Prince Charles(L) and President Paul Kagame in UK July 2019
Today, President Paul Kagame held talks with the Prince of Wales, His Royal Higness (HRH) Prince Charles on his Sustainable Markets Initiative, a new initiative aimed at supporting the global community to recover from coronavirus ( Covid-19) crisis.
Kagame said on twitter that the discussion was fruitful and he was personally looking forward to backing the initiative.
“Rwanda looks forward to being part of this timely and important initiative. Global support will be key in rebuilding more sustainable and smart economies as we recover from Covid-19,” Kagame said on twitter.
The Sustainable Markets Initiative, is a collaboration between HRH Prince of Wales and the World Economic Forum (WEF).
The initiative also known as “brain trust” was launched at the World Economic Forum in January 22, 2020 to identify and champion leading approaches globally; 17 founding council members urged others to join forces.
Over 12 industry roundtables are planned for 2020 to accelerate industry transitions and to develop paths to more sustainable markets by 2030.
“Sustainable markets generate long-term value through the balance of natural, social, human and financial capital. Systems-level change within sustainable markets is driven by consumer and investor demand, access to sustainable alternatives and an enhanced partnership between the public, private and philanthropic sectors,” the Prince of Wales said then.
Within the framework of sustainable markets and rapid decarbonization, Prince of Wales believes that “changing our current trajectory will require bold and imaginative action in 10 key areas.”
These are: Shifting default setting to sustainable, outlining responsible transition pathways to decarbonize and achieve net and negative zero, reimagining industries through the lens of sustainable markets, Identifying game-changers and barriers to transition, and reversing perverse subsidies and improving incentives for sustainable alternatives.
There is also investing in sciences technology and mathematics (STEM), and nature, adopting common metrics and standards, making the sustainable options the trusted and attainable options for consumers, connecting investments to investable using platforms that can rapidly scale solutions.
