COMMISSION ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT DISCUSSES ACTIONS TAKEN TO MEET GOALS OF 1992 UNCED

Press Release
ENV/DEV/364

COMMISSION ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT DISCUSSES ACTIONS TAKEN TO MEET GOALS OF 1992 UNCED

National governments have taken varied actions aimed at achieving the goals set at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (unced) held in Rio de Janeiro, the Commission on Sustainable Development was told this morning, as it concluded the high-level segment of its fourth session.

The Minister of State and Director-General of the Environment Agency of Japan, Sukio Iwatare, told the Commission that his country had adopted an action plan for "greening" the Government. That plan required the Government to ensure that its operations and consumption patterns did not imposed a burden on the environment.

The Ambassador for the Environment of the Bahamas, Lynn Holowesko, said that her Government had taken positive steps to green the country's tourism industry. Those steps were based on the recognition of the fact that tourism development must be balanced to encourage growth, particularly in more remote islands.

The Vice-Minister of Development and Construction of Bulgaria, Mityo Videlov, said that the Government had proclaimed sustainable development as the basic policy of its approach to economic development. That policy was based on the use of technological and financial incentives to encourage sustainable development. Foreign direct investment, however, had a fundamental role as a catalyst for economic growth.

The Joint Secretary and Minister of the Environment of India, Nirmal Andrews, noted the severe limitations that had been placed on the distribution of official development assistance (ODA) and said that continuing ODA flows should be a priority for discussion at the upcoming General Assembly special session. Private capital flows were likely be limited to selected developing countries and might not always be focused on sustainable development.

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A member of the Executive Committee of the National Council on the Environment of Peru, Patricia Iturrequi, said that sustainable development strategies must embrace such sectoral issues as energy and transport, food security, fresh water, and forests. The Commission should also undertake examination of non-traditional funding mechanisms.

Also addressing the Commission this morning were the General Director for International Affairs, Ministry of the Environment of Venezuela, and the representatives of Indonesia, Guyana, Morocco, Belgium, Egypt and Pakistan.

Statements were also made by representatives of: the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development; the non-governmental organizations from the South; the Women's Environment and Development Organization; the World Conservation Union, and the International Network of Small Island Developing States NGOs and Indigenous Peoples Organizations and the NGOs of the South in General.

The Commission on Sustainable Development will meet again at 3 p.m. today to conclude its fourth session.

Commission Work Programme

The Commission on Sustainable Development met this morning to continue the high-level segment of its fourth session. The high-level segment, which began on 1 May, is being held at the ministerial level and is to review the progress made in achieving the goals set at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro.

Statements

MITYO VIDELOV, Vice Minister of Development and Construction of Bulgaria, said that the Government had proclaimed sustainable development as the basic policy of its approach to economic development. That policy was based on the use of technological and financial incentives to encourage sustainable development.

He said that Bulgaria recognized its share of the responsibilities connected with protecting the global environment. It had, therefore, begun or was continuing activities aimed at achieving sustainability. The Government was also doing its best to mobilize new and additional resources towards sustainable development and was working to encourage a shift towards sustainable production patterns.

He stressed that foreign direct investment had a fundamental role as a catalyst for economic growth. The Government would, therefore, rely on international cooperation and foreign technical assistance in its effort to achieve sustainable development. Bulgaria supported the work of the Commission in highlighting the linkages between the key issues of sustainable development. The Commission was the most important United Nations body for coordination to ensure that sustainable development was made the engine for economic growth. It was crucial that ministers at the current high-level segment of the Commission evolve open dialogue in the decision-making process.

He said that the 1997 special session of the General Assembly should bring further impetus to the principles and objectives set in Rio. It should define the areas where the programme was insufficient. It should not attempt to renegotiate Agenda 21, but should rather enhance its implementation.

SUKIO IWATARE, Minister of State, Director-General of the Environment Agency of Japan, said that in 1995 Japan focused its efforts on drawing up initiatives that would lead to the realization of long-term objectives through the enactment of laws for: the promotion of sorted collection and recycling of containers and packaging; adoption of an action plan for greening government operations; and adoption of a national strategy on biological diversity.

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The action plan for greening government operations was adopted in June 1995, he said. It called on the national government to ensure that its operations and consumption patterns imposed less of a burden on the environment. It also urged local governments, businesses and the citizens to take initiatives to protect the environment. The action plan applied to all of Japan's ministries and agencies and set 11 quantifiable objectives for various environment-friendly activities.

