ISSUES OF DESERTIFICATION, DROUGHT, GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS, BIODIVERSITY ARE MAJOR CONCERNS OF SECOND COMMITTEE MEMBERS

23 October 1998

Press Release
GA/EF/2835

ISSUES OF DESERTIFICATION, DROUGHT, GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS, BIODIVERSITY ARE MAJOR CONCERNS OF SECOND COMMITTEE MEMBERS

19981023 Instituting structures to combat desertification was not an end in itself, adequate resources to ensure those structures worked were still lacking, the representative of Senegal told the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) this morning, as it continued its discussion of the environment and sustainable development.

The tragic consequences of desertification and drought were usually combined with factors such as poverty and food insecurity for millions of people, added the representative of Senegal. It was necessary to act urgently to save what could still be saved before things become irreversible. There was a need to create a mechanism for assessing the implementation of the Convention on Desertification and making such a global mechanism work. That issue highlighted the central issue of resource mobilization.

Progress in implementing the provisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Convention to Combat Desertification should be reviewed, said the representative of Sri Lanka. In order to overcome sustainable development difficulties, there was a need for understanding and for overwhelming support by the developed countries and international donor agencies. It was by joint and combined efforts that the international community could save the planet in the new millennium.

Funding needed to be more forthcoming from the international financial institutions to deal with the full range of priority areas, said the representative of Trinidad and Tobago. Small island developing States did not figure significantly in studies on global integration. Size, remoteness and susceptibility to natural disasters posed additional challenges to the development of those States.

On the emission of greenhouse gases, the representative of the Observer Mission of Switzerland said the level of reduction envisioned by the Kyoto Protocol was not high enough. His country was interested in taking substantial measures to limit and reduce greenhouse gases and to implement the components of the Kyoto Protocol, in cooperation with its partners in other countries. Ample funds should be made available to enable environmental conventions to be carried out.

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Statements were also made by the representatives of Turkey, New Zealand, Kenya, Marshall Islands, Myanmar, Uganda, Pakistan, Slovakia, Iceland, Slovenia, Kuwait, Guatemala, Namibia, Tunisia and China. A statement was also made by the Observer Mission of the Holy See.

Representatives of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) also spoke.

The Second Committee will meet again at 3 p.m. today to hold a panel discussion on how to achieve a better coherence and improve coordination among environmental and environment-related conventions.

It would also continue 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.

Committee Work Programme

The Second Committee (Economic and Financial) met this morning 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. (For background information see Press Release GA/EF/2834 of 22 October.)

Summary of Draft Resolutions

Before the Committee were three draft resolutions to be introduced. A draft resolution on international cooperation to reduce the impact of the El Niño phenomenon (document A/C.2/53/L.11) was sponsored by Indonesia, on behalf of the "Group of 77" developing countries and China, Japan, Mexico, Norway and the United States.

By that text, the General Assembly would decide that the report on the outcome of a forthcoming meeting of experts on El Niño would be considered at the seventh session of the Commission on Sustainable Development, at the 1999 substantive session of the Economic and Social Council and at the special session of the Assembly for review of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States.

The Assembly would call for the continued implementation of resolution 52/200, which had dealt with international cooperation to reduce the impact of the El Niño phenomenon and would request a report from the Secretary-General at its next session on implementation of the present resolution. Also, it would request the Secretary-General to submit recommendations on how the United Nations system would deal with the reduction of natural disasters after the conclusion of the International Decade for the Reduction of Natural Disasters in 1999.

The second draft resolution was concerned with implementation of the commitments and policies agreed upon in the Declaration of International Economic Cooperation, in particular the Revitalization of Economic Growth and Development of the Developing Countries, and implementation of the International Development Strategy for the Fourth United Nations Development Decade (document A/C.2/53/L.12). It was sponsored by Indonesia on behalf of the "Group of 77" developing countries and China.

By that text, the Assembly would, among other things, request the Secretary-General, in consultation with all the concerned organs and organizations of the United Nations system, including the Bretton Woods institutions, as well as other relevant international organizations, to submit to it at its fifty-fourth session, an analytical report containing a thorough

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evaluation of the implementation of the commitments and policies agreed upon in the Declaration and the implementation of the Strategy, including the progress made and constraints therein.

The Assembly would also decide to include in the provisional agenda of its fifty-fourth session an item on sustainable development and international cooperation, implementation of existing commitments and policies, and preparation and elaboration of an international development strategy for the fifth United Nations Development Decade.

The third draft resolution was concerned with the integration of the economies in transition into the world economy (document A/C.2/53/L.13). The resolution was sponsored by: Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mongolia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Tajikistan, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United Kingdom and the United States.

By the terms of that text the Assembly would, among other things, call upon the organizations of the United Nations system, including the Bretton Woods institutions, in collaboration with relevant non-United Nations multilateral and regional institutions, to continue analytical activities, policy advice and technical assistance to the governments of the countries with economies in transition in strengthening the social and political framework for economic and market reforms, thereby creating, in particular, an enabling environment for foreign investment, and in the early identification of nascent crises in order to ensure their economic asnd financial stability.

Introduction of Draft Resolutions

RADEN B. HAPSORO (Indonesia), on behalf of the "Group of 77" developing countries and China, introduced the draft resolution on implementation of the Declaration on International Economic Cooperation, and of the International Development Strategy for the Fourth United Nations Development Decade.

MOCHAMAD S. HIDAYAT (Indonesia) introduced the draft resolution on international cooperation to reduce the impact of the El Niño phenomenon.

SERHIY REVA (Ukraine) introduced the draft resolution on integration of the economies in transition into the world economy.

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Statements

VITTORIO CANUTO, observer for the Holy See, said the result of unbridled use of natural resources had been a misuse, overuse and degradation of the environment with tremendous losses for mankind in general. That had been exemplified by large-scale phenomena like desertification, deforestation, the depletion of the ozone layer over Antarctica, and the extinction of plants and animal species. Rather than focusing on natural resources being limited, the world community should think positively about its unlimited capacity to exchange knowledge. For development to be sustainable, the world must change from the use of natural resources to the use of knowledge. It must move from an economic model that was resource-intensive to one that was knowledge- intensive.

FEZA OZTURK (Turkey) said that, although his country was not party to the Convention on Climate Change, it was aware of its responsibilities. Turkey had taken the necessary legislative steps to reduce emission levels as envisaged under the Convention. Furthermore, it was continuing to contribute to the Global Environment Facility and it had made significant bilateral and multilateral financial aid to developing countries. Commitments based on the Convention on Climate Change should be based on equity and fairness, by duly taking into account differentiated responsibilities and individual circumstances. Turkey believed it was not causing pollution to the extent of other countries listed in Annex I of the Convention and asked for support for its removal from Annexes I and II.

NICKY McDONALD (New Zealand) said priority should be given to developing the rules for emissions trading in order to enable the Kyoto Protocol to be implemented on a least-cost basis. Finding such solutions would be crucial to developing a long-term sustainable approach to emissions reductions. In regard to emissions trading, it was vital that it proceed on a liberal and open basis, without substantive restrictions such as quotas or ceilings that would introduce distortions into the market and impair its efficiency. It was important that rules developed in that regard focused on ways of making international emission trading practical and effective.

JOHN ARAP KOECH (Kenya) said his country had initiated a national action plan to combat desertification. The long-term goals of the plan were focused on: poverty alleviation, food security and environment conservation. To achieve those goals, the plan had to organize programmes which involved all the stakeholders and had to create institutional programmes for making the work efficient. Those measures included ensuring sufficient finances, instituting the necessary legal frameworks and necessary education. The plan also recognized different levels of operation considering the socio-cultural groups. Those groups included settled farmers, pastoral groups, and traders. They consisted of men and women of various education skills and backgrounds. To succeed, the action plan had to recognize all those groups and, hence, take the initiative which would incorporate their inputs.

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ESPEN RONNEBERG (Marshall Islands) said the small island developing States still favoured strong measures by the industrialized countries to cut their emissions of greenhouse gases. They hoped the meager reductions called for in the Kyoto Protocol would be met with credible and verifiable efforts. They called for a more scientific approach to determine which industrialized countries needed to further reduce their emissions. The Marshall Islands had established a national climate change committee, consisting of representatives of public and private sector organizations, to work on concrete proposals for future action to be advocated in the context of the Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The Alliance of Small Island States supported the convening of a round-table meeting next February between their governments and donor countries and agencies on the implementation of the outcome of the Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States. They urged help for States from their region which were not members of the United Nations to participate in the round-table meeting and the special session of the General Assembly to be held prior to the Assembly's fifty- fourth session.

