SAWTEE, along with International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada, organized a two-day regional consultation titled “South Asian Consultation on Green Economy” in Lalitpur on 23-24 June 2013. The main objectives of the consultation were to identify research agendas on green economy in South Asia and create a network of like-minded individuals/institutions to work further on South Asian green economy. More than 40 participants from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Canada, India, Korea, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka participated at the event.
The participants expressed the view that although South Asia is the least contributor to climate change in the world, it is one of the regions most affected by it. A gradual transition towards a green economy would be to South Asia’s advantage in terms of, among other things, addressing the region’s high level of poverty and high vulnerability to climate change. The participants also agreed, however, that the transition towards a green economy is going to be a complex process and there is a need to look at green economy in a pluralistic way and not get locked down into a particular pathway. International and regional cooperation, high level political will and engagement, ownership and resolve of the private sector, and involvement of local people, are necessary for the transition towards a green economy.
The six sectors that the consultation chose to discuss, which by no means are exhaustive, were: agriculture, forestry, tourism, energy, transportation and infrastructure. Issues of green jobs, technology transfer, financing, etc. were some of the cross cutting themes that were discussed.
The two-day consultation ended with identifying various research agendas on green economy that will be pursued further. Detailed report will be uploaded soon.
Background Note
Programme Agenda
Presentations
