UNSUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION PATTERNS OF INDUSTRIALIZED COUNTRIES MUST BE CURTAILED, INDONESIA TELLS SECOND COMMITTEE

Press Release
GA/EF/2834

UNSUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION PATTERNS OF INDUSTRIALIZED COUNTRIES MUST BE CURTAILED, INDONESIA TELLS SECOND COMMITTEE

Industrialized countries must take action to reduce emissions and promote sound consumption patterns if global sustainable development goals were to be met, the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) was told this morning as it considered protection of the global climate and other topics.

It was unfair and unacceptable that developing countries should be asked to curtail their industrial activity so that the industrialized countries could continue unsustainable production and consumption patterns, said the representative of Indonesia, on behalf of the "Group of 77" developing countries and China. Developed countries must modify longer-term trends in harmful emissions, as well as their production and consumption lifestyles.

The representative of India said the effort to make developing countries undertake further obligations at the current stage was not justified, since there had been little progress in implementation of the commitments voluntarily undertaken by developed countries in areas such as resources and transfer of technology. There was a need for immediate measures to provide developing countries with the necessary financial and technological resources, as well as environmentally sound technology to enable them to meet their sustainable development goals.

On sustainable development efforts of small island developing States, the representative of Guyana, on behalf of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), said the lack of an integrated approach to project and programme planning resulted in sub-optimal mobilization and utilization of resources. In addition, effective mechanisms for information-sharing were not evident. As a result, best practices remained in national files and individual countries continued to repeat costly mistakes. Many countries also remained beset by persistent institutional weaknesses as well as human and financial limitations.

The rapid pace of globalization and liberalization had further underscored the vulnerability of small island developing States, said the

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representative of Barbados, speaking on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States. There was a critical need for capacity-building in such areas as management of wastes, freshwater, land, biological resources, and science technology. The national institutions and administrative capacities, however, had been hampered by a severe lack of financial and technical skills.

On the topic of climate change, the representative of the Russian Federation called for the elaboration of an efficient and fair international system of greenhouse gas emission quotas trading. Such a system should not impede sustainable economic development of States parties. It should be based on voluntary principles, and should stipulate the right of parties to choose the possibility to accumulate unused emission quotas in order to either realize them in the future, or to offer them for trading and attracting foreign investment.

Statements were also made by the representatives of Benin (on behalf of the Group of African States), Brazil, Norway, Australia, Ethiopia, Maldives, Malta, Republic of Korea, Costa Rica and Israel.

The Second Committee will meet again at 10 a.m. Friday, 23 October, to continue its consideration of operational activities for development. Under that general heading, the Committee will discuss: protection of the global climate for present and future generations; implementation of the outcome of the Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States; the Convention on Biological Diversity; and implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.

Committee Work Programme

The Second Committee (Economic and Financial) met this afternoon to resume its consideration of the environment and sustainable development. Under that general heading, the Committee will discuss: protection of the global climate for present and future generations; implementation of the outcome of the Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States; the Convention on Biological Diversity; and implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa.

Before the Committee was a note by the Secretary-General on the outcome of the third session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, (document A/53/449). The note transmitted a report by the Executive Secretary of the Conference on the outcome of the third session held in Kyoto, Japan, from 1 to 11 December 1997. The most significant outcome of the session was the Kyoto Protocol to the Convention, which has since been signed by over 50 States. In addition to its various environmental benefits, the Protocol also stands to have long-reaching economic impacts. It has sent a signal to industry that new ways of doing business were in order.

There is a general view, the report stated, that at its fourth session, the Conference should seek to advance both the implementation of commitments in the Convention and the preparations for the entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol. The Convention on Climate Change was adopted at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Rio de Janeiro, 1992).

The Committee also had before it the Secretary General's report on the Development of a vulnerability index for small island developing States (document A/53/65), prepared in response to General Assembly resolutions 49/122 and 50/116.

A background paper was prepared by the Secretariat and distributed in 1996 to small island developing States, organizations of the United Nations system and academic and research institutes for comments. That paper provided an analysis of the inherent vulnerabilities of small island developing States, discussed a possible approach to the vulnerability issue and suggested that consideration be given to the construction of an economic vulnerability index and an ecological vulnerability index, each composed of a number of appropriate indicators. More than 20 responses were received, all of which were supportive of the main thrust of the paper. In 1997, an ad hoc group of experts reviewed the technical work of two consultants who had been engaged to create the two indices.

