A UN report timed for release to coincide with the Fourth UN Conference on Least Developed countries (LDCs) in Istanbul (May 10-13) , notes that countries with lower carbon profiles are better placed to make their economies environmentally sustainable.

The report, entitled ‘Why a Green Economy Matters for the Least Developed Countries’ [http://www.unctad.org/en/docs/unep_unctad_un-ohrlls_en.pdf], said that refocusing policies and investments to areas such as renewable energy, agriculture, forestry and preserving ecosystems can lead to economic empowerment for low income nations.

Transiting to green could also help the LDCs met their Millennium Development Goals (MDGs, the internationally agreed poverty reduction by the year 2015, according to the report.

“The shift to a global green economy can put LDCs in an opportune position if the right enabling policies are put in place nationally and internationally,” said Achim Steiner of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). For a successful green transition he said a climate must be created that is conducive to private investment in green economy markets.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, in his address to the opening of the Istanbul conference said that “investing in LDCs can provide the stimulus that will help to propel and sustain global economic recovery… This is not charity. It is an opportunity for all.” 

He urged the ministers from donor countries to “change their mind-set” and stop seeing these countries as poor and weak but rather those with “vast reservoirs of untapped potential as home to nearly 900 million people or 12 percent of the global population.”

UN Secretary General Joseph Deiss, speaking in Istanbul, underscored the need for partnership between the public and the private sector.

“Governments and businesses have complementary roles. The private sector is the driver to innovation, investment and job creation,” he said.  “Governments have to create framework conditions that are conducive for private sector development to take place and to last.”