Fiji will lead the charge at the World Climate Summit in Paris in six months on the cost of environmental degradation.

Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama  told this to participants of a High-Level Exchange Forum in Bangkok yesterday.

He said the term ‘Green Growth’ had been adopted globally to describe a path of economic growth, which used natural resources in a sustainable manner.

“But it has particular resonance in the Asia Pacific region where we know that development has far too often come at the cost of environmental degradation,” he said.

“The Pacific Small Island Developing States are especially vulnerable in this regard. We need to grow our economies in a sustainable manner without jeopardising our pristine environment and the futures of Pacific Islanders to come,” he added.

In Fiji, he said they recognised that much of what had been done in the past was unsustainable, in some cases seriously so. “In far too many instances, our resources have been exploited without regard for the need to nurture them carefully so they continue to provide the prosperity on which we all depend, now and into the future.”

He said his Government recognised that they needed to forge a new development model – one that was more holistic, integrated, inclusive and above all sustainable.

“We needed a new approach that links economic growth and environmental protection. To build a green economy in which the driver of growth is more intelligent, more effective and has the common interests of all citizens in mind.”

“My own Government recognised that we needed to forge a new development model – one that is more holistic, integrated, inclusive and above all sustainable. We needed a new approach that links economic growth and environmental protection. To build a green economy in which the driver of growth is more intelligent, more effective and has the common interests of all citizens in mind.”

He said Fiji’s Green Growth Framework  masterplan was in place and was central to everything that they did.

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