NEED TO ADDRESS FRESHWATER RESOURCES MATTERS STRESSED BY SPEAKERS IN ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL COMMITTEE
Press Release
GA/EF/2789
NEED TO ADDRESS FRESHWATER RESOURCES MATTERS STRESSED BY SPEAKERS IN ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL COMMITTEE
19971107 Consideration of Climate Change, Biodiversity Convention, Barbados Conference on Small Island Developing States ConcludesDeveloping countries would need to invest about $600 billion over the next decade on water, the representative of the World Bank to the United Nations told the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) this afternoon. The Committee concluded its discussion of a cluster of items concerning the environment and sustainable development, including protection of the global climate, the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the implementation of the outcome of the 1994 Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States. The World Bank expected to lend about $35 billion during that period, he continued. Twenty countries were now water-scarce or stressed, and that number would double by 2020. The Bank's Global Water Partnership offered an opportunity to solve water issues in a more holistic way, and to raise additional financial resources. The Bank was committed to making it work. Reasonable and fair use of water resources should be promoted because they were not renewable, the representative of Kyrgyzstan said. The demand for freshwater would grow as population grew. Regional and subregional cooperation on the use of water resources was necessary. The representative of Iceland said the gradual replacement of fossil fuels by renewable energy sources was unavoidable if the global economy was to achieve sustainable development. It was important to promote the development of technologies to utilize renewable energy sources, particularly solar, modern biomass and geothermal sources. The representative of Venezuela said a mechanism should be created to assess the economic costs of mitigation measures on emissions of greenhouse gases and to compensate countries which would be most vulnerable, such as those whose economies which depended on the production, processing and exportation of fossil fuels. Statements were also made by the representatives of Trinidad and Tobago, Kenya, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. A representative of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) also addressed the Committee. The Committee will meet again at 10 a.m. on Monday, 10 November, to take up trade and development.
Committee Work Programme
The Second Committee (Economic and Financial) met this afternoon to conclude its consideration, under the general heading "environment and sustainable development", of protection of the global climate for present and future generations of mankind; the Convention on Biological Diversity; and the implementation of the outcome of the Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States (Barbados, 1994). (For background information, see Press Release GA/EF/2787 of 6 November.)
Statements
GUNNAR PALSSSON (Iceland) said his Government had embarked on a programme of action, consistent with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, with the aim of maintaining by the year 2000 the level of greenhouse gas emissions that prevailed in 1990. The results of the negotiations for strengthening the provisions of the Convention had been disappointing. A determined effort must be made to bring the negotiations to a successful conclusion at the Third Conference of the Parties to the Convention, in Kyoto, Japan, in December. The Berlin Mandate contained ambitious goals that must be reached to protect the health of the global environment. His Government remained committed to achieving those goals and had participated actively in the negotiations. It was imperative that differences in baseline starting points, as well as economic structure, were taken into consideration in the setting of quantifiable emission limits and reduction objectives. The need for such differentiation was clearly stated in the Convention and must be fully reflected in the outcome of the Kyoto Conference.
The gradual replacement of fossil fuels by renewable energy sources was unavoidable, if the global economy was to move towards a path of sustainable development, he said. It was important to promote the development of technologies to utilize renewable energy sources, particularly solar, modern biomass and geothermal sources. The application of such technologies must become an important element of global energy policy in the next century. The current climate change negotiations should be used for exploring all possible avenues, consistent with the Convention, for promoting the utilization of clean and renewable energy sources.
ROSLYN KHAN-CUMMINGS (Trinidad and Tobago) said external factors were having enormous impact on national development efforts of small island States as a result of globalization and economic liberalization. In view of the interrelationship between social, economic and environmental factors, an open, non-discriminatory and equitable multilateral trading system should be assured to enable those States to improve their economic structures and pursue a path of sustainable development.
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Stressing that the implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action was vital to the sustainability of small island States, she said her country looked forward to its implementation in cooperation with the international community. Trinidad and Tobago also looked forward to the review of the outstanding chapters of the Programme by the sixth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development in preparation for the comprehensive review of the Barbados Conference at a special session in 1999.
TIMOTHY M'MELLA (Kenya) said that to enhance the implementation of the Climate Change Convention, his Government had established a National Climate Change Coordinating Committee, whose membership was drawn from both the public and private sectors, including non-governmental organizations, to oversee activities relating to the Convention. Kenya strongly urged the international community to avail to developing countries adequate and predictable financial resources for the full implementation of commitments under the Convention. All countries should abandon the unsustainable patterns of production and consumption which had greatly contributed to the problem of greenhouse gas emissions. To that end, his Government urged the international community to adopt and promote cost-effective and environmentally-friendly approaches, like cleaner production technologies, which should also be made readily available to the developing countries.
Kenya had also recently established a number of enabling processes to ensure the continued commitment to the conservation and rational use of its biological diversity, he said. Those processes included environment and forest policies, environment and development framework legislation, and revised wildlife legislation. It was also in the process of establishing a commission to resolve land use conflicts. The recently concluded Forestry Master Plan would guide the development of forestry in Kenya for the next 15 years. While forestry still featured prominently in the Biological Diversity Convention, that subject would be best addressed under the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, particularly regarding its inherent linkages to water availability.
MOURATBEK S. BAIKHODJOEV (Kyrgyzstan) said mountains were important sources of freshwater which were not exactly renewable. The demand for freshwater would grow as population grew. There was therefore a need to promote reasonable and fair use of water resources. Regional and subregional cooperation on the use of water resources were necessary and Kyrgyzstan was pleased that the international community was beginning to focus attention on it. Being a mountainous country, Kyrgyzstan often experienced a number of natural disasters. If all those disasters were accompanied by pollution, then that would be double tragedy.
