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Revisiting Economics & Finance to Accelerate Action for People & the Planet
Carin Jämtin, Director General of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), highlighted 3 keys to accelerate action for sustainable development:
"integrated policies, green finance, and broad-based partnerships."
This key message was loud and clear at the PAGE-hosted side-event on June 2. The call to action at the Stockholm+50 Conference focused on building the global momentum for a green and inclusive economic transformation to accelerate action on circular economy and climate change.
The discussion focused on policy and investment shifts needed to spark a system-wide socioeconomic transformation.
Finance alone will not fill the policy and capacity gaps that exist in many countries. Consequently, different national capabilities and circumstances should be fully taken into consideration in pursuing a green economic transition.
Broad-based partnerships, including those from the UN system, must be strengthened to enable countries to address economic and environmental challenges together. PAGE was highlighted as a successful example of incentivizing collective action, uniting economic expertise of the UN System and galvanizing partnerships with a wide range of national ministries, civil society, the private sector and different tiers of governance systems.
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Cambodia and Rwanda Join PAGE
Cambodia and Rwanda were officially welcomed as the two newest members to the Partnership for Action on Green Economy. With these engagements officially announced during the event, the number of countries benefitting from PAGE-tailored assistance and coordinated support to sectoral reforms and policymaking reaches 22.
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Foreword from Stockholm+50
Ministers and Heads of Delegations of PAGE partner countries, funding partners and UN Agencies met on June 3 in Stockholm to identify pathways to make our economies low carbon, circular, nature positive and pro-poor, and to discuss how Partnerships like PAGE can help make the outcomes of Stockholm+50 a reality.
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ACCELERATING NATIONAL ACTION
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Thailand: 76 Provincial Governors Sign SDGs Commitment Statement with the UN Country Team
The UN Country Team and PAGE (led by UNIDO) in Thailand convened all 76 provincial Governors in Bangkok for the signing of the Statement of Commitment to advance SDGs and promote climate action solutions within their respective provinces. Participating UN agencies namely FAO, UNDP, UNESCO, UN-Habitat and UNIDO (supported by PAGE team) highlighted their flagship initiatives including on PAGE through their onsite exhibitions and presentations at this signing event.
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The signing of the ‘Statement of Commitment for a Sustainable Thailand’ happened at the UN Conference Center in Bangkok in the presence of the Permanent Secretary of Interior, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Executive Secretary of ESCAP Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, and the UN Resident Coordinator in Thailand Gita Sabharwal. Thailand ensures that the Governors will have a central role in driving sustainability, particularly on solutions to reduce CO2 emissions through technology transfer, biodiversity, and ecological tourism. They will also work on nature-based solutions for biomass burning and reducing pollution, smart farming, and strengthening community resilience in adaptation and disaster risk reduction. More photos.
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Senegal: A Greener and More Gender-Inclusive Economic Recovery
PAGE led by ILO and UNDP, conducted the training activities of market gardening groups and women who process agricultural and beekeeping products from the classified forest of Mbao. The Green Recovery Covid funds from Germany reignited the agroecology activity by empowering workers, most of which were women.
The targeted action shall help in restoring revenue levels of local women with the conservation and processing of bio-organic products, which was estimated at an average of US$ 214 annually during the pre-pandemic. One third of the group members will lead the knowledge replication to community groups and youth in the surrounding areas of the capital Dakar.
The instruction entailed the biological control methods and the safe use of low residual biopesticides, quality and hygiene, post-harvest conservation and packaging. As an outcome, the training also hopes to enable market access to the local produce such as honey, royal jelly, propolis and cashew nuts.
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Burkina Faso: Knowledge Exchange for Economic Recovery and Ecological Transition of Tourism in West Africa
The Agrhymet Regional Center (ARC) organized, in collaboration with PAGE Burkina Faso and UNITAR, a sub-regional webinar on April 12 under the theme: "Post-COVID19 Economic Recovery and Ecological Transition in West Africa. The case of the Tourism sector".
The pandemic has made it possible “to redefine the order of priorities to lay the foundations for a strong, competitive, inclusive economy in a context of environmental preservation; to review the business model in order to make tourism - already affected by security problems - an anchor point for endogenous and sustainable socio-economic growth” said the Burkinabe expert Dr. Larba Issa Kobyagada. The regional exchange activity gathered representatives of governments, academics, development experts and PAGE agency UNITAR teams of 3 west African countries: Burkina Faso, Senegal and Morocco.
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Mauritius: Building Circularity in National Economy
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Financing the Greening of SMEs
Seeks to assess the level of integration of environmental sustainability in the financing of SMEs in Mauritius. It examines the current state of green finance frameworks, practices and structures relevant to the financial sector and the potential to scale up green financing for the SME sector. This allows increased access to green finance opportunities.
