The Asia-Europe Environment Forum (ENVforum) Annual Conference 2017 was held on 6-7 September in Hanoi, Viet Nam, in partnership with Hanns Seidel Foundation Viet Nam Office and with the support of the Ministry of Planning and Investment of Viet Nam. The main focus of the conference was the implementation and financing of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Since the introduction of the SDGs two years ago, financing has emerged as a key issue on attaining their national and, ultimately, the common global objectives for sustainable development. There is a strong need to consider innovative financing, given the lack of policy space for many emerging economies, and increasing efforts to streamline funding with the aim of attaining higher impact and effectiveness in government spending.
The conference offered a platform for more than 100 representatives from public and private sectors, as well as from civil societies, to discuss and exchange ideas on innovative financing for sustainable development, mobilising national resources and successfully involving the private sector in the national planning process towards the 2030 Agenda.
On the first day of the event, Ambassador Karsten WARNECKE, ASEF Executive Director, reaffirmed the ENVforum’s mission to “contribute to a better understanding of the potential funding sources for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, to enhance exchange between private sector and public sector representatives and to support multi-stakeholder, regional and international dialogue on Public-Private-Partnerships and Sustainable Businesses from the ASEM region“. Keynote speaker H.E. Mr NGUYEN The Phuong, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment of Viet Nam, introduced the topic from a Viet Nam perspective. Ms Ursula MANNLE, Chairwoman of the Hanns Seidel Foundation, underlined the importance of the inter-regional collaboration offered by the ENVforum: “This forum properly addresses aspects of the 2030 Agenda – especially the topic of financing sustainable development. It shows that Asia and Europe are approaching the future side by side and on the same page“.
The program cast light on different challenges and opportunities for sustainable development from a financial perspective. Starting off with the localisation of financing mechanisms on national and international level, the first day focused on two roundtable sessions on different partnership approaches for the implementation of SDGs, including public-private partnership and corporate partnership. The second day tackled climate finance-related issues and the impact of low carbon technologies, as well as renewable energy on the private sector.