The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) together with the United Nations Global Compact, officially launched the Green Industry Platform at theUnited Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) on 16 June 2012. The initiative mobilizes action for the "Green Industry Agenda," which promotes UNIDO's objective to green manufacturing processes and create green start-ups. The event was attended by some 180 high-level dignitaries, including the Executive Director of UNEP, Achim Steiner, the European Commissioner for the Environment, Janez Potočnik and the Chief Executive Officer of the Global Environment Facility, Monique Barbut. High-level representatives from businesses such as Microsoft and Broad Group took part in the launch event, as well as government representatives from partners of the initiative such as Sweden and Poland.

The Platform is a global partnership that provides a forum to catalyze, mobilize and mainstream action on green industry around the world, and brings together government, business and civil society leaders to achieve this. The launch of the platform intended to increase support, as well as establish an advisory board comprising of 10-12 senior representatives from governmental, private and civil society sectors. The Platform is already supported by over 70 members, including national governments, businesses, civil society and international organizations.

At the launch, the Director-General of UNIDO, Kandeh K. Yumkella, added that "The Platform is exemplary for the public-private partnerships that are needed to scale up and mainstream the greening of industrial development and the creation of green industry. It will give impetus to the many inspiring initiatives at national and sector level, that will be united to direct a global transition to low carbon and cleaner industry."

The overarching goal of the platform is to create cleaner and more competitive industrial development, reduce pollution and the reliance on the unsustainable use of natural resources. Below is a video of the launch as well as a link to the Green Industry Platform page on UNIDO's web site.

Green Industry Platform

Modern bioenergy development, through its environmental and socio-economic impacts, may have positive or negative effects on the four dimensions of food security: availability; access; utilization, and stability. For instance, bioenergy may create new employment and income-generating opportunities, with positive effects on people’s access to food. At the same time, if good practices are not implemented, bioenergy production may lead to negative impacts on the productive capacity of land or on water availability and quality, with negative repercussions on food security.

In order to shed light on the complex relationship between bioenergy and food security, FAO has developed the Bioenergy and Food Security (BEFS) Analytical Framework, which can help policy-makers make informed decisions regarding modern bioenergy development. This framework, which covers a broad range of environmental and socio-economic issues relevant for food security, has already been implemented in a number of countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Building on and complementing the BEFS Analytical Framework, FAO has just released a set of tools and guidance in order to help countries:

1. Prevent and manage risks – and thus increase the opportunities – of bioenergy development on food security, through good environmental and socio-economic practices and related policy instruments;

2. Appraise and evaluate bioenergy investments, through the web-based Operator Level Food Security Assessment Tool, and

3. Monitor and respond to the impacts of bioenergy development on food security, through science-based tools, methodologies and indicators.

Through this integrated set of tools and guidance, FAO aims to help countries ensure that modern bioenergy development fosters both food and energy security, and that it contributes to both agricultural and rural development in addition to climate change mitigation.

FAO BEFSCI Site

This latest report emerging from the UN-Energy and Global Sustainable Electricity Partnership is a useful contribution to the global energy dialogue. The Secretary-General's initiative on Sustainable Energy for All underlines the importance of finding new and innovative partnerships between governments, the private sector and civil society that can help create the conditions necessary for successful investment in sustainable energy.

At the January 2012 meeting of the Secretary-General's High-level Group on Sustainable Energy for All, a Framework on Action was developed toward achieving the initiative's objectives in the areas of energy access, energy efficiency and renewable energy. Since then, an Action Agenda was launched that begins to set the business case for the goals we have put forward.

In the run-up to the launch of the Sustainable Energy for All initiative, UN-Energy and the Global Sustainable Electricity Partnership convened a Global Summit in June 2011 at the United Nations in New York to highlight their joint recommendations for strengthening public-private partnerships in the field of energy. It is critical for UN Member States and country teams to create and sustain partnerships with the private sector in order to radically change the world's energy systems.

This year's publication again demonstrates a strong agreement among stakeholders that improved access to affordable and reliable electricity supplies and accelerated economic development are the two most important benefits of public-private partnerships.

Strengthening Public-Private Partnerships to Accelerate Global Electricity Technology Deployment Report

A new online tool introduced at Rio+20 by the Clean Energy Solutions Center empowers Policymakers and Energy Analysts by facilitating analysis and visualization of the technical and economic potential for solar power in a given country or region and has further customizable parameters of interest such as: Photovoltaic (PV) economic potential and PV payback period. The tool evaluates solar technologies and their respective economic potential ranging from residential rooftop systems to utility-scale installations. The input data for the tool is taken from a variety of sources, including solar radiation data from National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Residential electricity rates are compiled from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) and the International Energy Agency (IEA). Concentrated solar power (CSP) technologies and a broader set of analysis features will be added to the tool over time.

The free tool is now available as a public beta offering the following features:

• What is the scale of the potential market opportunity for rooftop and utility scale PV development in a selected country under different cost scenarios (ranging from $1/Watt to $5/Watt installed cost)?
• What are payback periods for PV system purchases in a selected country (and sub-regions for larger countries)?
• What regions of a country hold the greatest promise for PV development?
• What policies and measures are being applied to advance solar deployment across countries?
• What is the relative scale of PV opportunities across countries?