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Lee Myung-bak, President of the Republic of Korea
At the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in 1992, the international community
agreed on ‘Sustainable Development’ as a guiding principle for socioeconomic development.
Despite significant progress to this end, rapid world population growth and increasing resource scarcity pose
unprecedented challenges to achieving sustainable development. The time has come again to assess what we have
done so far and how we can move forward to address emerging challenges.
I welcome the theme of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in highlighting the
concept of a green economy. I firmly believe that green, environment-friendly initiatives and economic growth can
go together and that greening our economic growth is the only way forward for achieving sustainable development.
In a wish to contribute to Rio+20, Korea has developed and demonstrated its own successful national green
growth strategy, which is an action-oriented strategy for facilitating the transition towards a green economy.
This transition presents a big opportunity for all of us. It brings the opportunity to build more eco-friendly
infrastructure and develop more climate-resilient livelihoods – with more jobs, of course. This is why Korea has
made ‘green growth’ an international development priority.
As a country that was once on the receiving end of international aid but is now a significant donor, Korea
wishes to facilitate cooperation among the international community, for both developed and developing
countries, in the transition to a green economy. Korea also seeks to make the best use of the tremendous
opportunities offered by green growth.
In this interconnected world, policy challenges for the transition to a green economy are global in nature and
require transboundary action. Having a shared vision for a green economy, setting tangible goals, adopting an
operational strategy and endorsing cooperative partnerships are essential parts of our mission at Rio+20. It is
time to make the big shift to build a planet-responsible civilization, and this will happen only if we act together.
It is my sincere hope that Rio+20 will indeed serve to unite us in the spirit of sustainable development and
lead us towards a green economy – the future we want.
Lee Myung-bak
President of the Republic of Korea