UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon opened the inaugural Global Green Growth Forum at Moltkes Palae in Copenhagen, 11-12 October. It focuses on key areas of energy and transport, cutting across the pertinent themes of finance, regulatory frameworks and international markets. Global Green Growth Forum is an initiative of the Danish Government in partnership with the Governments of the Republic of Korea and Mexico, and developed in association with the Global Green Growth Institute, based in South Korea.
The Danish Prime Minister / Helle Thorning-Schmid said, "3GF offers a space for world economic leaders to challenge conventional thinking and find new green avenues to growth. Green growth has to be at the core of a sustainable strategy to get us out of the economic crisis. To advance this global agenda, Denmark as well as other countries actively engaged in the green transition must take the lead, in close partnership with visionary companies and investors. Together, we can foster the bold decisions necessary to make all of us winners of tomorrow's green industrial revolution. This is our common responsibility".
High-level participants include: UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon; EU Commissioner for Climate Action, Connie Hedegaard; UNFCCC Executive Secretary, Christiana Figueres; Prime Minister of Kenya, Raila Odinga; Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Meles Zenawi; Ministers from Mexico, South Korea, South Africa, Turkey; UNEP Executive Director, Achim Steiner; OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria; Chairman of the Board, Nestle, Peter Brabeck-Letmanthe.
With a view to innovate the international architecture for green growth, outcomes from the Forum will be fed into high-level political processes, negotiations and forums worldwide: G20, UNFCCC COP17, Clean Energy Ministerial, Rio+20 and the annual World Climate Summit, 3-4 December 2011.