He said that at UNCED in 1992, Japan announced that it would substantially expand its environment-related official development assistance (ODA) from about 900 billion yen to one trillion yen. More than 70 per cent of that goal was achieved by 1994. Japan was also a major donor to the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and had given that organization some $410 million. Japan would continue to support developing regions as they pursued self-help efforts to achieve compatibility between economic development and environmental conservation.

He said that Japan was implementing a Green Aid Plan with the view of transferring and disseminating energy-related technologies used in the public and private sectors in Japan. It was dispatching experts to developing countries, accepting trainees and conducting studies to discover the effectiveness of those technologies.

LYNN HOLOWESKO, Ambassador for the Environment of the Bahamas, said that indigenous peoples in remote communities were being poisoned by a badly abused ecosystem and, through the act of nourishing their young, were, in turn, poisoning a new-born generation. Pollution of the seas must be brought under control, as it affected all. Valuable work had been done with land-based sources of pollution and an international Code of Conduct for Fisheries, but work must continue after 1997.

The Bahamas had made some small advances towards meeting the objectives of a more sustainable society, he went on. It established the Bahamas Environment Science and Technology Commission in 1995 to serve as the national focal point and coordinating body for all international organizations on matters related to international conventions, treaties, protocols and agreements relating to the environment in which the country was or would become a signatory. The Commission also coordinated efforts to protect, conserve and responsibly manage the environmental resources of the Bahamas. It had developed a national strategy for sustainable development, identified suitable scientific and technological advances which could contribute to those objectives, and proposed legislation to provide a legal basis for its activities.

She added that the Government had taken positive steps to "green" the tourism industry, in recognition of the fact that touristic development must be balanced to encourage growth, particularly in more remote islands, and

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develop policies for wise and suitable use of resources. She also stressed the need to make environmental education a priority. Sound environmental programmes in a language that could be understood by all people should be a priority for discussion in 1997.

MAKATO TANIGUCHI, Deputy Secretary-General, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), said that a recent meeting of the OECD Environmental Policy Committee had stated that member governments must show leadership in resolving global environmental problems, act effectively at the national and international level, and continue efforts to assist developing countries and countries in transition.

The OECD contributions to the UNCED process and Agenda 21 included an analysis of the "polluter pays" principle, carbon taxes, tradeable permits, green indicators and other topics. In the follow-up to Rio, the OECD had become involved in many aspects of Agenda 21's implementation, among them, financial resources and mechanisms, changing production and consumption patterns, trade and the environment, economic instrument development cooperation, population, education, energy, transport, climate change and oceans affairs. His organization was now undertaking a study entitled "Globalization and Linkages to 2020: Challenges and Opportunities for OECD Countries", which would cover the period through the year 2020. It would analyse the environmental implications of globalization and rapid economic growth.

NIRMAL ANDREWS, Joint Secretary and Minister of the Environment of India, said that Agenda 21 had been one of the most important documents ever to emerge from the United Nations. There would always be a "healthy impatience" regarding the implementation of Agenda 21, but there was progress to be observed regarding water, the consensus-based Intergovernmental Panel on Forests, an integrated programme on oceans management which lead to the recent Washington agreement, and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) code of conduct on fishing.

Severe limitations had been placed on the distribution of ODA, he said. Private capital flows would likely be limited to selected developing countries and might not always be focused on sustainable development. Continuing ODA flows should be a priority for discussion at the upcoming General Assembly special session. As the Commission completed its sectoral review, it was entering a critical phase, he continued. Commission members were undertaking a kind of "replay" of the discussions undertaken in the context of the UNCED preparatory process. The Commission should undertake programs with a broader mandate, focusing on inter-linkages between environment, economic development, housing, gender, age and inter-generational responsibilities, food and water security, agriculture and biodiversity. National reporting should be maintained as a unique facet of the Commission's work. Sharing experiences was essential.

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PATRICIA ITURREQUI, Executive Committee, National Council for the Environment of Peru, said that the absence of full representation at the present session of the Commission on the part of private sector actors and non-governmental organizations had not been a positive sign.

Her country had undergone a decade of structural adjustment and terrorist violence, she continued. Peru was now undertaking a broad process of sustainable development based on a partnership of government and the private sector. Non-governmental organizations were also very involved in the development of Peru's environmental plan. An effort to eradicate half of Peru's absolute poverty was a central aspect of the sustainable development effort. Peru's school systems were also involved, focusing on family planning and education, emphasizing gender equality.

