In Run-Up to Rio+20, United Nations Opens New Office for Sustainable Development Research and Training in Incheon, Republic of Korea

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As the United Nations and the world are gearing up for Rio+20 — a major global conference that aims to accelerate efforts to promote sustainable development — the United Nations opened a new facility today in Incheon, Republic of Korea, that aims to assist developing countries. The new centre was formally launched at a ceremony in Seoul.

The new United Nations Office for Sustainable Development is a joint effort by the United Nations, the Korean Ministry of Environment, the city of Incheon and Yonsei University. The Office will be managed by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs and will serve as a training and research institution and a centre for pooling together sustainable development knowledge and making it usable and accessible through its knowledge portal.

Speaking at the launch of the new Office, the Secretary-General of Rio+20, Sha Zukang, said, “The establishment of the United Nations Office for Sustainable Development twenty years after the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development underscores the fact that the world’s commitment for sustainable development is as strong as ever.”

Mr. Sha said that in the short run the new office will support developing countries and major groups in their preparations for the Rio+20 Conference, while in the longer run, “it will contribute to advancing the implementation of the outcomes of the Rio+20 Conference.”

Housed at Yonsei University in the city of Incheon, the new Sustainable Development Office has already organized a seminar in August on the issue of energy for sustainable development.

The Office will provide a sustainable development knowledge portal uniquely integrating the three pillars of sustainable development — economic growth, improving the quality of life, and protecting the environment. It will also provide a training and capacity-building facility by organizing training programmes for national representatives and major groups from developing countries to advance the sustainable development agenda and implementation of sustainable development goals and targets. In addition, it will undertake policy research and seek synergies through mobilizing sustainable development research institutions and universities.

Rio+20 — the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in June 2012 — aims to galvanize action for sustainable development. Bringing together world leaders and representatives of business and civil society, the Conference will seek to secure renewed political commitment for sustainable development, assessing progress and gaps in implementation of past agreements, and addressing new and emerging challenges. It has two thematic focuses: “a green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication”, and “the institutional framework for sustainable development”.

For more information, please contact Dan Shepard, Development Section, United Nations Department of Public Information, tel.: +1 212 963 495, e-mail: shepard@un.org.

New UN facility on sustainable development opens in Republic of Korea

Story on UN-DPI

Sha Zukang, Under-Secretary- General for Economic and Social Affairs

19 October 2011 –

A new United Nations research and training facility designed to help poorer countries pursue sustainable development to accelerate economic growth while improving the quality of life and protecting the environment was inauguratedtoday in the Republic of Korea.

The UN Office for Sustainable Development, a joint effort of the UN, the Republic of Korea’s environment ministry, the city of Incheon and Yonsei University, was opened at a ceremony in Seoul, the country’s capital. It is based at the university in Incheon.

“The establishment of the UN Office for Sustainable Development 20 years after the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development underscores the fact that the world’s commitment for sustainable development is as strong as ever,” said Sha Zukang, the Secretary-General of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), to be held in Brazil in June next year.

[The new office] will contribute to advancing the implementation of the outcomes of the Rio+20 Conference.

The Office will be managed by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) and will serve as a training and research institution, and a centre for pooling sustainable development knowledge and making it usable and accessible through a knowledge portal that will integrate the three pillars of sustainable development – economic growth, improving the quality of life, and protecting the environment.

Mr. Sha said that in the short term, the new office will support developing countries and major groups in their preparations for the Rio+20 Conference, while in the longer term, “it will contribute to advancing the implementation of the outcomes of the Rio+20 Conference.”

The centre will also organize training programmes for national representatives and major groups from developing countries to advance the sustainable development agenda. In addition, it will undertake policy research and seek synergies through mobilizing sustainable development research institutions and universities.

News Tracker: past stories on this issue

UN agency joins campaign to boost sustainable development for world of 7 billion

UN asks Korea to share 'green experiences'

Story on Koreatimes.co.kr

Sha Zukang, the U.N. undersecretarygeneral for economic and social affairs

By Kim Tae-jong

A senior U.N. official has praised South Korea for its efforts to boost its low-carbon, anti-pollution “green economy” in the context of sustainable development, asking the country to share its experience with the rest of the world.

