The Global Green Growth Forum 2016 Summit Held in Copenhagen

The three-day summit took place in Copenhagen, Denmark between June 5th and 7th. The Forum brought together governments, investors, businesses and international organisations to work together for the implementation of inclusive green growth. This year’s summit had been designed specifically to follow-up on the Paris Climate Agreement and the Agreement on UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

This year, the summit was held under the banner of “A Call to Action – Enabling Solutions at Speed and Scale.” Focal points included the green transition of energy systems, cities as driving forces of green transition and the optimal utilisation of natural resources. This year is considered as crucial in translating the promises made in 2015 into concrete actions and plans. This is seen as summit’s central task. It is not surprising that a key challenge for implementation is the need to foster solutions linking the SDGs and climate commitments together.

The summit focused on elements that align with the driving forces behind green growth. The Charter of Action explains the summit in greater detail. For example, in the section of the Charter regarding Cities as Drivers of Green Growth, the summit calls for urban water leakage to be systematically tackled across affected cities. In the section entitled, Opening Up Access to New Markets and Finance, the summit calls for the creating of an international Sustainable Infrastructure Registry. Both private companies themselves and explaining to businesses that green growth solutions can be profitable will play a key role in making markets more efficient and sustainable. The promotion of sustainable lifestyles and the transition to a new world of energy and use of natural resources were also presented.

The 3GF was initiated by the Danish government in 2011, in close collaboration with Korea and Mexico. Since then, China, Kenya, Qatar, and Ethiopia have joined the platform, and Vietnam and Chile have become official 3GF partner countries this year. Around 250-300 leaders from government, corporations and civil society from all over the world were invited to this year’s summit. 3GF summit delegates have demonstrated their continuing determination to work on creating an effective partnership between public and private actors. It is the partnership that is the unique feature of the 3GF.