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22 Oct 2008: U.N. Calls For 'Green New Deal'

The United Nations is urging a transformation of the world’s sluggish economy through investment in green innovation and natural resources, a type of “Green New Deal” that leaders hope will also curb climate change and bolster the world’s food supply. A U.N. Environment Programme official said the current global crises require an approach similar to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s response to the Great Depression, according to a report in the Guardian. “Transformative ideas need to be discussed and transformative decisions taken,” said Achim Steiner, the UNEP’s executive director. “The alternative is more boom and bust cycles; a climate-stressed world and a collapse of fish stocks and fertile soils up to forest ecosystems.” The organization focused on five areas of concentration: clean energy and new technologies; rural energy; sustainable agriculture; ecosystem infrastructure and reduced emissions from deforestation; and sustainable cities. U.N. leaders have called for action on this “Green Economy Initiative” when finance ministers meet in New York next month.

Also On Yale Environment 360
America’s Unfounded Fears of A Green-Tech Race with China
In the Mountains of the Moon, A Trek to Africa’s Last Glaciers
It’s Green Against Green In Mojave Desert Solar Battle

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22 Oct 2008: U.N. Calls For 'Green New Deal'

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