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To reaffirm GGGI’s strong commitment and explore potential areas of additional partnership with Thailand, GGGI Director-General, Dr. Frank Rijsberman visited the country between February 21 and 23, 2018. Dr. Rijsberman had an opportunity to meet and discuss with H.E. General Surasak Karnjanarat, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment. The discussion centered around Thailand’s development priorities, especially the development of the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) which is expected to be the country’s key economic driver for the years to come, and how GGGI can leverage strong experience working in green industry in Thailand and elsewhere to ensure long-term sustainability of the project.
Dr. Rijsberman had fruitful discussions with the management of the Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management Organization, Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand, Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board, and the private sector on how GGGI can work with Thailand more closely on greening the industry as well as expanding the work to green cities which is also a priority issue for the country.
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In partnership with the Norwegian Embassy in Colombia, the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (MADS) of Colombia and the Tropical Forest Alliance 2020 (TFA2020), GGGI co-hosted the first plenary meeting of the TFA2020 Alliance’s Colombian chapter in Bogotá on February 21 with over 30 stakeholder institutions from the public and private sectors. This partnership platform was designed to share best practices and identify projects and initiatives to implement and accelerate the national commitments on zero-deforestation supply chains – particularly focusing on 4 major commodity sectors driving deforestation: palm oil, cattle, dairy and timber. The participants, including representatives of Unilever, the World Bank, Poligrow, Climate Focus, WWF, Fundación Natura, South Pole Group approved the governance structure and 2018 TFA2020 Action Plan in Colombia.
“This is a first stride of Colombia towards compliance to achieve net zero deforestation”, said Juhern Kim, Acting Country Representative of Colombia, at the event, “this is a significant step as the world will follow this practice, and GGGI feels privileged to be an important part of this coalition with the Government of Colombia, the Government of Norway, and TFA 2020.”
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The GGGI Colombia team initiated the first technical discussion with the Government of Meta, as part of a sub-national green growth program partnered with the Norwegian government. The technical discussion session was held in Villavicencio, Meta on February 16 and was attended by local government representatives of Meta, including Chief Secretaries of Planning, Environment, and Agriculture sector, and special advisors to the Governor of Meta, to understand geographic characteristics, priority agenda of the local government.
As a next step, GGGI and the Meta government have agreed to review and analyze a list of priority projects having green growth potentials, particularly in the agriculture and forestry sectors, and to host a capacity development training session for local government officers on the topic of green growth planning and investment. The formal launch of this program will tentatively be held in April 2018.
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A Green Growth Performance Assessment (GGPA) in Myanmar was carried out as a preliminary step towards the mainstreaming of green growth into development planning in Myanmar and will inform the allocation of development assistance by the international development community more broadly. The work consisted of data gathering and analysis across a series of relevant green growth indicators, an international comparison of the country’s performance, and sector deep dives in critical sectors for green growth including agriculture, forestry, energy, mining, industry, tourism, urban development and public administration. Analysis of the challenges facing green growth, responses to date and recommendations for future interventions were provided for each sector. A summary report can also be found here.
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The Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), an international Inter-governmental organization dedicated to economic harmonization and integration in the Eastern Caribbean signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on February 23, 2018 in Saint Lucia to pursue joint programs and activities in support of capacity building and development of green growth options for developing countries.
The MoU was signed by Dr. Chanho Park, GGGI’s Director of Large & Emerging Economies and Didacus Jules, Director General of the OECS Commission.
The MoU will enable GGGI and The OECS to work together to develop and implement a regional strategy for inclusive green growth and climate smart development; strengthen national and local green growth planning and increase green investment flows, including the development of bankable green investment projects in OECS Member States.
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BANGKOK, Feb 26 2018 (IPS) - Energy efficiency in industries presents a unique opportunity for Thailand’s environmental and economic policies as regional trends push towards more inclusive and sustainable green cities for the country and its neighbors, says the Director-General of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) Dr. Frank Rijsberman.
Rijsberman, who is currently on a visit to the country for the UN SDG 7 Conference, revealed that expediting the global transition towards renewable energy was at the heart of discussions for international policymakers and green leaders attending the conference.
“Conferences like SDG 7 are a good opportunity to take stock of what is happening around the world. We are seeing all these exciting projects to replace coal-fired power plants with solar and wind energy. The percentage of renewables in energy production is rapidly growing to about 25 percent of the global power generation,” said Rijsberman.
The Thai government recently halted its plans for a coal-fired power plant in the South following more than a week of protests and a hunger strike by local residents and activists. Energy Minister Siri Jirapongphan said on Feb. 22 that the construction of new large-scale power plants in southern Thailand is unlikely over the next five years, as the current power development plan (2015-30) is under revision by the government to serve the real demand in each region with a specific focus on the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) – a move that Rijsberman sees as a hopeful signal from the government.
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ROME, Feb 9 2018 (IPS) - Green used to be the color of money. Now it’s the word we use to mean actions that don’t hurt perhaps even help the environment. Moving from paper currency to the world we live in is progress!
The Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) is playing a growing role in spreading the word. Today, it’s not so much pay to play as it is, to borrow from a popular television advertisement, “no green, no party.” It’s great news that more and more people understand that environmental factors are not a burden to be shouldered or shirked but an opportunity to be seized. A major industrialist speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos this year noted that going green is actually about the bottom line and the biggest business opportunity of the century.
Read more here»
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Converting Kathmandu’s public buses to electric can dramatically reduce air pollution
Many in Kathmandu fondly remember the green trolley buses that used to ply the 13 km Tripureswor-Suryabinayak route for nearly three decades. They were clean, comfortable, convenient and way ahead of their time when introduced in 1975. Poor management caused the Chinese-built service to be scrapped, and all that remains are the rusting hulks of the buses in the Baneswor terminal.
But although Kathmandu’s iconic trolley buses are gone, and their electric poles uprooted, efforts have resumed to restore electric public transport. The government started looking at the possibility of battery-powered buses during the 2015 Blockade.
Read more here»
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