SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION HEARS CALLS FOR URGENT, CONCERTED ACTION

ON CLIMATE CHANGE, AS IT BEGINS HIGH-LEVEL SEGMENT

 

Amid heightened concerns over, and growing awareness and acceptance of, the implications of global warming, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today opened a high-level gathering at Headquarters of environment and development leaders seeking to chart a sustainable course of action on the interlinked issues of energy, climate change, air pollution and industrial development.

Addressing participants at the fifteenth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development, Mr. Ban stressed that climate change required sustained, concerted and high-level attention, as it had broad impacts, not just on the environment, but also on economic and social development.  It should be a concern to all countries, rich or poor.  “We need a global response to climate change that is in line with the latest scientific findings, and is compatible with the long-term investment planning needs of business,” he added.

Energy, he went on, was a complex issue, whose impact on air pollution and climate change was often overlooked.  About 1.6 billion people lacked access to electricity and 2.4 billion did not have modern energy services for cooking and heating.  He said the world urgently needed to step up action to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.  Industrialized countries needed to make deeper emission reductions and there should be further engagement of developing countries, as well as incentives for them to limit their emissions while safeguarding economic growth and poverty eradication.

Gro Harlem Brundtland, one of the Secretary-General’s three new Special Envoys on Climate Change, said climate change victimized everyone and could not be solved by individual countries alone.  Doubt had been eliminated.  Man-made climate change was indeed possible and plausible, as was made clear by the report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.  It was irresponsible, reckless and deeply amoral to question the seriousness of the situation.

She added that a deep-rooted lack of trust impeded global action to mitigate the negative impacts of climate change.  Many industrialized countries believed developing countries were unwilling and doing little to address climate change.  Many developing countries believed that the industrialized world had defaulted on its promise of financial and technical assistance.  It was essential to build trust and find common ground.

The Chairman of the Commission and Minister for Energy of Qatar, Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah, noted that promoting energy efficiency, cleaner energy technologies and technology transfer was essential to achieving the three pillars of sustainable development -- economic growth, social development and environmental protection.  Recent scientific reports and media attention of the issues could raise public awareness of the potential pitfalls of ignoring the need for concrete policy action and measures.

Speaking on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, Malik Amin Aslam, Minister of State for Environment of Pakistan, said the poorest were the hardest hit and bore the highest costs of environmental degradation and climate change.  Developing countries could not tackle the challenges alone.  “Working together, in partnerships, premised on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities in protecting the environment and promoting sustainable development, is, therefore, important and indispensable.”

Sigmar Gabriel, Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety of Germany, said environmentally sound, reliable and affordable energy was crucial for the twenty-first century, pointing out that current patterns of energy use were making the world poorer every day.  Energy security was becoming a central priority for all nations as a factor for economic growth and stability.  But energy security was about more than just securing future oil resources.  It included diversification of energy sources, increasing domestic supply to meet the future growth in demand and strengthening efforts to reduce such demand.

Angus Friday of Grenada, speaking on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), stressed that the four issues before the Commission, if not adequately addressed, presented serious threats to the security and the sustainable development of small island developing States and threatened the very existence of some of them.  Climate change was not a distant possibility but a constant reality.  The devastating impact on some islands of recent natural disasters was only a snapshot.  He urged the international community to support rapid implementation of mitigation measures and called for urgent action to fully operationalize adaptation funds and to simplify access to those funds.

Also making statements today were high-level Government officials and representatives of the Czech Republic, Gabon, Netherlands, United States, Republic of Korea, United Arab Emirates, Mexico, China, Botswana, Finland, Thailand, Sweden, Estonia, Italy, Kazakhstan, Egypt, Senegal, Saudi Arabia, Croatia, Portugal, Austria, Lesotho, United Kingdom, Barbados, Norway, Latvia, Tajikistan, Bulgaria, Morocco, Israel, Kuwait, Slovenia, Viet Nam and the United Republic of Tanzania.  A representative of the European Commission also spoke.

Following the debate, the Commission continued its discussions in two parallel round tables.  The round table on air pollution/atmosphere and climate change was chaired by Martin Bursík, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Environment of the Czech Republic.  The panellists were John Holdren, Professor, Harvard University; Laurent Corbier, Chair of the Energy and Environment Commission of the International Chamber of Commerce; Abdalla el-Badri, Secretary-General of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC); and Halldor Thorgeirsson, Deputy Executive Secretary, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The round table on energy for sustainable development and industrial development was chaired by Mr. al-Attiyah, and featured Daniel Yergin, Chairman of Cambridge Energy Research Associates; Valli Moosa, Chairman of Business Action for Energy and Chairman of ESCOM; and Suleiman Jasir al-Herbish, Director-General of the OPEC Fund for International Development.

During today’s meeting, the Commission observed a minute of silence to commemorate the 114 victims of the Kenya Airways plane crash in Cameroon on 5 May.

The Commission will meet again at 10 a.m. tomorrow, 10 May, to continue its high-level segment.

Background

The Commission on Sustainable Development met today to begin the high-level portion of its fifteenth session, focusing on the themes of energy, industrial development, air pollution/atmosphere and climate change.  Today’s discussions will be on “turning commitments into action: working together in partnership”.

For background on the Commission’s fifteenth session, see Press Releases ENV/DEV/925 and ENV/DEV/927 of 26 and 30 April, respectively.

Opening Statements

ABDULLAH BIN HAMAD AL-ATTIYAH, Minister for Energy of Qatar and Chairman of the fifteenth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development, opened the meeting by saying that it was the culmination of two years of review and assessment of progress in achieving the sustainable development goals of Agenda 21 and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation.  Preparatory work in February and March had enabled the Commission to focus on concrete actions and solutions during the current session.

At present, he noted, 1.6 billion people lacked access to electricity, and 2.4 billion were without energy for modern cooking and heating.  Practical solutions for such energy challenges would improve human well-being and help achieve the millennium targets.  A wide range of energy resources were needed to meet current and future energy demands.  Promoting energy efficiency, cleaner energy technologies and technology transfer was essential to achieve the three pillars of sustainable development: economic growth, social development and environmental protection.

Energy use was necessary for socio-economic development and could be used in ways that minimized adverse effects on air pollution and climate change, he said.  Industrial development could be the driving force behind a broad and sustained improvement in living standards.  Government investment and policy could be vital in addressing obstacles to industrial development. It could improve educational opportunities for the workforce, enhance infrastructure, provide private risk-taking incentives and address the problem of coordinating investments.  Further, progress on the trade agenda could help developing countries gain greater market access for their industrial goods.  It was important to build capacities to respond to existing opportunities and resist pressure to revert to protectionist policies.

Action on energy and industrial development could yield direct benefits for air pollution and climate change, he continued.  Recent scientific reports and media attention of such issues could raise public awareness of the potential pitfalls of ignoring the need for concrete policy action and measures.  The international community had made headway in curbing air pollution and emission of pollutants.  Such successes could lead the way for appropriate actions and policies in the future.  Local air pollution remained a challenge for urban areas in many developing countries.  The Commission had discussed how many developing countries were feeling the impact of climate change and how they could use preventive action to promote sustainable development.  The international community could contribute to those efforts by supporting vulnerable countries, including the small island developing States, in capacity-building.

BAN KI-MOON, United Nations Secretary-General, said that today was also the twentieth anniversary of Our Common Future, the “paradigm-shifting” report that introduced the concept of sustainable development and continued to provide a foundation for the Commission’s work.  The world’s commitment to sustainable development, as expressed particularly in Agenda 21 and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, was of great importance.  The issues the Commission focused on during the current session -- energy, industrial development, air pollution and climate change -- were both timely and important.

He said energy was a complex issue with links to the other issues.  Its impact on air pollution and climate change was often overlooked.  About 1.6 billion people lacked access to electricity and 2.4 billion did not have modern energy services for cooking and heating.  As the private sector had a crucial role to play, he noted with pleasure the business community’s participation through the “Business Action for Energy” initiative.  More must be done to use and develop renewable energy sources.  Likewise, greater energy efficiency was vital, as were cleaner energy technologies -- including advanced fossil fuel and renewable energy technologies.

Climate change, he noted, was another main concern, requiring sustained, concerted and high-level attention, as it had broad impacts, not just on the environment, but also on economic and social development.  It should be a concern to all countries, rich or poor.  At long last, the issue was rising on the international agenda.  The recent report of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change emphasized that the science on climate change was clear, that the warming of the climate system was unequivocal and that it was happening because of human activities.  The report stated that average temperatures would rise around 3° C during the current century if greenhouse gas emissions continued to rise at the current pace.

He said the world urgently needed to step up action to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.  Industrialized countries needed to make deeper emission reductions.  There needed to be further engagement of developing countries, as well as incentives for them to limit their emissions while safeguarding economic growth and poverty eradication.  An enhanced carbon market with a longer-term horizon could help to ensure cost-effective implementation in meeting mitigation commitments and in mobilizing the resources needed to provide incentives to developing countries.  Adaptation to impacts was a global necessity.  Many countries -- especially the most vulnerable developing countries -- needed assistance in improving their capacity to adapt.  For mitigation and adaptation alike, as well as for technological research and development, significant additional financial resources would be required.

