GREEN ECONOMY COALITION: EVENT REPORT

The Green Economy Coalition (GEC) convened a global meeting in Cape Town from January 8-10, 2019, bringing together over 130 participants to address the question of how everyone can get a stake in the green economy. The event resulted in five core findings, a set of policy recommendations for the UN-PAGE Ministerial, and a framework for the GEC's next ten-year strategy. The report highlights a global trend toward green investment—noting over 9 trillion of private investment since 2007—while warning that biodiversity is in crisis and the global financial system is structurally unfit for the environmental crisis. It also provides status updates on green economy initiatives in several GEC hub countries, including South Africa, India, Mongolia, Peru, Senegal, and Uganda.

• The transition to a green economy is accelerating, supported by global institutions, over 70 national green economic plans, and more than 9 trillion dollars in private investment since 2007.
• Inclusion is viewed as the essential mechanism for the transition's success; without popular support and a stake for all participants, the transition cannot accelerate or endure.
• Nature is critically underrepresented in green economy debates despite evidence from IPBES and WWF that biodiversity is in crisis and facing major extinction.
• The GEC advocates for structural economic reform, arguing that dismantling the 'brown' economy is as vital as growing the green economy, requiring reforms in financial systems, governance, and measurement.
• The global financial system is described as structurally unfit to address the environmental crisis, necessitating a democratic economic project to redirect financial flows toward sustainability.
• In South Africa, the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) 2018 is a key success, targeting up to 32% of electricity generation from renewable energy sources by 2030.
• Green SMEs face significant barriers, including difficulty accessing finance and taxation regimes that favor 'brown' businesses, as well as a lack of standardized labeling for green products.

APA

Green Economy Coalition (2019). GREEN ECONOMY COALITION: EVENT REPORT. https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/assets/reports/Cape-Town-Global-Meet-2019/GEC-Global-Meeting-2019-Event-Report-FINAL-WEB.pdf

Chicago

Green Economy Coalition. GREEN ECONOMY COALITION: EVENT REPORT. 2019. https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/assets/reports/Cape-Town-Global-Meet-2019/GEC-Global-Meeting-2019-Event-Report-FINAL-WEB.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Green Economy Coalition |title=GREEN ECONOMY COALITION: EVENT REPORT |date=February 2019 |url=https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/assets/reports/Cape-Town-Global-Meet-2019/GEC-Global-Meeting-2019-Event-Report-FINAL-WEB.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{greeneconomycoalition2019green, author = {{Green Economy Coalition}}, title = {{GREEN ECONOMY COALITION: EVENT REPORT}}, institution = {Green Economy Coalition}, year = {2019}, month = feb, url = {https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/assets/reports/Cape-Town-Global-Meet-2019/GEC-Global-Meeting-2019-Event-Report-FINAL-WEB.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }