What is the Seoul Initiative Network on Green Growth?

The Seoul Initiative, proposed by the Ministry of Environment of Korea at the fifth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Development in Asia and the Pacific 2005 (MECD 2005) and endorsed by the 61st Commission Session of UNESCAP, held in May 2005, is aimed at addressing major policy issues for Green Growth highlighted in the Ministerial Declaration of MCED 2005 and the Regional Implementation Plan for Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific, 2006-2010.

The Seoul Initiative provides a regional cooperation framework for Green Growth, taking into account the economic, social, cultural and geographical features of the region. It also provides a framework for policy consultations, capacity-building and networking for the promotion of Green Growth at the regional level.

The Seoul Initiative Network on Green Growth (SINGG), with countries in Asia-Pacific region as its members, facilitates the implementation of the Seoul Initiative and its activities to create a synergy between economic growth and environmental sustainability and to contribute to achieving economically vibrant and environmentally sustainable future for Asia and the Pacific.

The vision of the Seoul Initiative lies on achieving environmentally sustainable economic growth in the Asia and Pacific region by promoting effective environmental policies. To achieve this goal, the Seoul Initiative has dentified three targets:

Target 1: Improving ecoefficiency for environmental sustainability
Since improving ecological efficiency and ensuring environmental sustainability are policy goals broader than conventional environmental management, which has been more focused on pollution control, this target area will require a shift in the environmental management approach towards improving the efficiency of resource use by all stakeholders in a society as a whole.

Target 2: Enhancing environmental performance
While improving environmental sustainability focuses more on the resource efficiency of a society as a whole, enhancing environmental performance focuses more on improving the environmental governance of an administration. While environmental sustainability is more closely related with resource-use efficiency, environmental performance in reducing pollution is more closely related with production processes and regulations and standards for emissions and discharges.

Target 3: Promoting environment as an opportunity for economic growth and development
This target area aims to promote the positive role of the private sector in supporting economic growth through environmental infrastructure investment, increasing demand for better-quality environmental goods and services, research and development of environmentally sound technologies, emerging environmental industry and the market. This target area also aims to maximize the role of the market and the private sector in presenting environmental regulations and demands for improved environmental quality as an opportunity for economic growth and development, not as a burden for the economy.