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THE ENVIRONMENT IN THE NEWS Thursday, February 22 2011 Environmental News from the UNEP Regions ROA ROAP Other UN News Environment News from the UN Daily News of February 22nd 2011 Environment News from the S.G.’s Spokesman Daily Press Briefing of February 22nd 2011 (NONE) UNEP and the Executive Director in the News UN News Centre: Investing in green economy can boost growth, reduce poverty – UN report 21st February 2011 Investing around $1.3 trillion – or two per cent of global gross domestic product (GDP) – into ten key sectors can kick-start a transition towards a low-carbon, resource-efficient green economy that can also help reduce poverty, says a new United Nations report launched today. The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) presented the report, “Towards a Green Economy: Pathways to Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication,” to environment ministers from over 100 countries at the opening of the UNEP Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum in Nairobi. The report identifies the following sectors as key to greening the global economy: agriculture, buildings, energy supply, fisheries, forestry, industry including energy efficiency, tourism, transport, waste management and water. It sees a green economy as not only relevant to more developed economies but as a key catalyst for growth and poverty eradication in developing ones too, where in some cases close to 90 per cent of the GDP of the poor is linked to nature or natural capital such as forests and freshwaters. “With 2.5 billion people living on less than $2 a day and with more than two billion people being added to the global population by 2050, it is clear that we must continue to develop and grow our economies,” said UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner. “But this development cannot come at the expense of the very life support systems on land, in the oceans or in our atmosphere that sustain our economies, and thus, the liv