U.N. urges push toward green economy

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UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- An investment in clean energy and environmentally friendly technology will have met Millennium Development Goals, a U.N. report found.

Members of the international community are meeting for the annual U.N. General Assembly meeting where the focus is on achieving the Millennium Development Goals of reducing poverty and improving health conditions for the world's poor.

A brief provided to member states on the impacts that a green economy would have on meeting the Millennium Development Goals founds smart investments in renewable energy and sustainable resources were essential.

Achim Steiner, the executive director at the U.N. Environment Program, said the move to a low-carbon economy was key to sustainability.

"There is rapidly growing evidence that accelerating a transition to a low carbon, resource efficient, employment-generating Green Economy may not only be the key to meeting sustainability challenges of the 21st century, but also provide a considerable contribution to meeting other Millennium Development Goals," he said in a statement.

The brief presented to the U.N. General Assembly found, however, that environmental degradation is posing substantial obstacles to the development goals.