N'Djamena, Chad, 7 March 2014 (ECA) – After three days of brainstorming on the opportunities and challenges of the green economy for industrialisation in Central Africa, about sixty experts from eight countries in the sub-region and several international organisations have appealed to member States and the private sector to establish useful partnerships likely to mount special technologies for profitable green industrialisation. This was at the 30th session of the Inter-Governmental Committee of Experts (ICE) for Central Africa co-organised by the Government of the Republic of Chad and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) in the Chadian capital.
According to the experts, a fresh approach to dependable greening of industrialisation in Central Africa “requires a fundamental rethink of cash-based economic approaches and the adoption of appropriate industrial policies for the processing and commercialisation of high value-added products”. Accordingly, they added, the green economy is a major opportunity since it fosters the adoption of healthy environmental practices that help to preserve and optimize natural capital, control global warming and improve the living conditions of the population.
Apart from the establishment of public-private partnerships for sustainable funding of green investments in their countries, the experts also called on States of the sub-region to lay down an appropriate legal framework for economic transformation and greening of production methods and to institute taxes that both discourage pollution-prone industrial techniques and encourage the adoption of clean production methods. Besides, they appealed to the international community to support the efforts of ECCAS and the member states in sourcing for funding and technology transfer for green industrialisation.
This 30th session of the ICE for Central Africa was marked by the high involvement of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), especially within the framework of a forum on the status of industrialisation and enterprise upgrading towards a transition to the green economy in the sub-region.
Note to editors
ECA and the African Union Commission (2011) define a green economy as one that aims to improve human welfare and social equity, and concurrently reduce environmental risk and ecological scarcities. According to the two organizations, to put it simply, a green economy is one that is characterized by low carbon use, resource efficiency and social inclusion. It is driven by public and private investments that contribute to reducing carbon emissions and pollution, enhancing energy and resource efficiency, and preventing the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Such investments are driven or supported by national policy reforms and international policy and market.
UNIDO (2011) defines the green industry as environmentally responsible and people-friendly industrial production and development. The green industry aims to mainstream environmental, climate and social considerations in the activities of enterprises.
Issued by:
ECA External Communications and Media Relations Section
PO Box 3001
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Tel: +251 11 551 5826
E-mail: ecainfo@uneca.org
www.uneca.org