A new Video News Release (VNR) from the European Commission offers rare footage which explores how the EU is helping to promote issues on the agenda at Rio+20 in the wider world. With a focus on e-waste recycling in India, the VNR presents the green economy, sustainable development, and global poverty eradication in practice.

The Rio +20 conference aims to pick up where the 1982 ‘Earth Summit’ left off and will emphasise, among other things, that switching to sustainable modes of production and consumption need not be seen as a burden, but rather as an opportunity to invigorate and expand the green economy.

Focusing on a project in India, co-financed by the EU through the framework of the European Commission’s SWITCH-Asia programme, the VNR considers one of the burning environmental topics of the 21^st century: e-waste. With the proliferation of technology on a global scale, disposing wisely of the technologies that have revolutionised day-to-day lives around the globe is becoming an ever more pertinent issue. E-waste is a world-wide concern and both Europe and the USA regularly export these waste materials to Asia.  However, the European Union has made impressive progress in tackling many such environmental and development-related problems over recent decades. Nevertheless, significant challenges remain and ensuring that, globally, a transition is made from unsustainable modes of production and consumption to a greener and fairer paradigm has never been more important.

As well as the case of India, the VNR features an EU-funded project in Morocco. The Melloussa wind farm is the largest of its kind in North Africa and forms part of a larger renewable energy project by the Moroccan government worth around USD 3 billion.  A cutting-edge, profitable green project, the Melloussa wind farm draws on local as well as EU expertise, creates jobs in both Morocco and the EU, and represents a landmark in the development of the green economy in North Africa. With more than 2.3 million jobs having been created globally in the renewable energy sector over recent years as well as the great potential of renewables in North Africa, this project represents a golden opportunity for both the EU and the entire North-African region.