Political Forum for Sustainable Development launches green industry, green finance platforms

NEW YORK: At the High-Level Political Forum for Sustainable Development in New York, some of the world’s largest organisations came together and launched two new knowledge platforms – the Green Industry Platform and the Green Finance Platform on July 16. These platforms will provide the financial and private sectors with the latest research, data, guidance, and tools from leading experts and institutions to help green their operations.

Recent reports showed the global decline of nature and called for unprecedentedaction to reach climate goals marked out in the Paris Agreement. This brings up the need for practical and targeted knowledge to support the transition to inclusive green economies is more urgent than ever.

The Green Growth Knowledge Platform (GGKP) hosts a wealth of existing knowledge to support greener business, finance, and policy, from the return on investment on renewable energy, investments to green bonds, sustainable infrastructure, green standards and regulations, and more. Everything from global-scale assessments on flows of sustainable finance to highly specialised guidance notes on “turning waste into gold” in the bio-energy sector in Africaare present on the platform.

“These are especially exciting times for the Green Growth Knowledge Partnership (GGKP), already the world’s largest dedicated repository of green growth resources, case studies, and national documents,” saidBan Ki-moon, former Secretary-General of the United Nations and current President and Chair of the Global Green Growth Institute.

The two new green platforms will build on the existing Green Growth Knowledge Platform, which offers the latest guidelines to support green policymaking at the national level. Users can browse for various categories such as by sector, country, region, or cross-cutting theme, including gender, jobs, climate change, circular economy, and natural capital.

The Green Industry Platform will work as a guide for thesmall and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) providing them withtechnical knowledge to green their input materials, end products, and operations, as well as evidence that this will improve their bottom lines.

Li Yong, Director General of United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), welcoming the launch of the platforms, said, “UNIDO welcomes the expansion of the GGKP to its new focus on industry through the Green Industry Platform, introduced in parallel with the Green Finance Platform. The Green Industry Platform is evolving to become a critical tool SMEs to engage in global efforts towards inclusive and sustainable industrial development.”

The Green Finance Platform will provide a one-stop shop for the latest financial sector innovationsbanks, insurance, and investment firms to start, scale, and measure their contribution to a green economic transition. It will feature new tools for businesses and investors to assess natural capital risks and opportunities; guiding principles on responsible banking, insurance, and finance; and global reports on aligning the financial system with sustainable development.

ÁngelGurría, Secretary-General of the OECD, said,“Combating climate change and encouraging green growth requires all communities and sectors to work together based on sound research and timely information and data”.

Moving ahead, the partnership will work to connect the policy, finance, and business communities together in a neutral space to incentivise, finance, and put into operation green and inclusive practices.

The GGKP is led by the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), UNIDO and the World Bank.

The GGKP benefits from strategic funding from Switzerland, Germany, the Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE) initiative, the MAVA Foundation, and GGGI as well as programmatic funding from the Netherlands