The group of experts agreed that vulnerability indices were meant to reflect relative economic and ecological susceptibility to exogenous shocks,

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and that the index was designed to identify which individual countries and groups of countries were at greatest risk of being affected by such shocks.

The group of experts concurred that vulnerability indices should be simple to build and based on indicators which were intuitively meaningful and applicable for inter-country comparisons.

Based on a number of studies using various approaches, the group concluded that small island developing States were more vulnerable than other groups of developing countries, and that their vulnerability was based on factors not under the control of national authorities. Additional areas that the group of experts touched on included ecological and environmental vulnerability and the impact and indexing of natural disasters and vulnerability to trade shocks. They concluded that it was not possible to build an index of ecological fragility, but proposed that work continue on an index that took into account biodiversity, climate change, sea-level rise and exposure to oil spills.

The Committee also had before it a report of the Secretary-General on plans and projects for the sustainable development of small island developing States implemented, under implementation or envisaged for the period of 1999-2003 by bilateral donors, United Nations organizations and regional and non-United Nations international organizations (document A/53/358). The report had been requested by the General Assembly when it adopted resolution 50/116 in 1995.

The information provided to the Secretariat by bilateral donors, regional and international organizations was considered helpful in assessing the responsiveness of the international community to the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island States, the report stated. The available information seemed to suggest an increase in projects since 1994, the year of the Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States. Since information on the activities of some major donors was not available, the report said it was premature to judge at that time whether the increase would be sustained.

Also before the Committee was a note by the Secretary-General on the environment and sustainable development: Convention on Biological Diversity (document A/53/451). The note transmitted the report of the Executive Secretary of the Convention which detailed the results of the fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention, held in Bratislava, Slovakia, from 4 to 6 May. The Convention on Biological Diversity was adopted at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) (Rio de Janeiro, 1992). The report had been requested by the General Assembly with the adoption of resolution 52/201 in 1997.

At the meeting, the Conference of the Parties adopted a programme of work that would guide the development of the Convention for the foreseeable

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future. The programme of work focused on: marine and coastal biodiversity, forest biodiversity, the biodiversity of inland water ecosystems, and agricultural biodiversity.

On marine and coastal biological diversity, the programme of work identified operational objectives and priority activities within the framework of five key programme elements: integrated marine and coastal area management; marine and coastal living resources; marine and coastal protected areas; mariculture; and alien species.

On agricultural biological diversity, the Conference of the Parties focused on reviewing progress and highlighting areas that required specific attention, rather than on initiating major new initiatives, the report stated. It supported the ongoing review process and reiterated requests for contributions.

The programme on the biodiversity of inland waters was the latest of the thematic focuses to be added to the agenda of the Convention. The Conference of the Parties endorsed the work programme, which included such aspects as development of rapid assessment methodologies, guidelines for incorporating biodiversity consideration into other sectors and ecosystem-based management structures for stressed riparian systems.

In regard to forest biological diversity, the report stated that forests, especially tropical forests, harboured more biodiversity than any other type of biome. As a result of their importance, the issue of forests had received considerable attention within the Convention process. The extent to which the Conference of the Parties and the other institutions of the Convention had been able to address that issue had, however, been complicated by the overlapping mandate of the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests, and its successor, the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests.

Also before the Committee is a report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa (document A/53/516). It states that further to the decision of the Conference of the Parties to accept the offer of Germany to host the Convention secretariat at Bonn, the Convention secretariat negotiated and signed a headquarters agreement on 18 August. It will come into force upon ratification by the German Parliament and adoption by the Conference of the Parties.

On the Global Mechanism, it states that the Assembly invited the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), as the lead organization housing the Global Mechanism, to cooperate fully with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Bank. In that connection, IFAD, UNDP and the World Bank have created a Facilitation Committee, the purpose of which is to further such cooperation.

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On the annexes to the Convention, the report notes that it is anticipated that, at the next session of the Conference of the Parties (Dakar, 30 November-11 December), an item may be allocated to the Committee of the Whole on the possible elaboration of an additional regional implementation annex for the countries of the eastern and central European region.