“I think South Korea is a real champion,” Sha Zukang, the U.N. undersecretary-general for economic and social affairs, said during an interview Wednesday. “You have invested a lot of money (for green economy policies) and you have good policies and good legislation. This is strong evidence showing how determined South Korea and its people are in taking green growth seriously.”

He said there were not many countries which “are doing as good as South Korea” and many of its policies are very successful.

As an example, he noted the country’s success in reforesting bare mountains in a comparatively short period of time.

Sha came here to participate in the Asian and Pacific Regional Preparatory Meeting for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) that opened at the Lotte Hotel in central Seoul Wednesday for a two-day run.

During the preparatory meeting, member states in the region aim to address key issues and come up with an agreed regional statement to submit to the UNCSD or Rio+20 Conference, which will be held in Brazil next year.

Sha, who also serves as secretary-general of the UNCSD, asked for an active role by South Korea in the Rio+20 Conference as well as the preparatory meeting.

“You have accumulated so much experience and lessons, and you have a good strategy. The experience and lessons are very useful for the rest of the world, particularly for developing countries,” he said.

To effectively disseminate the country’s experience, the U.N. decided to open an office for sustainable development in Incheon where people can have easy access to information, experience-based knowledge and any advice they need, he added.

Sha also noted the Asian and Pacific region is very unique in terms of the green economy and institutional framework.

“The Asian and Pacific region has been very proactive in supporting the concept of this green economy. They’ve increased investment and accumulated a lot of experience and lessons because all of them believe a green economy is the only way to reach our sustainable development goals.”

Since a consensus on this is emerging with agreed principles and plans, he emphasized that it is now time for implementation of necessary measures.

“We have principles and an agenda, and we don’t have another plan. These need to be implemented and details can be worked out later.”

Lastly, he asked for public support for a green economy, noting, “Without public awareness on the importance of sustainable development, green growth, or green economy is impossible.”

“Sustainable development is for the future, for our children and our children’s children because the current way of development, the path we’re taking today cannot last long. Development should be sustainable, otherwise, there will be disaster,” he concluded.

DESA's Seoul Center plunged into scandals

During a recent visit of Ban Ki-Moon in Seoul, South Korea (July 3, 2008) he stated that his purpose of visit to Korea was to encourage Korean government to contribute more to international community, and underlined importance of further active roles of UN Family in Korea will get essential. 

At the end of his meeting in Seoul, little Ban would know that he was about to take a happy family photo with a rather disturbing and scandal embroiled branch of his own organization - called : United Nations Governance Centre (UNGC - http://www.ungc.org/)

Click in the picture for larger image

To be fair to Ban Ki-moon, UNGC was established on June 23, 2006, almost six months before Ban Ki-moon was appointed Secretary General. Eventhough the timing and selection of Seoul as the center of good governance for Asia would have left many in the region skeptical and think that it was just a move of South Korean government to strengthen their "candidacy" for the post of Secretary General (Ban Ki-moon was running for SG job at time of announcement).

In the agreement reached between DESA and GoSK (Government of South Korea), the goal of the United Nations Governance Centre (UNGC) is to act as an international and regional focal point for research, training and advocacy in government reinvention, and its functions will be oriented towards addressing information requirements of public officials, civil society, and the private sector. In the initial stages, UNGC would focus on e-government, government innovation, citizen participation, and public ethics in terms of research, capacity development, consulting and support activities.

on the opening day

All the above looked "very promising" if DESA ought to entrust the centre to anyone else other than Guido Bertucci, John Mary Kauzya and Elia Armstrong, who as usual would corrupt anything they would touch and manage on their way.

A very recent secret report from DESA's Executive Office details a massive abuse of power, UN immunities - including abuse with tax-deduction and other UN perks for SK Government officials as well as corrupt procurement practices and commitment of funds without any procedural approval from HQs.

While many at 23rd floor are "committed to secrecy on Seoul center" due to "sensitivity" it bears from Ban Ki-Moon being a south korean, the scandal has now become a heavy one, that even ASG Jomo has admitted that the center should be "shut down, or if it should continue it should not under DESA's flag".

With UNGC being the second scandal of DESA's centers in the world (UNTC - Thessaloniki Centre was the first one) now we wonder what would be the status of other centers of DESA ?