The Global Green Growth Summit, hosted by the Korean government and OECD and organized by the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) and Korea Development Institute (KDI), was held from June 20 to 21 at the Lotte Hotel in Seoul.
Organized around the theme of "Building Planet - Responsible Civilization," the event celebrates the OECDs 50th anniversary, the 15th anniversary of Korea joining the OECD and the one-year anniversary of the launch of the GGGI.
The event was attended by important figures from 25 countries, including OECD Secretary-General Jose Angel Gurria Trevino, ESCAP Executive Secretary Noeleen Heyzer and Danish Minister for Climate and Energy Lykke Friis. The event began with a video message from Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon.
At the opening ceremony, President Lee Myung-bak said, "We can make changes if we concentrate all our efforts on harmony between man and the earth. The key to a green economy with low carbon emissions is technology." He also announced the Green Global Technology award for the development of technologies that help advance environmental goals.
The first day of the summit was for sharing development strategies for green growth and to reinforce cooperation among countries. The day was organized into three sessions: "Building Planet-Responsible Civilization," "Green Growth & Sustainable Development Governance: Rio+20 & Beyond," and "GGGI and a New Framework of Cooperation."
During the sessions, Secretary-General Gurria stressed the need for founding policies and visions for green growth. Vice-president of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Ursula Schaefer-Preuss praised the host country during the first sessions, calling Korea a role model for other countries for its roadmap for green growth and expressing her hopes that countries worldwide would cooperate on new environmentally-friendly policies.
Prior to opening the day's sessions, Secretary General Gurria announced the "OECDs Social Policy Brochure for Korea," report to suggest better policies and essential frameworks for social integration in Korea. He said, "Korea's tax and welfare system is the most inefficient among the OECD countries when it comes to fairness. However, the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) has shown significant progress." He also suggested the ways to decrease the poverty rate among the elderly and address women's low economic participation rates.
The program continued with three sessions on "Prospects and Challenges of the Korean Economy," "G20 & Global Governance," and "Towards Better Development Cooperation: HLF-4, G20, MDGs." The sessions hope to enable the G20 to continue coordinating efforts to address long-term global issues.
At the end of the summit, GGGI Executive Director Richard Samans gave the closing remarks and announced plans to establish more GGGI branches in the United Arab Emirates and England.
source: Apec-vc Korea
