Green economy important for Laos, experts say
Green economy important for Laos, experts say
Laos should promote a ‘greener' economy to improve human well-being and social equity through the use of low carbon, resource efficient and socially inclusive measures, according to an official from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.
The government needs to invest more in green technology to produce eco-friendly products and generate job opportunities so local people can alleviate their poverty.
Deputy Director General of the Land Natural Resources Research Institute, Dr Palikone Thalongsengchanh, told Vientiane Times yesterday that a green economy can help Laos to ensure sustainable economic growth.
“I observe that now we overuse our natural resources to speed up economic growth. I think that we should review the efficient use of our resources for sustainable development in the future,” he said.
‘Green economy' is the theme of this year's World Environment Day, aiming to reduce environmental risks and ecological scarc ities.
According to a rep ort issued by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), a green economy is one whose growth in income and employment is driven by public and private investments that reduce carbon emissions and pollution, enhance energy and resource efficiency, and prevent the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services.
These investments need to be catalysed and supported by targeted public expenditure, policy reforms and regulation changes.
The greening of economies is not generally a drag on growth but rather a new engine of growth; it is a net generator of decent jobs and a vital strategy for the elimination of persistent poverty.
The report seeks to motivate policy makers to create the enabling conditions for increased investment in a transition to a green economy.
Lao economist Dr Liber Libuapao, of the National Economic Research Institute, said yesterday that the concept of a green economy had been raised in a number of meetings, but was not comprehensively promoted in wider society.
He said the concept has been applied in the agriculture sector, eco-tourism and renewable energy, including the production of organic crops, biogas, and solar energy.
“Having a green economy helped us to overcome the global economic crisis in 2008 when gold prices dropped sharply in the world market. The crisis affected the government's budget but not villagers working in the green economy sector,” Dr Liber said.
Recently the world's population reached 7 billion and may grow to over 9 billion by mid century. A transition to a green economy can assist in overcoming the contribution that population growth makes to the depletion of scarce natural resources.
The world's least developed countries are more strongly affected by environmental degradation than most other developing countries, so therefore have much to gain from the transition to a green economy, says the UNEP report.
Laos' economy is growing at around 8 percent annually, triggered by the inflow of forest investment and the growth of the mining sector. The government forecasts that growth will continue at 8 percent over the next five years as Laos becomes more connected with the rest of the region.
VIENTIANE TIMES