“I have put climate change at the top of my own agenda,” he stated, recalling last week’s appointment of three Special Envoys to assist him in the effort and to explore prospects for advancing a multilateral solution in the context of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.  “We need a global response to climate change that is in line with the latest scientific findings, and is compatible with the long-term investment planning needs of business.”  There was also a need to step up action on all fronts in order to avert some of the most catastrophic forecasts of the Intergovernmental Panel.

He said that closely linked to climate change and energy was the issue of industrial development. Over the past decades, industrial development had been central to the growth and poverty reduction achieved in many Asian countries, and it remained a leading aspiration of other developing countries.  To help people realize those hopes, an international policy environment must be created that was open to flows of goods, services and technology.  Air pollution was an unhappy by-product of industrial development and energy use, but notable achievement had been made in confronting that problem.  Nonetheless, air pollution remained a serious problem in many developing countries, especially in rapidly growing urban areas.

The United Nations system, he added, had taken steps to respond to the challenges in an integrated and coherent way, but more must be done to bring the collective expertise of the Organization to bear.  “We need to mainstream energy and climate issues more deeply into our programmes and activities, and to strengthen inter-agency cooperation on specific activities.”  Stronger inter-agency collaboration was essential to support an effective response by the international community to growing energy interdependence.

GRO HARLEM BRUNDTLAND, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Climate Change, former Prime Minister of Norway, former Chair of the World Commission on Environment and Development, said that, 20 years ago, awareness had begun to grow that humankind shared one world and risked overstepping limits unless it adapted natural-resource usage to the planet’s long-term carrying capacity.  The Commission on Sustainable Development had concluded that abject and endemic poverty, which degraded the environment, had to be radically reduced.  Twenty years later, poverty was still the world’s greatest challenge.  Many of the world’s 6 billion people were dangerously short of food, water and security.  While many countries had experienced brisk economic growth, many in Africa were trapped in a vicious cycle with negative growth.

Access to safe drinking water in developing countries was increasing and the millennium target of halving the number of people without access to potable water was within reach in Asia, and to a lesser extent in Africa, she said.  Access to basic sanitation was increasing also, but not fast enough to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of halving by 2015 the number of people without basic sanitation services.  Still, water scarcity, water pollution and overuse of groundwater resources were critical concerns in many countries, and even more threatening than climate change.  Climate change victimized everyone and could not be solved by individual countries alone.  Doubt had been eliminated.  Man-made climate change was indeed possible and plausible, as was made clear by the report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.  It was irresponsible, reckless and deeply amoral to question the seriousness of the situation.

Industrialized countries, she continued, must assume the largest responsibility for having polluted the atmosphere.  They also had the greatest responsibility for reducing emissions.  A deep-rooted lack of trust impeded global action to mitigate the negative impacts of climate change.  Many industrialized countries believed developing countries were unwilling and doing little to address climate change. Many developing countries believed that the industrialized world had defaulted on its promise of financial and technical assistance.  It was essential to build trust and find common ground.  Norway, for its part, was pledging to sharpen until 2012 its emission cuts by 10 per cent beyond its Kyoto Protocol obligations.

Noting that, by 2050, greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced much more drastically, she said rich countries must become carbon neutral.  By 2050, Norway would undertake to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 100 per cent of all its emissions.  Such goals could be achieved through substantial measures in Norway and by using the Kyoto mechanisms.  Norway would construct the world’s first gas-fired power plant fitted with a full-scale carbon capture and storage system.  When it succeeded, she hoped Norway would have the technology that could clean coal-fired plants at a commercially attractive cost.  Such technology was crucial for the climate and would benefit public health.

Carbon-capture solutions in clean development mechanism projects could generate a trillion-dollar global business, she said.  They would transfer technology and create substantial financial flows to developing countries.  The world must work to improve energy efficiency, increase the use of renewable energy, improve agricultural and forestry practices and focus on adaptation, particularly for the least developed countries and small island developing States.  A truly global carbon market was needed.  The really big investment would come when finance ministers and chief financial officers demanded emission reductions because they were compelled to pay for their carbon dioxide emissions.  Failing was not an option, she stressed.

Statements

MALIK AMIN ASLAM, Minister of State for Environment of Pakistan, speaking on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, said the relevance of the four themes to poverty eradication and sustained economic growth was well recognized.  The Commission on Sustainable Development was uniquely placed to provide policy guidance and coordination, as well as to review progress made in the implementation of internationally agreements, including Agenda 21, the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation and the Barbados Programme of Action.  “It is no secret that implementation has been the Achilles’ heel of the global development agenda.”

He said that, in seeking to promote solutions to the challenges of sustainable development, the priority problems of poverty, hunger and underdevelopment should remain at the centre of attention.  Energy and industrial development were crucial for eradicating poverty and promoting sustainable development, as was reducing air pollution and combating the effects of climate change.  The poorest were the hardest hit and bore the highest costs of environmental degradation and climate change.  Developing countries could not tackle the challenges alone.  “Working together, in partnerships, premised on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities in protecting the environment and promoting sustainable development, is, therefore, important and indispensable.”

For the developing countries to fully cope with the challenges of sustainable development, he said it was important to scale up efforts to effectively implement the global partnership for development, as set out in the Millennium Declaration, the Monterrey Consensus and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, as well as to effectively operationalize the World Solidarity Fund for Poverty.  Equally critical was the early, successful and development-oriented conclusion of the Doha Round of trade negotiations and increased resources and access to technology for developing countries.  The urgent and effective implementation of the Bali Strategic Plan for Capacity-Building and Technology Transfer would be a good measure to judge Member States’ seriousness in translating commitments into action.

He emphasized that policies and actions must take into consideration the special needs of Africa, the least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing States, as well as the needs of countries emerging from conflict.  He recognized the extensive difficulties faced by peoples under foreign occupation with respect to sovereignty over, access to and management of natural resources, including energy resources, as well as with respect to sustainable development.  The Commission’s fifteenth session should adopt a set of development-oriented policy options and actions, together with a mechanism for their follow-up and implementation, to provide effective and early solutions to the challenges of sustainable development.

SIGMAR GABRIEL, Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety of Germany, speaking on behalf of the European Union, stressed the importance of moving forward on implementation of the Johannesburg objectives.  The Commission’s policy cycle offered a unique opportunity to address the key issues of energy for sustainable development, climate change, air pollution and industrial development in an integrated manner.  Such issues were at the heart of ensuring long-term sustainable development, particularly fostering progress in poverty eradication and achieving the millennium targets and the Johannesburg commitments.

Environmentally sound, reliable and affordable energy was crucial for the twenty-first century, he said, pointing out that current patterns of energy use were making the world poorer every day.  Energy security was becoming a central priority for all nations as a factor for economic growth and stability.  But energy security was about more than just securing future oil resources.  It included diversification of energy sources, increasing domestic supply to meet the future growth in demand and strengthening efforts to reduce such demand.

The European Union had adopted ambitious targets in February, he continued, deciding on a 20 per cent reduction by 2020 of energy use through increased energy efficiency, a 20 per cent increase by 2020 of renewable energy use and a 10 per cent increase by 2020 of biofuel use.  While that was important, it was only a first step.  The Paris-based International Energy Agency predicted a more than 50 per cent rise in primary energy demand over the next 25 years.  The Commission should recommend the adoption of time-bound targets and commitments at the national and regional levels to increase energy efficiency; monitor the share of renewable energies and energy access; and integrate sustainable energy policies into national planning frameworks by 2010.

Further, he continued, the Commission should endorse a clear and effective review mechanism for energy for sustainable development that would provide a long-term perspective, showcase success stories and reveal gaps and barriers to the expansion of renewable energy, energy efficiency and access to energy services.  The Commission should also encourage sustainable production and use of bioenergy, including biofuels, as well as an international platform that would facilitate information-sharing, research cooperation on energy efficiency and discussion of research and financing.

Turning to climate change, he underscored the Union’s willingness to commit to a 30 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 compared to 1990 as part of its contribution to a comprehensive, global agreement for the period beyond 2012, as long as other developed countries followed suit and more economically advanced developing countries contributed according to their respective capacities.  A post-2012 agreement was urgently needed.  Negotiations on such an agreement must begin at the Thirteenth Conference of the Parties to the Climate Change Convention and should conclude by 2009.  Continuation and expansion of a global carbon market was also essential.  He expressed extreme alarm over the latest findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change regarding the impact of climate change and its subsequent effect on security due to increased competition for access to energy and water resources.  The Commission must complement the work of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in that regard by addressing the links between climate change, energy, industrial development and air pollution.

