The EU Green Week, a forum to debate European environmental policy with policymakers, leading environmentalists, and stakeholders from Europe and beyond, is taking place from 3 to 11 June in Brussels. The theme of this year's event is Delivering a Net Zero World, with its main conference taking place on 6-7 June. The event's key objective is to raise awareness and educate people about the importance of protecting the environment and promoting sustainable living practices. The event features a range of activities, including workshops, seminars, and eco-friendly projects highlighting the importance of “green” skills: skills which will empower people to join and contribute to a green transition.

UNIDO is an important Green Deal partner for the EU in terms of the promotion of sustainable consumption and production of manufactured goods as well as clean energy. With climate change and the energy transition on top of global agendas, the European Union is set to lead the race on carbon neutrality, while addressing industrial challenges through new legislative packages such as the Net-Zero Industry Act under the Green Deal Industrial Plan. To encourage stronger engagement towards a clean-tech revolution and bringing an end to industrial pollution, UNIDO joined a number of fellow UN agencies (UNEP, UNDP, FAO, UN Women, OHCHR) at the EU Green Week to promote delivering a net-zero world and a green global transition.

UNIDO also showcased its landmark project, Switch to Circular Economy Value Chains (SWITCH2CE), co-funded by the European Union and the Government of Finland. SWITCH2CE is part of UNIDO’s progressive efforts in advancing sustainable global supply chains and was featured at the EU Green Week UN stand.
At a side event organized by GeSI on “Green digital skills for sustainable value chains” held on 8 June, 2023, Christophe Yvetot - UNIDO Representative to the European Union, the European Investment Bank, OACPS, Belgium and Luxembourg took part in a panel discussion on “Global industrial collaboration for sustainable value chains”. There he also stressed the importance of global industrial collaboration in times of disruptive transformations and the relevance of digital skills to achieve the European Green Deal.

Mr Yvetot used the opportunity to draw attention of the audience to the launch of the UNIDO Global Alliance on Artificial Intelligence for Industry and Manufacturing (AIM-Global), which will be launched on Friday, 7 July 2023, in Shanghai, China at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference.