In October of last year, hundreds of sustainability experts and leaders from more than 20 countries embarked on a journey into unknown territory. Convened in Copenhagen by Green Growth Leaders, they spent two days in workshops and at roundtables, working together to understand and describe how a new and more sustainable economic model can improve our lives and societies.
Simple as it may sound, this was in many ways a pioneering effort.
Our understanding of the term “sustainable growth” – i.e. how can improving the environment help grow the economy – is still in its infancy, as documented in the reports prepared for the event.
Mapping the potentials of a green economy is even harder, but nevertheless necessary if we want to create the enthusiasm and ownership needed to accelerate the transition. So this was what we tried to do.
The whitepaper captures this effort. It represents only part of the picture - but it is an important first step along the way – and the collective knowledge of a large and important multi stakeholder expert group, from architects, economists, anthropologists, technologists, policy makers, designers, urban planners to NGOs, diplomats, ministers and communicators from many regions around the world, participating on behalf of a far reaching network of organizations, institutions and corporations. Most of the delegates were experts in a variety of sectors and functions, many of them also leaders and decision makers.
The purpose of the excercise was to qualify the global discussion on green growth and sustainability and share insights and best practice.
The whitepaper is formally handed over to the OECD, the EU Commission for Climate Action, the C40, Eurocities, the Danish Government and the UN Global Compact in preparation for the Rio+20 Summit. It is our hope that it will also inspire colleagues around the world, sharing our mission.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank our partners and all delegates who contributed to the success of Take Lead and the collaborative wisdom that we share in this whitepaper.
In coming years, the Green Growth Leaders will build on this platform – and we invite you to do the same.
Read the whitepaper from Take Lead here
This story originally appeared on GreenGrowthLeaders.org and has been republished with permission.