ANGUS FRIDAY (Grenada), speaking on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), reiterated that the thematic issues, if not adequately addressed, presented serious threats to the security and the sustainable development of small island developing States and threatened the very existence of some of them.  The Mauritius Strategy for the Further Implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action was the primary vehicle for follow-up of commitments to small island developing States.  He urged the Commission to include a dedicated section on the Mauritius Strategy in its outcome document.  The Alliance would continue to call for more progress in mitigation and adaptation strategies and ask for better accessibility to funding mechanisms by ensuring reduction of transaction costs.  He urged the international community to ensure the creation of new and innovative financial mechanisms that were sensitive to the special needs of small island developing States.

Climate change, he said, was of extreme importance to the small island developing States, many of whom had already experienced its impacts.  Climate change was not a distant possibility, but a constant reality.  The devastating impact on some islands of recent natural disasters was only a snapshot.  He urged the international community to support rapid implementation of mitigation measures and called for urgent action to fully operationalize adaptation funds and to simplify access to those funds.  Climate change was a barrier to future development and investment in the islands.  Their vulnerability to disasters also enhanced the difficulties related to dealing with debt burdens.  There was also a need for prompt funding of early warning systems.

He also asked for support in restoration of shore lines and coral reefs, as well as for desalination projects and the protection of agricultural lands.  Drawing attention to the marine environment and coral reefs, he said the fisheries provided food globally.  The impact of climate change on fisheries was not fully recognized, but global warming threatened fish stocks.  Small island developing States recognized that energy was key to economic growth.  Dependency on fossil fuel was a particular risk for small island developing States, many of whom had little access to modern energy services.

MARTIN BURSÍK, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Environment of Czech Republic, said his country had devised a number of policies, as well as legal, economic and voluntary instruments, to promote research and development, and to increase public awareness in an effort to implement its commitments under the current thematic cluster.  They included the State Energy Strategy, the State Programme to Support Savings and Use of Renewable Energy Sources, the National Programme to Reduce Emissions and the National Programme to Mitigate the Impacts of Climate Change in the Czech Republic.  Such programmes were regularly evaluated and updated to reflect the latest developments in science, technology and practical experience.

In addition, he said the Czech Republic was preparing an ecological tax reform, a shift away from labour taxation towards taxes on products and services whose production and consumption had negatively impacted the environment and human health.  Other reforms focused on promoting increased economic competitiveness and job creation.  Such strategies were based on the June 2005 Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Production and Consumption.

The Czech Republic was open to sharing with other nations its experiences in promoting sustainable development as it concerned energy, climate change, air pollution and industry, and sustainable production and consumption, he said.  Sustainable development could not be promoted at the national level alone.  It must be addressed through effective international development cooperation.  His country’s bilateral projects on international development cooperation focused on implementation of multilateral environmental agreement targets, sustainable use of natural resources, renewable energy sources, cleaner production, new environmental technologies and energy efficiency.  In financial terms, environment-related projects in the field totalled nearly 33 per cent, and industrial development projects totalled 21 per cent, of the Czech Republic’s 2006 bilateral cooperation budget. 

GEORGETTE KOKO, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Environment of Gabon, said that the Commission, at its previous session, had assessed progress achieved in the areas of energy, industry, air pollution and climate change, and had identified the obstacles to sustainable development.  The current session should enable the Commission to adopt a resolution that reaffirmed common determination to tackle the obstacles identified.

She noted that, while Gabon was an oil-producing country, it had tried to diversify its energy sources and make cleaner energy available.  It produced only lead-free gasoline and had stepped up its programme for electrification by using solar energy and hydropower.  As for industrial development, she said Gabon had signed the initiative to strengthen the productive capacities of Africa under the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).  Another programme was dedicated to increasing competitiveness of enterprises through better use of energy.

She said her country had adopted a national plan for implementation of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutions.  Air pollution knew no boundaries.  Gabon believed that international cooperation must be strengthened in order to achieve consensus solutions.  She welcomed the recent adoption by the United Nations Forum on Forests of a non-binding legal instrument on all types of forests.  Sustainable development was a common challenge, she noted, adding that it was important to strengthen international cooperation to attain the Millennium Development Goals.  Gabon hoped for more tangible involvement by its development partners in the mobilization of resources for sustainable development.

JACQUELINE CRAMER, Minister for the Environment and Spatial Planning of the Netherlands, said it would take decisive action to tackle the enormous challenges of climate change, energy security and lack of access to energy.  The international community would have to live up to the aims of the Commission’s current cycle by expediting collective action.  It could not backtrack on the commitments made in Johannesburg.  Since the Johannesburg Summit, the need to achieve low-carbon economies had further increased.  The Netherlands was doing its part through the “Cleaner and Greener” programme, which aimed to turn the country into one of the most energy-efficient economies in Europe by 2020.  A main source of renewables was the use of biofuels and bioenergy.  She called for an international dialogue on the sustainable production of biomass.  It was important to grasp the economic benefits of using biomass for tackling climate change, while, at the same time, avoiding biodiversity loss and competition with local food production.

To avoid such negative impacts, the Netherlands had developed sustainability criteria for biomass production, she said.  She and the Dutch Minister for Development Cooperation were interested in working with producing countries to test the sustainability criteria developed and, thus, illustrate in practice the potential for sustainable biomass production and its certification.  It was also essential to expedite action on improving access to energy, and she called on all donors to contribute to that effort.  The Netherlands had already set aside a budget to provide access to energy for 10 million people by 2015, particularly targeting women.  The Minister for Development Cooperation would make available an additional several hundred million euros for sustainable energy in developing countries.  The Commission’s fifteenth session was not the end of the process.  The session must give renewed vigour to push forward implementation of the Johannesburg objectives.

PAULA J. DOBRIANSKY, Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs of the United States, said today’s theme -- “turning commitments to action” – underscored the unique challenge and opportunity before the Commission.  “As we have said throughout this two-year cycle, the measure of success for the UN Commission on Sustainable Development is whether we translate the blueprint that Dr. Brundtland inspired into concrete action that delivers on-the-ground results that improve lives.  By that measure, this two-year cycle represents one of the Commission’s most successful efforts to date.”  She went on to give examples of partnerships launched at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development that had helped in making significant progress towards increasing access to modern, clean, healthy and efficient energy services.

She said that, during the current cycle, a number of new partnerships had been launched and Governments had undertaken a number of initiatives at the national level aiming to deliver concrete results.  Participants had submitted more than 200 case studies to the Commission’s Matrix -- a practical knowledge-sharing tool with lessons learned and best practices from all corners of the globe.  The Commission’s Learning Centre had yet again showcased an innovative way of doing business at the United Nations, providing capacity-building training to hundreds of delegates attending the Commission’s session.

However, she said, much more work was needed to increase access to modern, clean, healthy and efficient energy services.  The next two-year cycle was also coming up, focusing on agriculture, rural development, drought, desertification, and land, which were critical components of the sustainable development equation and strongly interlinked with the topics from the last two cycles.  The coming cycle would also provide a special opportunity to focus on the urgent needs of the African continent, where more than 300 million people lacked access to safe drinking water; more than 500 million people lacked access to electricity; and nearly 200 million were undernourished.

LEE CHI-BEOM, Minister for Environment of Republic of Korea, said the issues of energy, industrial development, air pollution and climate change were closely linked and should be addressed holistically.  Energy use, air pollution and climate change should be treated as integral parts of sustainable development at the national and international levels.  It was very important to diversify energy sources in order to achieve sustainable development and energy security.  Greater attention must be paid to technological development and to increasing investment to secure alternative energy sources.  Meaningful progress in climate change mitigation and adaptation was essential for global sustainable development.  It was necessary to discuss flexible schemes that encouraged the broad participation of countries with different levels of development and capabilities when developing a long-term, post-2012 climate change strategy and regime.  In that regard, it was necessary to analyze mitigation potential at the national level.

Stressing the importance of climate adaptation, he hoped that the United Nations and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) would expand their roles in helping developing countries strengthen adaptation-relevant institutions and capacity-building with the aim of coping with the effects of climate change.  The dust and sandstorm problem in Northeast Asia demonstrated the impact of climate change and unsustainable land use, and had become one of the most prominent environmental issues in the region.  He welcomed regional initiatives to address that issue and urged the international community, including the GEF, the Asian Development Bank and other international finance institutions, to support the region’s efforts to restore its ecological balance.

In addressing urban air pollution, it was important to maintain close public-private partnerships to create markets for the best available technologies and clean energies, he continued.  For example, prior to 2000, there had been no compressed natural gas buses or refuelling stations in his country.  However, thanks to close cooperation with local governments, auto manufacturers and non-governmental organizations, the country was now able to use compressed natural gas fuel in 13,000 buses -- 44 per cent of its national bus fleet.  The promotion of free trade could play a major role in sustainable development, if pursued in a manner that reinforced environmental protection.  For example, his country had formed a free-trade agreement with the United States that contained strong environmental protection provisions.  He supported the Commission’s efforts to support the promotion of open, equitable and non-discriminatory free-trade agreements with a strong commitment to environmental protection.

MOHAMMED SAEED AL KINDI, Minister for Environment and Water of the United Arab Emirates, said his country continued its efforts, on the national, regional and international levels, to implement global commitments to protect the environment and advance sustainable development.  It had joined all international and regional treaties on environment and sustainable development, and had entered into a number of regional and international partnerships related to environment and development.  In February, it had hosted an international meeting on sustainable energy resources in arid regions, and it was preparing to host the first-ever World Future Energy Summit in January 2008.

He said his country had succeeded in applying zero-emission policies on all oil-related activities, and in expanding the green areas inside the urban and desert areas.  His country had also paid serious attention to renewable energy resources.  Its sustainable development strategy focused on, among other things, increasing energy efficiency in business projects, and defined the most effective methods for energy consumption.  Since energy played an essential role in industrial and agricultural development, it was important to ensure sufficient energy resources to meet the necessary requirements for economic development.

He called on the international community to follow an inclusive, non-selective vision while setting policies and measures related to energy, preservation of the environment and development.  It was important to strengthen the international partnership for sustainable development in order to confront the challenges of environment and development.

FERNANDO TUDELA ABAD, Vice-Minister for Planning and Environmental Policy of the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources of Mexico, said his country’s newly elected President had reaffirmed his commitment to sustainable development, making the environment among his top five priorities.  Mexico was in the process of integrating environmental policies into the national plans of all Government sectors.  This year, Mexico had doubled its budget for the forestry sector, allocating $400 million to expand the “Pro-Arbol” initiative aimed at preserving, restoring and reforesting large areas of Mexican territory and, at the same time, reducing poverty among people living in those areas.  Mexico would fulfil its voluntary commitment to plant 250 million trees a year -- about a quarter of the global goal set by the Billion Tree Campaign of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Accurate inventories must be developed to control greenhouse gas emissions, he continued.  Mexico was the first non-annex I country to have submitted three national communications to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and was among the four countries with the most projects registered under the Clean Development Mechanism, with approved projects in livestock waste management, methane recovery from landfill sites and wind-power generation.  In the next few weeks, Mexico would present its national strategy for climate change, which would set national mitigation and adaptation targets.

Regarding energy efficiency, Mexico had developed programmes for standardization and labelling of industrial and domestic electrical equipment, he said.  It had also promoted and financed programmes for equipment replacement.  Efforts focused on promoting the use of energy-efficient equipment and energy savings for consumers.  The main pillars of Mexico’s energy policy were security and quality of energy supply, energy efficiency and diversification of primary energy sources.  It aimed to substantially increase renewable energy sources.  Despite significant improvement in recent years, air pollution was still a major concern, he added.  Air-pollution monitor networks operated today in 25 cities.  At the end of 2006, low sulphur gasoline had been introduced in the Mexico City metropolitan area, a measure which would pave the way for swiftly adopting stringent emission standards for new cars.

DU YING, Vice-Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission of China, said the issues before the current session were closely linked with the interests and progress of all countries.  The principle of common but differentiated responsibility should be genuinely implemented, he emphasized.  To realize global sustainable development, countries should shoulder their responsibilities.  The developing countries, based on their own conditions, should choose suitable industrial development paths and energy mixes, improve energy efficiency and increase efforts aimed at environmental protection.  Developed countries should take the lead to change unsustainable consumption and production patterns and to fulfil their obligations and commitments.

He said economic development and environmental protection were closely linked.  The issue of climate change should be dealt with within the framework of sustainable development.  Efforts must be made to genuinely build the capacity of developing countries to enable them to respond to climate change.  It was also necessary to enhance international cooperation mechanisms.  Achieving sustainable development also required a fair and equitable multilateral trading system.  It was desirable for developed and developing countries to engage in joint initiatives, share technologies and enhance international cooperation.  Describing measures his country had taken regarding the four issues before the Commission, he said China would continue on its development path, taking into account its population, resources and environment, and promote economic growth patterns that contributed to building an energy-efficient and environmentally friendly society. 

ONKOKEME MOKAILA, Minister for Environment, Wildlife and Tourism of Botswana, said the international community could not squander the current enthusiasm for protecting the planet and the opportunities that goodwill had created.  Botswana was doing its part.  It had ratified the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer and had launched initiatives to control and phase out the use of ozone-depleting substances.  The Government was also developing a climate change adaptation policy paper to be linked to other development planning initiatives.

Climate change had a great impact on public health worldwide, he said.  It was a global concern that must be addressed in a global manner.  It would continue to have major consequences on public health in developing countries, in particular where HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis were most prevalent.  The poor in the developing world would especially suffer from air pollution, heat waves, drought, malnutrition and the other consequences of climate change.  He stressed the importance of including a gender perspective in climate-change policies, saying that a climate vulnerability assessment must adequately reflect the circumstances of women and children.

He said an integrated approach to the session’s four issues -- energy, climate change, industrial development and air pollution -- was needed to enhance effectiveness and achieve maximum benefit.  It was crucial to turn into action the commitments made in Rio and Johannesburg.  Failure to do so would make it impossible to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.  He stressed the importance of research and development of new environmental technologies, technology transfer, capacity-building and public awareness of the damaging effects of air pollution.  A global commitment was needed to address such concerns regionally and nationally.

PAAVO VÄYRYNEN, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development of Finland, recalled that his country’s main concern at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development had been implementation and follow-up.  Sustainable development should be given a priority within the context of United Nations reform.  The Commission on Sustainable Development had done excellent work on many important sectors, but he wondered if it had been able to address sustainable development in a holistic way.  There were two key, interrelated issues that should be addressed when promoting sustainable development: rural development and the growth of mega-cities.

He said mega-cities all over the world were more or less unsustainable.  Their food, water and energy supplies came from long distances and their waste problems were enormous.  Life in mega-city slums was totally inhuman.  Lack of rural development led to ever stronger migration to mega-cities.  In order to promote sustainable development, there should be effective rural development policies, and the growth of smaller towns and cities should be encouraged.  Those policies would promote the goals of sustainable development and give people, especially the poorest, much better living conditions than those resulting from the uncontrolled and unhealthy growth of the mega-cities. 

KASEM SNIDVONGS, Minister for Natural Resources and Environment of Thailand, hoped the Commission’s session would conclude with a meaningful resolution aimed at bridging the gap between the recognition of the need for action on sustainable development and actual implementation.  The issues before the current session were significantly related to poverty eradication, and their inclusion into mainstream social and economic goals was vital to achieving sustainable development objectives.  His Government had adopted “His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s Philosophy on Sufficiency Economy” to promote a free and balanced market economy.  It stressed the need for sufficient investment at all levels and precautionary measures in social, economic and environmental policies in order to achieve sustainable development. 

Energy was crucial for economic development and poverty eradication, he continued.  The Thai Government had improved the accessibility, availability and affordability of environmentally sound energy services to all segments of society.  The introduction of alternative energy had been slow.  Fossil fuels still played a dominant role in the energy mix of developing countries, and would continue to do so for the next several years.  During the transition period, advanced and cleaner fossil fuel technologies were needed to pave the way for a cleaner and more efficient energy mix.  He urged developed countries that had previously experienced the negative effects of coal use, to provide technical and financial support for advanced and cleaner fossil fuels that significantly contributed to carbon dioxide emission reduction.

Turning to air pollution, he said Thailand had implemented measures, guided by the Montreal Protocol, to phase out chlorofluorocarbons and other ozone-depleting substances.  Climate change was probably the most challenging problem facing mankind, but much of what was agreed to had not been effectively implemented.  The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change provided a feasible path for the international community.  Thailand had integrated climate change into its 2007-2010 National Economic and Social Development Plan and its Environmental Quality Management Plan.  However, major obstacles remained, such as methane emission from flooding paddy fields.  Thailand was a major rice-producing and rice-consuming country.  Technologies for methane emission reduction and sustainable rice production were needed to limit negative environmental impacts.

ANDREAS CARLGREN, Minister for the Environment of Sweden, said combating climate change was probably the greatest undertaking confronting mankind.  The countries that faced the greatest development challenges were those that would be affected most.  The time for global solidarity was now.  The Millennium Development Goals could only be achieved if actions related to energy, industrial development and protection of the atmosphere were consistent with the global objective of addressing climate change and other environmental threats.  Efforts to reduce the emissions causing global warming must increase.  He was concerned that countries tended to urge others to take the first step towards action.  “We must not just ask what other countries can do, but what we can do ourselves,” he said. 

He said Sweden had a longstanding engagement with developing countries, particularly the least developed ones, on sustainable development.  Since the first United Nations conference on the environment in Stockholm in 1972, it had underlined the strong link between safeguarding the environment and achieving sustainable development.  Sweden had also shown that economic growth was fully compatible with decreasing greenhouse gas emissions.  Since 1990, Sweden’s gross domestic product (GDP) had grown 35 per cent, while carbon dioxide emissions had decreased by 7 per cent.  His country would continue to play a significant role in the international efforts to promote sustainable development and combat climate change.

The Commission on Sustainable Development contributed to integrating cross-cutting areas when addressing major issues.  One example was gender equality, a precondition for sustainable development.  Another was the need for sustainable patterns of consumption and production, which was crucial to address climate change and to achieve sustainable development.

