UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY 54th SESSION
Second Committee - Item 100:
Environment and Sustainable Development (Implementation of Agenda 21)
Statement by the Hon Geoff Prosser MP
for the Australian Delegation
22 October 1999
Mr Chairman,
My delegation welcomes the opportunity to address the Second Committee on the important issue of Environment and Sustainable Development.
In 2002, the international community will again undertake a critical review of progress made since Rio and Agenda 21. A key to a purposeful Rio + 10 outcome lies in the international community's resolve to continue taking steps to ensure that institutional mechanisms dealing with global environment issues are effective and focused. I would like to highlight a number of steps which Australia believes could contribute to this.
Mr Chairman,
The seventh Commission on Sustainable Development generated some important outcomes in the areas of oceans, tourism and sustainable consumption and production patterns. Australia welcomes in particular the CSD7 recommendation to establish an informal consultative group on oceans, which is currently under consideration by the General Assembly. We believe an endorsement of this recommendation by the General Assembly will be a valuable contribution towards achieving a more integrated, and thereby more effective, sustainable management of the world's oceans and coastal areas.
The eighth Commission on Sustainable Development, which will be held in April-May next year, again presents an amalgam of key themes of great importance to Australia - namely, the integrated planning and management of land resources; agriculture; and financial resources, trade and investment and economic growth. As these are currently key issues of focus for the international community across various fora, it is most timely and relevant for the Commission to highlight these themes within the context of sustainable development.
As an intersessional activity for CSD8, from 2-5 March next year, Australia will host an international conference and exhibition in Melbourne, International Landcare 2000. This conference will provide an opportunity to explore how communities, agencies, business and governments around the world are working together to address issues including sustainable agriculture, sustainable communities, biodiversity and greenhouse. Proceedings will be fed into the CSD8 process. We encourage the broadest possible participation in the International Landcare 2000 conference. (For more information on this conference please contact our website at www.nre.vic.gov.au/confflandcare2000).
One of the key challenges for CSD8 will be to support the development of national environmental and trade policies that are mutually supportive in favour of sustainable development. There are many areas where the linkages between economic activities, trade and the environment are still not adequately understood. However, the seriousness and severity of many environmental, developmental and economic problems point to the urgent need for early action to help ensure more positive synergies between economic activities and environmental protection.
An important opportunity for exploration of positive synergies between environment and trade will be provided at the forthcoming WTO ministerial meeting in Seattle. In Australia's view, a key priority in future trade negotiations should be reform of trade distortions that also have adverse environmental impacts, including subsidies in the agriculture and fisheries sectors. Further trade liberalisation, coupled with complementary environment policy reform, can deliver economic, environmental and developmental dividends - a win-win-win outcome.
Mr Chairman,
Australia welcomes the establishment of an annual Ministerial level forum to discuss environment policy issues of global concern under the UNEP umbrella. In our view, the establishment of such a forum is well over due. It will be important that members of UNEP take advantage of this opportunity and use this forum to discuss topical issues and make consensus conclusions that will help drive national and regional environment policy decisions.
The Global Environmental Outlook 2000 report released by UNEP in September makes it clear that urgent action and consensus is urgently needed before irreparable environmental degradation occurs that will further impact on our living standards and those of our children. The challenge is again laid down, as it was at Rio +5, for conceded and integrated action by the global community to cease, mitigate and reverse the decline in the earth's resources that will inevitably impact on all of us.
It will be important that the first meetings of the Ministerial forums are well planned and produce discussions of issues and conclusions, not just statements from national governments. There will be considerable interest in how these forums are constituted from Australia and no doubt other national governments, as a marker of UN, and in particular, UNEP reform.
Thank you Mr Chairman