UNIDO: Green industry means green economy

Industries, regardless of what they do, need to respect the global environment if responsible development is to continue, a U.N. official said in Denmark. Kandeh Yumkella, director general of the U.N. Industrial Development Organization, told delegates in Copenhagen for a green-energy forum that the global economic future depends on clean industrial development. He said his so-called green industry concept, in which industries across all sectors are called on to improve environmental performance, would be a stimulus to green economic growth. "Green Industry and the Greening of Industries, concepts coined by UNIDO in the last few years, are helping place sustainable industrial development in the context of new global sustainability challenges," he said. "Together we can make the global transition to a green growth pathway work." He noted that UNIDO was working to advance green technology and industrial practices in the developing world. He added that UNIDO would team with the Korea Global Green Growth Institute to examine the effect that green industrial investment would have on global employment.