7th-8th February 2012, Paris France

UNESCO Chair INWEB coordinator Jacques Ganoulis will  be part of a working group dealing with green economy, meeting for the first time in Paris, France, from 7th-8th February 2012.

The OCEMO (Office of Economic Cooperation for the Mediterranean and Gulf Countries), the CMI (Marseille Center for Mediterranean Integration; http://www.cmimarseille.org/web/base2/cmi/index.html)) and their partners, Plan Bleu (http://www.planbleu.org/indexUK.html),  and Femise (http://www.femise.org), is organising a high level conference on green economy in  the Mediterranean in May 2012. The conference intends to demonstrate that green growth could be a chance for employment in the Mediterranean basin and that the environment is not a burden for economy, but rather a substantial opportunity for jobs creation.  

The conference will be linked to the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development Rio+20 scheduled for June 20 -22, 2012. The objective of Rio+20 is to secure political commitment for sustainable development including green economy. The organizers of Rio+20 are committed to providing decision makers with advice. 

With this in mind, a working group has been set up in order to make recommendations to decision makers of the Mediterranean countries. It will lead the recommendation process on green economy in the Mediterranean region.  Plan Bleu, a member of the UNEP, will coordinate this initiative and has invited representatives from civil society, the private sector and experts to form this working group.