For information only - not an official document
UNIS/OUS/053
11 November 2010
UNIDO Director-General, Members of High-level Council on Environment and Development Meet Chinese Premier
BEIJING/VIENNA, 11 November (UN Information Service) - The Director-General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Kandeh K. Yumkella, and other members of a high-level international advisory body that advises top Chinese Government officials on environment and development today presented their findings and recommendations to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.
Yumkella is taking part in an annual meeting of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED), which submits a report of its findings to the highest levels of the Chinese Government.
This year, the Council has focused its work on China's Green Development. In particular, its task forces have been working on policy recommendations to ensure patterns of economic development that are protective of China's rivers and seas, as well as the nation's soils. These recommendations will support the goals that China has set for itself in the upcoming 12th Five Year Plan.
The CCICED has discussed the growing threats ecosystems are facing - from industry as well as other sources - and the significant economic costs resulting from this. It has looked at policies that can ensure the protection and restoration of ecosystems, so that they can form the basis for the country's future sustainable, green development. The Council has placed much emphasis on the need to adopt cross-sectoral, holistic, and trans-regional policies. The importance of giving economic value to the services delivered by ecosystems was also highlighted.
As part of its future work, the Council has established a Task Force on Low Carbon Industrialization, which will report its results to the Council at its 2011 meeting. Yumkella is a member of this Task Force. UNIDO hosted the second meeting of the Task Force in Vienna, in September.
The China Council of International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED) was launched in 1992 and consists of senior Chinese officials and international experts. UNIDO and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) are the only members from the UN. Yumkella is UNIDO's first Director-General to serve as a member of this Council. He was invited to become a member of the Council in 2009.
The CCICED is currently chaired by the Vice Premier of China, Li Keqiang. The previous chair was Wen Jiabao, now the Premier of China.
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For more information, please contact:
Mikhail
Evstafyev
UNIDO Advocacy and Communication Coordinator
Telephone: (+43-1) 26026-5021
Mobile: (+43-699) 1459-7329
Email:
M.Evstafyev@unido.org
