hank you very much Andrew Petersen,
Honorable Minister Ayres,
Your Excellencies,
Dr Whitwell, Dean of the University of Sydney,

Ladies and gentlemen,
It is an honour and a pleasure for me to open the first ever EU Green Week event to take place in Australia.

Many thanks to Sustainable Business Australia for partnering with us to co-organise this event.

As Andrew Petersen has briefly explained Green Week is one of the most important annual occasions to discuss European environment policy.

It is traditionally launched in Brussels - where the European Union is headquartered - and is complemented by a great number of events in our 28 Member States.

The aim is to engage with politicians, businesses, local authorities, NGOs and citizens about specific "green themes" throughout a full week.

In 2016 we were encouraged to bring EU Green Week outside the European Union in recognition that several of today's environmental challenges have a global dimension.

I think of climate change of course, but also about increased resource scarcity, or the need to boost innovation to help solve increasingly alarming challenges to our environment.

Global demography tells us that by 2050 9 billion people will live on planet earth, many of which aspire to reach higher standards of living.

This will put increased stress on our energy, water and food resources.

It is therefore no wonder that the overarching theme of 2016 Green Week is "Investing for a greener future" as these challenges will require increasing investments.

Investing to solve these challenges is more than just find capital:
- It is about creating jobs;
- It's about ensuring our children breathe cleaner air on their way to school;
- It's about using raw materials and resources more efficiently;
- It's about preventing waste, just to name a few.

The involvement of the private sector is key, as it will provide the lion's share of these investments.
And this should not be surprising.

With the global market for eco-innovation worth around €1 trillion per annum and expected to triple by 2030, eco-innovation represents a major opportunity to boost competitiveness and job creation.

European companies – some of these are here today - are often at the forefront of these new markets opportunities.

This is due to the combination of two factors.
First - the European Union probably has the world's most stringent environmental standards and objectives and the EU companies operate in a highly competitive and sophisticated market.
Second - the EU single market is the world's largest economy accounting for almost a quarter of global GDP and representing half a billion people.

The EU is the world’s largest trader of manufactured of goods and services. We are indeed the first trader for over 80 countries. We are the world's first investor, including in Australia. We are also the worlds' biggest aid donor. Over 50% of global development aid and of climate finance comes from the EU and its MSs.

So, in line with our ambitious climate and environment policies we are reshaping our production, consumption, trade, businesses, banking services, and aid development.

We are leading a global momentum that opens up opportunities for new eco- businesses in developed and developing countries alike.

In this context we are also studying the impact of a possible free trade agreement with Australia, which could also increase opportunities in the green sector .

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We can take climate action and allow economies to grow;

We can provide for more energy and clean air;

We can smarten our industrial production and our transport systems,
and we can improve the quality of life and create millions of new jobs at the same time.

Technology and innovation are key to unlocking these prospects.

I am delighted to have the possibility to discuss today these opportunities in Australia with a great representation of European and Australian companies, as well as with three of my fellow European French, Danish and Finnish Ambassadors to Australia.

I leave the floor to Minister Ayres for his remarks.  

Many thanks