Since launching in 2019, the Green Industry Platform continues to provide sector- and country-specific technical and practical knowledge to support a green industrial transformation. This includes offering an online database, webinars and other tools to help companies become more efficient, competitive and sustainable by going green.
In 2020, the Green Industry Platform offered technical training opportunities and stimulated discussion on how material efficient businesses can drive an inclusive, green economic recovery from COVID-19 worldwide.
“The Green Industry Platform continues to evolve to better serve business and industry,” said Stephan Sicars, Managing Director of UNIDO’s Directorate of Environment and Energy. “The GIP is increasing the targeted guidance and specialized support for our private sector partners, enabling further progress towards the economy we all need to deliver: one of climate neutral and resource efficient operations, sustainable end products and resilient supply chains.”
Training of trainers: Resource efficiency for businesses
What are the first steps companies can take towards resource efficiency? How much effort and investment will it require? What are key strategies for more resource-efficient products and processes? How can businesses utilize Industry 4.0 technologies to reduce costs and improve in competitiveness through resource efficiency?
In February-March 2020, the GGKP held a three-part training of trainers series, Resource Efficiency for Businesses, to answer these questions and provide a knowledge foundation for greening businesses. The series covered the business case for resource efficiency, a resource efficiency roadmap for businesses and strategies, measures and real-world experience for greener businesses.
The series was offered by the German Corporation for International Cooperation/Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the German Competence Centre for Resource Efficiency (VDI ZRE).
"GGKP continues to be a highly trusted partner with a pivotal role in the transition to an inclusive green economy,” said Detlef Schreiber, Group leader of Environment, Biodiversity, Forest at at Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. “The GIP will continue to serve as an information pillar for organizations and businesses that are engaging in cleaner production, resource efficiency and other key approaches to green economy worldwide, and the GGKP’s new Green Learning Network and forthcoming Green Forum will facilitate even more interactive capacity building. We are looking forward to continuing this fruitful cooperation also in 2021 and beyond.”
An ongoing global discussion: How and why businesses are going green
What kind of support services do small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) need to implement resource efficiency measures? How can digital technologies help SMEs become resource efficient with minimal investment? How can we accelerate the shift to circularity in established brands and producers? How can innovations in design and manufacturing reduce material needs? And what’s sand got to do with it?
These are just a few of the questions addressed through a series of online discussions convened by the Green Industry Platform in 2020. The global conversation, which will continue in 2021, covered such themes as building resilient supply chains, green buildings and construction, circular textiles, national green industrial policies, design and manufacturing innovations for material efficiency, and why we should be talking about sand right now.
The series included perspectives from such international foundations and agencies as the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, International Energy Agency (IEA), International Finance Corporation (IFC), Laudes Foundation, World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and the World Green Building Council, as well as national governments, including from Canada, China, South Africa and Sweden, and multinationals GlaxoSmithKline, Skanska and many others.
Serving businesses better in 2021
“The Green Industry Platform has been undergoing a major reorganization to better serve small and medium-sized enterprises and SME service providers,” said Hannes MacNulty, Senior Green Industry Advisor with the Green Growth Knowledge Partnership (GGKP). “As part of this, a large expansion of the current knowledge database is being undertaken to include tools and services that will form a virtual SME operations support centre.”
To help SMEs navigate the opportunities and challenges in delivering green and inclusive growth, the Green Industry Platform, in collaboration with the Partnership for Action on Green Economy, has developed the Integrated Greening Operations (I-GO) solution for small and medium-sized enterprises. The I-GO solution builds on the vast amount of existing resource efficiency guidance and support services, tailoring them to the specific needs of individual SMEs through an easy-to-use SME self-assessment tool.
The pilot phase of the I-GO solution will start in 2021 in locations in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Eastern Europe and Central Asia. It may be extended to Asia the following year.