Bali, 18 December 2014 – Policy-makers and experts from China, Bolivia, Thailand, South Africa and the ASEAN countries gathered in Bali, Indonesia, for a three-day seminar to discuss the different national approaches towards sustainable development.
The first workshop on Alternative National Pathways to Sustainability (16-18 December 2014), organized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in partnership with the Indonesian Ministry of Environment, was an opportunity to ascertain and exchange knowledge on how the countries involved in the initiative have achieved their alternative pathways to sustainability.
Panelists from Bolivia, China, South Africa and Thailand presented their countries respective approaches and experiences. In China, for instance, the development of Ecological Civilization has received significant financial and high-level political support, while in Thailand, the guiding principle of Sufficiency Economy is applied to sustainable development challenges. Bolivia has taken strong legal steps to implement its Vivir Bien (Living Well) concept, affording nature the same rights as humankind under its constitution, while South Africa has implemented a host of Green Economy policies at national, regional, and local level. The host country, Indonesia, also shared its own sustainable development policy framework.
“Drawing from the wisdom in these national initiatives, the inclusive green economy approach advocated by the United Nations places a particular focus on the importance of investing in critical natural capital, clean physical capital, human capital with updated skills and social capital in terms of good governance and social protection systems”, said Sheng Fulai, Head of Research and Partnerships for UNEP’s Economics and Trade Branch.
The workshop also addressed the use of indicators to measure progress along the various national pathways, including inclusive green economy. The potential link between inclusive green economy indicators and the eventual implementation of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) – currently under international negotiation – was also explored.
Government officials from Indonesia, China, Vietnam, Bolivia, South Africa, Cambodia, Thailand, Lao PDR, Philippines and Brunei Darussalam, who are all involved in environmental and natural resource planning in their countries, attended the workshop, in addition to Green Economy specialists from Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) and United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia (UN ESCAP).
The workshop was part of the UNEP project ‘Enhancing South-South Cooperation - Building the Capacity of Developing Countries to Promote Green Economies’, which was a response to a 2013 decision by the UNEP Governing Council that recognized the different approaches and models for reaching a resource-efficient, low carbon and socially inclusive economy. The decision called upon UNEP to collect different initiatives in order to facilitate information sharing among countries.
To download the workshop agenda, click here.
