An ECA Presentation at the Eighth Session of the Committee on Food Security

1. Main outcomes of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development: Green Economy, GDP Plus, and SIDS An ECA Presentation at the Eighth Session of the Committee on Food Security and Sustainable Development and the Africa Regional Implementation Meeting for the Twentieth Session of the Commission on Sustainable Development Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 20 November 2012

2. Green Economy • Rio+20 agreed that: • A green economy is: • One of several approaches, visions, models and tools available to each country to achieve sustainable development • It should contribute to: • Eradicating poverty • Sustained inclusive economic growth and innovation • Enhancing social inclusion, improving human welfare • Creating opportunities for employment and decent work for all • Maintaining the healthy functioning of the Earth’s ecosystem

3. Green Economy… • Rio+20 also agreed that: • A green economy should: • Be based on the Rio principles • Respect national sovereignty on natural resources • Be supported by an enabling environment and well functioning institutions • Take into account the needs of developing countries • Effectively avoid conditionalities or constitute a barrier to international trade • Address the concern about inequality and promote social inclusion • Help bridge the technological gap and promote sustainable consumption and production

4. Green Economy… • Rio+20 requested: • UN system and others to provide information on: • Matching interested countries with the partners • Toolboxes and/or best practices in applying policies on green economy • Models or good examples of policies on green economy • Methodologies for evaluation of policies on green economy • Existing and emerging platforms • RCs and others support countries to achieve SD including through GE policies • Business and industry as appropriate to develop sustainability strategies that integrate green economy policies

5. Inclusive green growth… • Controversies still surround the concept – partners (e.g. AfDB, OECD, ECA) advocating for the adoption of a step-wise approach – inclusive green growth (IGG) • African countries to: • Seek better understanding of green economy paradigm • Adopt step-wise approach, considering different stages of development and country specificities • Case studies that allow for lesson learning to inform policies • Ensure inclusive job-creating growth that is resource efficient • Key requirements are technology, capacity and appropriate investments • Need to strengthen existing partnerships and build new ones

6. …Inclusive green growth • Partners to support African countries upon request to: • Assess challenges and opportunities of IGG • Develop IGG policies and strategies that contribute to poverty reduction and sustainable development • Establish mechanisms for sharing toolboxes and best practices • Developing and applying methodologies for assessing policies on IGG • Partners to establish experience sharing and knowledge networking platforms • Development guidelines for IGG policy and practice • Document and disseminate best practices and lessons learnt

7. Programme of work on broader measures to complement GDP… • Rio+20 • Recognized the need for broader measures of progress to complement GDP to inform policy decision • Requested the UN Statistical Commission to launch a programme of work on measures to complement GDP, in consultation with UN system and other partners • The Programme of Work: • Is aligned with Africa’s call for reference indicators to assess the economic, social and environmental performance of their economies for integrated policy making • Provides countries with an opportunity for more accurate and comprehensive assessment of the state of their economies

8. …Programme of work on broader measures to complement GDP • Suggested actions – African Countries to: • Mobilize financial, technical, human resources to adopt, implement and move towards international statistical standards • Ratify the African Charter • The African Statistical System to encourage the use of harmonized and reliable statistics in all fields • The Statistical Commission for Africa to provide platform to discuss and inform Africa’s position – 2014 next session

9. …Programme of work on broader measures to complement GDP • StatCom-Africa would build horizontal linkages with other ECA Committees and vertical linkages with UN Statistics Commission • For comparability and compatibility of data across countries, member States should move towards international statistical standards, including the latest version of the SEEA and 2008 SNA • ECA, AfDB and AUC to include relevant indicators that take into account the integration of the dimensions of sustainable development in the African Statistical Yearbook to complement GDP • ECA, AfDB and AUC to develop a management framework for the implementation of the African Charter of Statistics

10. …Programme of work on broader measures to complement GDP • Suggested actions – AUC, ECA, AfDB and others • Provide required support Africa’s participation in the global process - meeting early 2013 • Technical assistance and policy advice • Help create and maintain strong linkages between national and global processes

11. Small Island Developing States • Rio+20: • Reaffirmed the special circumstances and needs of SIDS in the context of sustainable development • Noted the limited progress made by SIDS, and the challenges, such as climate change, that pose specific threats to the sustainable development of SIDS • Called for continued and enhance efforts to support SIDS in implementing the Barbados Programme of Action and the Mauritius Strategy • Decided on the convening of the Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States in 2014

12. Small Island Developing States • Five SIDS in Africa: Cape Verde, Comoros, Mauritius, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles. • Suggested actions: • Reiterate the importance of the Conference in consolidating and scaling up SIDS’s efforts to attain sustainable development • Call for the conference to reach bold and ambitious outcomes, building on previous processes including Rio+20 and the Mauritius Strategy of Implementation+5 • Support national and regional preparations for the Conference • Invite the UN and other partners to provide coordinated support for the national and regional preparations • Guide partners on the kind of support required

13. Thank You