Commission on Sustainable Development

Eleventh Session

3^rd Meeting (AM&PM)

SPEAKERS URGE INCREASED ASSISTANCE FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES IN MEETING WATER, ENERGY NEEDS, AS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION CONTINUES

Holds Ministerial Debate, Regional Forum, Round Table;

Under-Secretary-General Stresses Special Measures for ‘At Risk’ States

Speakers urged the Commission on Sustainable Development to assist developing countries with such environmental needs as water and energy, and to implement goals arising from last year’s Johannesburg World Summit, as it continued its eleventh session today in a ministerial debate, regional implementation forums and a ministerial round table.

Introducing the ministerial debate, Anwarul Chowdhury, Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States, stressed the emphasis at the Johannesburg Summit given to Africa, as well as the countries under his office’s responsibility.  Small island developing States were a special case for environment and development, increasingly constrained by adverse factors due to their small size, isolation and vulnerability.

The Commission should agree on special measures for tackling the impact of globalization, trade liberalization and economic and environmental vulnerabilities on such countries, he said.  Without greater market access, official development assistance, debt relief, and substantial capacity-building, those at risk States would remain marginalized.

Similarly, Thailand’s representative encouraged the Commission to increase support for developing countries in implementing Johannesburg commitments, whether through financial assistance, technology transfer or capacity-building.  All stakeholders should take part in such actions, with the Commission monitoring, evaluating and reporting on partnership initiatives.

The Commission, he continued, should focus on eradicating poverty, changing consumption and production patterns and protecting natural resources for social and economic development.  Further, it should ensure enough flexibility in its schedule to tackle new issues, such as the recent outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which was adversely affecting health and sustainable development worldwide.

Patrick Kalifungwa, Minister of Tourism, Environment and Natural Resources of Zambia, noted that his country still faced several challenges in ensuring

environmental sustainability.  Those included poverty, weak policies, inadequate institutional and legal frameworks, and inadequate capacity for implementing international environmental conventions.  The country also had difficulties in coordinating trans-boundary natural resources management, as well as poor support for ongoing environmental education.

Implementing the Johannesburg outcomes would only become realistic if the Commission balanced its programmes among economic, social and environmental pillars, he stressed.  In addition, the New Economic Plan for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and Millennium Development Goals must be strongly integrated to speed up sustainable development.

The Under-Secretary of State for Global Affairs of the United States, Paula Dobriansky, stressed that the Commission should identify priorities to make the biggest difference in the shortest time for those most in need.  Over 1 billion people in the world lacked access to safe drinking water, for example, and the Commission should make “water and sustainable development” the single overarching theme for the 2004-2005 cycle.

Likewise, she continued, about 2 billion people in the world, mostly in rural areas, had no access to electricity, with another 2 billion severely undersupplied.  Therefore, “energy and sustainable development” should be the single overarching theme for the 2006-2007 cycle.  That then could serve as the lens through which the Commission addressed the nexus between access to energy and poverty eradication.

Echoing that theme, Eugene Berger, Secretary of State for the Environment of Luxembourg, said energy, water and biodiversity protection were vital for the Commission’s success.  An international programme was urgently needed to provide energy to the 2 billion people worldwide currently lacking it.  Halving the number of people worldwide without access to potable water should also be priority, he stressed.

Several speakers also stressed that the Commission should avoid duplicating the work of other international bodies, while others emphasized the need for nations to become aware of the best practices and success stories of others in implementing sustainable development strategies.  Sustainable development policy should be reviewed in national reports, they recommended, with governments highlighting achievements as well as obstacles.

Following the ministerial debate, the Commission held regional implementation forums focusing on follow up to the Johannesburg Summit in the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

During the ECE forum, speakers highlighted efforts to:  better coordinate ongoing work in sustainable development; subprogrammes focusing on such areas as environment, human settlements and forests; and a project with the World Health Organization on transport, environment and health.  Other projects and initiatives

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by the European Commission, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and subregional groups were also underway.

