Green Growth: Promoting Solutions Towards Better Sustainability and Competitiveness

The notion of green growth has emerged as a response to global challenges, a way of improving resource efficiency, ensuring ecosystem resilience, and enhancing social equity.  It also has an untapped potential for economic development through job creation in various sectors including engineering, construction, science and transport. In this sense, tackling deterioration of the natural environment as well as the unremitting high rate of unemployment are serious concerns at EU level today.

The plan for a sustainable future is supported by the EU 2020 strategy (EC 2010), a ten-year scheme for growth and jobs. One of its key objectives is to address the need for sustainable and inclusive growth through the promotion of a competitive and greener economy in the EU. A priority will be to support businesses to compete globally while being able to make the shift to a greener economy, which will require the labour market to acquire the skills and training needed to work in the green economy.

The latest statistics provided by Eurostat show that the EGSS (Environmental Goods and Services Sector) represents approximately 2% of total EU employment. Therefore, fostering job creation in the green sector, promoting mobility and supporting industrial restructuring in close cooperation with the social partners and the businesses make green growth a potential solution to the current unemployment crisis.

The transition towards sustainable growth and development could also be made more efficient through innovative green technologies and better, more sustainable, management of resources. Furthermore, novel methods of travelling - including electric vehicles and eco-friendly solutions such as car-sharing - represent viable solutions, given the fact that transport has major environmental impacts in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and noise. 

It will explore how the green economy can be boosted by stimulating investments in green growth projects and training professionals to meet labour market needs as well as examine possible solutions towards sustainable management of resources and components - such as infrastructure, mobility and energy - through technology. The symposium will support the exchange of ideas and encourage delegates to engage in thought-provoking topical debate.

Thon Hotel Brussels City Centre, Avenue du Boulevard 17
1210 Brussels Brussels
Belgium
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