PRESS CONFERENCE BY NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS PARTICIPATING IN COMMISSION ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Press Briefing
PRESS CONFERENCE BY NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS PARTICIPATING IN COMMISSION ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
19970411
FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY
At a Headquarters press conference Thursday afternoon, the Director of the Third World Network, Martin Khor, told correspondents that there were many "brave words" being spoken at the United Nations in the Commission on Sustainable Development, but everyone "inside that hall" knew that the importance given to the environment, the poverty eradication and development had considerably declined on the national and international agendas.
The Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development sponsored the press conference by non-governmental organizations active in the Commission, which is currently meeting in preparation for a special session of the General Assembly, to be held at Headquarters from 23 to 27 June. The special session will review implementation of Agenda 21, the programme of action adopted by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held at Rio de Janeiro in June 1992. Also appearing at the briefing were: Michael McCoy, Co-Chair of the NGO Steering Committee to the Commission; Barbara Bramble, of the National Wildlife Federation; Clifton Curtis, Political Adviser to Greenpeace International; and Felix Dodds, of the United Nations Environment and Development Committee in the United Kingdom. Mr. McCoy, Co-Chair of the NGO Steering Committee, said that when the Rio Summit suggested that major groups in civil society all had to be a part of achieving sustainable development worldwide, many of the organizations took that recommendation seriously. Achieving sustainability, globally and in societies, would not be possible without the participation of civil society. Just as governments needed to be held accountable to their actions, so too did non-governmental organizations in civil society.
Mr. Dodds, of the United Nations Environment and Development Committee in the United Kingdom, quoted an Italian philosopher who said "there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things. Yet, this is the measure of the task of this generation and the road is strewn with dangers". There was a "hit list" of what countries were expected to achieve as a result of the Rio Summit, he said. Those included commitments to address the issues of climate change, forests, freshwater, oceans, chemicals and other pollutants, trade and finance. The main issue by which to judge the forthcoming special session was the issue of finance, for "everything was dependent on whether there was new money on the table", he said.
Ms. Bramble, of the National Wildlife Federation, said that the issue of finance "really is the make or break subject". That issue had made agreements more difficult over the last five years, because "what looked like a deal, what looked like promises made in 1992 turned out to be more like fantasy". The South remained in desperate need of official development assistance for the transition to sustainable development. Yet, northern countries were largely unwilling or unable to find a way to make appropriate resources available. The non-governmental organizations were "quite seriously dismayed by the lack of the sense of urgency here to resolve problems". And, those problems were worsening as population increased and resources remained constant.
In an attempt to break the barriers in the current deadlock on the question of finance, the non-governmental organizations had proposed an intergovernmental panel on finance, she said. The purpose would not be to produce instant quantities of cash, but to better define the real needs and targeted uses of official development assistance. In addition, various subgroups of countries involved in the Commission would be able to discuss other questions of importance, such as developing a consensus to ensure that foreign investment actually contributed to sustainable development. Mobilizing domestic resources within each country for sustainable development might be the basis for another subgroup.
Mr. Curtis, Political Adviser to Greenpeace International, said that he viewed the situation in terms of a "mantra" -- "urgent situation; far too little being done; bold actions needed; measurable steps required". If that kind of mindset imbued the discussions of the Commission, things would be a lot farther along at the end of three days. Greenpeace was "disappointed with the tenor and substance" of the meeting. It was "alarming", given all the indicators that said "we were going backwards". Indeed, five years after Rio, it had gotten worse.
Some progress had been made in the area of fisheries, he said. But, the high level of activity on the world's oceans had yet to be addressed. Governments especially needed to focus on the big factory trawlers that accounted for more than 60 per cent of the fish catch. On the forest issue, there was far too little consensus on what was needed and a lot of existing instruments that were not being used effectively. "We want governments to put up and shut up about saying something more is needed", he said, referring to the call by some delegations for a forest convention.
Mr. Kohr, Director of the Third World Networld, said that the Rio Conference was intended to protect the environment in a way that relieved poor countries of the shouldering alone that burdensome expense. The rich countries, which were the main perpetrators of pollution and depletion, should bear the overwhelming share of the cost. A new world of global partnership was supposed to emerge, whereby the rich countries would put their own environmental house in order, and contribute to the poorer countries. Five
NGO Press Conference - 3 - 11 April 1997
years later, the environment and development situations, particularly in the South, had deteriorated even further. And, globalization had only benefited 10 to 20 countries.
A reporter, noting that non-governmental organizations were the links between governments and people, said that if the process had failed, it was because the non-governmental organizations had failed. Mr. Dodds said that the public needed to be re-engaged with a measure of hope, as well as a message of despair. In the last five years, more than 2,000 councils had set up local Agenda 21 processes to try to "operationalize" sustainable development at the local level. Though the process had begun, it was not moving quickly enough. Most of the problem lay with countries who refused to finance sustainable development, thereby stalling implementation of the plans for action.
Asked if he thought the call for a forestry convention would detract from the issue of biodiversity, Mr. Curtis said he had heard all the arguments, but there were existing instruments already in place that were capable of doing the job. "Show us, governments, political will to implement now -- and we'll in good faith look constructively at addressing the existing gaps in the future", he said.
To a question about whether there had been any feedback on the proposal for an intergovernmental panel on finance, Ms. Bramble said that the reactions varied, but most countries that were approached wanted to discuss it in more detail. She sensed that there was some room for something to emerge on that now, because everyone was realizing that the current level of frustration was poisoning future agreements. The proposal was meant to break the barrier, not cause another controversy.
Asked for a reaction to talk about creating a world trade organization version of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Mr. Dodds said he would not support the proposal. However, the idea over the next five years of strengthening UNEP by drawing in a more diversified membership could be very useful.
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