GGGI Marks Its One-year Anniversary as an International Organization

SEOUL, South Korea, Oct. 21, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) held the first Establishment Day Event at its Seoul headquarters on Friday, October 18 2013 to celebrate the one-year anniversary of GGGI since its official launch as an international organization. To mark the occasion, GGGI held several activities including the launch of the book called 'Post 2020 Climate Change Regime Formation' by Professor Suh-Yong Chung of Korea University, which is based on the GGGI International Expert Series, and the promotion of the Korea launch of the 'New Climate Economy Initiative', a new major global initiative on the economics of climate change.

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In his welcoming remarks, Director-General Howard Bamsey said that "GGGI has become a truly international organization with membership from 20 countries and the ratification of GGGI's Headquarters Agreement by the Korean government. GGGI now operates in 20 countries assisting governments with development strategies that are more sustainable."

The Director-General added that "GGGI is the world's first and only international organization dedicated to green growth and its uniqueness helped the organization to be granted Official Development Assistance (ODA) eligibility status. The development has enabled GGGI to increase its ability to assist developing and emerging economies in green growth planning and implementation."

"As of mid-2013, GGGI has been developing, scoping, setting up or implementing over 20 green growth-related projects in developing and emerging countries across the world. On our work on the ground, we are seeing how countries increasingly recognize the potential of green growth to deliver wealthier, safer, more inclusive economies for their populations. GGGI is committed to continuously supporting them and sharing their experience with others," said Mattia Romani, GGP&I Deputy Director-General, GGGI.

DDG Romani explained that "GGGI is also supporting, together with other leading economic institutions in the world, the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, chaired by former President of Mexico Felipe Calderón. GGGI will work with the Commission, supported by a number of governments including the Republic of Korea, to produce a flagship report on the Economy and Climate Action in September 2014 at the UNSG Leaders Meeting in advance of COP 21 in Paris in 2015."

The Establishment Day Event was attended by distinguished guests including H.E. Dr. Dibaba Abdetta, Ambassador of Ethiopia; H.E Omar Al-Nahar, Ambassador of Jordan, H.E. Mr. Jose Luis Bernal, Ambassador of Mexico; H.E. Kaman Singh Lama, Ambassador to Nepal; H.E. Desmond Akawor, Ambassador of Nigeria; H.E. Bill Veri, Ambassador of Papua New Guinea as well as Boonam Shin, Ambassador to Climate Change, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Korea.

Embassy officials from Costa Rica, Finland, Denmark, France, Germany, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Norway, Sweden, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the UAE as well as representatives from the EU delegation and UNDP took part in the event to congratulate GGGI's first birthday as an international organization.

On 18 October 2012, GGGI officially converted into an international organization from a non-profit foundation under Korean law. On September 18 2012, the Pacific island nation of Kiribati became the third country to approve GGGI's conversion, following the ratification by Denmark and Guyana. International law stipulates that at least three countries must ratify a treaty for such a transformation, and the agreement takes effect 30 days after the third ratification.

13 of the 20 member countries that have ratified the GGGI Establishment Agreement to date are Denmark, Guyana, Kiribati, the Philippines, Republic of Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Qatar, Papua New Guinea, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom, Ethiopia, Norway.

GGGI is an international organization dedicated to developing and diffusing a new paradigm of economic growth -- green growth -- which simultaneously balances economic performance and environmental sustainability to help build strong and inclusive societies. Headquartered in Seoul, GGGI works in long-term partnership with developing and emerging economies through rigorous green growth planning, research and public-private cooperation. For more information see: www.gggi.org