Korea, UN to Host Forum on Asia’s Green Industries
By Do Je-hae
Staff Reporter
Korea and the United Nations will host an international environment forum aimed at promoting green industries in the Asia-Pacific region.
The Ministry of Environment, in cooperation with the United Nations, will hold the fourth policy consultation forum of the Seoul Initiative Network on Green Growth (SINGG) today through Friday in New Songdo City, Incheon.
The 4th SINGG Policy Forum will explore avenues for the application of green growth policy tools for economic growth in the region and ultimately to cope with threats from the global economic recession and climate change.
Speakers will include Environment Minister Lee Maan-ee, Incheon Mayor Ahn Sang-soo, Mr. Takemoto Kazuhiko, Japan's vice-minister of environment, and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California in the United States.
``It is anticipated that carbon intensity and resources efficiency will be increasingly significant in determining national economic competitiveness,'' an official with the organizing committee said.
``The forum will underline the role of the public sector for promoting environmentally friendly goods and services, green purchasing and green investment.''
The Seoul Initiative provides a regional cooperation framework for green growth, taking into account the economic, social, cultural and geographical features of the Asia-Pacific region.
The previous three series of SINGG took place in Seoul, Thailand and the Philippines.
Founded in 2006, SINGG is the result of the 2005 Ministerial Conference on Environment and Development in Asia and the Pacific, hosted jointly by Korea and the United Nations.