Forum on greening rural Africa underway in Accra
Policy makers and researchers in Africa are meeting in Accra at a five-day regional forum and training workshop to build their capacity in understanding the role of business in the transition of rural Africa to a green economy.
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The forum is also to give the participants the ability to promote the creation, development and growth of green and resource efficient enterprises in the region.
The regional forum on “Greening industries and green entrepreneurship promotion as a driver of sustainable and inclusive growth in rural Africa” is jointly organised by the United Nations University – Institute for Natural Resources in Africa (UNU-INRA), the International Training Centre of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the ILO’s Green Jobs Programme, in the framework of the UNU-INRA green economy project.
Present to share their technical knowledge and expertise are the Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE), UNIDO and UNEP, as well as experts from national and international organisations.
Also participating in the forum are researchers from African universities and other research institutions directly involved or interested in activities related to green economy and technical staff, policy makers and stakeholders from civil society organisations (CSOs), trade unions and employers organisations.
Objective of forum
Participants will be introduced to the concept of decent work for sustainable development and how it can be promoted through the greening of enterprises and the promotion of green entrepreneurship.
Environmental degradation
In his welcome address, the Director of UNU-INRA, Dr Elias Ayuk, said “Our interest in pursuing research and capacity building in the area of green economy has been informed by the fact that environmental degradation coupled with climate change are putting immense pressures on the natural resource base, which accounts for close to 25 per cent of natural capital in sub-Saharan Africa compared with two per cent in the European countries.
On Ghana, he said evidence from the World Bank indicated that the country was losing close to 12 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) due to environmental degradation.
Dr Ayuk, therefore, recommended the need to ensure that the world’s resources were used efficiently.
“It means reducing carbon emissions, being resource-efficient and ensuring socially inclusive growth should be the pillars of any sustainable development strategy,” he stressed.
Green strategies and livelihoods
The Director of Logistics and Value Chain at the Ministry of Trade and Industries (MoTI), Papa Bartels, said it was imperative for green economy strategies and principles to guide all business activities to sustain livelihoods and create new opportunities for development.
He said to show its commitment to providing an enabling environment for green enterprise development, the government had with the support of UNEP and UNDP, developed a climate change and adaptation and development strategy, to deal with the impact of climate change and reduce vulnerability in the key sectors of the economy, among other steps.
The UN Resident Co-ordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, Dr Christine Evans-Klock, said the forum was significant because greening businesses had a direct linkage to ensuring sustainable employment.