Guest author Rich Kroes, Sustainability Product Strategy Director at Oracle, discusses his participation in the recent United Nations Environment Program Forum in Nairobi
Oracle was pleased to sponsor and participate in the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environmental Forum (GC/GMEF) held in Nairobi on February 20-22. The forum brought together environment ministers, permanent secretaries, cabinet officials and other senior opinion formers from over 140 countries to discuss the latest issues on the global environment, particularly in relation to sustainability and climate change. The ministerial consultations during the session also focused on how to drive and support the emerging positions and policy issues following the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on sustainable development held in Brazil last summer.
UNEP understands the value that technological innovation and the development of sustainability solutions brings to bear in terms of addressing the diverse challenges faced by the world’s environment. The organization also understands that the private sector plays a critical role in the development of a broad array of these solutions, hence hosting the Sustainability Innovation Expo at the event to foster the sharing of technological knowledge and discuss future opportunities.
A session on the UNEP-Live program also highlighted the importance of measurement in tracking major environmental developments and events, as well as identifying emerging issues in the global environment. Measurement ultimately forms the basis for and provides the means to deliver lasting and meaningful improvement in the state of the world’s environment – this is a key cornerstone for Oracle's sustainability solutions as well.