By Yi Whan-woo
Environment Minister You Young-sook promoted Korea’s environment-friendly “green growth” policy at an annual meeting organized by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) in Nairobi, Kenya.
The three-day gathering aimed to share ideas on sustainable growth across the world ahead of the UNEP conference in Rio, Brazil. The upcoming conference will be held in June focused on the same topic.
“To achieve a green economy, each country should come up with government-level strategies, and the world should focus on carrying out visible plans,” Yoo said on the second-day of the conference that ended Wednesday.
“Green growth is a policy in which the preservation of nature, economic development, and social infrastructure can be done in harmony. The policy can be an effective measure to solve discrepancies that can occur between economic development and the preservation of nature.”
Many participants showed interest in Korea’s green growth policy, ministry officials said.
The ministry added that Martina Bianchini, a representative from the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA), also took note of the fact that Korean industries and government cooperate to nurture a green economy for sustainable growth.
Yoo also visited a slum in Nairobi to deliver clothes and stationary products to local teenagers. The activity was a part of the program run by the ministry since 2011 to support African teenagers.