Start Date : 5 Mar 11   End Date : 5 Mar 11 Location: New York

As part of the preparatory committee meeting for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, UN-HABITAT,UNECE and their partners will hold a side event promoting green infrastructure development.

Held in conjunction with Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI), the Network of Regional Governments for SustainableDevelopment (nrg4SD) and the London Business School Alumni Carbon Club, (LBSACC), the aim of the session is to share experiences and explore approaches to enhance action by cities towards the green economy and, in line with this, will be a carbon-neutral event.

Cities have a vital role to play in the realization of sustainable development and poverty eradication in the context of a Green Economy. As more and more land is converted to urban uses, the patterns that this development assumes within the region around cities will have far-reaching effects both upon the world’s economies, energy use and climate change.

The side event will focus on key areas for infrastructure investment in the energy, buildings, waste and transport sectors. It will showcase a few cases of successful infrastructure investments in different cities and will discuss what worked and why and the policy environment, from the point of view of both mayors and the private sector.

The event will mark the launch of the series UNECE Public-private roundtables on green economy: investing in green infrastructure. The aim of the four roundtables, to take place during 2011, is to bring together private and public sector representatives to develop an actionable outcome for investing in green infrastructure, an important pillar of the green economy, which is expected to serve as an input by UNECE into the UNCSD (Rio+20) outcomes.

Towards the Green Economy: promoting sustainable urban development and green infrastructure investment
Side Event at UNCSD – Rio+20 - PrepCom 2 –New York
Monday 7 March, 1:15 - 2:45 pm

Speakers
Dr. Joan Clos, Executive Director, UN-HABITAT
High Level Representative from Global South (tbc)
Mr. Patxi Lazcoz, Mayor of Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain (Winner of the European Green Capital Award)
Mr. Ronan Dantec, Deputy Mayor of Nantes, France (Winner of the European Green Capital Award)
Mr. Matt Delnick, Chief Executive Officer, Greenstar Recycling

Moderator
Mr. Tom Stewart, Booz & Company

For further information, and RSVP for the first UNECE Public-private roundtable on green economy, please contact Laura Altinger, Climate Change and Green Economy Adviser, Environment Division, UNECE, laura.altinger@unece.org or visit www.unece.org/env/greeneconomy