PAGE Ministerial Conference 2017: High-Level Media Debate - Whose Prosperity? How Can We Build Inclusive and Sustainable Economies?

26 March 2017

Location :

Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB), Stresemannstraße 128-130, 10117 Berlin

Featuring: Esther Byer Suckoo (Minister of Labour, Social Security and Human Resource Development, Barbados), Winnie Byanyima (Executive Director of Oxfam International), Jürgen Heraeus (Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Heraeus Holding and Chairman of the B20), Tim Jackson (Sustainable Economist and Author of Prosperity Without Growth), and Elliot Harris (Assistant Secretary-General of the UN and Head of the UN Environment New York Office)

Globalisation has created wealth across the world, lifting hundreds of millions out of extreme poverty. But has too much of the wealth ended up in the hands of too few? How can our model for globalisation be reconfigured to promote more equal, stable economies which do not overstretch environmental resources? Our current socio-economic system, many argue, is increasing inequalities and accelerating climate change and destruction of the environment. Sustainable Development Goals — the UN’s roadmap to prosperity for all on a healthy planet — will require considerable financial resources. Many experts are now calling for a change to our entire model of doing business, by measuring national prosperity beyond GDP, sharing wealth equitably, and shifting economies to an inclusive, sustainable model. But how can these goals be met, and what are the risks to an increasingly strained global jobs market and the needs of developing nations?

The Green Growth Knowledge Platform and the Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE) held a High-Level Media Debate on 26 March 2017. The debate spearheaded the Second PAGE Ministerial Conference on “Inclusive and Sustainable Economies – Powering the Sustainable Development Goals”, which took place on 27 and 28 March in Berlin and co-hosted with the Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB).

The media partner for this event was Intelligence Squared one of the world’s premier forums for debate and intelligent discussion, with over 9 million downloads on the podcast, and regular broadcasts on the BBC World News to an estimated audience of 70 million for each event. The debate will be moderated by Robert Collins from Intelligence Squared.