Dr Alemu Mekonnen, Director of EfD Ethiopia, is invited as a speaker and resource person when Sida organizes a conference Sept 17, 2012 on the theme “After Rio +20; Green Growth for Sustainable Development – Lessons learned, Next steps and Implications for Development and Development Cooperation”. Among the speakers are also Professor Thomas Sterner, University of Gothenburg, currently visiting Chief Economist at the Environmental Defense Fund in New York.
EfD Ethiopia Director Dr. Alemu Mekonnen will talk about Ethiopia’s recent Climate Resilient Green Economy Strategy. Mekonnen was a member of the technical committee for Ethiopia´s strategy for Climate Resilient Green Economy which was launched in November 2011. It as was mentioned at UNFCCC’s climate conference in Durban last year as the only such strategy in Africa. Mekonnen will talk about the strategy possibly including updates in terms of developments such as investment plans.
The background to the conference is Sida’s interest in Green Economy/Green Growth as a possible route towards sustainable development, and a need to learn more on the key components of the concept and what it can imply for Sida, and development in general. Sida’s Helpdesk on Environment and Climate Change is commissioned by Sida to plan and conduct the conference.
”The theme has given rise to intense debates about what Green Growth is, what it isn’t, and how it differs conceptually and in practice from other broad concepts that have guided the development policies in low-income countries. It has also attracted criticism among stakeholders, who believe that this may crowd out poverty reduction efforts, reduce the importance of Poverty Reduction Strategies (PRS) and prevent poorer countries to formulate and follow their own development strategies,” says Dr. Anders Ekbom, EfD Associate and dep. Director of the Centre for Environment and Sustainability in Gothenburg, GMV, at University of and Chalmers University of Technology.
Sida observes that several initiatives have been created around this theme among key actors, globally and in development cooperation, such as UNEP, OECD DAC, World Bank, regional development banks, ILO, Poverty-Environment Partnership, IIED, World Resources Institute, and Environment for Development Initiative (EfD). The focus in these initiatives varies.
In view of the intensive debate and work on Green Growth, and the significance of the United Nations Rio +20 Conference for global development (including development cooperation), it is essential to highlight and discuss: • what green economy is• initiatives that are underway• new knowledge that have been generated• criticisms and obstacles to implementation• how green economy / green growth is supposed to be put into practice.
Over the years Sida has supported several international actors which can offer important insights on Green Growth/Green Economy. Therefore Sida wants to take the opportunity to gather this expertise and conduct a Development Talks one-day conference with the focus on learning about Green Growth/Green Economy and discuss implications and next steps from Conclusions reached in the Rio+20 Conference. In view of this, Sida wants to learn, discuss and share knowledge and views from key institutions and organisations, which have obtained support from Sida.
”Sida also wants to share the conference participants´plans for the near future linked with Green Economy/Green growth. The specific conference program is still in the making, but we have secured attendance from top resource persons from the World Resources Institute, The World Bank, UNEP, UNDP Poverty-Environment Initiative, IIED, Environment for Development Initiative, and universities including professor Thomas Sterner at the Environmental Economics Unit at University of Gothenburg, currently visiting Chief Economist at the Environmental Defense Fund in New York, and several others,” says Anders Ekbom.
The conference follows a Sida format called Development Talks. It is an organisation-wide format to address relevant topics for global development. It invites all Sida staff and national and international resource persons, and it has the highest form of involvement and large exposure with web streaming etc. The conference is organised in collaboration with Sida Partnership Forum (SPF), Sida’s Communication Department, and Sida’s Department for Global Programs and the Environment and Climate Cluster.
Time: Sept 17 2012, approx fr 10 am 4 pm. Format: Invited Resource persons are expected to make individual presentations and take part in panels to address questions posed by the moderator, discussants and the audience.Audience: Invitees are to be identified by Sida but includes all Sida staff, and special representatives from Swedish ministries, gov agencies, the business sector, academics and relevant NGOs. Remuneration/cost coverage: As all invited organisations are obtaining support from Sida, the participating resource persons are expected to cover their own costs for participation.