Lars Ramussen: Ethiopia a shining example of carbon neutral growth

Lars Ramussen: Ethiopia a shining example of carbon neutral growth

COP18: COP18 (05/12/12) – Lars Lokke Ramussen, Chairman, Global Green Growth Institute talks about his work providing a bottom up approach to climate change challenges.

He says in the lead up to Copenhagen, everyone really believed that the world would come together and put forward a new global deal. He says it is still important to work towards this but that in the meantime the work can not wait.

He talks about how his initiative formed, with like-minded countries coming together to create the strong environment for sustainability. He says they do on a voluntary basis, what the UN aims to do.

He uses the example of Ethiopia that has a target to become a mid-income country by 2025 – this will mean tippling their net income. He explains that they plan to do this in a carbon neutral way and that his organisation is trying to help them. This, he says will not only have a significant impact in the country but in the whole of Africa, giving countries a good example to follow.