– calls institute “a new way of helping developing countries”
President Bharrat Jagdeo
President Bharrat Jagdeo has accepted an invitation to join the Board of Directors of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), and on June 19, the president attended a meeting of the board in Seoul, South Korea.
GGGI is dedicated to pioneering a new model of economic growth – “green growth” that aligns work to address poverty reduction, job creation, and social inclusion with work that addresses environmental sustainability, such as mitigation of climate change and biodiversity loss, and security of access to clean energy and water.
According to the GGGI website: “The Global Green Growth Institute was founded on the belief that economic growth and environmental sustainability are not merely compatible objectives; their integration is essential for the future of humankind…. [It] is a new kind of international organisation – and is driven by emerging and developing countries. It has been established by several forward- thinking governments and non- governmental organisations to maximise the opportunity for “bottom up” (ie, country- and business-led) progress on climate change and other environmental challenges within core economic policy and business strategies.”
The institute is designed to be an open, global laboratory to support experimentation and collective learning by countries seeking to leapfrog the resource-intensive and environmentally unsustainable model of industrial development pioneered by advanced economies in an earlier era.
GGGI grew out of the green growth experience of the Republic of Korea, and was launched by President Lee Myung-bak on June 16, 2010. The organisation’s chairman is Dr Han Seungsoo, former prime minister of the Republic of Korea and a distinguished economist. Its chairs are Lord Nicholas Stern of the London School of Economics, United Kingdom; and Professor Thomas Heller of Stanford University, United States.
Other members include Montek Ahlhuwalia, deputy chairman of India’s Planning Commission; Lykke Friis, Danish minister for climate and energy; Trevor Manuel, South Africa’s former finance minister; and Abdoulie Janneh, under-secretary general of the United Nations.
Speaking after the board meeting, President Jagdeo said, “GGGI provides a new and unique opportunity to make green development a positive development option.
“It was encouraging to hear the views of other board members, who are global leaders, in working out how to align social and economic development with low carbon and broader green growth. What sets GGGI apart is its attitude and its belief that solutions for the developing world must come from the developing world.” The Board of GGGI builds on the core vision first set out by President Jagdeo in late 2007, when during a speech to Commonwealth finance ministers in Georgetown, the president started the process which culminated in Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy.
In an article after the speech, the president said: “We must apply the world’s intellect, innovation and resources to solve climate change in a manner which engages people and countries from most of the developing world… Visionary leaders throughout the developed world… are speaking of how the global transition to low carbon economies presents their countries with huge opportunities for jobs, investment and growth. I applaud these visionary leaders, who see that there is no incompatibility between future economic prosperity and squaring up to the task of combating climate change. But I also point out that there are leaders and populations across the developing world who are willing to act decisively, and we must create appropriate incentives to engage them.” Jagdeo was expected on June 21 to join Korean President Lee Myung-bak in opening the Organisation for Economic Development’s Green Growth Summit, which is also taking place in Seoul.
