U.N. unit releases 'green deal' policy

NAIROBI, Kenya, April 20 (UPI) -- The head of the U.N. Environment Program, based in Nairobi, Kenya, called on nations to invest heavily in a new "green economy."

During a speech at Tel Aviv University, the U.N. agency's Executive Director Achim Steiner said governments must play their part in shaping markets to deliver long-term environmental benefits if the world is to overcome the crises it faces, the United Nations said Monday in a news release.

"The market failed to read the writing on the wall or see the climate and energy security street signs coming up fast on the international highway," he said during his weekend remarks.

He said the U.N. Environment Program Policy Brief for a Global Green New Deal highlights the benefits of investing a significant amount of proposed governments' economic stimulus money in areas such as renewable energy and sustainable transport.

"The question now is how will the around $3 trillion worth of stimulus packages be spent -- on the old brown economy or a new green one that might set the stage for a truly sustainable century?" Steiner said in Tel Aviv.