The Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Emanuela Del Re, participated in the meeting of the Contact Group of Development Ministers on “The green, inclusive and resilient recovery from COVID-19”. The Contact Group is an initiative of the UK and Canada to discuss issues related to the response to the Covid-19 crisis; this was the sixth meeting since March.
“The Covid-19 crisis has dramatically exposed the link between environmental degradation on the one hand and infectious diseases, socio-economic inequalities and unsustainable growth on the other. – The Vice Minister began.
“I therefore believe that rebuilding in a better way also entails promoting policies, regulations, enterprises inspired by a green deal, a new social contract and a rebalancing of the relationship between man and nature. What we need is a circular model of economy capable of exploiting the opportunities offered by the 4th Industrial Revolution and which places people and the planet at the centre of decision-making”. – she continued.
“In development cooperation, we face the opportunity to integrate environmental considerations into our development efforts, thus promoting a virtuous cycle. Our vision should be ambitious and realistic: we should certainly integrate a green ambition into our development efforts, but we should also consider the particular situation of our partner countries, especially the least developed ones, which may require gradual, pragmatic and ad hoc approaches.” According to Vice Minister Del Re, in view of making recovery inclusive and fair “we should invest more in active labour market policies by empowering people. Training and new skills need to be promoted to help those who have fallen behind as a result of the transformation of our socio-economic systems”.
“In doing so” – the Vice Minister concluded – “our action should be based on science, exploit the potential of nature-friendly solutions, promote a fair and inclusive transition in building a future that can only be a common future.”