Belarus urges improvement of multilateral cooperation in green technology

MINSK, 4 June (BelTA) - Belarus urges the improvement of the system of multilateral cooperation in the area of green technology. These issues were high on the agenda of the seminars on the cooperation in the field of development and implementation of green technologies. The seminars were held in New York on 30-31 May and were organized at the initiative of the President of the UN General Assembly

Belarus was represented by deputy head of multilateral diplomacy at the Foreign Ministry Yury Yaroshevich. As one of the keynote speakers in the segment on further steps to improve the system of multilateral cooperation in the area of green technology, Yury Yaroshevich argued the need for the scientific and technological assistance to middle-income countries, including Belarus. The lack of tangible results in the transfer of advanced technologies through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol are one of the reasons behind the need for new elements of such assistance, the diplomat said.

Taking into account the Belarusian approach to the formation of the UN mechanism on cooperation in science and technology will provide the most effective steps to ensure the global transition to sustainable development.

For Belarus, the establishment of such a mechanism will provide additional opportunities to attract foreign investments into the modernization of science and economy, participate in international research on the development of green technology, develop bilateral ties with the UN member states and international organizations.

The past seminars gave a start to practical implementation of the arrangements of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development Rio +20 (June 2012, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) towards a sustainable development strategy that will ensure economic growth, help solve pressing social problems and save the environment for future generations.

The participants of the seminar discussed the existing instruments and mechanisms of cooperation in science and technology, and also possible actions to accelerate the launch of multilateral scientific and technological cooperation capable of generating cutting-edge green technology (advanced research and industrial developments which do not harm the environment) and to deploy them across the globe.

The theme of the activities is directly connected with the idea voiced by Belarus in 2007 in the United Nations for a global mechanism to facilitate the transfer and spread of alternative and renewable energy technology.