1. Regional Coordination Mechanism – 11th Session
RIO + 20
Cluster 4 Presentation
Green Economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication
Mounkaila Goumandakoye

2. EXPECTED OUTCOME
Understanding and appreciation of the prospects, challenges and opportunities for Africa towards the transformation to a green economy to contribute to the realization of its sustainable development and poverty eradication goals

3. What is a Green Economy? Increase in green investment
Decoupling of unsustainable resource use and environmental impacts from economic growth
Increase in green investment
Increase in quantity & quality of jobs in green sectors
Increase in global and local environmental benefits
Decrease in energy/resource use per unit of production
Decrease in greenhouse gas emissions
Decrease in waste and pollution
At its heart, a green economy represents the long-term decoupling of unsustainable resource use and environmental impacts from economic growth.
What are some other characteristics of a green economy?
Substantially increased investment in green sectors, supported by policy reforms – these investments provide the mechanism for reconfiguring businesses, infrastructure and institutions.
Increase in quantity and quality of jobs in green sectors
Increase in global and local environmental benefits
Decrease in energy/resource use per unit of production
Decrease in greenhouse gas emissions
Decrease in waste and pollution
There is a tendency to want to develop green economy indicators to measure whether countries have achieved a green economy.
However, doing so is not only difficult, it is counter-productive given differences in natural, human and economic resources between countries.
Rather, it is more important to focus on the process of making the transition. Focusing on the process acknowledges that a green economy in one country may look quite different than in another country.

4. Green Economy and Climate Change
Challenges:
Business-as-usual risks increasing carbon dioxide emissions by 130% by 2050 and raising average global temperatures by 6˚C
Emissions linked to deforestation and forest degradation account for nearly 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions
Opportunities:
In 2008, investments in renewable energy generation ($140 billion) surpassed investments in fossil fuel power generation ($110 billion)
Projected investments in renewables could generate 20 million jobs
REDD-plus
Challenges
Shifting towards a green economy call also help to address climate change challenges.
The current path of energy consumption is not sustainable – the International Energy Agency has estimated in a business-as-usual scenario (i.e. no policy change or major supply constraints) we can expect a 70% increase in oil demand by 2050 and a 130% rise in CO2 emissions. (IEA, “Energy Technology Perspectives 2008: Scenarios and Strategies to 2050” (2008))
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a rise of this magnitude of CO2 emissions could raise global temperatures as much as 6 degrees Celsius (IPCC, Fourth Assessment Report – Climate Change 2007: Synthesis Report, Summary for Policymakers)
Emissions linked to deforestation and forest degradation account for nearly 20% of GHG emissions (IPCC, Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis - Summary for Policymakers)
Opportunities
Investing in a low-carbon economy is a specific means of responding to this challenge
The background paper outlines how a number of countries are investing in renewable energy, energy efficiency and carbon capture and storage as part of their overall economic stimulus packages
2008 marked the first year that investments in renewable energy generation ($140 billion) surpassed investments in fossil fuel power generation ($110 billion) (UNEP and New Energy Finance, “Global Trends in Sustainable Energy Investment 2009”)
However, in order to limit temperature increases to degrees Celsius, you would need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50-85% by 2050 (“IPCC Fourth Assessment Report – Climate Change 2007: Synthesis Report, Summary for Policymakers”). IEA has found that acheiving a 50% reduction in emissions by 2050 would require a cumulative investment to 2050 of $45 trillion or just over $1 trillion per year. (IEA, “Energy Technology Perspectives 2008: Scenarios and Strategies to 2050” (2008))
UNEP and ILO have projected that increased investments in renewables could generate 20 million jobs (UNEP, Green Jobs: Towards Decent Work in a Sustainable, Low-Carbon World( (2008))
REDD and REDD-plus may offer a cost-effective means of quickly reducing the growth of emissions rates. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN has estimated that 10 million new green jobs could be created by investing in sustainable forest management. (FOA, press release, 10 March 2009)

5. Green economy consultative process and report
Preparation of a background paper in collaboration with various organizations and stakeholders (AUC and its NEPAD, ECA, AfDB, UNIDO, UNDP, ILO, RECs etc. – UNEP taking the lead. January march 2011
Documents to be reviewed during the sub regional consultative forums in April – June 2011
Inclusion in the regional review report
African Ministerial Regional Preparatory conference
Endorsement by Heads of States and Government (Summit on Green Economy ??)

6. Scope
- Enhancing Africa Natural capital and expanding wealth creation (sustainable agriculture, biodiversity, ecological infrastructure)
- Greening industrialization (Green growth, resource efficiency, clean energy ..)
- Transport and green building
- Critical roles or various actors (state, private sector etc.)
- Achieving the economic transformation of Africa through green growth

7. The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in 2012 (Rio+20) will provide an opportunity for Governments to agree on the specific steps and policies required to achieve a green economic future for sustainable development and poverty eradication in the world.

8. Beyond Planet’s capacity
Challenge:
Economic activity currently consumes more biomass than the Earth produces on a sustainable basis (i.e. the ecological footprint exceeds our planet’s capacity to regenerate)
Challenge
Our current economic model has improved the well-being of many societies over time, but its operations have also created significant externalities in the form of global environmental risks (e.g. climate change) and widespread ecological scarcities (e.g. freshwater shortages).
The model also fails to recognize these externalities in the accounts of society, which are largely focused on GDP as the key indicator of progress.
As a result of these and other factors, our economic activity currently consumes more biomass than the Earth produces on a sustainable basis. (i.e. the ecological footprint exceeds our planet’s resources)
The figure is taken from the WWF, “Living Planet Report 2008”, and shows that our global footprint now exceeds the world’s capacity to regenerate by about 30%. The “y-axis” refers to the number of planet Earths.
The same report also notes that if our demands on the plant continue at the same rate, by the mid-2030s we will need the equivalent of two planets to maintain our lifestyles.