COP18 (04/12/12) – Richard Samans, director-general, Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) explains the role of the GGGI in enabling nations to follow through on the pledges made at the UN climate change talks. Creating change on the ground will need more engagement with the economics that under pin the shifts necessary to deliver on climate action promises.

“My main recommendation for the last few years has been that the international community needs to walk and chew gum at the same time,” says Samans.

“They need to work with the private sector to tackle some of the big areas of opportunity for progress. That means we need to move beyond the environment and foreign ministries that are mainly represented at meetings like this. We need to get finance, economic and commerce ministries into the game. This must be done in a way that integrates the environmental and economic objectives of a given government.”