The Green Growth Knowledge Platform (GGKP), in partnership with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and other GGKP partner institutions, convened a series of events the week of 25 November at the OECD headquarters in Paris, France. These events included the Green Growth & Sustainable Development Forum, the Second Global Forum on Green Economy Learning, the Sixth GGKP Annual Conference, and a GGKP Expert Working Group Meeting on Natural Capital.
Second Global Forum on Green Economy Learning (26-27 November)
The Global Forum on Green Economy Learning was jointly organized by the Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE), the GGKP, GGGI, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Green Economy Coalition (GEC) and Environment for Development (EfD). It was attended by approximately 100 representatives from leading learning organizations, including government training centers, global and national training facilities, universities, and GGKP Knowledge Partners. The Forum participants focused on how countries can build up a critical mass of professionals who: (1) understand the risks and opportunities of a transition to an inclusive green economy; and (2) have the knowledge and skills to put in place the right policies and incentives to address identified risks.
The event included an innovative final “pitch” session with participants providing feedback and support. Three initiatives will be taken forward by the participating organizations, including the creation of a collaborative platform for green learning, a mechanism to increase knowledge sharing between government training institutes, and a collaborative effort to develop training impact indicators.
Sixth GGKP Annual Conference (27-29 November)
The Sixth GGKP Annual Conference was hosted by the OECD in conjunction with its annual Green Growth and Sustainable Development Forum. The event focused on the theme, “Inclusive Solutions for the Green Transition” and included discussions on 30 new research papers, an opening statement by Ban Ki-moon, and an opening keynote presentation by Nicholas Stern. The conference highlighted key themes including job displacement, trade and competitiveness, and social equity. GGGI, along with the International Labour Organization, presented its green jobs approach in the parallel session titled Jobs and Green Growth.
A key message of the conference was the need for governments and international organizations to be more aggressive with policy development given the substantial challenges of addressing climate change and other environmental crises. Linked to this, there were several calls for more novel policy mixes (i.e. using pricing with more traditional command and control policies). Several experts also noted that achieving a green transition in a “post-truth” era is hampered by the gap between perception and evidence. Facts do not always speak for themselves which compounds the need for clear and impactful communication. In particular, developing more positive narratives about a green future would engage a broader group of stakeholders.
The event also included the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to welcome the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) as a new member of the GGKP Steering Committee alongside GGGI,UN Environment, the OECD, and the World Bank. The renewed MOU provided an opportunity for the five organizations to reaffirm their commitment to the partnership, which now includes more than 60 partner institutions, and to endorse an expansion of the partnership through the establishment of a Green Industry Platform and Green Finance Platform. The two new platforms are currently under development with the Green Industry Platform proposed to be launched at UNEA-4 and the Green Finance Platform proposed for launch at the 2019 Spring Meetings of the World Bank and IMF. GGGI hosted a well-attended lunchtime briefing session on the Green Growth Performance Measurement tool, presenting the GGPM’s development process.
In the closing session, GGGI announced that it will host the Seventh GGKP Annual Conference in conjunction with the Global Green Growth Week in October 2019 in Seoul, Republic of Korea, focusing renewable energy.
Expert Meeting of the GGKP Natural Capital Working Group (29-30 November)
In order to bring natural capital into the mainstream of green growth policy and practice, the GGKP in partnership with the MAVA Foundation launched the GGKP Natural Capital Expert Working Group at the World Bank in Washington, DC, USA in November 2017. In its first year, the working group prioritized a key set of knowledge gaps for integrating natural capital into national green growth planning.
The Natural Capital Expert Working Group used the occasion of the Annual Conference to discuss the group’s first research deliverables, set working group goals for the next four years, and identify specific opportunities for mainstreaming natural capital in existing green growth and green economy policy support within the GGKP partner institutions. GGGI presented the Myanmar investment case to the Working Group. Seed financing from the MAVA Economics for Nature project will be directed to support this case.
GGGI and GGKP were also represented at other sessions relevant to Natural Capital Week including Natural Capital Policy Forum, Global Roundtable, and Climate Finance Day.