Speakers in the ECLAC forum drew attention to significant progress that had been made in integrating economic, social and environmental policies since the Johannesburg Summit.  Several speakers stressed the need for increased development financing, particularly for small and mid-sized enterprises, while representatives of UNEP and the UNDP stressed the importance of capacity-building and information exchange for regional sustainable development.

In the afternoon, the Commission held an interactive round table focusing on natural resources and health in the context of sustainable development.  Addressing those issues, Ronnie Kasrils, Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry of South Africa, said the challenge ahead was to meet the 2005 target for integrated efficient water management.  Other speakers called for new ways to protect vital crop and water supplies in developing nations from the ill effects of chemicals.

In the morning ministerial segment, statements were also made by ministers and representatives from Finland, European Community, Germany, Gabon, Mexico, Ireland, Senegal, Venezuela, Spain, Switzerland, Japan, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, China, Peru, Belgium, Tajikistan, Cuba and Ecuador.

At the afternoon round table, statements were also made by the Netherlands, Lesotho, Kenya, Pakistan, Portugal, Norway, Czech Republic, South Africa, Korea and Croatia, as well as the Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biodiversity, the Secretary-General of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, and representatives from the International Monetary Fund and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.

During the round table, statements were also made by stakeholder groups representing youth, indigenous people, women, business, African women, trade unions, the scientific and technological community, partnerships, and non-governmental organizations.

Background

The Commission on Sustainable Development met this morning to continue the high-level ministerial segment of its current session.

Statements

ANWARUL CHOWDHURY, Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States, introduced the session by stressing the particular emphasis put on Africa, the least developed countries and the small island developing States during the Johannesburg Summit.  Without greater market access, official development assistance, debt relief, and substantial capacity-building, those at-risk States would remain marginalized, he said.

Small island developing States were a special case for the environment and development, increasingly constrained by adverse factors due to their small size, isolation and vulnerability.  The Commission should provide for effective and timely intergovernmental preparation for the 10-year review next year of the Barbados Programme of Action aimed at assisting those States.  It should not merely take stock of, but also agree on, special measures to address the challenges of globalization, trade liberalization and economic and environmental vulnerabilities.

MARJATTA RASI (Finland) said Finland was firmly committed to sustainable development and the comprehensive implementation of the targets set during the Johannesburg Summit.  The Finnish Government was doing its part, and had accelerated its timetable for earmarking the targeted 0.7 per cent of gross domestic product by 2010 for official development assistance to combat poverty in developing countries.  It also supported greater market access, technology transfer and capacity-building for those nations. 

She said the United Nations must take the lead in devising an international framework for environmental sustainability, with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) maintaining an active role.  European ministers would meet at a ministerial summit in June to discuss development of financial and assistance models in renewable energy and sustainable energy development.

POUL NIELSON, Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, the European Commission, said the Commission on Sustainable Development would continue to play a crucial role in leading societies towards a more sustainable future on three fronts.  Those would be in the areas of policy guidance, implementation of the commitments made in Johannesburg and integration of sustainable development into all major United Nations processes.

With regard to policy guidance, he said the Commission must avoid falling back into intellectually stimulating, but fruitless debates.  Implementation of the Johannesburg Plan should focus on a long-term work programme that links Johannesburg with the Millennium Development Goals and the overarching goal of poverty eradication.  The complete “toolbox” should be used, including economic instruments and innovative sources for financing global public goods.  On integrating the Johannesburg Plan into existing situations, the difficulties and risks of working a young and stillrelatively weak process into powerful political agendas should be kept in mind.  In addition, he said the support of the entire United Nations system would be most urgently needed in the area of governance, the emerging “fourth pillar” of sustainable development.  The European Union’s commitment to increasing its official development assistance by 20 billion until 2006 was an essential step toward implementing the Millennium Development Goals, but the step would lose credibility if symptoms of bad governance prevented investment where it was most urgently needed. 

