Geneva, Switzerland, 18 February 2021 – Building on its policy, industry and finance platforms, the Green Growth Knowledge Partnership (GGKP) officially launched today the Green Forum, an online community space for professionals to share and discuss insights in the pursuit of a sustainable economic transition.
The Green Forum will include active community discussions on key sustainability topics – such as climate change, natural capital, resource efficiency, sustainable infrastructure and COVID-19 recovery – providing members the opportunity to create and manage their own public or private groups to support collaboration and promote inclusive green economy policies, practices and actions at the local, national, regional and global levels.
“As we enter the final decade of action on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the importance and value of engagement and exchange through the future Green Forum is more important than ever to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to usher in a green and inclusive economic recovery from COVID-19,” said Frank Rijsberman, Director-General of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI).
The launch took place during the Fifth Session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-5), which convened under the theme “Strengthening Actions for Nature to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals”. Green Forum discussions will be closely aligned with most of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG-17 on Partnerships, which calls to strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.
“Collaboration and exchange are important ways for stakeholders to engage on the issues and take ambitious steps towards building back better and greener,” said Steven Stone, Chief of the Resources and Markets Branch of the Economy Division at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). “The Green Forum will be an important space for working together to address the triple crises of climate, nature and pollution and help secure the well-being of people and planet.”
The Green Forum will be managed by the GGKP, a global network of experts and organizations dedicated to providing the policy, business and finance communities with knowledge, guidance, data and tools to transition to an inclusive green economy. In addition to facilitating conversations among partners working on the same topic, objective, or initiative, members of specific groups on the Green Forum will have access to a range of custom features for joint knowledge creation, management and exchange.
“With individuals from around the world sharing emerging knowledge and working together, the Green Forum provides policy, industry and finance actors with the ability to seamlessly interact as peers and address common challenges, pursue joint opportunities and advance the sustainable economy transition,” said Benjamin Simmons, Head of the GGKP Secretariat.
The Green Forum is supported by the Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE), German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) and the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) of Switzerland.
“There are plenty of channels to be digitally connected with others, but there hasn’t been a single interactive platform focused on a green economy transition,” said Stephan Contius, Germany’s Commissioner for the 2030 Agenda at the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. “The Green Forum will serve as an innovative community space for professionals to facilitate real-time adaptive learning and knowledge sharing at scale.”
“The COVID-19 pandemic has made it extremely challenging to meet and discuss. However, it shows us also new ways of communication that makes it even easier to interact with different stakeholders all around the world. This multistakeholder discussion is imperative to develop and implement ambitious environmental policies and contribute to the SDGs,” added Martine Rohn-Brossard, Head of Europe, Trade and Development Cooperation Section and Deputy Head of International Affairs Division of the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment. “The global launch of the Green Forum, therefore, couldn’t be timelier.”
The GGKP was established in January 2012 and is led by a Steering Committee comprised of senior representatives from GGGI and UNEP, as well as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the World Bank.
“Through the Green Forum, users can follow events and relevant activities across policy, industry and finance communities. This will be very useful to our work to stay abreast of latest updates on the wide range of green growth initiatives.” - Kumi Kitamori, Head of Division, Green Growth & Global Relations, at the OECD.
“The Green Forum aims to strengthen the sharing of knowledge and learning on the green economy and sustainable development across the policy, business and finance communities and will help facilitate more informed decision-making.” - Stephan Sicars, UNIDO’s Managing Director of the Directorate of Environment and Energy.
“We built the SDG narrative, and we built our narratives on green growth, in a pre-COVID world. We now live in a post-COVID world, where we need a very different narrative, a bolder narrative, a more focused narrative in terms of what matters. The Green Forum can help us find our narrative in the pursuit of a sustainable economic transformation.” - Richard Damania, Chief Economist, Sustainable Development, at the World Bank.