Forum ropes in private sector for green growth, accomplish SDGs
An executive business event organised by the Pacific Islands Development Forum introduced innovative ideas on how business can engage in green growth.
Pacific Islands Development Forum (PIDF) Secretary General, François Martel said: “It is not that businesses don’t want to engage in green growth by developing green business models or practices, they just have difficulties to figure out how and where to go to begin the process and to also make sure it doesn’t have an impact on their profit margins.”
He was speaking to Fijian business leaders during an Executive Green Business Breakfast event hosted by forum. The event was for the top 30 Fijian-based companies and business at the Grand Pacific Hotel on September 14.
“This breakfast presentation is to introduce an innovative set of tools such as the Pacific Green Business Centre (PGBC) and the Pacific Environmental and Climate Exchange (PECX) for the private sector to truly engage in the “whole of society” support to achieve green growth and the sustainable development goals,” he said.
The virtual Pacific Green Business Centre was launched earlier this year to support businesses to be in a position to introduce cleaner technologies and offset their activities while ensuring their profitability.
“The Pacific Green Business Centre provides incentives, capacitybuilding, best practices, manuals, on-business tailored support, and funding opportunities for Green business,” he said
The private sector was informed that by engaging with the Pacific Green Business Centre, businesses could improve brand image, reduce costs of operations, support local community projects for Sustainable Development Goals, increase client and customer base through green image and increase profits.
“As part of the Pacific Green Business Centre, we introduced a new tool called the Pacific Environmental and Climate Exchange (PECX), which was several years in the making by a dedicated group of individuals with a vision for a sustainable development in the Pacific. We joined forces with them to turn the vision into reality,” he said. The business community expressed interest and appreciation to Pacific Islands Development Forum for providing innovative insight to green business models that can be adapted by local businesses and contribute towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. The Pacific Environment and Climate Exchange (PECX) is an innovation and finance hub for climate change, biodiversity and sustainable development projects in the Pacific islands.
Its mission is to create environmental, climate change and sustainable development solutions by empowering and connecting people, ideas and projects in Pacific island countries with people, ideas and financing from around the globe.
Pacific Environment and Climate Exchange is committed to work with the private sector to facilitate and increase its engagement with climate change, conservation and sustainable development activities in Pacific islands countries and support Pacific island countries to manage their resources in a sustainable manner, to build their resilience to the impacts of climate change and assist them in transitioning their economies to a greenblue economy.