"We Need a Green New Deal"

Last Thursday, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon called on Obama and the E.U. to create a plan to confront the twin climate and economic crises.

He appealed for a modern, global environmental equivalent of U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt's 1930s "New Deal," which lifted the United States out of the Great Depression. "We need a Green New Deal," Ban declared. Coping with the financial crisis would need a "massive stimulus," he added. "A big part of that spending should be an investment -- an investment in a green future."

This sentiment has been echoed by many, including the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP)under its Green Economy Initiative. The Green Economy Initiative is a partnership between UNEP and leading economists to provide research on creating a new green economy.

A Green New Deal economic stimulus package would invest in energy efficiency, renewable energy, support a low-carbon economy, and would create millions of green collar jobs.

Business Schools Can Help Achieve Millenium Development Goals

In the July/August edition of BizEd is an interview with Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the United Nations. Among Ban's responsibilities are leading the organization to achieve the eight Millenium Development Goals:

1. Eradicate poverty and hunger



2. Improve global educational opportunities



3. Promote gender equality



4. Reduce child mortality



5. Improve maternal health



6. Fight diseases, such as HIV/AIDS and malaria



7. Inspire environmental sustainability



8. Establish a global partnership of organizations to achieve these goals

He is promoting the U. N.'s Global Compact, an initiative that brings together government, nonprofits, educational institutions, and business to improve the prosperity of those at the bottom of the world's economic pyramid.

The world's businesses possess the power to make these objectives a reality. The contributions of business schools also will be essential in helping the U.N. meet its 2015 deadline, Ban stresses. By teaching social responsibility, he says, business schools can instill in each of their students the skills to change the world--and the intention to make a difference.

Read the full interview in the July/August 2008 edition of BizEd.