SEOUL, Republic of Korea — On June 24, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea, in collaboration with the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), the KDI School of Public Policy and Management, and EIT Climate-KIC, hosted the 7th Green Round Table: Green New Deal and its potential in Post COVID-19 recovery. This annual event serves as the flagship event for the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs in their efforts to solve the climate crisis.
GGGI celebrated its 10th Anniversary Ceremony during the event, sharing milestones and achievements it’s made over the past decade to help its Members achieve strong, resilient green growth. “We are celebrating the 10th anniversary of GGGI today. It is my honor and pleasure to congratulate the Institute on its decade of outstanding achievements in assisting Members and partners around the world,” shared Ms. Kang Kyung-wha, Minister of Foreign Affairs to the Republic of Korea, during her Opening Remarks. “With their unwavering support and commitment, I am confident that GGGI will continue to play a vital role in making the world greener for our future generations.”
GGGI’s President & Chair, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, presented the Congratulatory Address of the event. “I am proud of GGGI’s efforts to develop white papers with policy recommendations that can be utilized together with effective tools to help assess green growth and progress made,” shared Mr. Ban Ki-moon. “I believe we can make 2020 the year we really, truly turn a corner on climate change. To do so, we must work together and make sustainable development and green growth a core part of our policies, rules, and regulations.”
Session 1 of the event commenced with presentation by Mr. You Jong-il, Dean of the 
KDI School of Public Policy & Management, to provide further details on Korea’s Green New Deal and the opportunities it brings for a green COVID-19 recovery. Following the presentation, Mr. Yannick Glemarec, Executive Director of the Green Climate Fund, moderated a panel discussion in which speakers shared their insights on economic recovery & climate response post COVID-19 to discuss why the Green New Deal matters.
EIT Climate-KIC hosted the 2nd Session the event, featuring a presentation by Chief Strategy Officer, Mr. Tom Mitchell to explain how the EU Strategy for the Green Deal changed due to COVID-19 and how Climate-KIC supported the achievement of the Green Deal though systems innovation. The panel discussion of the session was centralized around sharing country experiences and lessons for Korea to achieve the Green New Deal, with GGGI Director-General, Dr. Frank Rijsberman, moderating the session.