..Press Release................................ UNESCAP News Services

Date 8 March 2007
Press Release No. G/05/2007

UN Official Calls on Asian Economies to Change Growth Patterns

BANGKOK (United Nations Information Services) – While developing economies in Asia and the Pacific are projected to grow by an impressive 7.3 per cent in 2007, such growth is driven by high resources consumption and can not be sustained in the long run, warns a senior UN official today.

Speaking at the opening of a Workshop on Developing Sustainability Strategies in Asia in Bangkok, Mr. Kim Hak-Su, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), stressed that a sustainable development strategy was critical to the long-term well-being of the region. “It is a challenge requiring shared government actions. A sustainable development strategy must be the core and foundation of every country’s economic growth plan,” said Mr. Kim.

Over 100 high-level representatives from the region and the industrialised member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) are attending the two-day workshop which is jointly organised by UNESCAP, OECD and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA).

Delegates will discuss ways to ensure that environmental and social concerns are reflected in development planning. A special session will focus on the role of stakeholders, including business, trade unions and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

A recent report by UNESCAP warns that Asia and the Pacific is already living beyond its ecological carrying capacity. To ensure continuing economic growth, UNESCAP says, countries in the region will have to move away from the current ‘grow first, clean up later’ mentality and to embrace a ‘Green Growth’ model.

The “Green Growth” model proposed by UNESCAP emphasises that environmental and ecological considerations must be integral to policy planning to ensure long-term economic and social viability, and economic growth should not be measured in GDP alone but also in a set of eco-indicators. “Green Growth” is also about seeing environmental protection and clean production not as a cost or burden, but as an investment. It entails actively promoting business opportunities in such activities, and making the tax system favourable to environmental-friendly projects. Green Growth also calls for a sustainable consumption pattern.

For more information, please contact:

Thawadi Pachariyangkun
Public Information Officer
United Nations Information Services
Telephone: 02-288-1861; Fax: 02-288-1052
Email: unisbkk.unescap@un.org

Headquartered in Bangkok, Thailand, UNESCAP is the largest of the UN's five Regional Commissions in terms of population served and area covered. The only inter-governmental forum covering the entire Asia-Pacific region, it aims to promote economic and social progress. More information is available at www.unescap.org

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