Marshall Islands and many other developing countries, he said, were extremely worried that their territories would become testing grounds for unsafe or potentially dangerous new substances. Legislation was currently being drafted in the Marshall Islands to establish a set of rules to govern biosafety issues.

WIN AUNG (Myanmar) said human beings shared the world with perhaps as many as 30 million organisms. The need for biodiversity to be preserved could not be stressed too much. Although we tended to be forgetful about it, the fact that human beings were totally reliant upon the biosphere for their own existence was an irrefutable fact. Plants were needed to provide the air we breathe and food we eat. Without the variety and diversity of the biosphere, a future for the species homo-sapiens was non-existent.

He said that his country was advocating and promoting regional, interregional and international cooperation in the management of protected areas, the general promotion of the principles of biodiversity, the protection of migratory species, institutional development and capacity-building and the development of a database. Systematic wildlife conservation activities started in Myanmar in 1981 in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

CARLOS SERSALE DI CERISANO, Assistant Director-General for United Nations Affairs, United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), said his organization had adapted its structure and transformed its technical capacity in order to provide support to developing countries and economies in transition in their efforts to meet their obligations under the Convention on

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Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol. The main means for achieving the Kyoto targets would be through domestic action in developed countries. Those actions should be geared towards improving their efficiency in the use of energy, introducing new technologies, and influencing sound consumption patterns. Industrialized countries should support practical steps, including funding, for the transfer and adaptation of technology to developing countries and economies in transition.

HAROLD ACEMAH (Uganda) said his country attached the highest importance to the process of implementing the Convention to Combat Desertification. That was the primary convention for dealing with the problems and challenges of sustainable development in fragile ecosystems, such as the Sahelian region of Africa. Adequate resources should be made available to the Convention secretariat by the United Nations, as well as by the donor community. Such resources would enable the implementation of the Convention to proceed swiftly and effectively. He also expressed support for the establishment of a committee to review the implementation of that Convention.

VERA P. WEILL-HALLE, representative of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), said the Fund had invested $3 billion in dryland projects as part of its strategy to combat desertification, rural poverty and hunger. The projects, which fostered local development and capacity-building, had helped communities manage their resources. The Fund had invested more than $167 million in projects such as stress-tolerant crops, improved water harvesting systems and low-cost soil and water conservation measures to help small-holder farmers in marginal environments. Through the Special Programme designed specifically to combat desertification in sub-Saharan Africa IFAD had, since the early 1980s, mobilized more than $700 million that had helped African farmers protect their resources, lands and families.

She said IFAD had taken steps to launch, on a firm footing, the Global Mechanism established under the Convention to Combat Desertification. It was a multi-source, multi-channel instrument for finances, providing assistance to countries facing desertification and drought problems. The Fund was arranging with the UNDP to obtain support services from United Nations country teams operating under the leadership of United Nations resident coordinators.

LAKSHMAN KIRIELLA (Sri Lanka) said that the international community needed to look at the progress made in implementing Agenda 21 and the programme for further implementation of the proposals adopted at the nineteenth special session of the General Assembly that took place one year ago. Progress in implementing the provisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Convention to Combat Desertification should also be reviewed.

In order to overcome current difficulties, Sri Lanka would seek the understanding and support of the developed countries and international donor

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agencies. It was by joint and combined efforts that the international community could save our planet Earth in the new millennium.

IBRA DEGUENE (Senegal) said his country had resolved to shoulder the responsibility to create living conditions that were in accordance with the principles of sustainable development. The tragic consequences of desertification and drought were usually combined with factors such as poverty and food insecurity for millions of people. It was necessary to act urgently to save what could still be saved before things became irreversible. Agenda 21 emphasized the importance of international cooperation and of mitigating the impact of desertification and drought. Sustainable development instruments were all of equal importance as the world approached environmental and other problems. There was a need to address the creation of mechanisms for assessing implementation of the Convention on Desertification. That issue highlighted the central issue of resource mobilization. Instituting structures was not an end in itself. Adequate resources to ensure that those structures worked were lacking.

