Green economy is vehicle for development not an alternative to it, says expert at ECA workshop

ECA Press Release No. 16/2011

Dr Patrick Mwesigye

Addis Ababa, 09 March 2011 (ECA) -A green economy that results in increased human wellbeing and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities is the economic vehicle for sustainable development, and not an alternative to it, said an expert at the ongoing regional workshop on institutional and strategic framework for sustainable development.

In the presentation, titled “Institutional Innovations for Transition Towards a Green Economy in Africa”, Dr Patrick Mwesigye, said that green economy is embedded with ample strategies for sending poverty in Africa, according to the Information and Communication Service (ICS) of Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) at the workshop.

“A green economy comprehensively challenges the myth of a trade off between environmental investments and economic growth.  It is not only relevant to more developed countries but also a key catalyst for growth and poverty eradication in developing ones too,” said Dr Mwesigye, who is a Regional Industry Officer with United Nation’s Environment Programme (UNEP).

The last decade has seen crises in climate, biodiversity, food, fuel and water, and more recently, the financial crisis, all characterized by the gross misallocation of capital and exacerbated by existing policies and market incentives.

“Therefore, we know that in order to achieve sustainable development, we are going to need a new economic paradigm” said Mwesigye.

The green economy, endorsed by African governments and the African Union in several declarations and resolutions, requires innovative and imaginative public policies to create incentives for markets and direct private sector investment. 

It calls for institutional innovations “combining legal, economic, technological and administrative measures that guarantee the development of the green economy in a new era,” said Mwesigye.

To have such institutional innovation, UNEP recommends the creation of enablers rather than governors, shifting from products to services (Green Energy Fund, African Carbon Asset Development Facility), enhancing partnerships and radical changes in methods of implementation that result in higher environmental benefits.

The call for  innovation seems to echo African Union’s concern that little impact has been achieved in sustainable development in Africa despite various environmental initiatives since the 1980’s. “It is clear that we are missing something,” said Dr Khalil Timamym head of Environment, Water and Natural Resources at the African Union Commission.

All attempts to sensitize policy makers through various initiatives  have not borne the required fruits while previous attempts to integrate environmental issues with national developmental plans had also failed partly because of the limited understanding of environmental issues by planners, he said.

Assuring sustainability of financing, by looking for other means than assistance from donors, as well as enabling parliamentarians to get Acts passed in parliament were cited as some of the measures needed to achieve progress in sustainable development.

The Africa Development Bank, on its part, indicated that there were several financing mechanisms at the disposal of African countries for sustainable development projects, including  These included concessional loans, market mechanisms; Trust Funds such as the Africa Water Facility,  Microfinance; Debt Relief;  Africa Green Fund; Leveraged Funds, and Capital Markets.

The workshop continues.

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Addis Ababa
Ethiopia

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