Press Release

United Kingdom Ratifies GGGI Establishment Agreement

UK Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, the Rt. Hon. Edward Davey MP (left) and GGGI Director-General Howard Bamsey at GGGI Headquarters for the UK’s ratification of the GGGI Establishment Agreement.

SEOUL –May 28 –The United Kingdom deposited its official Instrument of Ratification to the Global Green Growth Institute today, making the UK the eleventh of eighteen member countries to have ratified GGGI’s Establishment Agreement. The Instrument was presented to GGGI Director-General Howard Bamsey by  UK Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, the Rt. Hon. Edward Davey MP, at GGGI headquarters in Seoul.

“I am delighted to be able to confirm that the UK has ratified the GGGI Establishment Agreement and we look forward to being an active and supportive member of the organization. I strongly believe GGGI has the potential to show that green growth works and to catalyze international action to build a low carbon economy. GGGI’s mission has cross-party support in the UK as shown by the strong statements of support for GGGI by both the Government and Opposition in both Houses of Parliament as the ratification legislation was debated,” said Mr. Davey during a brief ceremony marking the occasion.

Mr. Bamsey added, “We are very pleased that the UK has formally completed the successful ratification of the GGGI Establishment Agreement. As a recognized international leader on climate change and development, the UK has a particularly important role to play in the global transition to green growth. We hope that we can continue to build on our shared vision and mission in order to affect truly transformational change on a global scale”

The UK has been a GGGI partner country since 2011, and has been a founding member of GGGI since it converted into an international organization in October last year.  The UK is also a significant financial contributor to GGGI, providing project-specific funding, namely for GGGI’s work in Ethiopia.

GGGI is an international organization dedicated to developing and diffusing a new paradigm of economic growth – green growth – which simultaneously balances economic performance and environmental sustainability. Headquartered in Seoul and founded in June 2010, GGGI works in long-term partnership with developing and emerging economies through rigorous green growth planning, research and public-private cooperation. In June 2012, 18 nations signed the GGGI Establishment Agreement, which formally defines and establishes the organization as international intergovernmental organization with an independent legal personality. With the addition of the United Kingdom, 11 nations have since ratified the Agreement, including Denmark, Guyana, Kiribati, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Qatar, Papua New Guinea and the United Arab Emirates.