JURGEN TRITTIN, Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety of Germany, said renewable energies were essential to achieving poverty eradication and must play a greater role in the future.  Such inexhaustible energies allowed for decentralized energy structures in remote areas where electricity grids were not available, making regional economic development possible. 

Renewable energy promotion was one of Germany’s highest priorities, he said.  The country had doubled its share of renewable energy, creating 130,000 jobs in the last four years.  It had earmarked 500 million euros in the next five years for renewable energy projects, and in June would host the International Conference on Renewable Energies.  He called for reducing environmentally harmful subsidies, particularly in agriculture and fishing, saying it was the only way to achieve credibility in environmental issues in the World Trade Organization.

EMILE DOUMBA, Minister of Forestry, Water and Fisheries in Charge of the Environment and Environmental Protection, Gabon, said it was time to move from statements to deeds on sustainable development.  There should be two themes in the binennial cycle for the sake of effectiveness and efficiency in the Commission.  Further, for the most effective consideration of activities, issues should be considered on a regional and subregional basis, such as within the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).

For NEPAD, as an example, he said priorities were in the areas of water, energy and de-pollution, on the one hand, and in the areas of health and environment on the other.  Improving subregional conditions with regard to water and power helped industrialize the region and create employment.  Utilizing partnerships and the Commission were vital for achieving progress.  To address endemic issues related to health and the environment, the international community could invest in regional health centres.  They could also help protect the biodiversity that was a core of Africa’s riches.  Regional States should coordinate their political and economic development in line with their particular resources, such as minerals or vast forests.

PAULA DOBRIANSKY, Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs of the United States, said each Commission session should address a single overarching theme.  In setting those themes, the Commission should identify priorities based on how it might make the biggest difference in the shortest time for those most in need.  For example, over 1 billion people in the world lacked access to safe drinking water.  Therefore, “water and sustainable development” should be the single overarching theme for the 2004-2005 cycle.  Water could serve as the lens through which the Commission addressed a range of cross-cutting issues, such as “water and poverty eradication”, “water and agriculture’ or “water and health”.

Likewise, she continued, about 2 billion people in the world, mostly in rural areas, had no access to electricity, with another 2 billion severely undersupplied.  Access to energy services was critical to meeting basic human needs and alleviating poverty.  Therefore, ‘energy and sustainable development” should be the single overarching theme for the 2006-2007 cycle.  Again, that could be the lens through which the Commission addressed the nexus between access to energy and poverty eradication.

OLGA OJEDA, Assistant Secretary for International Relations for the Environment of Mexico, said that decisions of the Commission on Sustainable Development had to be action oriented and, in that regard made several proposals to achieve that goal.  Among them was that the Commission articulate its work programme and proceedings to promote the participation and coordination of institutions responsible for social and economic development; that it made specific recommendations to the Economic and Social Council on the role of each of those institutions; and that it ensured inter-agency coordination among the regional economic commissions, the United Nations Development Programme, UNEP and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme as a means of integrating the regional perspective.

She said the Commission had to give priority to the integration and execution of local projects that promoted the sustainable use of natural resources, improved the living conditions of the communities involved, and contributed to environmental protection.  Further, it also needed to launch a process to integrate indicators for measuring and evaluating achievements towards sustainable development.

MARTIN CULLEN, Minister for the Environment and Local Government of Ireland, said that that it was important that the Commission remained a high-level forum, where ministerial participation across all sectors was encouraged and facilitated.  He cautioned, however, that such ministerial participation was not about maintaining the Commission’s profile; it was about political leadership and responsibility.

Also, there was need to continuously monitor progress in implementation of the targets and objectives, as such monitoring and reporting mechanisms at the regional level would be critical to the future work of the Commission and would enable a more active participation of members in its work.  He added that credible implementation through concrete actions was also needed and had to involve the provision of financial resources, specifically working to meet the target of 0.7 per cent of gross national product devoted to official development assistance.

