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Investing in clean energy, sustainable transport, forests and environmentally friendly forms of agriculture could go a long way in meeting MDGs
UNEP Policy Brief Urges Environmentally Friendly Investments to Help Achieve MDGs,
As 130+ Presidents and Prime Ministers Meet at UN Headquarters
Date: Monday, 20 September 2010
Time: 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon EST
Via teleconference at +1-212-963-9802 or 1-212-963-9806.
Or join us in the UNEP NY Office (2 UN Plaza, Room 803, on East 44th Street, between 1st and 2nd Aves.).
Speakers:
Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director
Pavan Sukhdev, Project Leader, UNEP Green Economy Initiative seconded from Deutsche Bank
Investing in clean energy, sustainable transport, forests and environmentally friendly forms of agriculture could go a long way towards meeting the internationally agreed poverty goals known as the Millennium Development Goals or MDGs.
Today UNEP, in a new report, has presented the world's policy makers with numerous examples where "green" strategies are paying multiple dividends and generating multiple opportunities in efforts to ensure environmental sustainability, while also addressing maternal health, providing safe drinking water, and combating hunger and disease.
Background
UNEP launched its Green Economy Initiative at the height of the global financial and economic crisis in late 2008 in order to assess how sectors - such as renewable energies, clean and efficient technologies, water services and sustainable fisheries - could contribute to economic growth, creation of decent jobs, social equity and poverty reduction, while addressing climate risk and other ecological challenges.
The final Green Economy Report, covering 11 sectors, is being prepared by an international team of experts and is due in early 2011. In time for the UN's Summit to Review the MDGs (20-22 September, UNHQ) - 5 years before their target implementation date of 2015 - UNEP has produced a "Brief for Policy-makers on the Green Economy and the MDGs".
For More Information and to Attend the Briefing, Please Contact:
Jim Sniffen, UNEP Information Officer in New York, on Tel: +1-212-963-8094 or +1-917-742-2218, sniffenj@un.org;
or Nick Nuttall, Spokesperson/Head of Media, in New York until 24 September on nick.nuttall@unep.org, Mobile +254 733 632755
Information on UNEP's Green Economy Initiative can be found at www.unep.org/greeneconomy.
