transition
towards a Green Economy," said Mr.
Steiner. "This collective effort has
been included as one of the several UN-wide
Joint Crisis Initiatives proposed by the
Chief Executives Board of the UN System."
The statement says that:
"Investing stimulus funds in such sectors
as energy efficient technologies, renewable
energy, public transport, sustainable agriculture,
environmentally friendly tourism, and the
sustainable management of natural resources
including ecosystems and biodiversity, reflects
the conviction that a green economy can
create dynamic new industries, quality jobs,
and income growth while mitigating and adapting
to climate change and arresting biodiversity
decline." These, it says, "can
potentially contribute to economic recovery,
decent job creation, and reduced threats
of food, water, energy, ecosystem and climate
crises, which have disproportionate impacts
on the poor."
Specifically the statement
calls for donor countries to make good their
commitments on financial support, including
those made at G8 and G20 meetings, the development
of carbon pricing, the phasing-out of perverse
subsidies and the avoidance of protectionism.
It notes that these must be accompanied
by measures to protect and improve access
by the poor to food and energy security.
It calls for revived trade and new trade
policies which support both development
and the transfer of technologies, accompanied
by training and capacity building.
"The solidarity
of the international community is being
tested," the report concludes. "Let
this economic recovery be the turning point
for an ambitious and effective international
response to the multiple crises facing humanity.
The most representative test case is when
governments meet to seal the deal on climate
change in Copenhagen in December 2009. Let
Copenhagen be the turning point for ushering
in a global green economy."
Note to editors: The
UN agencies and MEAs that have already backed
the statement include:
The Basel Convention
on the Control of Transboundary Movements
of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal (BASEL
CONVENTION)
Convention on
Biological Diversity(CBD)
The Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
(CITES)
Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations (FAO)
International Labour Organization (ILO)
International Maritime Organization (IMO)
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
(UNCTAD)
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
(UNECE)
United Nations Economic and Social Commission
for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)
Economic and Social Commission for Western
Asia (ESCWA)
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC)
United Nations Human Settlements Programme
(UN-HABITAT)
United Nations Industrial Development Organization
(UNIDO)
World Bank Group
World Intellectual Property Organization
(WIPO)
World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
World Trade Organization (WTO)
United Nations World Tourism Organization
(UNWTO)
Jay Dowle
Communications Officer
UNEP Green Economy Initiative
www.unep.org/greeneconomy/
