Mr. Chairman,
I have the honour to make this statement on behalf of the countries
members of the Rio Group on agenda item 95
entitled "Environment and sustainable development".
Mr. Chairman,
The item on the environment which has been allocated to the Second
Committee covers issues that are of prime
importance to the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. In that
connection, I wish to refer briefly to some
of these issues which without doubt will occupy our attention over the
next few days.
Firstly, the Rio Group wishes to reaffirm its support for the principles
of sustainable development agreed upon in
Agenda 21 and in the Rio Declaration of Principles, in particular, the
principle of shared but differentiated
responsibilities.
Our region, as one of the regions of the world with the richest biodiversity,
has been making tremendous efforts at
the regional, subregional and national levels to protect and preserve
its environment and to achieve an adequate
balance between the economic, social and environmental variables, in
the search for genuinely sustainable
development. In some cases, we have had very encouraging results, while
in others the results have been less
satisfactory.
Indeed, despite the positive economic and social indicators achieved
in some areas, the environment of our region
continues to be threatened by high indices of poverty, by demographic
pressures, by a process of urbanization
which is sometimes disordered and with a direct impact on the environment,
by natural disasters, and by some
productive processes by which we seek to develop our export sector in
order to achieve a more effective
insertion for our region in the process of globalization.
Mr. Chairman,
Rio + 10. The Rio Group believes that the commitments undertaken by
the international community for the
conservation and protection of the environment and for sustainable development
at the 1992 Rio Conference and
the subsequent review Conference in 1997 are still valid and pending
implementation.
In this regard, we consider that the next 10-year review of the United
Nations Conference on Environment and
Development will provide a suitable opportunity to mobilize the political
support of the international community for
the Rio agreements and commitments, to evaluate the status of their
implementation and to reaffirm the concept of
sustainable development. Agenda 21 must not be renegotiated.
We believe that Rio + 10 should have a pro-active and action-oriented
agenda that includes, inter alia, a
comprehensive and detailed analysis of such cross-cutting issues as
financial resources and the transfer of
technology.
The delegations of the Rio Group are ready to work on the negotiation
of a consensus resolution to give impetus
to the preparatory process for this important event.
Mr. Chairman,
Our Heads of State and Government meeting in Cartagena last June underscored
in their Declaration the
importance of sustainable development. I now wish to highlight some
aspects which we consider to be of crucial
importance for achieving that goal:
Transfer of technology. The Rio Group reaffirms the urgent need to
incorporate environmentally appropriate
technologies and to develop systems for sustainable production. The
countries of the Rio Group are working to
strengthen our capacities in the area of science and technology. We
are also promoting concrete initiatives to
promote closer international cooperation, including initiatives to facilitate
the transfer of technology.
Trade and environment. At the same time, the Rio Group recognizes
that the increase in trade flows and
protection of the environment are complementary objectives to contribute
to the achievement of sustainable
development. In that connection, we are opposed to the adoption of unilateral
measures which, under the pretext
of concern for the environment, constitute in effect unjustified restrictions
on trade. We also reject the adoption of
arbitrary and unilateral measures in contravention of the multilateral
trading system, based on labour
considerations that restrict the access of our products to other markets.
Climate change. With respect to climate change, we call upon the developed
countries to accept the targets for
the reduction of greenhouse gases by ratifying the Kyoto Protocol before
2002. In that regard, we attach
particular importance to the Sixth Conference of the Parties to the
United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change, to be held at The Hague in November 2000, and stress
the need to honour the commitments
undertaken in the "Buenos Aires Plan of Action". In particular,
the need for the early regulation of the
implementation mechanisms under the Kyoto Protocol, especially the Clean
Development Mechanism.
The Rio Group is aware of the threat which global climate change represents
for present and future generations
and recognizes the importance of careful regulation of the flexibility
mechanisms that are part of the Kyoto
Protocol. Such regulation must preserve the integrity of the Convention
on Climate Change and it is for that
reason that we oppose any initiative that runs counter to this objective.
The Rio Group expresses its hope for the success of the Hague Conference
and the desire of our region to work
and cooperate in order to achieve results satisfactory to all parties.
Mr. Chairman,
Ozone layer. The Rio Group expresses its deep concern on the results
of recent research which show an
unprecedented enlargement of the ozone layer over the Antarctic, 19
times bigger than the level registered in
1981, reaching, for the first time, cities of South America. In this
sense, we call upon States to adopt the
necessary measures to fulfil the commitments of the Montreal Protocol
and its Amendments, in particular, the
Fourth Amendment of Beijing, regarding the Ozone-depleting Substances.
We also call upon States to provide
adequate resources to the Multilateral Fund of the Protocol in order
to support countries, in particular, the
vulnerable ones.
Biosafety. The Rio Group welcomes the Cartagena Biosafety Protocol
adopted within the framework of the
Convention on Biological Diversity. We invite those countries that have
yet not done so, to sign the Protocol and
to comply with the necessary arrangements to allow its prompt entry
into force. The Rio Group also wishes to
highlight the need to promote international co-operation in the area
of capacity building which is essential for
developing countries to the implementation of the Protocol.
Forests. The Rio Group welcomes the recent adoption by ECOSOC of the
United Nations Forum on Forests.
We have always believed that a mechanism such as the one that has been
adopted will contribute to the
conservation and sustainable use of all types of forests. In that connection,
we will be ready to take an active part
in the discussions that will take place within the UNFF.
Desertification. The Rio Group views with great concern the dwindling
resources that the financing mechanism of
the Convention has provided for the region. This Convention is at the
same time the most important of the
Conventions adopted at Rio and the one that enjoys the least international
support. In this regard, we wish to
stress the importance for our Group of support for the attainment of
the goals and adoption of programmes to
promote the implementation of the Convention in the region.
El Niño Phenomenon. For the Rio Group, the adoption of a long
term international strategy to reduce the impact
of the El Niño Phenomenon has been a priority. We support the
draft resolution which will be presented on behalf
of the Group of 77 and China to promote the process of elaboration of
an international strategy to prevent the
effects of such a phenomenon. We also support the establishment of the
International Center for the Study of the
El Niño Phenomenon in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and we urge the international
community to provide the necessary
assistance to this project.
In conclusion, the Rio Group wishes to underscore the importance of
strengthening international cooperation in all
its forms in order to achieve genuine sustainable development. It is
evident that the problems of development and
its relationship to the environment demand joint action by the entire
international community. The United Nations,
its agencies, funds and programmes, together with the various intergovernmental
organs and civil society are called
upon to play a defining role in the preservation and conservation of
the environment and in promoting sustainable
development.
Thank you.
