WEF 2008 debates: Green Development in MENA

The series of sustainability debates in WEF MENA 2008 kicked off today with an interactive session about unblocking the supply chain for green development. This is the summary of this session as posted on WEF's website. More session summaries will be posted later

Connie Hedegaard • Khaled Irani

Facilitators: • Andrew Critchlow •Ralph R. Peterson

Participants in this highly interactive session identified the key blockages to creating greener supply chains for urban development. In a series of small breakout groups, participants built their own supply chains focusing on the specific needs of, and constraints and enablers, in the Middle East. Supply chains for a green building, desalination plant, solar park, urban waste recycling facility and public transport facility were mapped, compared and analysed to identify the main bottlenecks.

Key outcomes include:

• Understanding the supply chain for sustainable and greener urban development involves dissecting a complex and highly interdependent set of stakeholders with varying inputs and various interests. Identifying these stakeholders is a difficult and complex task.

• Participants determined whether they could raise awareness about the interconnectivity and complexity in the supply chain. They can achieve true insights of where the bottlenecks are and find ways to create a greener supply chain.

• Pricing signals must be injected into the supply chain for urban development so as to expose the true costs and allow consumers to make fully informed choices.

• The current infrastructure is inadequate to encourage adoption of green technologies such as solar generated power, wind power and desalination.

• Addressing how to change the mindset of stakeholders in the supply chain is an important step to making it greener.

• The regulatory framework for creating a green supply chain is poor. Governments must demonstrate political will and create green policies and incentives as well as educate the public to change their perceptions, increase their awareness and foster greater acceptance of green policy.

"This session provided some remarkable insights into the green supply chain interconnections, complexities and bottlenecks. Those insights will be extremely valuable to the Forum's ongoing sustainable development workstreams and initiatives."
 Ralph R. Peterson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, CH2M Hill Companies, USA