MODOU DIAGNE FADA, Minister of Environment of Senegal, called for greater regional cooperation on environmental issues.  Senegal was doing its part in Africa.  Following the Johannesburg Summit, it had formulated an environmental action plan and was also involving civil society, the private sector and Government in health, environmental and sustainable economic development programmes, as part of its national development strategy. 

Sustainable development was at the forefront of poverty eradication, he said.  The Commission’s work in this regard was more important than ever, he said, adding that the Commission’s future programme of work should be more targeted and its themes limited to a few questions.

EUGENE BERGER, Secretary of State for the Environment of Luxembourg, said energy, water and biodiversity protection were critical to the success of the Commission’s work.  An international programme was needed to provide energy services to the 2 billion people worldwide currently lacking access to energy.  The objective between now and 2010 should be to have 15 per cent of global energy needs supplied by renewable energy.  Developed countries must lead the way in combating climate change, he added.

Halving the number of people worldwide without access to potable water should also be priority, he said.  The European Union was focusing on that and biodiversity protection, and supported creation of a United Nations convention on forests.  The Commission must continue to be a high-level forum with as much ministerial involvement as possible.  Luxembourg was firmly committed to financing for sustainable development and had surpassed the targeted allocation of 0.7 per cent of gross domestic product for official development assistance.  It hoped to increase that figure to more than 1 per cent by mid-decade, he said.

ANA ELISA OSORIO, Minister of Environment and Natural Resources of Venezuela, said Venezuela was firmly committed to the principles of Agenda 21 and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation in regards to poverty eradication and environmental protection.  In the last three years, Venezuela had increased potable drinking water access by 10 per cent and water treatment services by

50 per cent.  She expressed Venezuela’s support for implementation of the targets set by the World Solidarity Fund regarding potable water and sanitation, as well as a work programme for sustainable consumption and production.

In the next decade, the Commission’s work should focus on production and consumption patterns, as well as health and energy.  Venezuela supported the biannual and concisely targeted work programme, saying such a scheme would facilitate implementation and promote coherence and coordination of various programmes, agencies and international groups, she said.   

ELVIRA RODRIGUEZ, Minister for the Environment of Spain, said her country supported the Commission’s proposed work organization, consisting of biennial cycles.  Topics should be decided on for those cycles, leaving some margin to manoeuvre in the coming years.  The first topic should be “water’, followed by energy and security in maritime transportation.  The Commission should also direct its attention to work needed at the regional level, and cooperate and collaborate with the major societal groups.  In addition, support from the scientific community was important in developing indicators.

Ministerial participation in the Commission, she continued, was vital in giving it a political character, and partnerships were crucial for the implementation of political decisions.  Duplication of effort should be avoided, and the Commission should attempt to involve all United Nations agencies, as well as international institutions such as the World Trade Organization, in its work.  The Commission should become a forum for exchanging experiences on lessons learned, as well as best practices.

BEAT NOBS (Switzerland) said the Commission should remain the principle organ for sustainable development.  In the first year of its proposed biennial work plan, it should focus on reviewing progress and exchanging information about achieved successes.  During the second year, it should negotiate concrete recommendations based on the first year’s recommendations.  Those recommendations should be precise and detailed in order to assist all actors engaged in implementation efforts.

Two criteria should be considered when selecting themes for future Commission sessions, he continued.  First, the Commission should focus on integrating all three dimensions of the sustainable development process.  Second, institutions existed for satisfactorily covering the principles of sustainable development and the Commission should not duplicate work done by others.  He stressed that partnerships were vital in achieving sustainable development, complementing the multilateral aspect of the Johannesburg Summit.

YOSHIKI MINE, Ambassador in Charge of Global Environment, Japan, said issues such as climate change should be seriously addressed to achieve sustainable development.  Water and energy were good candidates for themes in the Commission’s first cycle.  Other issues should be decided on well in advance of sessions.

