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Greener economic growth concerns us all - Connie Hedegaard

"Time to act now. A smarter, greener and more inclusive economic growth concerns us all", said Connie Hedegaard, the EU Commissioner for Climate Action, in a statement concerning a report published by the UN High-level Panel on Global Sustainability.

"Today the United Nations Global Sustainability Panel launched its report. The world must decide now what to do with it: either take it as another report for another shelf or take it as a serious wake-up call and act", said the Commissioner. 

According to the Commissioner, the world's leaders will have a very good first opportunity to act in the Rio+20 summit in June. "They need to agree on targets for access to sustainable energy and renewables. And they must get the pricing of goods and services right. While private capital seeks profits, one must see that the cost of production is not the only thing that determines the value of a product. Its social and environmental costs must be priced as well. Only this way can we give the incentive to turn investments sustainable", she said.

The Commissioner pointed out that government support for fossil fuel industry is about 7 times more than renewable energy. "We simply can't continue as if business as usual was the cheapest solution. It is not. In the longer term it's too costly. We need a new growth model where sustainable development moves from the margins to the heart of the key economic decisions. A model that addresses both the economic crisis and the environmental and climate crisis", she said.

"The alternative is worse. And highly irresponsible. Let's use the upcoming Rio+20 summit to kick off this global transition towards a sustainable growth model for the 21st century that the world so badly needs", said the Commissioner

Source: European Commission