Background
The Second Committee (Economic and Financial) met this morning to begin its consideration of environment and sustainable development.
Before the Committee was a report of the Secretary-General on the promotion of new and renewable sources of energy, including the implementation of the World Solar Programme 1996-2005 (document A/58/164). The report details actions by United Nations bodies, other international organizations, national governments, private corporations and non-governmental organizations to promote new and renewable sources of energy.
The report notes that five issues have highlighted the need to increase the use of new and renewable sources of energy -- poverty elimination, climate change, localized pollution, increased energy demand and eventual fossil-fuel depletion. Addressing this need, the World Solar Programme 1996-2005, which was initiated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), has now become a tool for increasing the use of renewable energy sources.
According to the report, UNESCO has helped to further implement the World Solar Programme by mobilizing investment as well as promoting education, training and information. It has also been assisting the task force set up to restructure the World Solar Commission, which will be adopting a new name -- the "World Commission on Renewable Energy" -- and re-establishing itself as an autonomous organization. In addition, UNESCO has helped the African Energy Commission (AFREC) lay down an energy information system for Africa and set up an AFREC energy database.
The report says that the Department of Economic and Social Affairs has signed a memorandum of understanding with the E7 group of leading utilities in major industrialized nations, which focuses on assisting developing nations with renewable energy. The Global Environment Facility (GEF), through its three implementing agencies (the World Bank, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)), continues to finance renewable energy projects in developing countries.
As part of the preparatory process for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg, 2002), the UNDP and the World Bank launched a Global Village Energy Partnership, which aims to provide access to modern energy services to about 400 million people, including more than 50,000 communities. Working with a wide range of partners, UNEP assists decision makers in government and the private sector to make better energy choices that fully integrate environmental and social costs, with an emphasis on renewable energy.
The report concludes that actions to promote renewable energy have increased significantly, becoming more varied and innovative. This year's session of the Commission on Sustainable Development adopted "Energy, industrial development and climate change" as the theme for its second cycle (2006-2007), with increasing use of renewable energy as one of the key issues for review of the World Summit’s Plan of Implementation.
Also before the Committee was a report of the Secretary-General on implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, particularly in Africa (document A/58/158), which reviews progress in implementing the Convention.
The report notes that, as stipulated in the Convention, the Plan of Implementation adopted by the World Summit on Sustainable Development called for increased prevention and/or reduction of land degradation, rehabilitation of partly degraded land, and reclamation of desertified land in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas. Also, as per the Convention, the Johannesburg Plan called for increased focus on preparing and implementing national, subregional and regional action programmes in combating desertification and diminishing the effects of drought.
Another key development was the GEF’s decision to make itself available as a financial mechanism of the Convention, the report states. At its fifty-seventh session, the General Assembly invited the GEF council to finalize and adopt the operational programme on land degradation, which the council did at its May 2003 session.
The report also notes that the first session of the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC) was held in Rome in November 2002, and that the second session was to take place during the sixth session of the Conference from 26 to 29 August 2003. As for interest in the Convention, the General Assembly noted at its fifty-seventh session the increased number of developing-world parties that had adopted national, subregional and regional action programmes. The report suggests that the Assembly take note of the conclusions of the World Summit on implementation of the Convention to Combat Desertification and reaffirm its vital role in combating poverty. Since poverty is widespread in the rural dry lands of developing countries, the Assembly may identify the Convention as a means of achieving the Millennium Development Goals.
Another report before the Committee was on implementation of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (document A/58/277), which gives an update on implementing the Strategy as guided by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Disaster Reduction and the inter-agency secretariat of the Strategy.
The report notes that the World Summit on Sustainable Development stressed the need to invest in disaster reduction in securing sustainable development, and observes that growing vulnerability to hazards is largely due to development activities. Global warming and disaster reduction are intimately linked, and coordination among the development, disaster risk management and climate communities is vital in reducing current and future climatic risks.