JENO C.A. STAEHELIN, Observer for Switzerland, said that the level of reduction in emissions envisioned by the Kyoto Protocol was not high enough. Switzerland hoped a plan of work that included deadlines would be adopted in Buenos Aires, to address the questions that were left pending in Kyoto.

He expressed Switzerland's interest in taking substantial measures to limit and reduce greenhouse gases and to implement the components of the Kyoto Protocol with his country's partners in other countries. As regards biodiversity, Switzerland intends to strive to come up with solutions acceptable to both developing and industrialized countries. Ample funds should be made available to enable environmental conventions to be carried out.

He noted that 2002 would be the International Year of Mountains, and that Switzerland would take an active hand in preparations leading up to the Year and promoting sustainable development in mountainous regions. He also said that Switzerland wants to ensure that the trade in live, genetically altered organisms was conducted with all due safeguards.

ROSLYN LAUREN KHAN-CUMMINGS (Trinidad and Tobago) said the issue of financial resources was crucial for the economies of small island developing States. Funding needed to be more forthcoming from the international financial institutions to address the full range of priority areas. Small States, with populations of 1 million or less had not figured significantly in studies on global integration.

Size, remoteness and susceptibility to natural disasters posed additional challenges to the development of small island States, she said. Those factors must be incorporated in the policies towards small island developing States. It was therefore incumbent that international financial

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institutions took those concerns into account and treat small islands as a special category of States. Aid should also be directed at the development of physical infrastructure and human capital. Capital flows and technical assistance, as well as the transfer of technology, must be accelerated towards meeting sustainable development objectives.

AHMAD KAMAL (Pakistan) said that developed countries must take the lead in reducing emissions because developing countries lack the technology and resources to do so. He said that his country hoped that such critical issues would be discussed in earnest at the forthcoming meeting of the subsidiary bodies of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, in Buenos Aires.

He said that further impetus could be given to the implementation of the Programme of Action for small island States through active participation in the donors' round table to be held in February 1999, and through the special session of the United Nations General Assembly to be held later next year. In order to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the existing mechanisms for resource generation, he added, the international community should support the Global Mechanism.

DRAHOSLAV STEFANEK (Slovakia) said Slovakia had hosted the fourth meeting of the Conference of States parties to the Convention to Combat Desertification last May. The Conference, attended by more than 1,300 delegates from 152 countries, including representatives of non-governmental organizations, provided new guidelines for work programmes in key ecosystems. Nineteen decisions were adopted on a wide range of issues and programmes, including some on marine and coastal biodiversity, agricultural and forestry biodiversity and the biodiversity of inland water ecosystems. One of the Conference priority actions had been the adoption of a work programme which focused on the elaboration of the first global assessment of biodiversity of inland waters ecosystems, in cooperation with the Commission on Sustainable Development and the secretariat of the 1971 Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat.

The Conference also paid particular attention to the review process on the work programme for promoting positive effects and mitigating the negative impacts of agricultural practices on biodiversity of the agricultural ecosystem. It decided that a protocol on biosafety should be adopted at the special session of the Conference of States parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in February 1999, and attention drawn to the protection it would offer against misuse of biotechnology products. The Conference also reaffirmed the utmost importance of cooperation with the United Nations, as well as cooperation with the secretariats of other relevant environmental conventions and with the World Trade Organization (WTO), especially within the area of intellectual property rights.

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THORSTEINN INGOLFSSON (Iceland) said his country was very conscious of the importance of marine and coastal biological diversity. It was the single largest source of protein and a crucial part of the Earth's ecosystem. It must be ensured that the harvesting of living marine resources could continue and that economic development and conservation went hand in hand. Iceland took an active part in the development of the decision and programme of work on marine and coastal biological diversity. It was imperative that efforts in that regard be focused on the promotion of sustainable use and management of biological diversity of marine living resources. Also, the endeavour of cooperation on the conservation and sustainable management of marine and coastal biological diversity must remain open and transparent. To that end, peer-reviews by a roster of national experts should be applied.