JAANUS TAMKIVI, Minister for Environment of Estonia, said the different energy-related challenges were unevenly distributed among countries.  It was necessary to have flexible and pragmatic approaches while adhering to common goals and commitments.  Substantial economic growth and an environmentally sustainable path of development could be achieved if relevant economic and fiscal measures were applied.  It was essential to design and implement incentives at the national and international levels to promote secure, efficient, transparent and competitive markets for energy, while at the same time reducing energy-related environmental and social problems, particularly those related to climate change and air pollution.  Estonia’s ongoing ecological tax reform aimed to create fairer pricing of the use of natural resources, without increasing the total tax burden.  The established European Union greenhouse gas trading system was a very promising market-based tool for further increasing energy efficiency and decreasing greenhouse gas emissions.

The Estonian economy was highly dependent on fossil fuels, he continued.  The reduction of the negative environmental and social impacts of energy use, as well as the promotion of resource efficiency, together with sustainable production and consumption patterns were among Estonia’s top priorities.  Estonia had successfully balanced economic development with environmental protection.  Various energy-related measures had led to a substantial decrease in greenhouse gas emissions.  Housing-sector reforms had fostered more efficient energy consumption in domestic use.  Further promotion of innovation and development of the new carbon capture and sequestration options opened new avenues.  Enhancing energy security was important for all countries.  Promoting renewable energy sources and increasing energy efficiency, together with implementation of European Union policies and demand-side measures, were promising steps.  Estonia was ready to share its positive experience with all interested nations, particularly in the developing world.

ALFONSO PECORARO SCANIO, Minister for the Environment, Land and Sea of Italy, stressed the need to take immediate global action on climate change, and welcomed the Secretary-General’s commitment to play a leading role in helping the international community address that issue.  The cost of inaction would exceed the cost of taking early action.  The latest projections on carbon dioxide emissions could no longer be ignored.  Italy and other European Union members had decided to unilaterally commit themselves to ambitious national targets on carbon dioxide emissions reduction, renewable energy and energy efficiency.

However, he continued, it was also imperative to reach a global agreement on how to address the climate change challenge beyond 2012.  Together with mitigation, adaptation deserved specific attention, in particular for small island developing States.  The concept of integrated climate risk management might provide a framework for ensuring that adaptation policies and risk-management strategies were carried out in synergy. 

He reiterated the call for an urgent increase in investments in renewable energies, energy efficiency and sustainable transport.  The development and transfer of technology, within the framework of international environmental cooperation, was crucial.  Tackling climate change, modifying the current patterns of production and utilizing energy resources were major challenges that decision-makers must address.

ALZHAN BRALIEV, Vice-Minister of Environmental Protection of Kazakhstan, said his country’s transition to a sustainable path of development was a vital necessity.  High economic growth meant that Kazakhstan must lower irrational energy consumption, improve the environment in the Central Asian region and strengthen actions to prevent climate change.  In that context, Kazakhstan had signed the Concept of Transition of the Republic of Kazakhstan to Sustainable Development for the 2007-2024 period, which addressed issues such as economic diversification and included measures to increase life expectancy, among other things.

Kazakhstan held great potential for renewable energy sources, he continued, noting their importance to long-term energy safety.  By 2024, no less than 5 per cent of national energy needs would be met by alternative sources.  Further, the 2006 Ecological Code encompassed all issues related to environmental protection.  Water-resource stability in the Central Asian region was vital, he said, highlighting Kazakhstan’s idea to establish transboundary zones of sustainable development, with one zone located in the Ilek River Basin and flowing through China, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.  Environmental stability in his region was of great importance, he said, noting that Kazakhstan was an active member of “Environment for Europe” and “Environment and Sustainable Development in Asia”.  His country was ready to host the next world summit on sustainable development in Astana -- “the heart of Eurasia”.

HASSAN YOUNES, Minister for Electricity and Energy of Egypt, said concerted efforts were needed to integrate the three pillars of sustainable development, as agreed upon in several international summits and conferences.  Egypt’s long-term strategy on energy for sustainable development was based on policies for diversifying the energy mix, maximum use of natural gas, utilization of available renewable energy resources and continuous improvement in energy-efficiency measures.  Ninety-nine per cent of Egypt’s population had access to electricity, but there was growing demand for energy in order to meet development plans and to better protect the environment. Egypt also had wind farms and was developing solar thermal hybrid power.

He said the main obstacles to achieving the Agenda 21 goals included lack of aggressive financing of cleaner energy supply projects; constraining terms linked to the transfer of advanced energy technologies; high cost of alternative, cleaner and more efficient energy technologies; and not enough support for regional cooperation.  In order to overcome those difficulties, he hoped that there would be increased international support for regional cooperation activities such as African hydropower.  He also hoped the primary energy resources could be diversified in an enhanced way and that technology cooperation programmes could be expanded.

MAMADOU LAMINE, Minster for Planning, Sustainable Development and International Cooperation of Senegal, said that, while there had been some progress, the international community had far to go to achieve the Rio and Johannesburg targets on climate change and sustainable development.  The resources available did not meet the current needs to address obstacles at hand.  Partnerships to supply adequate resources were essential so that developing countries, particularly in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific, could meet their sustainable development goals.  Industrialized nations should bear the greatest responsibility since they were the planet’s biggest polluters.  The future of Africa depended on a radical reversal of current trends, as well as appropriate measures to promote and use renewable energy.

He said the President of Senegal was focusing on energy efficiency and security, drawing on the country’s biofuel potential.  Biofuels were essential in the fight to end climate change and ensure sustainable development, particularly in non-oil producing countries.  The President had devised a brilliant economic formula to redistribute surplus oil profits to non oil-producing countries, he said.  Application of that formula could increase investment and contribute to reducing the adverse effects of energy prices, which had caused a loss of 2 per cent of economic growth in Senegal, at a time when the prevalence of poverty was a global concern.  It was necessary to find solutions at the subregional, regional and international levels to accelerate access to energy services in remote areas.

Concern over global warming was great for a country like Senegal, where development was tied to economic sectors largely sensitive to the climate, such as agriculture, fishing, tourism and forestry.  Senegal lived under the menace of gradually disappearing coastal boundaries, small islands and coastlines, despite important measures taken such as a ban on certain vehicle imports.  It was important to translate good intentions into concrete action, particularly through diversification of energy resources; to promote and develop major investment to generate economic activity in poor communities; and to support efforts of developing countries, notably the least developed countries, through international cooperation.

TURKI IBN NASER IBN ABDUL AZIZ AL-SAUD, President of the Meteorology and Environmental Protection Agency of Saudi Arabia, said that, as the largest energy-producing country, Saudi Arabia dealt efficiently with the increased global demand for energy, because the guaranteed and improved access to energy resources and services was essential to achieve poverty eradication and sustainable development.  His country’s development plans aimed to enhance the competitiveness of the Saudi products.  His Government had integrated industrial activities with its commitment to protect the environment through policies such as self-monitoring programmes for pollution control.

He said his country had worked in partnership with the emissions-producing sectors to enhance ambient air quality and adopted financial incentives and “polluter pays” principles.  His country had also taken steps to reduce pollution emissions from different sources, in order to minimize global atmospheric pollution.  Addressing the issue of climate change, he recommended improving the efficiency of cleaner energy sources and making them more commercially viable.  International support was needed for the establishment of local programmes for achieving energy efficiency and for developing secure and environmentally safe technical alternatives, such as carbon capture and storage techniques.

NIKOLA RUŽINSKI, State Secretary, Ministry for Environmental Protection, Physical Planning and Construction of Croatia, said his country had made important but uneven progress in the area of enterprise and industrial development.  The first industrial policy document had been developed in line with sustainable development principles and was being submitted to the Government.  As industrial development required the energy sector, Croatia would pay more attention to environmental protection by tapping cleaner energy technologies and increasing energy efficiency, he said, noting that several projects had been co-financed through a recently established fund for environmental protection and energy efficiency.  Projects in wind energy, biogas and biofuels production also had been launched.

Croatia strongly supported the fulfilment of the Kyoto targets, he continued, noting that his country’s Parliament had ratified the Protocol several weeks ago and had finished its strategy on fulfilling commitments under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.  The most appropriate method for achieving sustainable energy use was linked to the development and deployment of new technologies in energy production and consumption.

HUMBERTO ROSA, Secretary of State for the Environment of Portugal, said the global environment was giving undisputable signs of an unsustainable future, indicated by such phenomena as climate change, on which the scientific evidence was unambiguous.  The scale of impacts and challenges demanded urgent action and the window of opportunity to take such action was narrowing.  Climate change would hamper economic and social development in all countries, as well as the achievement of poverty reduction and the Millennium Development Goals.

