World Water Council and K-water announce ‘Water and Green Growth’: a new path to sustainability
At the Special Focus Session held today in Daegu, the World Water Council and the Korea Water Resources Corporation (K-water) together with representatives from the 7th Forum National Committee will urge political leaders to take forward the approaches in their “Water and Green Growth” report in order to set their nations on a more sustainable economic growth path. Set within the context of the post-2015 development agenda, the report provides guidance on developing and implementing water and green growth policies by combining different alternatives based on state-, market- and community-based approaches.
A new development paradigm.
In view of the“water crises” as the top global societal risk in the next decade, the measures within the “Water and Green Growth” report aim to reduce risks and create opportunities, while remaining sensitive to economic, environmental and social issues.
‘Green growth’ has emerged as a paradigm for job creation and economic and social development through green and clean technologies. The Republic of Korea, the host nation for the 7th World Water Forum, has focused on green solutions to re-fire its economy. Developed nations in Europe such as France, Germany and the UK are exploring, promoting and pursuing green growth strategies to tackle climate change, their dependence on resources and create jobs.
“We believe that conventional economic development models have shown their limits by digging too deeply into the ecological debt for the future generations. To achieve environmental security, economic growth, and a high standard of living, a new paradigm for growth is needed. We believe that water is at the heart of this new growth paradigm.”
“We are calling for a new framework which sets water as a means to steer economies and societies toward more resilience while meeting the soaring demands for food, transport, housing, energy and water,” saysBenedito Braga, President of the World Water Council.
“We have set out strategies and solutions for addressing water-related challenges,” says Gyewoon Choi,CEO of the Korean Water Institute, K-water. “Green growth requires both economic and environmentalefficiency. In this regard, technological innovation and developments, such as the Smart WaterManagement Initiative featured in the report should be promoted, as well as effective institutional arrangements and governance. It is my hope that the research and findings of ‘Water and Green Growth’ contribute to solving the water problems of our world and to achieving sustainable development.”