EMIL FERJANCIC (Slovenia) said that, as an Alpine country, Slovenia attached great importance to the implementation of the Alpine convention and environmental issues affecting mountains in general. It had supported the proposal to proclaim 2002 as the International Year of Mountains. Slovenia was still eligible for the Global environment Facility grants, but was contributing to the second replenishment of the Facility's Trust Fund. It had recently signed the Kyoto Protocol and had prepared a detailed plan for its implementation. Though it did not face desertification and drought problems, he said Slovenia would dedicate itself to tackling the question before it was forced to do so. One of its priorities was preventing biological biodiversity, and Slovenia was implementing the Convention on the subject at the political, operational and public levels.

TAREQ AL-BANAI (Kuwait) said that desertification and climate change were intertwined with economic and social development. The responsibility of protecting the environment entailed significant costs.

There had been significant damage to the marine environment in the Arab Gulf as a result of the invasion by Iraq, he said. It was still suffering. Among the 240 ships sunk in northern part of the Gulf, his country believed that many contained crude oil, and therefore could not be moved without encumbering great expense and further endangering the environment. Competent authorities already consider the Arab Gulf a highly polluted body of water, due to oil field leakage and the spilling of 1 million barrels of oil into the Gulf waters during the invasion.

The crimes of the Iraqi regime to the environment, he said, were not limited to water pollution, but also entailed a significant acid rain problem due to the ignition of oil wells. Kuwait looked forward to the functioning of an international criminal court to bring to justice those who had caused damage to its environment.

SILVIA CRISTINA CORADO-CUEVAS (Guatemala) said that climatic change, the greenhouse effect, global warming and the depletion of the ozone layer in the atmosphere were all global problems and must be dealt with quickly. The

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international community must be sure that the protocols agreed upon in Kyoto were operational, and that the pilot phases of clean development mechanisms be carried to fruition. The international community must constantly measure and monitor climatic change by strengthening existing institutions.

He said Guatemala had 2.8 million hectares of broad-leaf forest on its territory and was an oxygen-producing country. His country had set up a national commission to solicit potential investors in environmental projects in Guatemala, to help protect this important function. However, there remained a need for some kind of international economic order that would fairly distribute the costs of defending nature.

MARTIN ANDJABA (Namibia) said his was the most arid country in sub-Saharan Africa, with 69 per cent semi-arid land and 16 per cent arid land. Much of Namibia was already affected by loss of productivity in both commercial and communal farming areas. A variable climate and low rainfall made severe droughts a regular occurrence. The natural process of desertification was enhanced by unsustainable agriculture practices. The Convention on Desertification would not be fully implemented without the much needed assistance to those countries seriously affected by drought and desertification. Assistance was needed in such areas as: capacity-building; education and training of all involved in land management; in-depth and participatory research; and the transfer of appropriate technologies -- especially in the field of water management.

ABDERRAZAK AZAIEZ (Tunisia) said efforts were needed to improve cooperation and complementarity in combating desertification. Developed countries should mobilize resources to help implement the Convention to Combat Desertification. There should also be efforts to increase the transfer of know-how on anti-desertification strategies. Also, countries should not delay in becoming a party to the Convention. On subregional cooperation, Tunisia would host a seminar on growing crops on arid land this month. There, participants would examine best ways of fighting desertification and drought. People-oriented efforts to combat desertification were needed, as well as a better understanding of erosion and how it works. Efforts made so far had not halted the expansion of desertification. Such efforts could not possibly succeed without a collective framework for cooperation.

WANG XINXIA (China) said the Convention on Climate Change should be implemented effectively and countries were responsible for mitigating the release of greenhouse gases. The Kyoto Protocol established a schedule to reduce six types of greenhouse gases. Although it had shortcomings and loopholes, the Protocol was a first step in encouraging countries to reduce emissions. Developed countries were primarily responsible for the emission of greenhouse gases. Improving and strengthening its economy was still the overriding task in China. Her country was opposed to formal obligations to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. However, China was taking steps to reduce emissions and increase sustainable development efforts. Those efforts included developing renewable resources and reducing consumption of coal, as well as developing ecological farming techniques.

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