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Unlocking the potential of
ESD for green growth
Kang Sangkyoo, Korean National Commission for UNESCO
W
ith the global economic turbulence and climate change,
we are at a point where we must speak up about the
need for change and our capacity for achieving it. Such
change will lead us to take on economic, social and environmental
issues in a more convergent manner, and thus compel education of
all types and levels to become a tool for tackling the pressing chal-
lenges in view of global balance and local reality. A wide variety of
problems are profoundly interlinked and a single possible solution
will never fix them all at once. Education is a slow but ultimately
crucial means by which to change the complex equation.
Our generation and those to follow are facing serious challenges,
including financial crises, global warming, biodiversity loss, poverty
and food and water shortages. United Nations Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon has called for a ‘Global Green New Deal’ to help rebuild
and reshape the economy of our planet. World leaders argue that
this crisis is a call to speed up the creation of a new energy economy.
It is in this spirit that the Korean government announced Green
Growth as a national vision that would shape Korea for the next
six decades.
Korea’s economy is largely dependent on external factors, includ-
ing foreign oil and export earnings. Rapid economic growth since
the 1960s has produced imbalance in environmental and
social integrity. Military and diplomatic tensions between
North and South Korea threaten political stability. Low
birthrates and an ageing population will continue to feed
chronic national vulnerability in the immediate future.
Green Growth was introduced in 2008 to promote the
belief that growth and environmental sustainability are not
merely compatible, but mutually necessary for the future
of humankind. The government has already enacted the
Framework Act on Green Growth and embarked on
an official launch of the Global Green Growth Institute
(GGGI) in 2010. While the Act serves as the guiding prin-
ciple of development for Korea, the Institute is expected
to become a platform through which Korea cooperates
and collaborates with emerging and developing nations
in their efforts to create and implement national and local
strategies and policies for pursuing green growth. Seen
in this light, the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable
Development (DESD) in Korea has vast potential to be
implemented in alignment not only with the priorities of
the national sustainable development objectives, but also
as part of global efforts for a sustainable common future.
The launch event of the ESD Colloquium Series focused on green and creative human resources
Image: KNCU