UNECE ENVIRONMENT MINISTERS TO REVITILIZE RIO SPIRIT

(Reissued as received; delayed in transmission.)

GENEVA, 20 September, (ECE), -- On 24 and 25 September, Environment Ministers of the member States of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) will meet in Geneva to prepare their contribution to next year's World Summit on Sustainable Development.  They will assess the progress made since Rio and set the priorities for the next decade.  The Regional Ministerial Meeting is one of five regional meetings taking place throughout the world at the request of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development.

During the Regional Ministerial Meeting, the Ministers will propose priorities for action at both regional and global levels in their Ministerial Statement.  They will also convene two panels:  one on governance and sustainable development, the other on poverty.  Some 500 participants from governments, non-governmental organizations and intergovernmental organizations are expected to take part in the Regional Ministerial Meeting.

In addition to the Regional Ministerial Meeting, the secretariats of the ECE and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) have prepared a regional assessment of progress in sustainable development since 1992.  The assessment shows that over the past 10 years, the ECE region has made progress in economic development and environmental sustainability.  Yet problems persist, in particular underdevelopment, poverty, ill health and weak governance in many countries in transition together with high unemployment, social exclusion, growing waste volumes and the build-up of chemicals in the environment throughout the region. Production and consumption patterns are still a far cry from their sustainable ideal.

This is why the spirit of the Rio Conference needs to be revitalized and all countries of the ECE region and beyond should strengthen their commitment to achieving sustainable development.

All the documentation for the Regional Ministerial Meeting, including the regional assessment, is available on the ECE Web site: http://www.unece.org/env/rio%2b10/.

The World Summit on Sustainable Development will take place in Johannesburg, South Africa, from 2 to 11 September 2002.

For more information, please contact:

Kaj Bärlund, Director, ECE Environment and Human Settlements Division

Palais des Nations, office 336, CH - 1211 Geneva 10, Phone:  (41 22) 917 23 70, Fax:  (41 22) 907 01 07,E-mail:  kaj.barlund@unece.org; or Mary Pat Silveira, ECE Environment and Human Settlements Division, Palais des Nations, office 338,      CH - 1211 Geneva 10, Phone:  (41 22) 917 13 15, Fax:  (41 22) 907 06 30,         E-mail:  mary.pat.silveira@unece.org. 

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