je302c.jpg Jennifer Kohnke

The Greening of Growth

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The G-20 summit in Toronto is a chance for a long, hard look at how green investments are assisting economic recovery and job growth in many countries, while generating environmental gains as well, including on climate change. Leaders should re-affirm their recognition of the Green Economy’s power to create a fundamentally different development path for all countries.

NAIROBI – The G-20 summit in Toronto offers an opportunity for a long, hard look at how green investments are assisting economic recovery and job growth in many countries, while generating environmental gains as well, including on climate change.

China, which channeled around one-third of its stimulus package into environmental sectors, has seen its GDP rise sharply, and employment in renewable energies such as solar has climbed to more than 1.5 million, with 300,000 workers added in 2009 alone.

Spain’s unemployment rate is high, but it would undoubtedly be higher without its policy to foster wind power and other clean-tech sectors, in which a half-million jobs have been created.

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