He said climate change was caused by unsustainable behaviour, in particular regarding energy.  Relying on fossil fuels was an unsustainable policy that also led to climate change.  Sustainable energy meant renewable energy that fostered energy security.  As fossil fuels would still be used for a long time, it was important to use them in cleaner and more efficient ways.  Renewable energy was necessary for sustainable development and, as a side effect, would produce less pollution.  His country was trying to live up to the commitments under the Kyoto Protocol and, to that end, had taken measures across all sectors of the country.  It was also strengthening policies on renewable energy such as wind power, which was attracting growing investments and provided for growing employment opportunities.

JOSEF PROLL, Federal Minister for Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management of Austria, said environmental protection could only be successful when integrated into all other Government policies.  The Austrian Government had agreed to double by 2020 the share of renewable energy usage to 45 per cent, to improve energy efficiency by 20 per cent and to increase the share of alternative fuels to 20 per cent.  Nuclear energy was not a form of sustainable energy and should not be used to meet growing energy demands.  Rather, the international community should build on increased use of renewable energies, energy efficiency and savings, as well as alternative fuels, to meet climate change goals.  Successful environmental protection required firm and strong international engagement.

Ministers participating in the Commission’s work must promote integrated climate change policies, he said.  Austria had offered to be the host of the meeting of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol, and of the workshop under the dialogue on long-term cooperative action to address climate change by enhancing implementation of the United Nations Climate Change Convention.  He called on all delegations to actively participate in those meetings later this year.  Environmental protection was a growth market and an ever increasing opportunity to secure and create jobs.  The market for products and services related to environmental protection was steadily growing.  Those close links must be reflected in international policies and in the upcoming World Trade Organization negotiations.  He added that it was necessary to strike a balance between energy supply and agricultural policies. 

MONYANE MOLELEKI, Minister of Natural Resources of Lesotho, said his country was encouraged that the Secretary-General had appointed very capable Envoys for Climate Change.  His country had taken initiatives indicative of its struggle to comply with all United Nations and international initiatives addressing sustainable development and industrial development, while also taking care of the environment and reducing air pollution.  Lesotho’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper included all elements of sustainable development and industrial development, as well as measures to prevent air pollution.  He had no doubt that, by 2015, his country would meet most, if not all, of the Millennium Development Goals.  Lesotho had an abundance of water and sun, which were good sources of environmentally friendly energy. 

IAN PEARSON, Minister for Climate Change and Environment of the United Kingdom, stressed that the need to take action had become more urgent.  The Commission’s fourteenth session had taken stock of progress on the critical issues of sustainable energy and development, and industrial air pollution.  He said he was hearing the message over and over again that the international community must do better to address climate change concerns.  The report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change had stated that the current level of activity was unacceptable.  Much more needed to be done now, and the Commission’s current session offered a unique opportunity to do just that.  Echoing the sentiments of Germany’s Minister, who had spoken earlier in the day on behalf of the European Union, he said the ministers at the session must agree on some central action, including through country-level development plans and assistance strategies, to enable all countries to achieve the millennium targets and the Johannesburg commitments.

Energy supply and access were crucial, he continued.  Nations should agree to share experiences and best practices on how to increase energy efficiency and promote development of renewable energy and cleaner technologies that would contribute to reducing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions while supporting job creation.  He underscored the importance of taking each country’s specific needs and situation into account.  The European Union had developed its own time-bound targets and was working to provide capacity-building and finance.  He stressed the importance of utilizing clean energy mechanisms.

SOLEDAD BLANCO, Director of International Affairs in the European Commission’s Directorate General for Environment, said there was now a global scientific consensus that climate change was here, that it was man-made, and that its consequences would be catastrophic.  All developed countries must reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent by 2020.  Independently of action by others, members of the European Commission had taken the decision to reduce emissions by 20 per cent by 2020.  The European Community was also working with partners across the world, and notably with African partners.  For example, the European Union-Africa Infrastructure Partnership would support regional energy infrastructure by focusing on national, regional and continental interconnection.  Another initiative, worth €220 million, would finance energy services for rural areas.

She said members were also proud of the initiative to set up a global fund to finance renewable and energy efficiency technologies in developing countries through risk capital -- the GEEREF initiative (Global Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Fund).  Initial funding of €80 million had already been secured.

ELIZABETH THOMPSON, Minister of Energy and Environment of Barbados, said that her country continued to meet its international obligations to the multilateral environment agreements it had signed and to the sustainable development agenda.  It had achieved significant progress using its own resources, including frameworks such as the national sustainable development policy and an energy policy that emphasized conservation, efficiency, equity, participation and overall improvement of the quality of life.  Progress was also attributed to a shift to renewable energy with time-bound targets irrespective of whether fossil fuel costs dropped, and a transition to a low-carbon economy using natural gas as the preferred fossil fuel. Barbados was well on its way to achieving the millennium targets.  Such critical policy elements had been integrated into national policy through implementation of the first phases of the Prime Minister’s Green Economy Policy.  Barbados had accomplished all that despite being a low emitter of greenhouse gases.

Since the 1970s, Barbados had invested in a solar water-heater industry based on private-sector entrepreneurship and innovation, Government commitments and the creation of regulatory and fiscal incentives.  The Commission had recognized that initiative as a best practice.  Barbados remained committed to providing technical assistance and cooperation to other developing countries and particularly small island developing States in the furtherance of solar water-heater development worldwide.  She reiterated Barbados’ willingness to participate with the Global Environment Facility through the Solar Water-Heater Market Transformation and Strengthening Initiative, which was to be implemented through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and UNEP.

She supported the move in the Commission from words to implementation.  But she expressed concern that, every year, there was continuous tinkering with the language of the final texts, which only resulted in repetition of previously agreed outcomes.  Was it too much to hope that tangible support in the form of long promised funds would accompany implementation efforts?  After years of participation, small island developing States were extremely frustrated about being continually marginalized, a sentiment that could very well be reflected in the small number of Caribbean ministers present at the session.  She called on the Commission to ensure that it remained relevant to all people everywhere.

ERIK SOLHEIM, Minister for International Development of Norway, said the so-called Brundtland Report had been a wake-up call in the late 1980s.  The Norwegian Government was committed to building on that initiative to bring sustainable development to the top of the international agenda.  While a lot had been achieved up to the Rio Conference, very little had happened since then, until last year, when the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change had sounded the alarm.

He said climate change impacted the world unfairly, in that the countries that contributed least to it would suffer most from it, such as most African countries.  Unless climate change was taken up as a development issue, development would fail.  The conference to be held in Bali in December should lead to a decisive process to establish strict international targets.

He said a three-pronged approach was needed.  The first and easiest was energy efficiency.  The second area was renewables, such as solar energy.  The third area was carbon capturing.  He stressed that Governments, civil society and business must work together in order to succeed. 

RAIMONDS VEJONIS, Minister for Environment of Latvia, said his country attached great importance to climate change mitigation policies, as well as to measures to limit and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to increase carbon dioxide removal.  The primary goal was to ensure global reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.  That could be achieved by increasing the share of renewable energy sources in the energy mix, increased efficient and rationale use of energy resources, developing an environmentally friendly transportation system and promoting implementation of the best available techniques, among other things.

Climate change was closely linked to energy supply issues, he noted.  Rapid global economic development would require more and more energy, including energy from fossil fuels.  The rise in oil and natural gas prices should stimulate development of environmentally friendly and low emission technologies.  Energy safety would be an overriding priority for many countries.  Nuclear energy was neither safe nor reliable and could, therefore, not be considered an option for sustainable development. Moreover, nuclear energy was not economically viable because it was not affordable without public subsidies.

Half of all electricity consumed in Latvia was supplied by renewable energy sources, he said.  Any new greenhouse gas emission reduction targets after 2012 would require significant changes in the energy sector.  It was necessary to ensure that such changes would not negatively affect energy safety at the national, regional and global levels.  He called on all countries to agree on criteria that would define sustainable energy, particularly sustainable biofuels, which should be subject to adequate risk, environmental and social impact assessments.  All countries should adopt and implement national and regional energy policy targets in order to increase energy efficiency, increase the share of renewable energy in energy supply and its consumption, and assure access to sustainable energy.

NORINOV DJAMSHED, Deputy Minister for Finance of Tajikistan, said that, despite the difficult transition period his country had gone through, the Government was implementing a programme to increase economic growth while protecting the environment.  With the help of the United Nations and international financial institutions, Tajikistan was looking for an integrated approach to sustainable development, taking into account both the need for development and environmental protection.

He said that water was key for the Central Asian countries and, because of global warming, there was a worsening water shortage.  The glaciers in the region had begun to shrink, which meant that in the near future there would also be other environmental problems with social and economic ramifications.  Although possibilities of hydropower were abundant, his country was only using 5 per cent of its hydroelectric resources.

In March, his Government had adopted a national development strategy stretching to 2015 that would further the development process, in accordance with the Millennium Development Goals, he said.  The priorities for his region included the development of regional cooperation in hydroelectric power and renewable energy, the access of developing countries to new technologies and the effective use of research on glaciers.

