This side event, moderated by Ambassador Jean-Francis Régis Zinsou, Permanent Representative of Benin to the UN, was part of a series of dialogues on green economy and green growth.

Ambassador Joseph Goddard, Permanent Representative of Barbados to the UN, noted that the private sector will remain crucial for creating an enabling environment and leveraging funding to enable the transition to a green economy.

Georg Kell, UN Global Compact, presented key messages from the dialogue, held in the Netherlands in April 2012, highlighting two key conclusions: the private sector is willing to be a part of the solution through mechanisms such as collaboration; and that progress is being made in individual sectors. Martina Bianchini, International Chamber of Commerce, outlined some of the issues discussed at the dialogue, including: the transition to an inclusive green economy; sustainable development governance; and the role of small and medium enterprises in global value chains.

Nikhil Seth, Director, Division for Sustainable Development, noted steady but slow progress during the negotiating process. He said that focusing solely on a political outcome from Rio+20 is too narrow a view, stressing that there will be many opportunities for learning, sharing and collaborating.

Kitty van der Heijden, Ambassador for Sustainable Development, the Netherlands, underscored a transition to green and inclusive growth to address current sustainability issues. She said that a new framework should be developed, noting governments’ role to coordinate this transition through the provision of policy and regulations.

In the ensuing discussion, participants addressed: sustaining and building partnerships and commitments beyond Rio+20; whether tangible progress for advancing sustainability is really being made; the use of public procurement and sustainable supply chain management as drivers of change; and whether the private sector will accept regulations to achieve sustainability.

This side event addressed transitioning to renewable energy to achieve sustainable development and poverty alleviation in Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

Cheick Sidi Diarra, UN-OHRLLS, moderating the event, said access to sustainable energy is a core issue for Rio+20, noting it cuts across the three pillars of sustainable development: economic; environmental; and social. He called for innovative approaches to encourage the switch to renewable energy and urged a sustained focus on the energy needs of the countries under discussion, including through: information sharing of best practices; local constraints; and innovation and technology support, as well as capacity building.

Roma Stibravy, President, NGO Sustainability, outlined the many initiatives aimed at converting economies towards greener energy, citing Pacific Island communities and the Scandinavian countries as examples, and emphasized nurturing failed innovations.

George Assaf, UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), reminded participants of the 40% global increase in energy consumption since the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, and stressed the overreliance on fossil fuels with its adverse human health and environmental effects. He lamented the significant cost of switching to renewable energy in the LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS, even though these countries possess abundant renewable energy resources.

Elizabeth Press, International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), presented IRENA’s approach of providing an open platform for knowledge sharing and being a global hub of renewable energy knowledge that assists countries with technical readiness assessments and helps them to understand the barriers and opportunities of switching to renewable energy.

During the ensuing discussion, participants considered, inter alia: the bias towards urban centers in policy-making processes; the public-private partnership expansion for governments of LDCs; promotion of different renewable energy options; low prioritization of biomass energy; importance of public-private partnerships; and scaling up of best practices across regions.