UN officials push for investment in ‘green’ growth for developing countries

Senior United Nations officials today called for any new greenhouse gas emissions pact, slated to be agreed at a December conference in Copenhagen, to ensure support for developing countries to embark on environmentally friendly development paths.

The UN officials were speaking in Bangkok, Thailand, on the second day of two weeks of climate change talks, the penultimate round of negotiations ahead of the meeting in the Danish capital.

Overcoming poverty and combating climate change are inextricably linked challenges faced by most developing countries in Asia and the Pacific, Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Director of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) told conference delegates and observers at a briefing.

“Failure to tackle one will undermine efforts to deal with the other,” said Ms. Heyzer, adding that ESCAP Member States have begun discussing new climate friendly development plans.

“Green growth is economic growth that uses environmental resources productively, maintaining or restoring environmental quality and ecological integrity, while meeting the needs of all people,” she said.

For his part, Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), spotlighted the need for increased support for developing countries to step up their efforts to cope with the effects of climate change as a key element of any new deal agreed in Copenhagen.

“Negotiators here in Bangkok will now need to make real progress and translate the political will expressed by world leaders into concrete texts that can be part of a Copenhagen deal,” said Mr. de Boer.

On the sidelines of the Bangkok talks, city leaders and their national counterparts on the UNFCCC negotiating teams called for increased support for cities to adapt to the risks posed by climate change, in a discussion meeting organized by the Rockefeller Foundation with the help of ESCAP, the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR), the ProVention Consortium and the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI).

Given Asia’s rapidly growing urban population – projected to account for more than 60 per cent of the global population growth over the next 30 years – coupled with impact of climate change, the region is expected to face a multitude of unprecedented risks over the next few decades.

“Asia’s cities are booming economic centres attracting thousands of new residents each day, and we need to invest in ensuring that these cities remain safe, resilient and vibrant,” said Rockefeller Foundation Managing Director Ashvin Dayal.