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The economic growth of countries has traditionally come at a price to the planet, and been associated with the extraction of fossil fuels or polluting industries with high emissions. However, many developing countries are opting for a different model.

Juliet Kabera, Director General of the Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA), explains how systems being put into place in her country are more sustainable and that developing countries have the opportunity to establish systems that take climate change into account. She recognises that the initial investment might be high, but that it is cost effective in the long run. For instance, the agriculture sector is tackling food scarcity and using fertilisers with low emissions, and in the energy sector, they are building smaller hydro power stations that a smaller community can run.

Malcolm Turnbull, former Australian Prime Minister, suggests that another aspect of green growth is international aid banks, which won't finance industries that fund mining or power-station projects. He calls on the financial sector to stop providing the funding for unsustainable developments.

"We have the opportunity to build correctly from the beginning, and not something that we have to clean up in the future." - Juliet Kabera, Director General of the Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA)

Photo: A worker at a nursery on the Ivory Coast prepares seedlings of indigenous wood plants that will be planted on the site of a previous cocoa plantation Credit: Getty Images

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