London, October 2010

MediaGlobal: Away from the rounds of discussions on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) along with Pavan Sukhdev, Project Leader for the Green Economy Initiative, met with UN Correspondents recently to underscore how investing in clean energy and sustainable transport to forests and environmentally-friendly forms of agriculture could help meet the MDGs.

“How are we going to feed 9 billion people in 40 years?” asked Steiner. “The answer,” he continued, “is by transitioning to a green economy. A green thread runs through all the MDGs, and when we talk of the green economy, we are talking of the poor today, not of the poor in the future.”

Steiner launched a brief for policymakers on the Green Economy, which sharply indicated that environmental degradation is aggravating the challenge of improving maternal health and the provision of safe drinking water to combating hunger and disease.

The report spotlights China’s energy policy: China is now the second biggest wind power country in the world and the biggest exporter of photo-voltaics; 10 percent of households have solar water heaters.

“Green economy is a new kind of economy — an economy that allows human well-being without increasing environmental risks,” Sukhdev explained. He discussed fresh water, sanitation and agriculture as the three important components of a successful green economy initiative.

Sukhdev elaborated further in an interview with MediaGlobal. When asked to what extent has ecologically-friendly agriculture trickled down to developing countries, he replied: “Not very much. Only 57 countries have successfully tried this kind of agriculture. If other least developed countries, with the support of their governments, use fresh water, natural pesticides and other new technological methods, the increase in yield can be as much as 79 percent.”

When asked about financing for development, Steiner told MediaGlobal: “ The Green economy puts a fresh, new face on social and economic opportunities for investing. Investing in fresh water has brought in 11 percent in return on investment.” However, he conceded that public-private investments, reducing emissions, and working with nature will be the key to success in transitioning to a green economy.

Discussing the Initiative further, Sukhdev indicated that fresh water is a critical resource on which agriculture and the rest of the green economy depends. Echoing Steiner, he asked, “Can we feed 9 billion people in 2050? We can feed them now, but we are not efficient in agriculture and food production. Our studies have shown that 50 percent of food is wasted.”

“ Equitable distribution of food is a problem, not lack of it,” he added.

Sukhdev emphasized, “Unless there is improved access to clean water and sanitation, it will be impossible to meet the MDGs for the reduction of poverty and disease.”

Steiner indicated that early next year the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) will release a detailed report on the Green Economy to showcase the “ rapidly growing evidence that accelerating a transition to a low carbon, resource efficient, employment-generating Green Economy may not only be the key to meeting sustainability challenges of the 21st century, but also provide considerable contribution to meeting other MDGs.”

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