Member States and international organizations must ensure that development plans and poverty reduction strategies include disaster risk assessment and increase investments to reduce risk and vulnerability, the report urges. Natural and technological hazards, along with the increasing threat of HIV/AIDS, other epidemics and emergencies, must be tackled through team efforts by the international community if development goals are to be achieved.
The Second World Conference on Disaster Reduction will provide an opportunity for Member States and expert institutions to discuss and adopt a set of principles and substantive activities for 2005-2015, the report states. At its seventh meeting in April 2003, the Task Force welcomed and endorsed the offer made by Japan to host such a conference in Kobe. This year, the Second International Conference on Early Warning is expected to launch a programme to ease cooperation on early warning at the global and regional levels. The results of the Conference should be a vital component of the action programme to be launched by the Second World Conference on Disaster Reduction.
Also before the Committee was a report of the Secretary-General on the International Year of Mountains, 2002 (document A/58/134), which details activities during the Year at the national, regional and international levels. The national response to the Year was “tremendous”, with 78 national committees operating worldwide by December 2002. Activities generating awareness of the importance of mountains and the need to protect them included national seminars, concerts, expeditions, school competitions and nationwide television and radio broadcasts.
Regionally, efforts were made to set up research networks on sustainable mountain development and highland ecosystems in Africa, and to focus on links between ecotourism and conservation and sustainable development in Asia and the Pacific, the report says. Many nations in Europe concentrated on tourism and cultural heritage, while mountain biodiversity, mountain ecosystems and links between mountains and water were emphasized in Latin America and the Caribbean. Water management and mountain tourism were of key interest in the Near East and North Africa, and mountain culture and tourism in North America.
Globally, the report underlines the International Partnership for Sustainable Development in Mountain Regions formed at the World Summit on Sustainable Development, which focuses on reducing poverty and food security in mountain communities, and protecting the world’s fragile mountain ecosystems from threats to freshwater systems and biodiversity. It also draws attention to the Bishkek Mountain Platform, drawn up at the 2002 Bishkek Global Mountain Summit, which recommends concrete action for improving the livelihoods of mountain people, protecting mountain ecosystems, and using mountain resources more wisely.
The report makes suggestions to the General Assembly on how governments could continue to promote sustainable development worldwide. These include promoting mountain-disaggregated information and setting up databases, supporting capacity-building and education programmes to enhance awareness of good practices in sustainable mountain development, and encouraging donor and United Nations mechanisms, such as the GEF, as well as the private sector to invest in sustainable mountain development.
Also before the Committee was a report of the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme (document A/58/25, Supplement No. 25) detailing the activities of its Global Ministerial Environment Forum held at Nairobi in February.
A note of the Secretary-General submits the report of the Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity (document A/58/191), which outlines activities that have been carried out within the framework of the Convention since the previous report.
The report gives recommendations from three meetings that have taken place since the world Summit -- the open-ended Intersessional Meeting on the Multi-year Programme of Work of the Conference of the Parties up to 2010 and follow-up to the World Summit on Sustainable Development, held in March 2003; the eighth meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice, also held in March 2003; and the Meeting on 2010: The Global Biodiversity Challenge, held in May 2003.
Among other recommendations, the Intersessional Meeting suggested that such concerns as hot spots, ecological networks and corridors be considered by the
Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group on Protected Areas, the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice at its ninth meeting and the Conference of the Parties at its seventh meeting..In addition, it underlined the need to incorporate the World Summit decision on the international regime on access and benefit-sharing into the Convention process. Other key topics at the meeting were inland water ecosystems, marine and coastal biological diversity, marine and coastal protected areas, mariculture, and the conservation and sustainable use of deep seabed genetic resources beyond national jurisdiction.
The Meeting on 2010 was held in partnership with UNEP’s Conservation Monitoring Centre and UNDP. It aimed to lay down a framework for action to meet the target of reducing the current rate of biodiversity loss by the year 2010 and, noted that no commonly agreed set of parameters yet existed to measure how much biodiversity was being lost, stressing the urgent need for data on the rate of loss. It also recommended a significant increase in funding for activities aimed at meeting the 2010 target.