According to the report, as at 18 October, instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession to the Convention had been deposited by 142 States and one regional economic integration organization.

The Secretary-General conveys to the Assembly a request of the first session of the Conference of the Parties for action. It concerns financing from the regular budget of the Organization the conference-servicing costs arising from sessions of the Conference of the Parties and subsidiary bodies for the duration of the institutional linkage between the Convention and the United Nations.

Statements

MAKARIM WIBISONO (Indonesia), on behalf of the "Group of 77" developing countries and China, said the planet was experiencing extreme climatic conditions and dramatically changing weather patterns. The scope of further actions had important practical implications. Actions taken by all countries domestically could substantially contribute solutions to the overall problem. Early and committed action by developed countries was critical and fundamental, as they were the countries responsible historically for the pollution problem, and they currently had the necessary capacity to bring about effective results.

He added that the developed countries could not have sole control of the global climate system. The participation of at least the more developed of the developing countries was necessary, if not critical. There was currently no agreement on emissions reduction by countries in the North. It was unfair and, indeed, unacceptable that the developing countries, which were struggling to attain decent standards of living, should be asked to curtail their industrial activity and share in the efforts to reduce emissions so that the industrialized countries could continue with their unsustainable production and consumption patterns. Developed countries must take the lead and not merely reduce emissions. According to the Climate Change Convention, developed countries must modify longer-term trends in harmful emissions, as well as their production and consumption lifestyles.

ROGATIEN BIAOU (Benin), on behalf of the Group of African States, said that African countries had continued to adhere to the Convention on Desertification and nearly all African States had ratified the Convention. The participatory approach offered hope for success because those concerned would be involved in implementing the Convention. However, there had not been many agreements for partnership with developed countries.

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African countries were also creating a national fund to combat desertification and there were a number of programmes at the subregional level. In each subregion, measures were taken to create a facilitation fund for anti-desertification programmes. The network of African non-governmental organizations would be meeting in Dakar, Senegal, this year to reach agreement on their position. At the international level, Africa welcomed increased ratification of the Convention. The international community should comply with and meet the commitments of the Convention.

ENIO CORDEIRO (Brazil) offered to host, in the city of Recife, in August 1999, the Third Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.

Brazil is one of the countries, he said, that had succeeded the most in containing carbon dioxide release into the atmosphere. Brazil had put into place a series of fiscal, industrial and technical policies, together with specific programmes for energy efficiency and conservation. Any implication that developing countries were not contributing their share to emissions reduction was totally apart from reality.

He also said that his country believed that emission reduction targets should not be based on purely political compromise, as was the case in Kyoto, but on objective technical and scientific criteria that should relate historical emissions to their measured effect in terms of global warming.

YURI N. ISAKOV (Russian Federation) said that his country was interested in a constructive solution to the global climate change problem, and was committed to the course set by the special session of the General Assembly. His country had continued efforts to meet its full obligations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and had considerably reduced the level of emissions of greenhouse gases as compared to 1990.

He said his country hoped to reach common agreements on climate change, in particular the elaboration of an efficient and fair international system of greenhouse gas emission quotas trading. His country believed that such a system should not impede sustainable economic development of States parties. It should be based on voluntary principles, and should stipulate the right of parties to choose the possibility to accumulate unused emission quotas in order to either realize them in the future or to offer them for trading and attracting foreign investment.

OLE PETER KOLBY (Norway) said the degradation of productive land was immense, and posed an urgent challenge for the world community. Land degradation and food insecurity were first of all poverty problems. The world community should now act to follow up on the Convention on Desertification. There was also a need to meet the target for official development assistance (ODA). Poverty was often the result of a lack of power and control over resources. The participatory approach taken in that Convention was therefore

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essential. His country recognized that the poorest and most seriously affected countries, particularly in Africa, would continue to need international assistance to effectively combat desertification.

He added that the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States laid a comprehensive basis for sustainable development for such States. While much had been done by those States to implement the ambitious Programme of Action, it must also be recognized that much remained to be done. Lack of sufficient resources, as well as phenomena such as El Niño had contributed to making full implementation of the Programme of Action more difficult. El Niño had also demonstrated the particular vulnerability of those States to natural and environmental disasters.

