Green economy will enhance the ability of developing countries to manage natural resources, providing the basis for their livelihoods and development, according to Amina Mohamed, Deputy Executive Director of United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and UN Assistant Secretary General. She made a keynote speech at the "Rio+20 and South-South Cooperation" special session of China Ecological Forum held in Beijing on July 20, 2012.

In the speech, she also reviewed some important messages from the Rio+20 Outcome Document titled The Future We Want, including green economy, South-South Cooperation and technological development.

"We must ensure that activities in South-South Cooperation improve, not degrade our ecosystems, which are the foundation of our sustainability," said Mohamed, adding that "capacity building is a prerequisite for all avenues to achieve sustainable development in developing counties."

The emerging economies such as China, Brazil, India, South Africa play an important role in driving the South-South cooperation, and have laid a solid foundation for further cooperation on promoting green economy development in developing countries, according to Mohamed.

Her view was echoed by another keynote speaker Liu Yanhua, Counselor at the Counselors' Office of the State Council of China, and professor at the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

"Many developing countries are similar in environment background, economic level, education, social structure and stage of development," said Liu. "Therefore, we can collaborate in many fields such as indigenous technology, small hydro-power, clean energy (solar, wind, bio), small machine, ecological farming, supply chains for green food, as well as rural public health system."

During the panel discussion, both Chinese and foreign scholars all agreed that South-South Cooperation has become a major force in the development of the world. Chinese scientists need to examine their research work and support informed decision-making for green economy development in developing countries.

As one of the follow-ups of the Rio+20 Summit held in June, "Rio+20 and South-South Cooperation" special session of China Ecological Forum was organized by the International Ecosystem Management Partnership (IEMP). Co-sponsored by the UNEP and CAS in 2011, IEMP is UNEP's first initiative in the south and for the south, aiming to mobilize science to support policy setting and capacity building for sustainable ecosystem management in all developing countries.