World Economic Forum, Puerto Vallarta

Secretary General Aldo Flores-Quiroga participated at the Energy Summit of the World Economic Forum on Latin America, held in Puerto Vallarta on 16-18 April. The Summit explored the main challenges and opportunities confronting the energy sector in the region.

The Sustainable Growth Summit consisted of seven private sessions in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, taking place the day prior to the larger World Economic Forum on Latin America. Thematic building blocks included the challenges of sustainable growth in food, water and energy demands; addressing the challenges of climate change and sustainable consumption; and achieving economic growth. Discussions on each theme focused on changing current approaches and on exploring public-private connections.

The opening plenary explored the role of business and innovation in accelerating regional growth while improving competitiveness through economic and environmentally sustainable opportunities.

Following on the diverse sustainable growth topics covered in the afternoon, the closing plenary summarized the insights and actions emerging from each of the parallel sessions. Chief executives representing a spectrum of regional and global businesses shared their reactions and insights while discussing commitments that can tangibly advance issues pertaining to sustainable agriculture, supply chains, water use and renewable energy.

Key areas for discussion included accelerating public-private collaboration and increasing pilot projects that can be scaled up. The closing plenary explored the systems and characteristics of successful partnerships and how the platform provided by the World Economic Forum can help initiate the shift to sustainable regional economic growth.

A summary of the event can be found at: http://www3.weforum.org/docs/LA12/WEF_LA12_SustainableGrowthSummit_SummaryReport.pdf