CARLSTON BOUCHER (Barbados), speaking on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States, said the issue of climate change was critical to all humanity. The most serious threat was posed by rising sea levels. In almost every Alliance region there were growing and alarming impacts of shore erosion and saline infiltration of freshwater sources. The Alliance fully supported initiatives such as the so-called "no-regrets" measures recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. However, there had been resistance even to such a modest approach to reduce the irresponsible waste of natural resources. The Alliance was concerned about the entrenched behaviour in certain quarters which continued to cling desperately to their short-term gains, working to undermine the Climate Change Convention to the detriment of all.

Alliance member States would continue to follow scientific evidence and forge alliances to foster international consensus on actions to avert a global threat, he said. The Kyoto Protocol was an important first step, but measured against the science, the emission-reduction targets set in Kyoto were completely inadequate to safeguard the future. To that end, developed countries must do more. He recalled the spirit of Rio and sometimes wondered if it had virtually disappeared. The rapid pace of globalization and liberalization had further underscored the vulnerability of small island States. There was a critical need for capacity-building in such areas as management of wastes, freshwater, land, biological resources, and science technology. The national institutions and administrative capacities, however, had been hampered by a severe lack of financial and technical skills. Regional institutions and mechanisms for coordination must be strengthened or supplemented.

PENNY WENSLEY (Australia) highlighted some of the key international environmental meetings in the coming year. First, the Fourth Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Buenos Aires next month represented an opportunity to advance the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol adopted last year. While that Protocol was a significant first step forward and a landmark agreement, a number of difficult and complex implementation issues remained to be solved. Another issue central to

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Australia's long-term goals was realizing an effective global response to climate change. Commitments by the developed countries alone would not be sufficient to achieve the ultimate objective of the Convention. Australia would look to Buenos Aires for agreement on a comprehensive framework for the negotiation of outstanding issues.

Secondly, there was the final negotiating session for a Biosafety Protocol to the Convention on Biological Diversity to be held in Cartagena, Colombia, in February, dealing with the transboundary movement of living genetically modified organisms (LMOs) and their potential effects on biological diversity, she said. It was essential that the Protocol deal only with the transboundary movement of LMOs and not attempt to dictate to parties on their domestic management of such organisms. There was also the 1999 United Nations General Assembly special session on Small Island Developing States, which would focus the international community's attention on relevant environmental and developmental problems. Australia continued to incorporate the priorities of the Barbados Programme of Action into its bilateral and regional development assistance programme. Her country also looked forward to a dynamic and interactive session of the seventh Commission on Sustainable Development, which would encourage constructive work on issues such as oceans, small island developing States and tourism.

BERHANU KEBEDE (Ethiopia) said his country shared the concern expressed by many members of the international community over the need for conserving and sustainable use of biological diversity. He was surprised, therefore, to find decisions regarding intellectual property rights that had major implications for national as well as regional food security, agricultural and rural development and environmental conservation. For developing countries, the impact of the intellectual property rights system on farmers, rural communities and biological diversity was profoundly important. Some of the most commercially attractive enterprises in the international market were based on biological resources from the South. Yet, those materials were often not paid for, simply taken away by those with the necessary capabilities.

His country placed considerable importance on the need to protect the rights of communities to the fruits of their labour and the benefits that might be accrued from the biological resources they nurtured and from technologies.

HUSSAIN SHIHAB (Maldives) said he regretted that implementation of several aspects of the Programme of Action of the Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States remained unfulfilled. The level of cooperation and commitment called for in the Conference's Declaration had not been forthcoming from the international community. In that context, Maldives attached great importance to the 1999 special session of the General Assembly on the review of the Programme of Action. He regretted that the promises of the Programme had not been kept, in that ODA levels had declined since then.

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The particular physical, ecological and economic circumstances faced by small island States, such as Maldives, made them especially susceptible to certain environmental problems, he said. Thus, they found that sustaining development became an extremely difficult challenge. In that context, he stressed the continuing need to develop an economic and ecological vulnerability index to reflect greater reality and balance in the criterion for the designation of the least developed countries.

K.R. MALKANI (India) said it was of deep concern that, six years after Rio, there was a discernible effort to erode the framework of partnership built laboriously at Rio, with efforts to prescribe equal obligations and liabilities on unequal partners. India had hoped that the 1997 United Nations General Assembly special session to review Agenda 21 would effectively identify and address constraints in the Agenda's implementation, particularly transfer of environmentally sound technology on favourable terms to developing countries. The effort to make developing countries undertake further obligations at the current stage was not justified, since there had been little progress in implementation of the commitments voluntarily undertaken by developed countries in areas such as resources and transfer of technology.