He said his country had highlighted the importance of human capacity-building in the pursuit of sustainable development.  The “Koizumi Initiative” proposed by his country’s Prime Minister focused on that area in the field of development and the environment.  Japan had been implementing concrete measures to achieve the aims.  It had also been implementing 30 partnership initiatives it had registered during the World Summit for Sustainable Development.  Those were in the areas of climate change, forestry, initiatives for Africa, the decade of education for sustainable development, water and sustainable production and consumption.  

ANDRZEJ DWORZAK, Director General of the Ministry of the Environment of Poland, echoed other speakers’ view that the Commission’s future work should focus on implementing targets agreed to in Agenda 21 and the Johannesburg plan of Implementation.  He supported creation of a two-year work cycle for the Commission, with the first year of the cycle allowing for strengthening regional cooperation via greater involvement of regional commissions of the United Nations.  The policy year should result in action-oriented recommendations addressing areas lacking sufficient progress.

It was important that the future work programme was flexible enough to accommodate emerging issues and changing trends, he said, favouring a limited number of themes for each two-year work cycle.  Those themes should be discussed in connection with all sectors, with a focus on implementation and information exchange of lessons learned during the first year, and on policy dimension during the second year.

TURKI BIN NASSER BIN ABDULAZIZ (Saudi Arabia) said that implementing the principles of sustainable development remained above all with individual States.  He stressed that the Commission’s future work should be anchored within the goals of Agenda 21 and the Johannesburg plan of action.  It should not renegotiate any decisions that had been agreed upon in Johannesburg.  It sbould focus on issues to achieve sustainable, as well as economic and industrial development.

The Commission, he said, should stress objectives in the Johannesburg plan, making that document its main focus.  Its future work should be based on regional and national reports.  Its choice of issues, as well as methodology, was key to its success in the coming decade.

LENA SOMMESTAD, Minister for the Environment of Sweden, said the Commission’s future work programme should have a gender perspective focusing on gender-sensitive policies.  Existing information should be identified and developed.  Equal rights and opportunities should be granted to women in such areas as land rights, education, healthcare and access to financial credit.  Prior to the Johannesburg Summit, an international network of women environmental ministers was created to integrate women’s perspectives into the Commission’s work, she said.

She also called for strengthening the scientific community’s input in formulating sustainable development policies, with increased emphasis on social science research.  Moreover, the Commission should foster innovation and information exchanges of lessons learned through task forces or subcommittees.  Sweden and France had started an international task force on global public goods, aimed at identifying key public goods for poverty reduction and sustainable development goals, as well as making recommendations to policy-makers on how to access and finance them.    

ZHANG YISHAN (China) said the Johannesburg commitment to multilateralism had become a strong impetus for international cooperation in sustainable development, which required comprehensive and concrete action.  The Commission was the chain that linked all actions and the agent for pushing forward commitments made.  It must strive to be innovative, prophetic and action-oriented, avoiding renegotiation and focusing more on practical measures.

The Commission’s future work should be streamlined and its themes should be comprehensive and balanced to lay the groundwork for attaining sustainable development goals.  He looked forward to the contribution of major groups, as well as partnerships in implementing the outcomes of the Johannesburg Summit.  His country was willing to cooperate with all nations in striving for global development.

CHUCHAI KASEMSARN (Thailand) said emphasis in implementing sustainable development should be placed on national reports providing a solid basis for taking stock of progress.  The two-year work cycle would provide the opportunity to assess progress, identify challenges and develop policy responses to prior output.  The new Commission should be encouraged to increase support to developing countries in implementing World Summit commitments, whether through financial assistance, technology transfer or capacity-building.  All stakeholders should participate in the Commission process and the Commission should monitor, evaluate and report on partnership activities.

He said priorities for the Commission’s future work programme were in the areas of poverty eradication, changing consumption and production patterns and the protection of the natural resource bases for social and economic development.  Those related issues should be addressed in light of other important issues, such as education, health and water.  Finally, the Commission should ensure enough flexibility in its schedule to address new and emerging issues linked to the sectoral themes.  The recent outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) was a case in point.  It was having an adverse impact on the world’s health and sustainable development. 

MARCO BALAREZO (Peru), speaking on behalf of the Rio Group, called for effective participation and cooperation of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UNEP and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme

(UN-HABITAT), as well as the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, in the Commission’s work.  That effort must be transparent and participatory, involving key actors and relevant sectors of civil society, particularly in initial work stages.

The Commission’s future work should also focus on substantially expanding the use of renewable energies, with an emphasis on reducing greenhouse gas emissions; creating a binding instrument to protect the use and local ownership of genetic resources, biodiversity and associated traditional knowledge; and involving and respecting the knowledge and practices of indigenous communities when formulating sustainable development policies.  Moreover, the Commission should strive to:  reduce the adverse effects of climate change and natural disasters, particularly those caused by extreme weather conditions; support mountain ecosystem development for its poverty-reducing impact; and promote sustainable freshwater management.

JEAN DE RUYT (Belgium) said the Commission should avoid duplication with other policy instruments for sustainable development.  He stressed that each nation should be made aware of the best practices and success stories of others in implementing strategies for achieving sustainable development.  The Commission could consider exploring synergies between strategies, which could draw on guidance from the Secretariat.

Sustainable development policy should be reviewed in national reports, he continued, with governments providing information on achievements, as well as obstacles encountered.  National reports should help the Commission follow up on goals and targets.  Civil society should continue to play a crucial role in implementation and monitoring and should be involved in the Commission’s work.

RASHID ALIMOV (Tajikistan) said despite civil conflict and its subsequent economic woes, the Tajikistan Government was making sure to include environmental protection and social programmes in its national development strategy and was stepping up its participation in multilateral environmental protection efforts.  For example, last October heads of State from Central Asia met in Dushanbe to create a declaration on strengthening ecological and socio-economic cooperation in the Aral Sea Basin.

Freshwater promotion was a top priority for Tajikstan, which launched the International Year of Freshwater, he said.  Events held throughout the year would significantly contribute to the development of rational water use strategies.  In August, Tajikstan would host the International Forum on Freshwater in Dushanbe.  He said he was confident that the event would link Central Asia’s water agenda with global development issues. 

PATRICK KALIFUNGWA, Minister of Tourism, Environment and Natural Resources of Zambia, said his country still faced several challenges in ensuring environmental sustainability.  Those included:  poverty; policy weakness; inadequate institutional and legal frameworks; inadequate institutional capacity; inadequate capacity for implementing international environmental conventions and coordinating trans-boundary natural resources management efforts; underdeveloped mechanisms for encouraging genuine participation of various stakeholders in environment and natural resources management; and inadequate support for ongoing environmental education activities.

Implementation of the outcomes of the Johannesburg Summit would only become realistic if the Commission balanced its programmes among economic, social and

environmental pillars, and clearly tailored support to achieving the Millennium Development Goals, he stressed.  In addition, implementation of regional and subregional agreed sustainable development programmes and projects must be enhanced.  There was also a need for strong integration of NEPAD and the Millennium Goals strategy to speed up sustainable development.

DANIEL CODORNIU PUJALS, First Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment of Cuba, said the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation and Agenda 21 should guide planning of the Commission’s work to avoid overlapping and poorly-guided efforts.  Themes should be organized logically and should focus on sectoral aspects.  Programming should be flexible, with more than two interrelated topics analyzed per session, emphasizing the needs of developing countries.

He proposed that the Commission’s first two-year cycle focus on water and sanitation, land, agriculture, rural development, desertification and drought.  At the same time, means of implementation, poverty eradication, production and consumption patterns, education, science and technology, health, regional initiatives and small island developing States should be addressed in all cycles as cross-cutting themes.

LUIS GALLEGOS CHIRIBOGA (Ecuador) said the current challenge was to implement vast commitments and objectives in the area of sustainable development, making the best use of available resources.  The Commission should consider all the measures arising from Agenda 21 and the Johannesburg Summit, but from a new perspective.  It should consider national, regional and international contributions, but must focus primarily on the international level.

Major societal groups would play an important role in implementation, and he supported their future work in the Commission.  Alliances could become relevant in implementing Agenda 21, as well as the outcomes of Johannesburg, in attempting to overcome the technical and financial limits of certain nations.  But, that should not be considered an alternative to governmental commitments.

      Regional Implementation Forums

The representative from the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) said his region was focusing on how to better coordinate ongoing work in sustainable development, as well as approaches with other regional and subregional processes.  He described the ECE subprogrammes focusing on such areas as, environment, human settlements and forests, as well as a programme with the World Health Organization (WHO) on transport, environment and health.

The European Union had agreed in 2001 that future proposals for sustainable development would cover socio-economic and environmental issues, and be subject to impact assessment, a representative of that body said.  Since then, it had established headline objectives in such areas as climate change, natural resources, and public health.  A representative from UNEP said that UNEP had helped set up coalitions for sustainable consumption, and supported stronger regional preparation for the Commission on Sustainable Development.

The UNDP, a representative of that organization said, had set up a new initiative called Capacity 2015 to help developing countries and countries in transition pursue sustainable development by focusing on community needs and constraints to environmental sustainability.  The representative of a subregional

group called “Baltic 21” said his group had recently adopted a report for sustainable development in the Baltic region, which examined progress, analyzed challenges, and made conclusions on policy and strategy for the future. The representatives of several delegations then commented on the various statements that had been made.

During a regional forum of the Economic Commission on Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the ECLAC Deputy Executive Secretary, outlined initial steps ECLAC had taken to implement the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation.  For example, the Latin American and Caribbean Initiative for Sustainable Development set a target of supplying 10 per cent of each country’s energy supply by 2010 from renewable energy resources.

He said ECLAC had also made significant progress in linking economic, social and environmental policies.  Along with the UNDP, ECLAC was helping nations create sustainable development financing programmes and had partnered with the World Bank and International Monetary Fund to better link fiscal and environmental policy.

Several countries’ ministers stressed the need for increased development financing, particularly for small and mid-sized enterprises.  Echoing their claim, the President of A2R Environmental Funds said funds allocation in that area remained small.  However, he noted greater progress in securing financing and suitable projects with regional development banks, particularly the Inter American Development Bank, than with multinational banks.  For their part, representatives of UNEP and the UNDP stressed the importance of capacity-building and information exchange for regional sustainable development.

Ministerial round table

Following the regional commission forums, ministers joined representatives of major societal groups in an interactive roundtable on “Priority actions and commitments to implement the outcomes of the World Summit on Sustainable Development”.  Participants focused on natural resources and health in the context of sustainable development.

Ronnie Kasrils, Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry of South Africa, said the challenge ahead was to meet the 2005 target for integrated efficient water management.  That required immediate setting up of workshops, identifying major subregional leaders and actors to head campaigns and work programmes, and for Secretary-General Kofi Annan to talk to heads of State to start the process.

Venezuela’s Environment and Natural Resources Minister, Ana Elisa Osorio, said pesticides and fertilizers had contaminated vital water resources in Venezuela, leading to diarrhoea and other diseases.  She echoed other speakers’ calls for increased financing for technology transfer and organic agriculture methods to protect vital crop and water supplies in developing nations from the ill effects of chemicals.

The representative of the International Monetary Fund said poor health was a bottleneck to sustainable development, impeding economic growth, a phenomenon illustrated by the recent SARS outbreak.  He said more official development assistance was needed to finance health programmes, as were greater public-private partnerships.