A note of the Secretary-General transmitted the report of the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change on the
outcome of the eighth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (document A/58/308).
The report states that the eighth session of the Conference, which took place at Delhi from 23 October to 1 November 2002, adopted the Delhi Ministerial Declaration on Climate Change and Sustainable Development. The Declaration stresses that risks linked to climate change must be tackled by integrating action on national sustainable development strategies in such key areas as water, energy, health, agriculture and biodiversity.
Emphasizing the need for urgent action to adapt to climate change, the Declaration promotes information-sharing among parties on activities to diminish its effects. In addition, it highlights the need for international cooperation in developing and disseminating innovative technologies, especially in the energy sector, through investment, market-oriented approaches, private-sector involvement and supportive public policies.
Introduction of Reports
JOKE WALLER-HUNTER, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), introduced her report (document A/58/308), saying she had expected the Kyoto Protocol to enter into force in 2003, but that had not yet occurred. A total of 119 parties had ratified the Protocol, including developed countries accounting for 44.2 per cent of CO2 emissions (55 per cent are required for the Protocol to enter into force). The Russian Federation was now key to the Protocol’s entry into force, which would occur 90 days after that country had ratified the Protocol.
Turning to the Clean Development Mechanism, she said it was well under way as a financial mechanism to help channel private-sector investment into emissions reduction projects in developing countries. Its Executive Board had developed operational activities, approved baseline and monitoring methodologies, as well as accreditation procedures for operational entities that would validate projects and certify emission reductions.
She also noted that the Conference of the Parties, in an effort to enhance collaboration between the Rio conventions -- the UNFCCC, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification and the UNEP Convention on Biological Diversity -- had set up a Joint Liaison Group, comprising members of the three conventions, which had identified major cross-cutting thematic areas for synergistic activities, including technology development and transfer, education and outreach, research and systematic observation.
HAMDALLAH ZEDAN, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity introduced his report (document A/58/191), saying that 187 States had signed the Convention and committed to improvements and work programmes in major biomes, from biodiversity of forests and agriculture to marine and coastal areas, inland waters and drylands. The Convention’s financial mechanism, the GEF, had channelled $1.6 billion to developing countries for biodiversity-related projects and leveraged another $1.6 billion through co-financing. There had been a major shift in society’s perception of biodiversity, which was now recognized as a crucial part of efforts to achieve sustainable development and poverty eradication.
CAROLYN MCASKIE, Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, introduced the Secretary-General’s report on implementation of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (document A/58/277), saying that more than 200 people on average were affected by natural disasters every year. Last year alone,
500 disasters had affected 600 million people at a cost of $55 billion in direct damages, mainly due to huge floods in Europe. During the first half of 2003, earthquakes in Algeria, China and Turkey; floods in Argentina, Bangladesh, China, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka; and heat waves in South Asia and Europe had claimed the lives of thousands of people and wreaked economic havoc worldwide. United Nations agencies and governments were increasingly using the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction as a guide. Regional disaster-reduction outreach programmes had increased information exchange and policy coherence among stakeholders, particularly in Africa.
WALTER SHEARER, Deputy Chief of the Energy and Transport Branch, Division for Sustainable Development in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, introduced the report on the promotion of new and renewable sources of energy, including the implementation of the World Solar Programme 1996-2005 (document A/58/164). He noted a significant increase since the Johannesburg Summit of concrete and extensive actions by various organizations at the national, regional and international levels to promote the use of renewable sources of energy.
