This update provides information and resources on the preparatory work on the theme "Green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication" along with upcoming events. 8 March 2011, New York, USA ? The Transition to a green economy event of UNDESA took place early this month with approximately 115 participants. Co-organized by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and chaired by Mr. Tariq Banuri, Director, UNDESA, the special event highlights the presentation of the Expert Panel Report on ?the Transition to a Green Economy: Benefits, Risks and Challenges from a Sustainable Development Perspective,? which was requested by Member States at the 1st Preparatory Committee of Rio+20 in May 2010.

The experts were Prof. José Antonio Ocampo, Columbia University, Mr. Aaron Cosbey, UNCTAD Advisor on green economy and Mr. Martin Khor, Executive Director, South Centre.

The Report provided their views on: 1) the macroeconomic policy implications of the transition to the "green economy;" 2) the role of trade and investment policies; 3) the benefits, risks and challenges associated with a transition to a ?green economy? in the context of sustainable development, poverty and equity considerations.

• More information

---

For background information on one of the conference themes, the Rio+20 website has dedicated a page to "green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication."

The page highlights national and regional policies and practices, meetings and events and important publications that are related to this theme.

Some regional policies highlighted include:

• UK?s February 2011 Green Economy Council;
• China?s Five Year Plan (2011-2015) to shift the development agenda toward a pattern of green growth;
• Guyana?s 2010 low-carbon development strategy;
• Fiji?s 2007 Strategic Development Plan;
• Mexico?s National Development Plan.

• More information

---

Workshop on Green Economy Opportunities and Challenges

(23 March 2011, New York, USA) ? The Friends of the Thematic Debate on Green Economy organized a workshop on ?Green Economy Opportunities and Challenges.?

Chaired by Ambassador Maged A. Abdelaziz (Egypt) and Ambassador Marten Grunditz (Sweden), this interactive session comprised of four short presentations, followed by in-depth question and answer sessions.

• Results will be posted here

---

Workshop - Towards a Green and Resilient Economy for the Caribbean

(3?4 February 2011, Port of Spain, Trinidad) - The Caribbean has embarked on a process to develop a position statement on moving towards a green and resilient pathway for the region.

As an initial step in this process, a Green Economy Coalition workshop was held in Trinidad to discuss key components of a regional position, for further development and discussion with a wide range of stakeholders in the coming months. A summary is available at:

• More information

---

The potential trade risks of a transition to a ?green economy? - protectionism, conditionality, subsidies - are issues of long standing and not unique to green economy.

Produced by the Rio+20 Secretariat with inputs from UNCTAD, the first Rio+20 Issues Brief shows the urgent needs for greater coherence between trade, investment and green economy policies.

First, the Brief examines policy options for green transformation and their WTO-rule compatibility. It then suggests that a ?green economy? offers an opportunity to improve global trade governance and the domestic trade environment to create an enabling environment for developing countries.

• More information

---

• Green Jobs: towards Decent Work in a Sustainable, Low-carbon World, International Labour Organization, Geneva, (2008):
• The Transition to a Green Economy: Benefit, Challenges and Risks from a Sustainable Development Perspective, Jose Antonio Ocampo, Aaron Cosbey, and Martin Khor, (2011):
• Objective and themes of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, Report of the Secretary-General for the 2nd Preparatory Committee for Rio+20, Rio+20 Secretariat New York, (2011):
• The Road to Rio+20: for a Developmentled Green Economy. UN Conference on Trade and Development, Geneva, (2011):
• The Synthesis report on best practices and lessons learned on the objective and themes of the UNCSD, Report for the 2nd Preparatory Committee for the UNCSD, Rio+20 Secretariat, New York, (2011):
• A Global Green New Deal for Sustainable Development, Policy Brief No.12, UNDESA, New York, (2009):
• Green Economy Report: towards a Green Economy: Pathways to Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication, UN Environment Programme, Nairobi (2011):
• Greening Household Behaviour: the Role of Public Policy, OECD Publishing, Paris, (2011):
• Green Economy: Developing Countries Success Stories, UN Environment Programme, Nairobi, (2010):

---