COMDEKS featured at Rio+20 Side Event

On 18 June 2012, at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the Government of Japan held a Side Event on “the Satoyama Initiative and the Green Economy”. The Side Event was organized by the Ministry of the Environment of Japan and the IPSI Secretariat (UNU-IAS), in partnership with the Government of Japan, the United Nations University, the United Nations Development Programme, and the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF).

The side event was opened by Mr. Kazuhiko Takemoto, Senior Adviser to the Japanese Minister of the Environment, and Director, IPSI Secretariat, UNU-IAS. A keynote speech by Prof. Kazuiko Takeuchi, Vice Rector, United Nations University, was followed by a panel discussion led by Mr. Kazuaki Hoshino (Special Assistant to COP10 President, Adviser to the Japanese Minister of Environment; Dr. Yannick Glemarek, UNDP/GEF Executive Coordinator and Director of Environmental Finance; Dr. Tony Simons (Director General, World Agroforestry Centre), and Mr. Makoto Nagasawa (President and CEO, Fruta Fruta, Inc.).

During the seminar, IPSI activities towards enhancing both human well-being and biodiversity in human-influenced natural environments, in particular those with strong links to the Green Economy were introduced, followed by a discussion on how IPSI could expand its initiatives to further contribute to the Green Economy.

The COMDEKS project was featured in the Rio+20 side event as the flagship of the International Partnership for the Satoyama Initiative (IPSI). UNDP views the landscape approach as an effective way of mainstreaming biodiversity and ecosystem functioning while providing local well beings and sustainable livelihoods in low-carbon development that maximizes resilience to climate change. UNDP believes in the importance of the Satoyama Initiative in promoting and supporting socio-ecological production landscapes around the world and engaging communities in local development planning, and COMDEKS will be an integral part of it toward green low emission climate resilient development.

For more information, please read the full press release posted on the Satoyama Initiative website. For the presentation made by Yannick Glemarec featuring the COMDEKS project, please click here.

Rio+20 Side Event: The Satoyama Initiative and the Green Economy
18 June 2012 – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil