COHERENCE AND COORDINATION AMONG ENVIRONMENTAL CONVENTIONS NEEDED, PANELLISTS TELL SECOND COMMITTEE
Press Release
GA/EF/2836
COHERENCE AND COORDINATION AMONG ENVIRONMENTAL CONVENTIONS NEEDED, PANELLISTS TELL SECOND COMMITTEE
19981023 The United Nations could function successfully if its individual parts recognized the linkages between their actions and sought synergies in their programmes, the Second Committee was told this afternoon as it held a panel discussion on how to achieve better coherence and improve coordination among environmental conventions.Coherence and coordination were rational ends, but institutional dynamics did not necessarily lead to those ends, said Michael Zammit-Cutajar, Executive Secretary of the secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. There was no invisible hand that facilitated coordination, it was achieved with leadership, control, and persuasion. The lack of such intervention resulted in programmes which were rarely more than adjustments of institutional frontiers, rather than major actions. Institutional history was littered with the wrecks of fruitless and wasteful coordination.
Exploring cooperation and synergies was central to the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity said Sam Johnston, Legal Affairs Officer of the secretariat of that Convention. He added that implementation of that and other environmental conventions depended on credible scientific information. Developing scientifically credible goals for implementation of the Biological Diversity Convention was an extremely difficult task.
On desertification, Hama Arba Diallo, Executive Secretary of the secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, said studies had found that soil deterioration was accelerated by recurring drought and climate change. There was also an important link between soil deterioration and the loss of biodiversity in arid areas.
Also this afternoon, the Committee had a general discussion on the topic of the environment and sustainable development. In that discussion, the representative of Philippines said it was urgent that countries in the developing world contribute fully to global efforts for environmental protection and for the achievement of sustainable development.
Statements were also made by the representatives of: Burundi, Mexico, Ukraine, Sudan, Guinea, Chile, Libya and Niger.
The Second Committee will meet again at 10 a.m. on Monday, 26 October, to continue its consideration of the environment and sustainable development. Under that general heading, the Committee will discuss: protection of 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 hold a panel discussion on how to achieve better coherence and improve coordination among environmental and environment related conventions. Panellists will include: Hama Arba Diallo, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa; Michael Zammit-Cutajar, Executive Secretary, Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change; and Sam Johnston, Legal Affairs Officer of the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity.
The Committee also planned to 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. (For background information on that topic, see Press Release GA/EF/2834 of 22 October.)
Panel Discussion HAMA ARBA DIALLO, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, said that studies had found that soil deterioration was accelerated by recurring drought and climate change. In the future, it might be interesting to see how efforts could be made at the initial stage of programme preparation to link soil deterioration to anti-desertification efforts. In addition, most species of plants in arid areas were a significant source of food and medicine. There was an important link between soil deterioration and the loss of biodiversity in arid areas. In fighting against soil deterioration, efforts could be made to protect biodiversity as well. Such efforts should not be imposed from above. Also, actions should be carried out in a way that avoided overtaxing the management capacity of countries.
MICHAEL ZAMMIT-CUTAJAR, Executive Secretary, secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, said that while the Second Committee was addressing conventions on climate change, desertification and biological diversity on the same day, it was very difficult to take on those issues in a coordinated manner by diverse United Nations organs spread around the globe.
Coherence and coordination were rational ends which he sought in his daily work, he said, but nature and institutional dynamics did not necessarily lead to those ends. There was no invisible hand that brought about those aims, they were achieved with leadership, control, persuasion. The lack of such intervention resulted in programmes which were rarely more than adjustments of institutional frontiers, rather than major actions.
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Institutional history was littered with the wrecks of fruitless and wasteful coordination. A central system with autonomous agents, like the United Nations, could function successfully if its individual parts recognized the linkages between their actions, and sought synergies in their programs.
SAM JOHNSTON, Legal Affairs Officer of the secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, said it had been central to the implementation of that Convention to explore cooperation and synergies. National level activities were a key element in addressing multidimensional problems. He was expecting considerable progress in that regard in the next 18 months because the national reporting process was coming to fruition. Those reports would provide an enormous amount of information which would help identify where cooperation could be enhanced. What was crucial to the implementation of the Biodiversity Convention and similar conventions was credible scientific information. Developing scientifically credible goals for implementation of the Convention was an extremely difficult task. That task could be aided by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
Question and Answer Period The three panellists answered questions posed by Committee Members on coordination efforts.
Mr. ZAMMIT-CUTAJAR, said that coordinating programs on climate change, biodiversity and desertification would require taking steps to avoid conflicts and contradictions. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) could make a contribution to those efforts. He suggested that approaching all three closely-related areas might be addressed best by utilizing UNEP's scientific approach. There might not be a need for three separate reports on the three conventions. However, there had not been sufficient time to address that issue.
Mr. DIALLO said that implementation of the Convention on Desertification was just beginning. He would not be able to come forward with clear examples of coordination until implementation actions began. The first national reports on implementation of the Convention would not come until next year. One could only coordinate actions. In addition to national reporting, the Convention envisaged national programming.
Mr. JOHNSTON said that in the next 18 months there would be greater information to help identify a number of priorities at the national level and at the policy-making level. There were 67 national reports already submitted on implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity. All those reports had been the product of a broad-based process of evaluation. One problem of coordination and avoiding contradictions was the lack of quantitative evidence on measures taken to reach the Convention's goals. There was a lack of quantitative, hard scientific evidence.
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Statements on environment and sustainable development
JEAN-BAPTISTE HAJAYANDI (Burundi) said that, in the wake of the socio- political crisis that began five years ago in his country, the displacement of persons led to the deterioration and overuse of land. World solidarity should be shown in the fight against desertification and drought, especially in Africa. There was a need to reinforce efforts to strengthen the Convention on Desertification and make sure that the institutions of the Convention were in place and operational.
ULISES CANCHOLA (Mexico) said there must be efforts to maintain the unified character for Agenda 21 as a whole as well as the plan for its implementation. Efforts should be made to avoid dismantling it. The work of the next session of the Commission on Sustainable Development, particularly on the topic of oceans, would have to include identifying obstacles and forming recommendations on sustainable development issues. During a previous session of that Commission, reference had been made to the relationship between the atmosphere and the oceans. More work should be done in that regard especially in view of the recent effects of the El Nino phenomenon.
VOLODYMYR RESHETNYAK (Ukraine) said his country advocated the establishment of close working contacts between the new consolidated Committee on Energy and Natural Resources for Development, the UNEP and the Commission on Sustainable Development, and the strengthening of coordination of their activities with the United Nations regional commissions.
He said that his country thought that within UNEP activities, and in other relevant bodies, more attention should be paid to the coordination of activities under the framework of various United Nations conventions. It would be advisable for the Economic and Social Council to devote one of its coordination segments to this important issue.
LAYLA OMER BASHIR (Sudan) said her country was fighting against desertification and drought, and that it had also suffered from its worst flood in years during the autumn of 1997. The flood affected more than one million people and 500 villages, as well as parks and orchards. The volume of losses was unprecedented. She said that African non-governmental organizations should play an active role in the conference on desertification and drought, and that the conference should finalize questions that had been suspended since the previous conference. She added that the conference could play a medium-term role in laying the ground work for longer-term solutions.
ARAFAN KABINE KABA (Guinea) said that Guinea was recognized as West Africa's water tower, and its bodies of water comprised a synthesis of the West African ecosystem. The protection of natural resources and biodiversity were crucial because Guinea's land was the catchment area for the sources of the great rivers of West Africa. However, in this current period, Guinea's
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immediate neighbours included three countries faced with crises. From Liberia and Sierra Leone, Guinea had sustained massive refugee movements, and this had caused undue stress on the living environment. Against this background, Guinea had launched an appeal to the international community.
IGNACIO LLANOS (Chile) said his country had adopted a series of measures aimed at living up to its commitments under the Convention on Climate Change. The government was committed to projects that monitored and mitigated the effects of greenhouse gasses and it had produced evaluations of their effects on climate change. At the institutional level, Chile had established a national committee on climate change.
On the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity, his country had developed a national strategy to monitor protected areas. Chile had 45 per cent of its territory affected by some degree of desertification. In that regard, it had takes an initiative that linked desertification to the El Nino phenomenon. Chile planned to host a conference on that topic next year with participation of international experts.
ALI S. AUJALI (Libya) said the world should work seriously to ensure a policy so that all States could be provided with the moral and political support needed to achieve sustainable development. Regardless of differences, it was agreed that the lack of resources as well as the accumulation of external debt had led to the damaging of ecological resources. Adding to that damage were the coercive economic measures imposed on countries by other countries. Sustainable development efforts were threatened not only by natural factors but also by a trend of some countries to dominate.
YACOUBA SANDI (Niger) said that his government had worked out a national plan for sustainable development that was focused on food production, health and the eradication of poverty, among other things. The plan included greater involvement of the population and development of a lasting partnership among all actors. On the Convention on Biological Diversity, a national strategy document and an action plan were being worked out. On desertification, his country did not need to wait for a convention to realize that its welfare depended on a fierce struggle against the advance of the desert. Effective mobilization of actions in that regard was crucial. His government had organized a national seminar to promote the role of young people in combating desertification. The fight against desertification must be carried out on sub-regional, regional and global levels. It also required political will, the support of the people, and financial resources.
JUAN MIGUEL F. ZUBIRI (Philippines) said that it was critical to be able to protect and properly utilize his country's rich biological diversity. That was why it was urgent to enact a total logging ban on tropical rainforests to ensure the conservation and protection of wildlife resources and their habitats. It was imperative for his country to defend its remaining mangrove forest and to quickly regenerate the deteriorating coral reefs. It was a
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continuing challenge to enforce effectively the laws against illegal logging, blast fishing, and other nefarious operations that destroyed the ecosystem. It was urgent that the partnership promised in Rio was concretely manifested to allow countries in the developing world to contribute fully to global efforts for environmental protection and to achieve sustainable development.
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