Environment & Poverty Times
06 2009
UNEP/GRID-Arendal
2 3
Green economy: From Ban Ki-moon to Fuheid al-Sharif
By Najib Saab
This article was originally published in the Daily Star (
http://www.dailystar.com.lb)
“Were you the one who wrote that speech?” my son enquired after we listened to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s graduation speech to the class of 2009 at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington. William, who gradu- ated with a degree in energy and environ- ment policies, was taken by surprise with the high environmental tone of the secretary general, compared to the usually subdued international statements meant to please everybody, while saying nothing.
The global economic crisis is a genuine wake-up call that requires shakeup of the old development patterns, said Ban as he called for a new green deal that invests in clean and renewable energy resources. “By investing in green, we create jobs and spur economic growth. At Copenhagen, we need to unleash green investment and jump-start a lasting economic recovery.”
Moreover, the secretary general urged gov- ernments, companies and individuals to take effective steps to safeguard the planet: use public transport systems, recycle wastes, plant trees, make companies accountable for their environmentally damaging practices and ask your representatives in government to strike a historic deal in the Copenhagen Climate Change conference.
This candid language that calls for halting sa¬vage development patterns is new to the head of the UN, as until recently it has been confined to staunch environmental groups. But Ban has shown an unprecedented commitment. In fact, the Green Economy
Initiative launched by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) last year was not destined to such acclaim without the support of the highest authority at the inter- national organization. This initiative appears to have succeeded in turning the economic crises into an environmental blessing, as many countries have allocated a reasonable percentage of their economic incentive packages to green economy programs. Here are a few examples: South Korea, Ban’s home country, has allocated 80 percent of economic incentives to green economy, while China allocated 38 percent, the US 25 percent and Germany 12 percent.
Governments are now convinced that al- locating resources to green economy is not a luxury, but an option which stimulates growth and creates jobs as well. In the US it is envisaged that a new $100 billion program for energy efficiency in buildings and towns will create two million new job opportunities within four years. On another front, the market for organic agriculture has increased from $15 billion in 1999 to $50 billion in 2008, creating enormous job opportunities, being a labor-intensive activity- an ideal option for unemployed agricultural labor in many parts of the Arab region.
Apart from renewable energy, retro-fitting for energy efficiency, organic and sustainable agriculture, the Arab countries can invest in countless sectors in order to create new job opportunities within a green economy, such as water management and ecotourism. About 50 million citizens in the Arab coun- tries currently lack access to clean drinking water resources and 100 million lack access to water needed for proper sanitation. The World Bank estimates that Arab countries
need to invest up to $200 billion until 2020 in water management. Such investments can enhance environmental conditions and create new job opportunities that the Arab countries badly need, knowing that 25 per- cent of young people below 30 years old and 17 percent of the total workforce are currently unemployed.
The wave of green economy that has started to disperse globally, from the US, to the UK, Korea and China is starting to hit the Arab World. The Arab Forum for Environment and Development (AFED) has finished last month the first series of workshops in seven countries in partner- ship with UNEP for the launch of the Arab Green Economy Initiative, with the par- ticipation of the private sector and public and civil organizations. National commit- tees that emerged within this process will recommend programs to the annual AFED conference in November 2009, paving the way for real action.
Fuheid al-Sharif, governor of Saudi Arabia’s General Corporation for Water Desalination, has called for the “nationalization” of desali- nation technology and its associated eq uip- ment: “It is not logical that we own the big- gest desalination plant in the world and are the greatest producer of desalinated water, while we are still importing the technology and equipment entirely, at a time when we have all the opportunities and capabilities for locally developing all of those.”
This is only one of the many fields of productive investment in green economy, that meets the real needs of the region, while supporting the national economy and creating hundreds of thousands of job opportunities.
The world is changing for the better, gov- erned by the will to survive. As we welcome Ban’s statements about green economy, we are more thrilled with the statement of the head of Saudi Desalination Corporation that reflects the spirit of the recommendations from the AFED annual Conference for capacity building in desalination technolo- gies and local production of equipment and spare parts.
Imagine how many million jobs can be cre- ated and how many billions of dollars can be gained from the use of the sun in the Arab world to desalinate water or produce hydrogen from sea water and export it pres- surized as clean energy.
The US committed for the first time in Bonn last month to reduce carbon dioxide emis- sions by 17 percent in 2020, compared to 2005 levels. Concurrently, the EU countries have committed to reduce emissions by 20 percent with promises from both sides to increase the ceilings of reduction, if China and India join the system. This approach is an indicator of a complete new phase, ush- ering a historical deal on climate change in Copenhagen next December.
With US President Barack Obama and Ban, we should be witnessing a new era in inter- national cooperation on climate change not witnessed before. Countries which choose to stay on the sidelines will be left behind.
About the authors: Najib Saab is Secretary Gen- eral of Arab Forum for Environment and Develop- ment and Editor in Chief of Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia.
www.najibsaab.com.
Copyright: The Daily Star 2009
Low-Carbon Economy
A Low-Carbon Economy (LCE) refers to an economy that limits the output of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions into the biosphere. The objective is first to take into account all GHG emis- sion sources, from the large industrial plant to the private household. There are then three ways to lower GHG emissions: avoid unnecessary GHG emissions, limit necessary emissions, and trap the greenhouse gases that are still emitted (carbon storage).
Avoiding unnecessary emissions can, for example, mean using carbon-efficient transportation (trains and boats instead of planes, cars or trucks) or avoiding overheating or overcooling buildings.
Along the same lines, limiting necessary emissions might involve building more efficient buildings (that require less heating, cooling and lighting) or using more efficient transporta- tion (electric or hybrid cars, more efficient trains or planes).
Resource Efficiency
We are consuming more than nature can regenerate and we are producing waste faster than the earth’s systems can process it. A WWF study released in 2008 reinforce the message clearly: human consumption of the earth’s resources outstrips the planet’s capacity to regenerate by about 30%. As a result of continuing population growth and increasing demand for resources in many parts of the world, this ecological deficit is amplified each year.
Resource efficiency is about ensuring that natural resources are produced, processed and consumed in a more sustainable way, reducing the environmental impact of the consumption and production of goods and services over their full life cycles. By producing greater wellbeing with less material consumption, resource efficiency enhances the way in which human needs are met while respecting the ecological carrying capacity of the earth.
Improved resource efficiency is also essential for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). MDG 7, for example, defines the four targets for ensuring environmental sustainability – reversing the loss of environmental resources, reducing biodiversity loss, increasing access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation, and improving the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers. If these targets are to be reached, greater resource efficiency and more sustainable production and consumption patterns will be required. SCP offers developing countries new opportunities such as the creation of new markets, job generation (for example, markets for organic food, fair trade, sustainable housing, renewable energy) and the improved use of natural resources.
See also:
www.unep.org/resourceefficiency
Life cycle analysis
Every product has a life cycle. Products are designed, produced, launched, used and main- tained, and at some point, may “die” (disposal or recovery).
Life cycle analysis moves beyond the traditional focus on a production site and manufacturing processes to include the environmental, social and economic impact of a product or service system over its entire life cycle, from cradle to grave. This analytical tool helps us to understand how production systems and consumer choices are one part of a whole system of events.
Indeed, a life cycle approach identifies both the opportunities and risks of a product or tech- nology, from the extraction of raw materials to disposal, and can provide relevant information to determine and influence patterns of consumption and production.
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