UN WARNS ASIA-PACIFIC’S HIGH ECONOMIC GROWTH IS ENVIRONMENTLLY UNSUSTAINABLE

Ministerial Conference on Environment and Development

Seeks New Balance between Economic Growth and ‘Green Growth’

(Reissued as received.)

SEOUL, 24 March (UN Information Services) -- The fifth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Development in Asia and the Pacific opened today with a warning that the region’s high economic growth is environmentally unsustainable.

“We cannot continue with a ‘grow first, clean up later’ policy”, said Kim Hak-Su, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary, Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).  “We need a new paradigm, a balance of economic growth and ‘green growth’.”

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Conference, Mr. Kim told delegates that, while the region’s recent spectacular economic growth has contributed to the reduction of poverty and social progress in many places, “it has also placed increasingly high pressure on the region’s environmental resources beyond its carrying capacity”.

Mr. Kim congratulated governments for sincere efforts to improve environmental performance, which have resulted in improvements in urban air quality in some cities, slowed rates of forest loss, increased forest planting rates and considerably reduced the use of ozone-depleting substances.

“On the other hand, we still observe with concern:  declines in fishery resources; degradation of marine and coastal resources; loss of biodiversity and forests; land degradation and natural disasters”, he said.  “Deterioration of these natural resources have continued to affect human health and livelihoods, and increased the vulnerability of many economies.”

The Korean Minister of Environment, Kwak Kyul-Ho, reminded delegates of the price tag accompanying the Republic of Korea’s outstanding economic growth over the past 40 years.  “We have severely polluted the environment and have had to learn costly lessons in restoring our damaged environment.”

Mr. Kwak said his Government would propose that the Conference adopt the “Seoul Initiative for Green Growth”.  The Seoul Initiative includes recommendations for balancing environment and economy, practising sustainable production and consumption, and improving environmental sustainability.

The Ministerial Conference, organized by ESCAP, is being hosted by the Government of the Republic of Korea in its capital, Seoul, from 24 to 29 March 2005.  The Conference takes place once every five years.

More than 350 participants are expected to attend, including representatives from 53 countries in the ESCAP region, non-governmental organizations, international organizations, and United Nations agencies.

Thirty-one ministers in charge of the environment will take part in the meeting’s ministerial segment, set for 28-29 March.  Other participants of note include Klaus Toepfer, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and Haruhiko Kuroda, President, Asian Development Bank.

For further information, please contact:  David Lazarus, Chief, UN Information Services, Bangkok, tel: +(66-2) 288-1861-66; fax: +(66-2) 288-1052, tel. in Republic of Korea: +(82-2)318-8225, mobile: 82-010 3982-3529, e-mail: unisbkk.unescap@un.org.

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