Rio+20 has now arrived and we have been asked – what outcome does GEC want, and what does it expect?
To answer that I would like to explain the evolution of our coalition as our own story offers insights to the more macro green economy journey. Our first phase (2009-2011) was about exploring the GE concept from different perspectives, geographical, developmental, and multi-sectoral via our national dialogues; to question what it might mean and to understand the opportunities and challenges it presented. Our second phase (2011- 2012) was prompted by the escalation of global interest in the concept, and the realisation that we (GEC) were an important player in an emerging discussion over a term that was still vulnerable to being dumbed down to irrelevance or ignored into insignificance. Our ambition with this phase has been to use our collective voice to ensure the green economy concept would not be commandeered by incumbent powers so it becomes greenwash, that it was coherent enough to survive the cauldron of Rio+20, and authentic enough to take root in different national contexts.