JORDAN DARDOV, Deputy Minister for Environment and Water of Bulgaria, said climate change was a serious and long-term challenge with the potential to threaten the achievement of the millennium targets.  As a new European Union member, Bulgaria was part of efforts for urgent global action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt to climate change in order to achieve sustainable development.  Aware of the conclusions of the Stern Review concerning the economic consequences of climate change, Bulgaria had already declared its support for the process of achieving a global and comprehensive agreement for the post-2012 period.  It favoured a differentiated approach based on an analysis that took into account the specific socio-economic parameters and national circumstances of all countries.  An effective global carbon market should be set up through flexible mechanisms, including emissions trading.

Adaptation to the unfavourable consequences of climate change was inevitable, he continued.  Effective measures were needed, including capacity-building, in order to integrate adaptation into sustainable development and poverty eradication strategies.  The need for climate change adaptation was evident in Bulgaria.  Despite international efforts to reduce emissions from greenhouse gases, global warming would continue and bring with it negative consequences.  Natural disasters, primarily devastating floods that had stricken Bulgaria in the past two years, clearly confirmed that.  It was necessary to study extreme cases of climate change, notably floods and droughts, in order to assess their economic impact and national and regional policy, as well as to adopt preventive measures, such as monitoring instruments and mechanisms for adapting to extreme cases of climate change.

EL MOSTAFA SAHEL ( Morocco) said that, in order to deal with the challenge of energy security, Morocco had tried to reform its energy sector.  There were five pillars to its strategy: privatization; energy diversification; increased access to energy for the population, including the rural population; energy efficiency; and renewable energy.  His country encouraged partnerships with the private sector regarding the development of renewables and had started to implement an action plan, including three wind energy parks and using solar energy in buildings.  It had also included the use of coal and natural gas in its plans.

He said the action plan sought to increase the rate of renewables to 10 per cent by 2012.  His country attached great importance to international cooperation regarding renewables, including with European partners.  Morocco was in favour of adopting, on a voluntary basis, targets for the increase of renewables in the energy mix.  He also urged for, among other things, research, investment and technology transfer.  The international financial institutions could play a greater role regarding investments in the renewable energy sector, he added.

SHAY AVITAL, Director-General of the Ministry for Environmental Protection of Israel, said all parties around the negotiating table should strive to achieve a forward-looking and operational outcome document before the end of the current session.  Though much had been achieved through regulatory tools, more actors must be “brought on board”, he said, underscoring that efforts were needed to mainstream sustainable development policies among a range of sectors and stakeholders.  Using economic tools, creating energy efficiency requirements for investment, and requiring industries to share environmental performance information could impact consumption patterns and promote sound environmental management.

Israel had streamlined sustainable policies in several fields, he stated, highlighting the Securities Authority requirement for environmental reporting by all companies who traded on the Stock Exchange and the use of dialogue as a supplement to -- rather than a replacement for -- regulation.  Further, a recent case involving 17 chemical industries that had been resolved through mediation would hopefully significantly improve industrial waste treatment and minimize emissions.

The use of solar energy should be emphasized, as it was the “hope of the future” in hot, dry climates, he continued.  Israeli companies were leaders in solar technologies, and Israel was prepared to share knowledge in that area.  His delegation fully supported implementation of the Bali Strategic Plan and remained committed to working towards common goals.

ABDULLAH AL-MURAD ( Kuwait) attached great importance to the outcome of the Commission’s session, particularly since the ministers would be looking at the themes of industrial development, air pollution, sustainable development and climate change.  Those issues must be seen as fundamental pillars of sustainable development and poverty eradication.  Developing countries, in particular, were facing the challenges of globalization due to the ever widening gap in income and resources between developing and developed countries.  Developed countries must respect the international agreements made in Rio and Johannesburg.  He stressed the importance of creating an international partnership to enable developing countries to achieve their sustainable development, poverty eradication and millennium objectives.

Fossil fuels were an important resource, he said, stressing Kuwait’s major role in producing and exporting fuel.  Kuwait had helped several developing countries by supporting international and regional bodies, as well as the programmes and funds of the Asian Development Bank and the Islamic Development Bank.  Further, it had provided funding through the Bank of Kuwait to developing countries for projects in transport, communication, energy, electricity, agriculture and sanitation.  Kuwait was keenly interested in global environmental conservation.  He attached great importance to the role of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

MARKO STARMAN, State Secretary of the Government Office for Local Self-Government and Regional Policy of Slovenia, said climate change was a clear signal that something was wrong in the global development dialogue.  In order to turn commitments into action, a cross-sectoral and integrated approach was needed.  There were some good examples of regional best practices, such as those in the Danube River Basin -- the most international river basin in the world.  Regionally coordinated action had had significant success in enhanced transboundary water management.  The Danube and Black Sea projects showed that interregional cooperation was possible.  Slovenia also chaired the Bureau of the Barcelona Convention, the first United Nations convention to protect a regional sea -- the Mediterranean Sea.  A Mediterranean Strategy for Sustainable Development had been adopted and was being implemented on the subregional and regional level.

NGUYEN BICH DAT, Vice-Minister of the Ministry for Planning and Investment of Viet Nam, said his country’s Strategic Orientation on Sustainable Development (Viet Nam Agenda 21), along with the establishment of the National Sustainable Development Council, confirmed its commitment to sustainable development.  Viet Nam Agenda 21 addressed challenges and proposed solutions on the four issues of energy for sustainable development, industrial development, atmosphere/air pollution and climate change.  Regarding energy for sustainable development, the Government had approved a national programme on energy saving and efficient energy use for the 2006-2015 period.  While Viet Nam attached great importance to environmental issues in developing traditional energy sources, it was also implementing programmes to develop clean energy sources, such as biogas and wind power.

On industrial development, his country’s Agenda 21 emphasized “clean industrialization”, he continued, noting the development of policies to speed replacement of obsolete technologies with those that were environmentally friendly.  It also emphasized institutional and legal measures for preventing air pollution.  Regarding climate change, he said Viet Nam had participated in cooperation activities relating to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and was focusing on a national programme to eliminate ozone-depleting substances.

MARK J. MWANDOSYA, Minister for Environment of the United Republic of Tanzania, said climate change had manifested itself in his country through the occurrence of extreme and recurrent droughts, a prolonged power crisis, an extreme drop in the water level of Lake Victoria and the loss of the glacier on Mount Kilimanjaro.  Climate change was, thus, a social, environmental and developmental challenge.  As adaptation had to be a priority in present and future discussions, he welcomed progress made on the Adaptation Fund.  There was still a need, however, for a clear commitment by the developed world regarding the development and transfer of technology to developing countries.

He supported the Clean Development Mechanism, but noted that equitable distribution of projects and access to the Mechanism’s resources among developing countries should be ensured.  Great caution should be exercised regarding carbon capture in order to resolve political, policy, technological, technical and sustainable development issues surrounding that mitigation option.  He called for the recognition and provision of incentives to countries that rendered global service in terms of carbon sequestration, noting that his country had set aside over 25 per cent of its land area for forest and game reserves.

He said energy and industrial development activities significantly contributed to the emission of greenhouse gases.  The unsustainable exploitation and use of traditional biomass contributed to emissions, poor indoor air quality and poverty, and was an antithesis to sustainable development.  Access to modern energy services was crucial in the fight against poverty.  Cleaner energy and efficient technologies were key to ensuring sustainable industrialization and control of atmospheric pollution.  He supported the resent UNEP initiative to establish an international panel on the sustainable use of natural resources.

Roundtable on Air Pollution/Atmosphere and Climate Change

Chairing the high-level roundtable this afternoon was Martin Bursík, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Environment of the Czech Republic.  The invited guest speakers were John Holdren, Professor, Harvard University and an internationally known expert on climate change; Laurent Corbier, Chair of the Energy and Environment Commission of the International Chamber of Commerce; Abdalla el-Badri, Secretary-General of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC); and Halldor Thorgeirsson, Deputy Executive Secretary, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Opening the roundtable, Mr. Holdren said there were only three options available to confront the dangers from climate change:  mitigation; adaptation; and suffering the adverse impacts that the world failed to avoid.  Some of each of those was already being done; what remained to be determined was the future mix.   A “mitigation-only” strategy would not work because it was already too late, and an “adaptation-only” strategy would not work because those measures became more costly and less effective as climate change expanded.  What was needed was avoiding the unmanageable and managing the unavoidable.

He identified some of the specifics of the mitigation strategy, stressing that more needed to be done than “picking the low-hanging fruit”.  Incentives and requirements were needed.  The latter should include putting a price on carbon emissions.  That would, among other things, promote a shift to renewable energy.  He also identified steps the United Nations could take, given its capacity and clout, in the mitigation category.  The adaptation strategy should start with identifying key vulnerabilities and result in improved early warning, among other things.  The United Nations should also identify opportunities for improvement in that regard, including in the areas of data sharing and monitoring. 

Mr. Corbier of the International Chamber of Commerce said that climate change and air pollution were not only equally recognized as priority concerns by the Commission, but also required remedies that were in many ways synergetic.  That created an opportunity for a lot of “win-win” situations.  There were four major areas where action was essential: technology; funding; frameworks and policies; and actors and collaboration.  Given the magnitude and specificities of the technology challenges, those should be used most efficiently, with recourse to developing new technologies, with all energy sources considered on their merits.

On adaptation, he called for rapid progress on technology transfer.  A lot of leveraging and innovative thinking was needed on funding.  It must be ensured that frameworks and policies were integrated, consistent and harmonized, and that an initial timeframe for results was guaranteed.  Also crucial was to identify the actors, and who could do what.  Once the strengths and responsibilities were identified among Governments, business, civil society and so forth, then collaboration was key.  Education and training were also critical.

Explaining that he had worked for the oil industry in Libya his whole life, Mr. El-Badri of OPEC, said that 2.4 billion people in the world lacked access to modern fuels for cooking and heating, and 1.6 billion people had no access to electricity.  He welcomed diversity in the energy mix, as that could contribute to development.  The introduction of new fuels, such as biofuels, “can be a good development”.  However, that was not sufficient to meet the energy needs, and biofuels, in particular, could compete for land, water and food, which was necessary for meeting the Millennium Development Goals.

Clearly, he said, fossil fuels would continue to satisfy the “lion’s share” of the world’s growing energy needs for the foreseeable future.  The cumulative total investment required in energy was in the range of $20 trillion, 40 per cent of which was needed in the oil or natural gas sectors.  So, if the world was to tackle climate change with the sense of urgency being called for in many quarters, it was important to continue to promote development and deploy cleaner fossil fuel technologies.  In that connection, carbon capture and storage was the existing technology that could contribute to 40 per cent emissions reduction by the middle of the century, but industrialized countries should take the lead in deploying that technology.

Mr. Thorgeirsson of the Climate Change Convention’s Secretariat said that the eyes of the world and policy makers were on the upcoming Conference of the Parties to the Climate Change Convention in December in Bali. The United Nations Secretary-General had expressed his hope this morning that there would be a breakthrough in Bali, and Gro Harlem Brundtland had said that failure in Bali was not an option.  The climate change issue had now received the attention of the highest levels of Government.  There were four key areas to be negotiated:  the long-term perspective and emissions reduction objectives, meaning, how fast, by whom and to what level; building frameworks and market-based mechanisms to provide the required finance flows and investments in low-carbon economic growth and allow for cost-effective emission reductions; technological solutions; and actions to reduce vulnerability to impacts of climate change.

He said that, in order to advance in policy-making, work must be launched in all those areas in parallel.  There was already a mandate under the Kyoto Protocol to start negotiating numbers, but there had been limited progress in that regard because of the linkage to other issues.  The solutions were known and political will was building, yet what was needed was to rebuild trust among Governments and foster unity.  That was what the Secretary-General had said this morning and it was the most important issue of the day.

In the ensuing discussion among high-level representatives from capitals, the delegate of Mauritius said the challenge for small island developing States was to find the right balance of mitigation and adaptation measures.  It was important to recognize the potential economic trade-off between the two strategies, which entailed the use of scarce resources and activities, he said.

Indonesia’s representative, noting that Indonesia suffered from natural and man-made disasters, pointed to the linkage between adaptable measures and poverty alleviation.  While developing countries needed to promote industrial development and transportation in order to reduce poverty, a balance must be found in order to minimize air pollution.  Failure was not an option in Bali.  He looked forward to fruitful cooperation by all, warning that global warming would become “unbearable” in the future if not addressed now.

Speakers also included representatives of the scientific and technological communities, youth and children, and indigenous peoples.

Roundtable on Energy for Sustainable Development and Industrial Development

Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah, Minister of Energy of Qatar and Commission Chairman, chaired the discussion, which also included guest speakers Daniel Yergin, Chairman of Cambridge Energy Research Associates; Valli Moosa, Chairman of Business Action for Energy and Chairman of ESCOM, an energy utility company; and Suleiman Jasir al-Herbish, Director-General of the OPEC Fund for International Development.  Several high-level representatives from capitals, United Nations entities and non-governmental organizations also took part.

Mr. Yergin began by touching on the “energy challenge” posed by globalization -- rising energy demands, with its attendant environmental consequences, coupled with continued lack of access to energy on the part of the poorest countries, such as those in sub-Saharan Africa.  The world had become adept at solving regional and local energy problems, but it must now begin to examine the problem at a global level.  With world demand growing by 75 per cent, he wondered whether there would be enough energy supply to underpin future growth, and at what price.  Countries should focus on enhancing their energy efficiency while taking advantage of the “great bubbling” of commitment and investment to renewable energy.  The world should consider developing carbon capture and storage ability, in a way that was feasible on a large scale.  Consideration must also be given to pricing and regulation of such large-scale carbon capture efforts.

Mr. Moosa said the so-called “energy-efficiency campaign” needed to be scaled up in order for the world to achieve its sustainable development targets.  First, the world must enable greater energy access to those that did not have it.  Second, Governments must do more to promote energy efficiency through legislation and standards.  For example, although the technology existed to create energy-neutral buildings, building regulations in most cities did not spur such advances.  Similarly, Governments needed to introduce standards governing the energy efficiency of household appliances.  The Commission should call on Governments to take such action.  He remarked that the United Nations building itself might not be energy efficient, which presented an obvious starting point.  The Chairman should, in his final document, call on the Secretary-General to introduce targets in all United Nations facilities around the world.

Mr. Al-Herbish touched on implementation issues facing developing countries, where one third of the population often did not have access to sufficient energy.  Different countries faced different challenges:  oil-exporting countries, for example, needed to outgrow their dependence on oil, while simultaneously protecting the environment and meeting the Millennium Goals.  Changes in energy use should not be preconditioned by a single carbon-law model.  While countries should be encouraged to diversify their energy mix, it was important to recognize that the use of biofuels could complement the use of fossil fuels, for example.  Cleaner fossil fuel technologies could help traditional fuel users protect the environment.  Developing countries tended to consume 10 times more energy than developed countries, which was a serious impediment to sustainable development.  A more balanced policy was needed.

In the ensuing discussion, participants discussed the role of Governments in promoting sustainable energy use.  Like many others, Israel’s delegate said that Governments must introduce incentives to encourage efficiency and the use of renewable energy, such as solar energy.  The representative of the Netherlands said industrialized countries had a responsibility to take the lead in the process.  She said her Government had developed an action plan that could be used as a model for others, where all sectors of society -- industry, transport, energy, housing, agriculture, consumers and the public sector -- were asked to formulate long-term strategies to improve their energy use.  The representative of the United States noted that $16 trillion would be spent in the next 20 years to meet energy demands.

Several participants spoke of the need for a global framework of cooperation on energy and the importance of dialogue among nations.  China’s delegate said that energy conservation was the responsibility of both developed and developing countries, but more advanced countries should share their strategies with poorer nations.  Dialogues on energy could be used to enhance trust and improve coordination.  The speaker from Algeria said the world needed a framework for cooperation on the use clean energies, such as natural gas.  Algeria had launched solar and gas electricity plants to serve isolated populations, and the use of such renewables helped stem desertification.

South Africa’s delegate acknowledged the importance of taking responsibility for one’s own country, but stressed that, to succeed, countries needed the right kind of development partners.  She said the Commission should encourage countries to resuscitate the Doha Round of trade talks -- a sentiment with which others, such as Sweden, also agreed with.  Norway’s representative spoke of the need to lower investment risk and remove institutional barriers to investment, saying that donor countries and receiving Governments must work together, such as through Norway’s “clean energy for development” initiative.

Others focused on home-grown initiatives to make energy available to the poor.  Côte d’Ivoire’s representative spoke of his Government’s effort to extend the electricity network to rural areas and urban slums.  A similar initiative was being undertaken in Indonesia, where the Government was seeking, in addition to creating energy-efficient villages, to diversify its national energy mix to include 17 per cent renewable energy use by 2025.  A representative from the International Federation of Agriculture said that farmers had the capacity to feed the world and make significant contributions to the reduction of greenhouse gases and carbon-fixing, and should be given a higher profile at international discussions.

On the subject of energy targets, Switzerland’s delegate said the country currently had a carbon tax aimed at reducing the use of heating fuel.  Some $80 million had so far been raised from a tax on motor fuels and was being used towards clean development measures.  A representative of non-governmental organizations said civil society had been calling for time-bound targets for a long time, as well as for a widening of the energy mix.  But she stressed that nuclear energy was not viewed as a sustainable option by non-governmental organizations.  It was important to assess the true human cost of energy use -- taking into account the environmental impacts of such use -- and to react accordingly.

Almost everyone called for more investment in alternative energy sources.  Concessions should be given to certain countries by institutions like the World Bank, said Guyana’s delegate.  Stressing that knowledge was an important part of the solution, Mr. Yergin added that technological innovation must be encouraged.  Energy efficiency and conservation were issues that cut across the spheres of social and economic policy.  The eagerness to embrace energy efficiency was promising, but the concept must now be made part of the fabric of society.

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For information media • not an official record