Drawing attention to the danger of uranium dump sites left in Kyrgyzstan by the former Soviet Union, he said the whole of Central Asia was in danger of being contaminated by radiation from those dump sites, which were often found along water sources. Only the joint efforts of the affected nations and
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international organizations could solve the problem. Kyrgyzstan had proposed the proclamation of an international year of mountains. Many governments as well as non-governmental organizations had expressed their support to that proposal.
JEREMIAH MANELE (Solomon Islands) said sustainable development was a challenge that faced all of humankind, and his Government was moving forward through the development of relevant policies and legislation. That challenge would be a litmus test in the forging of genuine cooperation with all sectors of civil society. The message sounded at the General Assembly's special session to review the implementation of Agenda 21 was loud and clear: concrete efforts and commitments were necessary to attain significant progress. Therefore, the Solomon Islands called for the effective activation of the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21.
His Government welcomed the scheduled review of the Barbados Programme of Action in 1999 and appreciated the support of the international donor community for mobilizing resources for its implementation, he said. There was still a need to extend funding to sectors focusing on country-specific priorities. The forestry sector in the Solomon Islands accounted for 40 to 60 per cent of its current export revenue, and his Government was taking steps aimed at improving sustainable harvesting practices. A national law on logging conduct had also been established. Reforestation programmes were continuing but needed external support.
The Solomon Islands was a State party to the Convention on Biological Diversity and was aware of its commitments, he said. Several areas of the Solomon Islands had been selected as world heritage areas. Work was under way on a national biodiversity strategy and action plan, and considerable donor support would be required to implement it. His Government also participated in regional programmes. Climate change posed a serious threat to the lives of the present generation and the very existence of the human race. The international community should spare no effort in Kyoto to adopt a fair and binding agreement to reduce greenhouse gases.
GONZALO PRIETO (Venezuela) said there was a need for greater clarity on the social and economic costs of prevention and mitigation measures taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions before adopting them. It was hoped that scientific knowledge should lead to greater certainty on the effects of those emissions on climate change before taking new measures to limit them.
He said the developed countries should bear the cost of cleaning up the environment because they were responsible for most of the pollution in the environment. A mechanism should be created to assess the economic costs of those mitigation measures on emissions as well as to compensate countries which would be most vulnerable. Such vulnerable countries included those whose economies depended on the production, processing and exportation of fossil fuels.
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DANIEL DON NANJIRA, a representative of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), said the accumulation of greenhouse gases was the principal factor which would lead to the warming of the earth and to changes in climate. In 1970, WMO had issued the first authoritative statement on climate change and in 1979 it had convened the First World Climate Conference. As part of its climate monitoring exercise, WMO issued annually a "Statement on the Status of the Global Climate", which provided governments, policy makers, scientists and the general public with the latest information on that important issue. WMO, together with a number of other organizations, had co-sponsored the development of the "Climate Agenda", an integrating framework for international climate-related programmes, which had received the support of the fourth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development in April 1996.
In parallel with and complementary to the "Climate Agenda", WMO and several other organizations were co-sponsoring the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS), the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) and the Global Terrestrial Observing System (GTOS), he said. Those were being implemented to provide data, among others, for climate system monitoring, climate change detection, response monitoring and for research work in improving climate models. In addition, a recently convened WMO Conference of the World Climate Research Programme had developed a strategy aimed at enhancing prediction of seasonal variations and extreme climate events.
ALFREDO SFEIR-YOUNIS, Special Representative to the United Nations of the World Bank Group, outlined the Bank's five-year plan of action on environmental issues. Concerning climate change, it was essential that countries establish, and implement, strong commitments to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the Kyoto Conference. To promote renewable energy, the Bank was exploring a broader strategic partnership with the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and other financiers that would move towards a large-scale programme of renewable energy investment. Regarding biodiversity, the Bank was creating "market transformation initiatives" with the private sector and non-governmental organizations to move the forest and marine products industries to a truly sustainable basis.
A major remaining challenge in the area of ozone depletion was to eliminate chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other ozone-depleting substances production in the Russian Federation, he continued. The Bank, in collaboration with the Russian Government and CFC producers, had developed a programme to eliminate the production of those substances in Russia by the year 2000. Addressing the issue of desertification was essential for poverty reduction and food security in developing countries. The Bank had embarked on a revitalized rural strategy and was introducing improved agricultural techniques to stem the spread of further desertification and to restore degraded land.
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Twenty countries were now water-scarce or stressed, and that number would double by 2020, he said. Developing countries would need to invest about $600 billion over the next decade on water. The Bank expected to lend about $35 billion during that period. The "Global Water Partnership" offered an opportunity to solve water issues in a more holistic way, and to raise additional financial resources. The Bank was committed to making that work and would continue to work in partnership on the "Regional Seas Programme".
JEAN RAVOU-AKII (Vanuatu) said five countries in the South Pacific region were categorized as least develop countries, and two of those were close to fulfilling the criteria of the Committee for Development Planning to have them withdrawn from the list. In July, the Economic and Social Council, on the recommendation of the Development Planning Committee, approved the removal of Vanuatu from the list of least developed countries. During the general debate of the current session of the General Assembly, Vanuatu's Prime Minister stated that the removal of Vanuatu from the category of least developed countries had been premature. The reasons for that statement were made to the Assembly and did not need to be repeated in front of the Committee.
The island States of the Pacific region, like other small island developing States, were very vulnerable to the effects of economic and ecological shocks, he said. That vulnerability was compounded by the distance that separated them from the main markets, their limited number of export products and the fragile nature of their economic systems. Therefore, his Government welcomed the work done on the vulnerability index of small island developing States by the United Nations system.
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