Seoul, 22 April 2010
- Sustainable development is not a choice
but an imperative, and the only course possible
in our 21st century world, UNEP Executive
Director Achim Steiner argued in his opening
remarks to hundreds of top business and
environment leaders attending the Business
for the Environment (B4E) Summit.
The Summit, which is
taking place in Seoul (Republic of Korea)
from 21-23 April, is hosted by UNEP, the
UN Global Compact and the World Wildlife
Fund.
It brings together leaders
from business, government, NGOs and international
agencies to engage in multi-stakeholder
conversations around solutions in areas
such as biodiversity, climate change, resource
& energy efficiency, renewables, and
new green business models.
With hundreds of participants
from more than 35 countries, B4E is the
leading international conference for dialogue
and business-driven action for the environment.
Here is the full text
of Achim Steiner's speech at the opening
session of the B4E Summit on 21 April.
Ladies and gentlemen,
B4E returns to Asia
amidst an international landscape that is
on the one hand full of optimism as some
economies seize the sustainability agenda.
And on the other, perhaps
more opaque; more uncertain and more fractured
than in 2009, not least on the challenge
of climate change.
The global economy is
certainly now showing signs of recovery
perhaps and in particular in Asia.
The question is whether
this will be a Green Economy Recovery in
21st century with an emphasis on low carbon,
clean tech, resource efficient sectors and
services.
Or whether it is one
that, despite some notable national exceptions,
looks backwards or at the very least maintains
the vacuum of the status quo.
Good News for the Green
Economy
First the positive news:
Some economies have put the financial and
economic crisis to good use.
Last year, UNEP presented
its Green New Deal policy brief to its annual
gathering of environment ministers.
It recommended that
one per cent of GDP, invested in green investments,
could go a long way to revving-up the global
economy while stimulating low carbon, resource
efficient sectors; generating employment
and setting the stage for a more sustainable
development path.
Professor Edward Barbier,
one of the authors of the UNEP brief and
a leading environmental economist, has assessed
how far countries have so far gone.
Of the $3 trillion spent
or earmarked globally for the fiscal stimulus,
just over $460 billion is aimed at green
investments.
This is equal to around
15 per cent of the total fiscal stimulus
or around 0.7 per cent of the G20's GDP.
China and the Republic
of Korea lead the way at three per cent
of GDP, followed by Saudi Arabia, 1.7 per
cent; Australia, 1.2 per cent and Japan,
0.8 per cent.
This is followed by
the United States, with 0.7 per cent of
GDP; Germany, 0.5 per cent; France 0.3 per
cent and Canada, South Africa and the United
Kingdom, 0.2 per cent.
Both China and the Republic
of Korea are embedding these policy choices
in medium-term planning.
For example the government
here has a five-year green-growth investment
plan.
It will spend $60 billion
to cut carbon dependency with the aim of
boosting economic growth to 2020 and generating
up to 1.8 million jobs.
Copenhagen Provides
Cooperation, Economic and Forest Stimulus
The UN climate convention
meeting also provided an 'economic stimulus'
with developed economies pledging immediate
funding of $30 billion over three years.
This could rise to $100
billion a year by 2020.
The funds will assist
developing economies to not only adapt to
climate change but to also assist in a transition
to a low carbon economy.
Some of the funds will
also be earmarked for investments in forests
under the Reduced Emissions from Deforestation
and forest Degradation (REDD).
UN-REDD, of which UNEP
is a key part, is preparing some nine countries
including Papua New Guinea, Panama and the
Democratic Republic of Congo for this new
opportunity.
All in all, business
opportunities in areas such as renewable
and clean or cleaner energy generation alongside
ones in natural resource management.
The Copenhagen Accord,
to which over 100 countries have now associated
themselves, is also the first cooperative
climate document bringing together developed
and developing economies on emission reductions
and constraints.
If all the pledges and
intentions outlined are fully met, then
this too can provide Green investment opportunities.
Meanwhile some countries
are pressing forward with new technologies
in the field. Only a few days ago the US
Department of Energy announced a carbon
capture and storage project linked to a
big pulverized coal-fired power station
in Alabama.
Increasing numbers of
financial institutions and lenders are requesting
companies to disclose their carbon footprints,
the latest being the Securities and Exchange
Commission in New York.
Meanwhile, the lending
criteria of banks including the World Bank
are also coming under increasing scrutiny.
The recent row over
South Africa's planned coal-fired power
station-its first in 15 years-is a case
in point.
While the World Bank
voted in favour of the close to $4 billion
loan, concern by several countries did secure
provisions on improved energy efficiency
and investments in renewables in South Africa.
Reality Checks in a
Rapidly Changing World
But distinguished delegates,
there are also some reality checks here
and some underlying assumptions that can
flip the glass to being either half full
or half empty.
Copenhagen failed to
deliver an international regulatory framework
or legally binding treaty.
There remains debate
as to the pace and scale of the $30 billion
investment alongside concerns as to how
much of this will be new and how much will
old, or re-packaged money.
Meanwhile there is a
sense of increasing bilateralism in the
air.
Only a few weeks ago
General Electric of America and the state
of California announced cooperation with
China's Ministry of Railways.
The plan is to use Chinese
railway technology to assist in the development
of the state's high speed rail links.
A fascinating reflection
of the way geopolitics are shaping the current
world.
But also underlining
that while the big and rapidly growing economies
have the finance, know-how and capacity
to receive and to invest significant sums.
