Howard Bamsey

Ahead of the third Global Green Growth Summit (GGGS), which kicks off Monday in Songdo, Incheon, head of the international green growth think tank emphasized this year is especially significant as Korea takes its place in the environmental paradigm, as the Green Climate Fund opens later here.

“As you know, the Green Climate Fund is coming to Korea this year and GGGI will be a sister agency,” said Howard Bamsey, director general of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), yesterday at their headquarters in central Seoul. “Their work will be complimentary to ours.”

The Korea-initiated think tank to study low-carbon growth was founded in 2010 under the Lee Myung-bak administration, and transitioned into an international organization in October with 11 members. It holds offices in Copenhagen, London and Abu Dhabi. The Green Climate Fund, the so-called World Bank on the environmental issues, is opening its secretariat in Songdo.

“Around the world, the leadership that Korea gave some years ago to green growth is bearing fruit,” Bamsey, an Australian climate change expert, added. “The approach to green growth is much more widely accepted and supported than it was few years ago.”

The two-day summit, which will draw hundreds of environmental experts, academics and minister-level officials from Korea and abroad will focus on the themes of finance, innovation and policy to contribute to the future of green growth, said organizers of the summit, which is also supported by Korea’s Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Environment and Strategy and Finance.

Along with green investment, developing nations’ green growth plans and how to apply resources to ensure energy, water and food security, a key issue to be discussed in the summit would be financing the Green Climate Fund.

This is the first time the GGGS has been held since the GGGI was recognized as an international organization.

Ahn Chong-ghee, deputy minister for economic affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, addressed concerns that the current government might not seem to put as much emphasis on “green growth” which was a pet project of the previous Lee administration.

He stated, “Park Geun-hye’s catchphrase ‘creative economy’ encompasses green growth, and this summit and the dedication of GCF are all signs that green growth continues to be an important issue in the current Korean government.”


By Sarah Kim [sarahkim@joongang.co.kr]