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Industrial Waste Management
Aims to enable an effective industrial solid waste management (SWM) and facilitate the development of a Circular Economy for the enhancement of enterprises' competitiveness. The following sectors were assessed: textile and wearing apparel, chemicals and chemical products, food products (poultry, sea food, beverages and bottling sub-sectors), printing and reproduction of recorded media and construction materials.
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Indonesia: Strengthening Low Carbon Development for the Green Economy Transition
PAGE has been assisting the provincial government of West Java in replicating the national LCDI policy at the provincial level. In the second half of 2020, PAGE provided technical assistance for developing the provincial Low Carbon Development Plan. In April, PAGE Indonesia together with Ministry of National Development Planning (BAPPENAS), organized a workshop in Bandung, West Java, to introduce the provincial model/integrated planning tool to relevant civil apparatus/planners in West Java, as well as to conduct policy simulation for finalizing the low carbon plan. Over 50 participants from various bureau/offices in West Java province, BAPPENAS, as well as development partners, took part in the event.
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Uruguay: Design Process for its National Circular Economy Strategy Begins
PAGE led by UNIDO, started the provision of technical assistance to the Uruguay Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining (MIEM) for the design and validation of a national Circular Economy Strategy. This strategy promotes a new model of economic development that includes the continuous valorization of resources, the closing of cycles of materials, water and energy, and the creation of new business models.
Uruguay aims to promote the industry symbiosis for helping its cities to meet sustainability targets by optimizing energy efficiency and reducing water and carbon footprint, overall. The priorities and goals specified by the MIEM involve, (i) Industrial materials and products; (ii) Container and packaging materials; (iii) Optimization and use of biomass; (iv) Water cycle, (v) Sources and use of energy; (vi) Management of materials in urban centers, among others.
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South Africa: Transitioning to a Circular Economy
PAGE and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), in close consultation with the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Waste Branch (DFFE), have produced two reports to guide the revision of the legal instruments regarding the solid waste management in South Africa.
The first report reviews the Municipal Integrated Waste Management Planning Guidelines (MIWMP) in the country, and documents recommendations to: (i) mainstream principles of National Waste Management Strategy 2020, (ii) integrate waste pickers in the municipal waste planning process and (iii) introduce best practices and principles of circular economy.
The study: Strengthening Waste Management Legislation for a Greener Recovery, responds to the national contextual challenges. It provides technical support to the DFFE for its revision of existing model waste by-laws in the country.
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Morocco: Managing Water Risks
Through a presentation on "Water security, territories and regional specificities: which actors to involve? ", addressed by UNIDO, the PAGE country team in Morocco shared experiences on the workshop delivered in Rabat on May 12-13. The activity was organized by the General Confederation of Enterprises of Morocco and the Moroccan Coalition on Water (COALMA) who are both part of the steering committee of PAGE Morocco. The intervention was in line with PAGE's work in Morocco, where UNIDO and UNDP will soon launch a study on national water governance.
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Argentina: Implementing Strategies for Climate Action and a Greener Economy
The first meeting of the External Advisory Board to the National Climate Change Cabinet was held. The board has a tripartite structure and involves representatives of civil society.
Newly released assessments were launched. The Roadmap towards a national Green Employment Strategy was developed with the Ministries of Labor, Production and Environment. The second, Towards a Just Transition as COVID-19 Recovery: National Position Paper on Just Transition as means of Green Recovery, develops the positioning of employers, workers and government towards the risks, challenges and opportunities of a just transition in Argentina. Many months of work resulted in more than 60 in-depth qualitative interviews and broad validation workshops for employers, workers and government. Read more in this study supported by PAGE, about government positions on the post-Covid19 transition to a green economy.
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Webinar to Celebrate the 20th Anniversary of UNEP Life Cycle Initiative
The Life Cycle Initiative's webinar on June 23 will take stock of the achievements and discuss how the wider life cycle community could improve the application of the knowledge and tools to speed up the sustainable transition. The initiative is hosted by UNEP, and promotes life cycle knowledge, revealing the unintended trade-offs between circular approaches' social, environmental, and economic impacts.
When: Thursday 23 June 2022 (13:30-15:30 CEST)
Learn and share experiences on the panel discussion with experts from governments, businesses, and science.
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Launched in 2013, the Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE) seeks to put sustainability at the heart of economic policies and practices to advance the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. PAGE supports countries and regions in reframing economic policies and practices around sustainability to foster economic growth, create income and jobs, reduce poverty and inequality, and strengthen the ecological foundations of their economies.
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