Green Enterprise Development

Why is green enterprise development at the heart of green jobs promotion?

Enterprises are at the heart of economic activity and at the core of the paradigm shift needed to achieve sustainable development. Their industrial production processes dependent directly on the environment as a provider of resources and ecosystem services. Their current unsustainable production processes is contributing to resource depletion, waste and pollution and leading to irreversible environmental degradation and climate change. This is destroying the very base upon which enterprises’ economic activity depends upon. With resources becoming even scarcer and more expensive, it is and will be increasingly difficult for the poorest and least developing countries to purchase and access resources.

Employing the majority of the global workforce, enterprises are also a main driver of employment and wealth creation. Particularly in developing countries, the development of enterprises can help to deliver goods and services needed, create jobs, improve standards of living and alleviate poverty. Enterprises are thus at the interface of environmental and social challenges. Indeed, it is in workplaces that the social, economic and environmental dimensions come together inseparably. Green enterprise development addresses these challenges, by focuses on sustainable development and green jobs creation.