The GGGI Lao team participated in the High-Level Dialogue on the National Green Growth Strategy, held at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Vientiane on May 10. The Dialogue brought together stakeholders from across the government and development partners to provide feedback on the first draft of Lao PDR’s National Green Growth Strategy.

Dr. Marianne Fay, World Bank Chief Economist for Sustainable Development, joined the high-level dialogue to share global experiences on green growth. She highlighted four reasons why the business as usual approach of growing dirty and cleaning up later may not work: 1) world population has grown significantly applying more pressure on natural resources; 2) the dirty development path is costly, estimating that environmental degradation costs Laos 12.5% of GDP; 3) some paths are irreversible and cannot be cleaned up or fixed later; and 4) Lao PDR’s wealth is its natural capital.

The first draft of Lao PDR’s national green growth strategy was presented and discussed during the meeting. In regards to the green growth potential in Lao DPR, one of the participants stated that this was their first time seeing leadership in Laos about green growth and yet believed that this would be another step for Lao PDR to achieve a more sustainable development path.

During the meeting, GGGI was recognized for the technical support provided in the preparation of the strategy. And, GGGI is looking forward to supporting the government of Laos to finalize the strategy and implement it.