What is the Role of Environmental ODA for Sustainable Development and Green Growth? JICA Senior Research Fellow Gives a Presentation in Seoul, Korea

On April 17, Senior Research Fellow Tomonori Sudo participated as a panelist in the international conference on the theme of “Responding to Global Environmental Challenges for Sustainable Development” hosted by the Korea Environment Institute (KEI) in Seoul, Korea.

The Conference aimed to discuss an effective global cooperation in environmental change. It brought together over one hundred people, including: Vice-Minister for the Environment of the Republic of Korea; policy-makers of participating nations; representatives of international organizations; researchers; and members of the public sector.

The conference provided a platform for discussions on measures to achieve sustainable development and green growth, amidst a growing debate on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and global environmental issues such as climate change and biodiversity.

In the session on the role of environmental ODA, Sudo gave a presentation entitled “JICA’s Green ODA Projects and Future Tasks.” He introduced JICA’s environmental cooperation and the role of Official Development Finance (ODF) in promoting green growth. As the roles of ODF, he listed: boosting the investment in environment; the cooperation to develop green technology; and promoting establishment of the environmental markets. He at the same time highlighted the roles of ODA in strengthening the investment and trade climate, in promoting diverse actors’ participation, and in facilitating the mobilization of funds.

In the same session, Ms. Eunkyoung Hong of Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) reported on South Korea’s initiatives in environmental cooperation. She suggested that South Korea should increase the volume of ODA in this field, since it provides a relatively low amount of ODA to the field among other DAC member states. Furthermore, Mr. Vu Xuan Nguyet Hong, Vice President of Vietnam’s Central Institute for Economic Management, stated from a perspective of aid recipient country that the major source of fund for environmental and climate change policies in Vietnam is ODA and public finance. However, he pointed out that the policies of donor countries don’t necessarily correspond to those of recipient countries, which sometimes undermines the efficiency in implementing environmental strategies.