Green Growth

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By Mr. Rae Kwon Chung

The Asian and Pacific region is experiencing the fastest economic growth among the regions of the world. However, this rapid economic growth is placing increasing pressure upon the environmental carrying capacity of the region. Economic growth will alleviate poverty and support progress towards fulfillment of the Millennium Development Goals. However, it is crucial that this economic growth does not jeopardize the environmental carrying capacity but leaves sufficient natural resources to ensure growth also for the generations to come.

Read the Green Growth Theme Paper here

Furthermore, Mr. Chung was active as chair, organiser, and resourceperson in the following meetings, workshops and dialogues:

-The First Green Growth Policy Dialogue

-The Second Green Growth Policy Dialogue

-Roundtable workshop: Prospects of Green Tax and Budget Reform

Capacity building on green growth policy tools and application in:

-Kazakhstan

-Cambodia

-Hanoi

The 2005 State of the Environment Report (SOE)

The report analyses the continuing urbanization and the implications it has for the environment.
The sources of economic opportunity / vitality for increasingly high and dense populations automatically create growing consumption and pollution. As a consequence, the quality of urban life deteriorates because of increase in air pollution, waste issues, health problems, and traffic congestion.

Managing the Environment for Development and to Sustain Pro-poor Growth

By Stephen Bass and Paul Steele

March 2006

Read the report in PDF

Rising carbon emissions may nullify the profit of current climate policies

A dramatic change of trends: While the last decade showed slightly falling carbon emissions, things have worsened. According to UN Deputy Director-General for the Environment Yvo de Boer, the global community must prepare and anticipate invariable changes: “We have to react quickly; otherwise it will be very expensive”.

He referred to scientific studies that support this thesis, and thus follows the same discourse as former Chief Economist and Senior Vice-President of the World Bank Nicholas Stern, who predicts a global recession if the consequences of the climate change are not acted upon.

The report shows in detail that the development has gone in the wrong direction. The most important benchmark for the measurement of human influence on the world climate is the emission of carbon into the air. The UN report shows that it is increasing rapidly. Since the year 2000, the exhaust of carbon has increased by a full 2.4 percent. This begs the question whether we are on the right track away from the climate catastrophe, and what measures must be taken in order to increase our effort?

What is supposed to come after Kyoto ?

Read the UN press release in PDF here