Major Groups and Stakeholders Consultation on Green Economy - 26 October 2010

Background of the meeting:

The Major Groups and Stakeholders Branch (MGSB) will be hosting a series of thematic consultations with major groups and stakeholders in support of the work of UNEP in two main areas:

These Consultations will be organized in collaboration with UNEP Division of Environmental Law and conventions (DELC) and Economics and Trade Branch – Division of Technology and Industry and Economics (ETB-DTIE).

Objectives:
The objective is to facilitate substantive input from major groups and stakeholders on the draft Green Economy Report (GER) chapters, and its policy recommendations in the context of the upcoming Rio+20 Conference

Expected outcomes:
The Consultation will result in a series of inputs/contributions and feedback from major groups and stakeholders on the GER policy options in addressing global development and environmental challenges. The outcomes of the Consultation will feed into the GER production process, the UNEP Governing Council / Global Ministerial Environment Forum (GC/GMEF) process, the UN-Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) process as well as the Rio+20 preparatory process.

The Consultation will result in support mobilized for UNEP policy recommendations on Green Economy towards and during the Rio+20 Conference.

Participants and target groups:
Major groups and stakeholders will be the main target groups, and will also be the main participants. Major groups and stakeholders on development, trade, international finance institutions will be invited, to broaden the scope of the interactions, and bring in new perspectives, to address challenges relating to financing for development, trade and commerce and potential barriers, global governance for sustainable development, the MDGs and poverty alleviation, etc. to bridge the gap between those issues and global environmental concerns. In addition, different sectors of Governments will be invited as observers.

Resource persons:
Resource persons will include staff from UNEP, from major groups and stakeholders, in particular members of the Green Economy Coalition, lead authors of GER chapters.

Agenda highlights:
1. Presentation/Update on conceptual issues, processes, and key messages from UNEP’s Green Economy Initiative
2. Major groups and stakeholders perspectives on Green Economy
3. Briefing from a GER Chapter Coordinating Author on the Enabling Conditions chapter
4. Group discussions around key issues:

What are the prerequisites for a transition to Green Economy? What are the costs of that transition?
Challenges and opportunities of a green economy
What are the implications for different set of actors, e.g. workers and trade unions, business and industry – especially small and medium sized enterprises, etc.?
What models and scenarios are in place? To which extent do they apply to developing countries and countries with economies in transition?
What would be the key implementation and financing mechanisms?
What is the role of civil society in this transition? At the regional and national level?
IEG and Green Economy, and the inter-linkages between both themes, and how they will contribute to alleviating poverty and achieving sustainable development goals

Agenda of the meeting

Background papers