GREEN GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT: OPPORTUNITIES, CHALLENGES, EXPERIENCES
	Thursday October 7, 2010 04:00 PM - 05:15 PM
	Video Link To "Secure Prosperity for All", the concept of green growth and development as a policy prescription in the context of a global financial crisis, rising unemployment, and the growing threat from climate change has strong political appeal.  Governments around the world are looking anew at how best to embrace the concept for the benefit of their citizens and the environment.  Indeed, there is increasing demand from Word Bank Group clients for technical assistance, policy advice, and financial support on green growth and development issues. Two years before the Rio+20 summit of 2012, which will focus on the "green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication", it is opportune to examine the opportunities that green growth and development offers, coupled with the challenges that also arise.  As well, countries with experience in policy reform and implementation designed to foster and sustain a green economy have a significant role to play in helping to map out future policies for all. This panel discussion and interactive session with the audience highlighted some of the issues that policy makers must address.  The basic question of the sustainability of development comes into play and touches on topics such as low-carbon growth, energy efficiency, new energy technologies, transport and climate change, sustainable cities, sustainable agriculture intensification, soil carbon, forestry and land use, biodiversity conservation, green accounting, social aspects of climate change, and carbon finance, among others. Key questions addressed included: Is "green growth" an oxymoron?  If not, what are the trade-offs that must be taken into account, and how should they be minimized, in order to promote "green" and "growth" simultaneously? What role does innovation and innovation policy play in navigating or minimizing these trade-offs? What are some of the cross-cutting practical tools that policy makers need to promote and implement to achieve green growth - e.g.better information systems; improved approaches for decision-making under uncertainty; innovative policy designs to transform markets and technologies; and more effective responses to equity and political economy concerns, notably where local and global environmental priorities may be at odds (e.g.hydro plants, wind farms). Which countries today are doing green growth and development well - and what lessons have they learned? How can the international community (multilateral development institutions, international financial institutions, the private sector, NGOs, etc.) give practical support to those countries which wish to adopt green growth and development policies?
	Panelist(s): Padoan, Pier Carlo , Deputy Secretary-General and Chief Economist, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, France Sukhdev, Pavan , Study Leader, The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) and Special Advisor, UNEP Green Economy Initiative Zaidi, Mohammad , Executive Vice President and Chief Technical Officer, Alcoa Technical Center, United States
	Moderator(s): Kay, Katty , Washington Correspondent, BBC World News America, United States
	Organized by: Roger Morier, Sustainable Development Network - World Bank Group
	Last modified on: 10/10/2010 04:07:42 PM