PRESS BRIEFING BY UNEP EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Press Briefing

PRESS BRIEFING BY UNEP EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

The Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Klaus Topfer, outlined UNEP's priorities and the global environmental agenda at a Headquarters press briefing this morning.

Mr. Topfer said that, in addition to his duties at UNEP, he was also the Acting Director of the United Nation Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat). He praised the Secretary-General's decision to stabilize operations in Nairobi as a needed positive development. It was the only United Nations office located in the developing world and, therefore, it needed to be strengthened.

With the recent licensing of the Mercure information system, Nairobi was now linked with the rest of the world, Mr. Topfer said. Six European countries donated the access to the Mercure system, which was worth approximately $12 million to $15 million. The system facilitated data transmission and the integration of e-mail and fax transmissions. The integration of voice transmissions was the next step. The availability of the best information and communication technology was essential for streamlining the overall organization of the operation in Nairobi.

The reorganization of environmental policy and human settlement policy in the framework of the United Nations was another important element in the restructuring of the Nairobi location, Mr. Topfer said. To that end, the Secretary-General had asked him to chair the Environment and Human Settlements Task Force. The Task Force had been asked to determine ways of limiting overlaps and of making the best use of synergetic efforts. It would submit to the Secretary-General a report by 15 June containing its findings, advice and proposals. There were many synergies between the different conventions and protocols; they needed to be identified and made use of to avoid incompatible regulations on issues addressed by more than one convention.

The UNEP was also being asked to supply some answers to current outstanding environmental problems, he continued. Recently, he had been asked to attend the Fourth Meeting of the Parties to the Basel Convention in Malaysia and a meeting of the Ministers of the Environment of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN). The ASEAN Ministers had gathered in Kuching, Malaysia, to discuss the effects of the forest fires in East Kalimantan, Indonesia, and how to best combat the problem of haze.

Mr. Topfer said those forest fires were a disaster for the people living in the region and posed many life-threatening health problems. They also caused grave economic problems, with repercussions for the tourist and travel industries, as well as the overall economic image of the region. The forests in Kalimantan were one of the most important locations for biodiversity, and there must be an effort to address the problem before the meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in

Bratislava, Slovakia, in May. The fires also involved the issues of carbon dioxide emissions and deforestation. It was estimated more than 2 million hectares of forest had been destroyed last year. Those fires would start again this year, and much earlier than ever.

Recent satellite photos transmitted from Singapore showed that more than 500 fires were currently burning in East Kalimantan, Mr. Topfer said. The number of "hot spots" in the area also increased daily. The ASEAN Ministers asked UNEP to do the utmost to combine efforts of the United Nations system, wherever possible, to stabilize the situation. It was important to concentrate and integrate the efforts of other agencies and programmes. Efforts should include strengthening preventative measures and fire-fighting capabilities on the ground and in the air.

The UNEP should also examine the application of international instruments and conventions, Mr. Topfer said. The environmental voice of the United Nations must play a role in the development of political instruments. It must look at those instruments from the environmental point of view and examine ways and means of implementation. While development was absolutely necessary, the environmental repercussions of economic development must be known.

A correspondent asked what UNEP could do to address the concerns of the ASEAN Ministers? Mr. Topfer said the Ministers were convinced that UNEP must first inform the global public that the concern was a matter of global interest. Action must be taken now, and UNEP should not wait for another catastrophe to occur. They also believed that UNEP should coordinate all efforts in the region and make the best use of existing aid. In addition, UNEP should contribute to the development of a "precautionary strategy" to address the problem and avoid future disasters. Asked how UNEP could expect to solve the crisis in East Kalimantan, Mr. Topfer said that success might not be possible, but the longest journey begins with the first step. While it might be impossible to change the overall situation, UNEP needed to be available to give advice on early warning systems. By informing the world of the problem, it was possible to stimulate action. The UNEP was also a partner in the development of a future integrated security policy that would address problems of freshwater, transboundary air pollution, among others.

Was there a clear concept of the relationship between UNEP and the Commission on Sustainable Development? a correspondent asked. As a former chair of the Commission, Mr. Topfer said it was important to integrate the environment and the development areas. The UNEP was the way to bring inputs covering the environment into the Commission on Sustainable Development. For example, the availability of fresh water was one of the most important indicators for sustainable development, poverty, social tension and environmental health. The UNEP could play a leading role concerning water in the Commission to integrate the three dimensions of sustainable development: economical development, social stability and environmental quality.

UNEP Briefing - 3 - 6 March 1998

A correspondent asked what was UNEP's role in the area of climate change. Mr. Topfer said the framework of the Global Environmental Facility determined that there would be three implementing agencies for the Kyoto Protocol, adopted at the Third Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change -- the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and UNEP. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) were also working in that field. Successful implementation would only be possible if an environmental voice was integrated into the process.

Asked what types of precautionary measures were needed to control the forest fires in Indonesia, Mr. Topfer said he could not go into any detail at the present time. Discussions were just beginning on the subject. It was his understanding that the main issues were what could be done to contain the fires and what were the lessons learned. Those issues should be addressed by the entire United Nations system and by the international community.

Did the ASEAN Ministers realize that they were in a process of unsustainable development that was related to their current environmental and economic problems? a correspondent asked. Mr. Topfer said the fires had repercussions for the entire world, and the Ministers were aware of the problems they faced. "There had been a process of eye-opening regarding development options", he said.

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