Sustainable development strategies must embrace such sectoral issues as energy and transport, food security, fresh water, and forests, she said. The Commission should also undertake examination of non-traditional funding mechanisms, such as reallocation of peace dividends, marginal taxes on international transactions, debt for sustainable development swaps and user fees and tradeable permits.

ISSLAMET POERNOMO (Indonesia) said that the commitment made by countries at UNCED to provide developing countries with new and additional financial resources remained largely unfulfilled. The ODA had decreased rather than increased and only accounted for 0.3 per cent of gross national product (GNP) in 1993, the lowest figure in 20 years. Also, very little headway had been made in transferring environmentally sound technology to developing countries on favourable terms. Developing countries continued to be denied access to relevant advanced technology and were, as a result, seriously restricted in their ability to effectively participate in global cooperative projects for the advancement of their economic development.

He also noted the growing tendency to use environmental factors as new trade barriers against developing countries. Such tendencies towards unilateral protectionism under the guise of environmental protection was a major risk eroding the multilateral trading system. It also inhibited the economic development of the developing countries and exacerbated their levels of poverty.

SAMUEL INSANALLY (Guyana) said that the name Guyana signified land of waters. Water, wood and minerals were his country's most precious assets. Animated by the spirit of UNCED, Guyana decided to make a major contribution to the cause of the environment by setting aside almost 1 million acres of its pristine forests for research in biodiversity and sustainable development. That programme, launched with international assistance, was established on a firm basis, and an international management centre had been created. A base camp had also been set up to begin implementation. It had reached a critical

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point, but unless further financing could be guaranteed by an international donor group, it ran the risk of failure.

His country suffered a grave man-made disaster in 1995 when a large quantity of cyanide used for gold refining spilled from a reservoir of a mining company, polluting the nearby river, destroying some of the aquatic life and threatening the health of neighbouring villages, he continued. With the assistance of friendly countries, United Nations agencies and the company involved, Guyana was able to overcome the more grievous consequences. That experience showed that small and vulnerable States needed more reliable international machinery to protect them from such hazards. Guyana had moved swiftly to enact legislation and create appropriate institutions to support a comprehensive national environmental action plan. It had also embraced all major international agreements.

AHMED SNOUSSI (Morocco) said that the situation remained disappointing with regard to ODA. Flows to developing countries remained below the target set by the international community and below the commitments made at UNCED. New approaches should be devised to improve the flow of ODA, as well as to sensitize the international community to the importance of ODA in the achievement of sustainable development. Although there had been a slight increase in ODA from the OECD, the concentration in a limited number of countries did not make that increase a reliable source for financing sustainable development.

He said that external debt servicing continued to increase considerably the amount that developing countries could allocate towards sustainable development. The payment procedures must be improved for the acceleration of projects. Development instruments must be encouraged without making them into a substitute for ODA. He also called for transfer of environmentally sound technology on concessional terms to the developing countries, while also encouraging particular partnership between the private and public sector.

He said that to minimize the negative impact of environmental policies on developing countries, measures for market access and access to technology must be created to assist the efforts of those countries to achieve sustainable development. The use of eco-labelling was a source of concern for his country. Morocco had begun to set up a strategy for the exploitation of its national fishing resources. That strategy involved a reduction of the fishing level through the closure of certain zones to fishing, a ban on the fishing of certain endangered species and the prohibition of the use of certain sizes of nets.

ALEX REYN (Belgium) said that environmental policies were often perceived as being destroyers of jobs. But recent studies by the OECD had shown that the net economic effect of environmental protection had been positive. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Commission

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should work together on the joint objectives of job creation and environmental protection, both of which had been identified as objectives of Agenda 21. Peace, security and economic stability were essential aspects of sustainable development.

Belgium's strategies for sustainable development centred on local and regional governments, he said. A federal plan for sustainable development was being drawn up in which government at the national level would provide legal and political coordination. At the international level, Belgium recognized the need for all countries to participate in decision-making.

BEATRIZ PINEDO, General Director for International Affairs, Ministry of the Environment of Venezuela, said that her Government had long ago embraced sustainable development. Thirty per cent of Venezuela's forests had been earmarked for production. The protected areas were being set aside as hydro- logical basins, greenhouse gas sinks and biodiversity reserves. Venezuela had restructured its petroleum refineries to provide lead-free, cleaner fuels. It had also set up a strategy to monitor the production of greenhouse gases. Industrial reconversion was being used to cut back on the production of chemicals that threatened the ozone layer.