FLORENCE CHENOWETH, Director of the Food and Agriculture (FAO) Liaison Office with the United Nations, introduced the report on the International Year of Mountains, 2002 (document A/58/134). She said the Year had been a tremendous success at the national, regional and international levels. A growing network of organizations and individuals now understood the necessity to protect mountain biodiversity, to create fair policies and laws for mountain people, and to implement strategies to support sustainable development in mountain regions. Many also now realized that mountains were the source of freshwater for half of humanity, and storehouses of genetic diversity that helped to feed the world. In addition, many were now aware of the threats facing mountain environments -- from global climate change to exploitative mining, unsustainable agricultural practices and urbanization.
ADNAN AMIN, Director of the New York Office of UNEP, introduced the report of the agency’s Governing Council (document A/58/25), saying its meeting had been the first major intergovernmental gathering following the Johannesburg Summit. It had focused primarily on implementation of the Summit’s goals of poverty eradication and sustainable development. During the meeting, the Council had adopted 24 decisions concerning early warning assessment and monitoring; strengthening UNEP’s scientific base; a global assessment of the marine environment; water issues, including regional sea and ocean programmes; chemicals and international chemicals management; and promotion of sustainable production and consumption patterns, governance and law.
The Council’s 2004 session, he said, would focus on water, assessing current supply, changing unsustainable consumption and development capacity and the international environmental governance process. Also on the agenda would be expanding membership and launching a test run for a new funding mechanism, voluntary contributions, strengthening UNEP’s scientific base and consolidating and strengthening its work in technology transfer and capacity-building.
HARRIET SCHMIDT, Director of the Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States, introduced the report on the implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, particularly in Africa (document A/58/158). She said that while the international community increasingly recognized the importance of the Convention in eradicating poverty and hunger, the necessary resources to implement national programmes based on the Convention’s principles had not been forthcoming. Development partners, particularly those with large technical and financial resources, were urged to step up their efforts.
Statements
MOHAMMED ARROUCHI (Morocco), speaking on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, said environmental degradation and the global spread of poverty were the greatest obstacles to sustainable development in the developing world. Since the entry into force of the Convention on desertification, 130 million hectares had been permanently lost and 30,000 people had starved to death. Despite solid international commitments to control desertification, it continued to worsen. Effective international monitoring was needed to ensure that efforts were not in vain.
He said UNEP’s work programme should be more action-oriented and focused on helping developing nations through sustainable capacity-building. Regarding environmental degradation in the occupied Palestinian territories, he called on the international community to commit resources and time for infrastructure reconstruction and sustainable management. He also called on parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity to take the necessary steps to implement its main objectives and for greater funding from the donor community for disaster prevention, management and assessment.
ANTONIO BERNARDINI (Italy), speaking on behalf of the European Union, said climate change and poverty eradication were the greatest challenges to environmental sustainability. In that regard, it was vitally important to ratify and implement the Kyoto Protocol as well as to provide international scientific and technological cooperation to develop the disaster prevention and mitigation capacity of nations, particularly the least developed countries and small island developing States. The European Union also supported the development of renewable energy sources as well as biological diversity and conservation.
He said the European Union was committed to strengthening international environmental governance as called for during the 2002 Cartagena Global Ministerial Environment Forum and endorsed by the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation. That process could lead to the upgrading of UNEP to a specialized agency with a broadly-based mandate on environmental matters.
Welcoming the funding increases for the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) and growing collaboration with international financial institutions such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, he urged
UN-HABITAT to forge more partnerships with the private sector, non-governmental organizations and local governments to improve the quality of life of slum dwellers and the provision of water and sanitation services to people worldwide.
WANG LING (China), affirming that climate change was a global issue to be addressed through international cooperation, called on countries to fulfil their obligations in accordance with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, based on genuine partnership. The developed countries bore historical and contemporary responsibilities that obligated them to take the lead in reducing and limiting greenhouse gas emissions. The entire issue of climate change should be addressed from the perspective of sustainable development.
