Summary: Clean Conversations webinar series – Episode one

Clean recovery: Global response for a Post-Covid 19 green economy

GreenCape is a cluster member of the International Cleantech Network (ICN). The ICN has partnered with the Solar Impulse Foundation this year to promote a global sign-up drive for the SIF 1 000 efficient solutions label, a showcase of cleantech solutions that can safeguard the environment in a financially profitable way.

To further build on these international networks, ICN and SIF are hosting a Clean Conversations webinar series during the month of June. The focus of this series is three-fold: Clean Recovery, Clean Procurement and Clean Investment.

The first episode of the series was hosted on 3 June 2020. The focus was on the global response for a Post-Covid 19 green recovery. The session was moderated by Denis Leclerc (President and CEO of Ecotech Québec). The panellists were Bertrand Piccard (Chairman, Solar Impulse Foundation), Jeanette Jackson (CEO, Foresight) and Mike Mulchay (CEO, GreenCape).

Summary:

The discussion about the recovery Post-Covid 19 was an opportunity to examine similarities and differences from three regions, namely: Europe, North America and Southern Africa. The panellists shared their insights on how the green economy can be fast tracked for sustainable, resilient and innovative collaborations.

"On the question of the clean recovery, I think we need to be very clear. With the Covid-19 crises, there are millions of people who are also suffering from an economic recession. There has to be conditions about new behaviours to create alternative markets, so that there will be growth in employment opportunities. We have to keep the environment, climate change and fighting pollution on the agenda,” said Bertrand Piccard. “Governments around the world have to consider replacing outdated infrastructure with modern, clean and efficient systems,” he added.

GreenCape works with government, academic and industry stakeholders to develop economically viable green economy solutions. "Before the Covid-19 crisis arrived in South Africa, there were at least three

green economy topics in focus: How do we become a water resilient economy, how do we build out cost-effective green renewable technologies to augment our challenged energy system, and how do we create circular economy opportunities in waste management,” said Mike Mulcahy. “Since Covid-19 has hit South Africa, these topics have become even more the focus in the discussions on how we build a society we want to see after the crisis,” he added.

According to Jeanette Jackson, cleantech has been gaining a lot of momentum over the past two to three years, leading up to the current health crises. The Canada Cleantech Alliance conducted surveys to learn from the SMMEs and industry partners about their current crisis experience: " With all of this potential investment from governments, it an automatic thought for all of us on the call that this has to be a green recovery,” she said. “We have had the privilege of being part of these conversations with the government, to understand the right approach for this recovery.”

The panellists highlighted that all recovery stimulus packages should have sustainability goals and a green jobs element to it.

This article was originally posted on GreenCape. See original post.