Sustainability

Trade and investment as global accelerators of green growth

  • 9 April 2013
Energy

ICC Secretary General Jean-Guy Carrier emphasized that trade and investment can serve as global accelerators of green growth provided that governments work cooperatively to establish the right frameworks for business to operate.

Mr Carrier stated trade & investment can serve as global accelerators of green growth.
Mr Carrier stated trade & investment can serve as global accelerators of green growth.

The Paris forum, organized by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the French Agency for Development (AFD) and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), brought world leaders and key actors together to engage in a dynamic and important debate on the need for a shift away from labour- and resource-intensive production.

At a related event in Paris, Louise Kantrow, ICC Permanent Representative to the United Nations, attended the first Advisory Board meeting of UNIDO’s Green Industry Platform which took place on 3 April. Launched in 2012 during the Rio+20 Conference, the platform is a global high-level, multistakeholder partnership intended to act as a forum to mobilize and mainstream action on green industry around the world. It assists countries and companies in greening the manufacturing process and creating green industries for the production of goods and services for domestic use or export.

The aim of the first meeting was to develop a work plan and identify concrete steps needed to pursue its objectives. Ms Kantrow expressed a positive perspective on the possible outcomes of this initiative: “What is totally unique about this platform is that it gets all of these diverse actors, who are unlikely partners, in a space where they can exchange views and create new linkages towards a green industry. We very much look forward to contributing to the success of UNIDO’s Green Industry Platform.”

Ms Kantrow also highlighted the ICC Green Economy Roadmap which outlines 10 conditions and related policy recommendations as a framework to discuss the range of inter-linked policies and actions for a transition towards a green economy – by business as part of society as well as in collaboration with other actors. The roadmap also has a clearing house function to share existing best practice and initiate new collaborative activities and partnerships.

Download the ICC Green Economy Roadmap

For more information visit Green Industry Platform