She said that the development, promotion and use of technologies for new and renewable sources of energy should contribute to solving such urgent problems as poverty, pollution, increased demand and eventual depletion of fossil fuels. Since that pursuit was science- and technology-intensive, it was particularly important for the international community and especially the developed countries to provide financial and technical assistance to others. That was key to the spread of the new energy sources. China’s energy policy could be summed up thus: ensure energy security and optimize the energy ratio; increase energy efficiency; preserve the ecology; open up to the outside world and accelerate development of the western regions.
YURIY ISAKOV (Russian Federation) said that ensuring the sustainable use of biological diversity and the equitable distribution of benefits arising from the use of natural resources, including genetic resources, was a major priority in his country. The Russian Federation attached great importance to improving international cooperation under the auspices of the Convention on Biological Diversity to achieve the Johannesburg goal of significant reduction by 2010 of the current rate of biological diversity loss. In addition, the country had recently become a member of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification and supported the World Solar Programme. It considered the reduction of natural, environmental and technological disasters a vital element of sustainable development and supported the use of new and renewable sources of energy.
He said the Russian Federation was also committed to joint efforts to protect the global climate and prevent irreversible climate changes. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was essential in that respect. Russian President Vladimir Putin had recently stressed at the World Conference on Climate Change in Moscow that greenhouse gases emissions in the country had decreased by 32 per cent over the past decade, offsetting almost 40 per cent of the increases in the emissions from other countries. The Russian Government was currently examining the difficult problems relating to the Kyoto Protocol and considering the idea of ratifying it.
JOSÉ ANTONIO DOIG (Peru), speaking on behalf of the Rio Group, said efforts in his region had been devoted to diversifying and extending the use of new energies, including solar and biomass. That was the basis for sustainable development. Yet limitations meant that regional and international cooperation must be dedicated to strengthening the development of energy policies and infrastructure, as well as the adoption of a market focus involving the private sector to complement public policies of support.
Of significant concern to Peru, he said, was the increase in the intensity and frequency of natural disasters and the accompanying extremes in climate phenomena. Expressing support for a world conference on disasters, he called for a concrete action plan and the creation of an international regime to promote, safeguard and equitably share the benefits of genetic resources with regard to biological diversity.
Finally, he called for the strengthening of joint international cooperation to increase the capabilities of developing countries and the adoption of effective measures to ensure a clean environment and efficient technologies. The United Nations budget should finance the sessions of the bodies dealing with the conventions on desertification and climate change.
MARIA LUIZA RIBEIRO VIOTTI (Brazil) said a priority area for her country that needed more global effort was that of renewable energy, which constituted a considerable percentage of Brazil’s energy output. There was still great potential for expansion and the endogenous technology had already been developed for using the clean energy source of ethanol for fuel. Brazil would be hosting a regional conference on renewable energy in Brasilia on 29-30 October to coordinate the participation of countries in the International Conference on Renewable Energy to be held in Bonn next June.
Biodiversity was another priority area for Brazil, she said, calling for the negotiation of an international regime for benefit-sharing. As mandated by the World Summit, it should focus on the three intertwined objectives of conservation, sustainable use and equitable sharing. Once finalized, it would contribute to poverty eradication and sustainable development. Also, the issue of natural disasters and vulnerability must be addressed with an emphasis on prevention. That required resources and technical cooperation. Welcoming Japan’s offer to host a world conference on natural disasters, she said the main challenge was to integrate sustainable development into decision-making processes at all levels and to implement commitments made 10 years ago and reconfirmed at Johannesburg.
ADRIANA PULIDO SANTANA (Venezuela) said environmental protection was a top priority for her country as it was essential for sustainable development and poverty eradication. Venezuelan officials had incorporated sustainable development policies into the nation’s Constitution and broadened national regulations and policies to include more comprehensive provisions for food security, public health and a greater civil society role in decision-making.
She said greater cooperation and commitment were needed among the international community for the numerous global conventions on disaster reduction, biodiversity protection, desertification and renewable energy promotion. She also underscored the importance of scientific and technological cooperation and technology transfer to safeguard the conventions’ objectives, particularly as they related to the Millennium Development Goals.