He reiterated the need for immediate measures to provide developing countries with the necessary financial resources and environmentally sound technology to enable them to meet their existing commitments under the Framework Convention on Climate Change. Regarding the upcoming Convention of Parties on Biodiversity, one of the urgent issues was the development of proprietary patents based on biodiversity/traditional knowledge of indigenous communities, without obtaining prior informed consent of the developing countries concerned and without coming to any agreement on benefit-sharing with those countries. Those countries were storehouses of such biodiversity and indigenous knowledge. There was a clear and pressing need to extend and render effective protection to indigenous biotechnology, developed over the millenniums, to ensure a flowback of benefits from patentees to original developers.

ALISON DRAYTON (Guyana), on behalf of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), said that in many instances sustainable development projects for small island developing States were not completed or sustained after the donor-funded phase. That was due to a lack of capacity- building at the national and regional levels. Difficulties at the national level included: limited human resources which resulted in diminished capacity to identify, prepare and execute sound projects; development, in many instances, which continued to be project driven, resulting in an overly sectoral approach; and a lack of public-private cooperation which often resulted in the burden of project development resting disproportionately on the shoulders of the public sector.

She said that, at the regional level, it had been recognized that the lack of an integrated approach to project and programme planning resulted in sub-optimal mobilization and utilization of resources. In addition, effective

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mechanisms for information-sharing were not evident. As a result, lessons of experience remained in national files and individual countries continued to repeat costly mistakes. Many countries also remained beset by persistent institutional weaknesses and human and financial limitations.

PIERRE HILI (Malta) said that Agenda 21, adopted during the Rio Earth Summit, remained the universally accepted, comprehensive and far-reaching programme for sustainable development. The Government of Malta attached great importance to sustainable development and the environment. Unfortunately, the outcome of last year's special session of the General Assembly to review the implementation of Agenda 21 indicated that the state of the environment was getting worse. That needed immediate action, and Malta called for stronger political commitment from all countries and a higher level of cooperation and coordination within the United Nations framework to halt the degradation of the natural resource base.

His country believed that the moment had arrived to move on with the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol, and to address, in an integrated fashion, the stabilization of greenhouse gas levels.

OH YOUNG-JU (Republic of Korea) said her country shared concerns about the global threat posed by climate change and remained strongly committed to the objectives of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Practical changes should be made in the operational details of the flexibility mechanism, as well as in emission trading, joint implementation, and a clean development mechanism. As a country that depended almost entirely on imports for its domestic energy requirements, her country gave the highest priority to energy conservation. The limitation of greenhouse gas emissions was an integral part of its long-term strategy for sustainable development and energy security. The Republic of Korea would continue to take all necessary policies and measures to limit greenhouse gas emissions.

MELVIN SAENZ (Costa Rica), on behalf of the Central American countries, Belize, Panama and the Dominican Republic, said that while Central America contained 0.5 per cent of the land surface of the planet, it contains 8 per cent of the world's biodiversity. He noted that the heads of the Central American States had made commitments to develop ecological corridors and had increased the number of protected areas from a total of 25 in 1969, to 415 such areas today. The cost of maintaining such areas for the world's biodiversity was a significant burden which was borne by Central America and should earn those countries benefits in other areas, including areas of trade, and financial considerations. The North was biologically less well endowed, but economic patterns continued to show its inattentiveness to that equation.

MICHAEL ARBEL (Israel) said that the environment should be the international community's major concern. Traditional and innovative methods for maximizing yields per acre might cause substantial damage in the long run. Desertification most frequently resulted from development which is not

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sustainable, due to the mismanagement of biodiversity. Over-exploitation of vegetation cover resulted in soil erosion and hence, reduced soil productivity. Over-population and increased demand in semi-arid regions brought about over-exploitation, which reduced vegetation and biodiversity.

Israel provided an interesting case study for non-sustainable rural development and mismanagement of water and soil, he said. Cultivating arid and semi-arid land and transforming rain-fed agriculture into modern irrigating agriculture was responsible for the loss of biodiversity in Israel's deserts.

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