ECGEERUM ~y eee (LM Volume 29, No. 1 - 2013 lreen GRnwih‘The quest for a sustainable world continues in earmest. Recently Rio+20 brought together some100 Heads of ee ee ae representatives from civil society and private sector. Over SO eee an UN officials, chief executive officers and civil society leaders ~ attended Rio+20. Over 50 million people worldwide also participated through social media platforms, voicing their comments, opinions and ro eee ‘of connection, enabling cross-pollination with ideas, and fostering vibrant debates so much needed for negotiated leadership towards achieving development in its three stands of social, economic and environmental NO ee eee and private sector leaders in a virtual forum to discuss and provide negotiated solutions for the global environment. Ne ee eee a ee influencing behaviour and causing change. For example, early 2000, Ecoforum coined the forum that brought a halt to forest excisions in Kenya. In 2001, Her Majesty Queen Noor of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan awarded the global 2001 Reuters - IUCN Media Award for excellence in environmental journalism to Dee Raymer of the Ecoforum, at a ceremony held in Berlin, 5 December, Many years later, ELCI continued to receive enquiries from conservationists seeking Ce a a eee Other awards have followed this, and itis our resolve to maintain these standards. ‘Welcome to the revitalised Ecoforum! It is the intention of ELCI to keep the ee ee eee a Providing solutions in the domain of environment and sustainable development. Now with an online platform, Ecoforum is st to engage the biggest ever audience across the globe. Through the online platform, we have provided possibilities for online subscription ~ in keeping with the philosophy and trends of green growth. Re ee eee ae ae ees monitoring of, and interaction with important global negotiations on environment and sustainable development. Cae eon ee eee ey the world towards embracing sustainability. Green growth means promoting economic growth while reducing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, ‘minimising waste, causing efficient use of natural resources, maintaining biodiversity, and improving health prospects for populations and strengthening energy security through less dependence on fossil fuels, and increased application CS ee eee environment as a driver for sustainable economic growth, Ecoforum is more or less open source. We welcome you, our readers, to engage actively and suggest ways to make Ecoforum a more effective tool for environmental solutions, whether from policy or on-the-ground intervention standpoints. This will be our, and your contribution towards getting the world to speak with one voice towards a sustainable world and human development. ECOFORUM Sustainability in action Ecotorum J PO Box 72461-00800 Nar Kenns "254735 72376 issmenerstresiene ELCI saanSaker or eIn the world, the environmental paradigm has had dramatic changes during the last century One of the main triggers was the late consequences of the Industrial Revolution. The global green movement helped Governments, industries and communities focus on the importance of the batance of the different dimensions of sustainability In 1987, the Brundltand Report opened the eyes of Governments and different stakeholders by making them understand that national growth had to be analyzed from an economic perspective to a social and environmental balance. Since its adoption in the Earth Summit, in 1992, it has faced several challenges, understanding that growth is a very complex element in a nation. But, due to this, the Latin America and the Caribbean region have had numerous practices that have been very important and can be replicated in a local context. growth in In Colombia, green growth can be traced back to 1825, when Simon Bolivar, the liberator of more than 5 countries in South America, promulgated a law about the conservation and good practices of the freshwater usage, as a shifting of the environment conception that was inherited from the Spanish conquers. 150 years later, Colombia experienced a green milestone ‘when Decreto 2811 a law that is also known as the National Code of the Renewable Natural Resources was enacted. One year after, the Earth Summit in 1992, Col bia's national yf Government promulgated the Law 99 of 1993, through which By Kenneth Ochoa they created the Ministry of Environment as well as the Environmental National System, which gathers the main stakeholders on this field, including all of the major groups, as presented on the Title II of the Agenda 21. Since that time, this country has been working to achieve sustainable development with limited results. Most of these initiatives have been developedwith a group of public policies, such as one on biodiversity and another one on cleaner production and consumption. This has helped corporations and communities develop their work by taking into account other ‘non-economic dimensions. including social, technological, cultural, ecological and political. One of the milestones in corporate sustainability in Colombia was the Public Policy on Cleaner Production publication on 1997. This was an important event for different industrial groups and corporations. Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Colombia employ eighty percent of Colombians and produce seventy-five percent of industrial Gop. ‘The cleaner production policy, therefore guides the operations of these SMEs. There is now an updated version of the policy entitled ‘Policy on Sustainable Production and Consumption,’ and ithas a strong focus on the industrial arena, One of the great cases of success has been the ‘Parque Industrial Ecoeficiente de Artes Graficas’ (Ecoefficient industrial park of graphical arts), which was the result of a public-private alliance. This was the result of a project that was inspired by Kalundborg (in Denmark) and that was contextualized and replicated in a very small scale by using it to relocate a group of industries that used to work where it was going to be built the Tercer Milenio's Park, in 2001, and opened in October 2003. It has different goals, such as green architecture, clean production programs, ‘consumption reduction and recycling promotion. All this is done through an investment of USD 2.5 million per year. 54 businesses participated in this program. It had a general manager of the infrastructure ‘who helped to create a complex but helpful environmental management structure, including load room for wastes, a wastewater treatment plant and other facilities for the members of the association ‘Some of the lessons learnt are related to the social awareness of the members, who had never ‘worked this way. It has been difficult, within the industry of graphical arts, to have environmental management not cur as an externality but in the cost sta production due to the reduction plat the profits and the way this juri affects the business competition mill 1s On the other hand, one of the the elements that helped this roi stru is the consumer behavioral regic change. Consumers are more Chall conscious of their responsibil buy products with green Fort practices, instead of cheaper have products with a higher impact differ the environment from buta On the other hand, another Probie important perspective toa mains green growth in Colombia ‘comm includes vital community advances. One of the most Them remarkable examples is an to promote mitigation and adaptation to climate changel sit the region of Bogota and neat Stair ‘This project is known as Pl en (which stands for Plan Reg loc. Integral de Cambio Climtico Cundinamarca — Bogoté, or Climate Change Integrate Regional Plan for Cundinar Bogota). This is an interesting case analyze, due to its comple Bogota, Colombia's capital located in the middle ofthe country. Also, it i inthey to ity is ter of State in the country).The places have completely diff ment ructures have always been a to from a Governmental point of v partment or Tals \d Cundinamarca 1 jore, And this is why ernments at strategies to work not romotes the north-south and south-south cooperation with that can projects and best practi ated within an international work that includes other regions on this project. It has three specific elements: Governance and Alliances framework; Mitigation and adaptation focused strategic planning; and Financial Policies Framework. Nowadays, this project is in an executing phase, and due to its early but due to its importance a territorial one, reducing the since 2010, itis estimated that it has, problems generated by one of the been running 10 projects in the mmain consciousness of ou world communities ~ borders. Such projects promote the green The main goal of this initiative is to growth in the cities of Bogota and reduce the risks generated by climate change focusing on poverty and sustainability through ment of the local and regional government in order to and mitigation actions, involves several stakeholders such as bcal authorities, inergovernmental agencies, civil so anda ademia, among athers. nearby, understanding that the © cnet ts special focus of it, as presented in Rio+20, includes a holistic thoug as well as a glocalizat perspective presented in this communitie demics an decision makers to figure out alternative ways to prevent an solve environmental prob th a focus on the local and national economy. Colombia is crawling on along the sustainability road and a: Martin Luther King Jnr said, ‘if you can't fly then run, if you can't ru then walk, if you can hen have to keep moving forward. | Let us keep moving forward aloni this sustainability ro: TACC during 2010 | © Tobe anes tsar 2010 © Tobe ates area 2010