She said Venezuela was interested in identifying the technologies that would be needed in Latin America to mitigate environmental damage. Developing countries should be able to take advantage of training programmes that could transfer essential skills. The Commission should continue to be the highest- level political forum for the discussion of sustainable development issues. It should avoid renegotiating agreements entered into at UNCED. It should also concentrate on monitoring implementation of Agenda 21.

SOLIMAN AWAAD (Egypt) said that the first conference of African Ministers responsible for sustainable development had taken place in March this year in Addis Abbaba. The conference had focused on food security and population and had coordinated efforts for such upcoming meetings as the second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) and the upcoming special session of the General Assembly. It was decided that a 15-member ministerial body would meet biannually to discuss achievements made in the area of sustainable development.

AHMAD KAMAL (Pakistan) said his Government had made considerable progress towards improving national environmental planning and management. Pakistan's Environmental Protection Council guided several major initiatives, including: the establishment of a sustainable development fund; a commitment to increase the forest cover in the country from 4 to 25 per cent over the next decade; the introduction of environmental legislation; and the launching of a mass awareness campaign.

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Pakistan was undertaking a project, together with Switzerland and the Netherlands, to switch to cleaner technologies. That programme, however, was limited by a lack of financial resources, the limited capacity of financial institutions to assess environmental impacts, a lack of technical support in the industrial sector, and a low level of public awareness.

IBRAHIM MAJID, Coordinator of programmes of non-governmental organizations from the South, said that the major problem in Africa was the growing impoverishment of the large majority. That situation was aggravated by the debt burden, but the droughts that had affected the region also played a role in the situation.

He called for the reduction and elimination of policies which lead to poverty. Such policies included structural adjustment programmes without a human face. The number of those disenfranchised from the global economy had continued to increase. The international community must, therefore, insist on improvements in the flow of ODA to developing countries. The rich countries had never been farther away from the target of 0.7 per cent of GNP to be devoted to ODA.

BELLA S. ABZUG, Co-Chair, Women's Environment and Development Organization, said that environmental concerns could not be addressed in isolation from poverty, consumption patterns, economic policy, health, housing, technology and other issues. Economists stated that most countries were enjoying growing GNP, that trade was expanding, and that people were enjoying the fruits of prosperity. But women all over the world struggled to feed their families. Many were not enjoying one drop of the promised "trickle-down" prosperity.

Women still constituted a majority of the poor, migrant workers, underpaid employees of multinational factories, the illiterate, and the oppressed, she said. Domestic violence was a world-wide epidemic, women were sold into the sex trade and into "sex-tourism" rackets. The documents to emerge from UNCED had made a commitment to gender balance. That goal had yet to be achieved. Gender considerations needed to be mainstreamed throughout the review of Agenda 21.

MERSIE EJIGN, representative of the World Conservation Union, said that his organization worked to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources was equitable and ecologically sustainable.

The marine and coastal systems provided significant goods and services to humanity, he said. Increased demands on the living marine resources had resulted in high fishing pressure, with attendant fishing overcapacity, destructive fishing practices, and by-catch and unsustainable use of marine and coastal resources. The World Conservation Union was committed to an

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integrated approach to marine and coastal management and to the conservation and sustainable use of transboundary marine resources. He acknowledged the progress in ocean conservation since the Earth Summit and called for improved inter-agency coordination and national level implementation.

PAUULU KAMARAKAFEGO, representative of the International Network of Small Island Developing States NGOs and Indigenous Peoples Organizations and the NGOs of the South in general, said that the Commission should recognize the importance of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People. The goal of that decade was to strengthen international cooperation for the solution of problems faced by indigenous peoples in such areas as human rights, the environment, development, education and health. Particular attention should be given to the current draft declaration on the rights of indigenous people. If implemented, that declaration would properly address many of the issues and concerns which affected indigenous peoples.

He urged the Commission to organize, with indigenous peoples, a day to highlight their concerns and their contributions to the implementation of Agenda 21, as had already been done with local authorities, the youth, labour unions and business. He also called for immediate action to address the problems of climate change, unfettered free international trade instead of fair two-way trade, unchecked negative environmental activities of ships, tankers and trawlers, and the destruction of the coral reefs. Those problems were having devastating effects on the efforts of small island developing States to achieve sustainability. All actions required the full participation of non-governmental organizations from small island developing States. Also, governments should reaffirm their commitment to contributing 0.7 per cent of their GNP as ODA.

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