STATEMENT BY
THE HON. FREUNDEL J. STUART, Q.C., M.P.
PRIME MINISTER OF BARBADOS
TO THE
UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE
ON
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL
ON
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 20, 2012
Madam President,
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Heads of State and Government
Heads of Delegations
Distinguished delegates
Permit me at the outset to thank you, the Government
and People of Brazil and the city of Rio de Janeiro for the
hospitality and warm welcome extended to my delegation
and to me.
Some 40 years ago at Stockholm we were warned about
our stewardship of this planet. Two decades later, in this
great city of Rio de Janeiro, with the provisions of the
Stockholm Declaration largely unfulfilled and the dangers
to the environment rapidly escalating, we met again, and
decided on an ambitious plan aimed at finding a balance
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between fulfilling the needs of the living, while meeting
our obligations to future generations.
While many of the noble ideals enshrined in Agenda 21
have not been sufficiently advanced, it is nevertheless
beyond dispute that the concept of sustainable
development, and its definition – an inter-related and
mutually reinforcing relationship between nature, the
society, and the economy - emerged in 1992 as a new
paradigm for development.
This represented a major turning point for the
international community as we collectively agreed that it
was impossible to address effectively the problem of
environmental degradation without at the same time
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resolving the problems of social and economic
development and in particular of poverty.
Back then, as now, the world was undergoing a period of
uncertainty, transformation and turmoil. We were just
beginning to grapple with the political and economic
consequences which flowed from the end of Cold War
hostilities. Yet we recognized that current and future
generations deserved a response commensurate with the
clear and persistent dangers confronting humanity.
Our fears did not restrain our ambitions, but rather,
strengthened our resolve. We saw those tumultuous
times and a changing world order as an opportunity to
change the course of history, and in the words of Maurice
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Strong take “the first steps on a new pathway to our
common future.”
Today our world is still a long way from developing
sustainably and we have strayed from the pathway we set
two decades ago. In addition, we are presently
undergoing an extraordinary and unprecedented period of
turbulence.
The intersection of sovereign debt, jobs and growth crises
places us on the brink of a prolonged global economic
downturn. Discontent around the world has triggered a
wave of political change with far-reaching consequences
for the maintenance of international peace and security.
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Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and
severe, and climate change, recognized as a potential
threat in 1992, is now a current and devastating reality.
Further, chronic development challenges including
poverty, water scarcity, food insecurity, and health issues
remain unresolved, or have worsened in the past two
decades.
Despite the magnitude and scope of these challenges the
opportunity is ripe to move beyond incrementalism to real
systemic change and return to the pathway defined in
1992. John F Kennedy once observed and I quote " Our
problems are man-made, therefore they may be solved by
man. And man can be as big as he wants. No problem
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of human destiny is beyond human beings”. The current
crises and the collapse of confidence in the existing
development model have opened the door for us to
embrace fully the sustainable development paradigm.
It is true that we’ve been slow to heed the warnings from
40 years ago or stay on the pathway of sustainability we
defined in 1992. It is nevertheless my considered view
that the convening of this Conference can serve as an
important moment to usher in a new era of shared
responsibility, while renewing our collective determination
to act. We must seize this historic opportunity to ensure
that significant progress is made and not allow old or new
divisions, or finger-pointing, to block progress.
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It would be easy for me to catalogue the broken and
unfulfilled promises made by our development partners.
But, I did not come to Rio to remind others of the
commitments to which they have failed to adhere, or to
tell them what they should be doing. I am here to tell the
world what Barbados has done, is doing, and will do to
ensure a safe and secure future for current and future
generations.
The track record of Barbados on sustainable development
is second to none. My Government has committed to
transform Barbados into the most advanced green
economy in the Latin American and Caribbean region. In
pursuing this vision, we have undertaken a comprehensive
study on the policy implications and opportunities of this
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transition. This study was conducted through an inclusive,
open, multi-stakeholder process involving members of civil
society, the private sector and trade unions. We benefited
also from the invaluable support of the University of the
West Indies and the United Nations Environment
Programme.
In March this year I received the final version of the
Barbados Green Economy Scoping Study which outlines a
clear roadmap and governance framework to enable our
transition to a Green Economy. We are convinced that
this pathway offers a uniquely integrative and multi-
faceted approach to achieving the goal of sustainable
development.
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Barbados has defined the Green Economy as “An
integrated production, distribution, consumption and
waste assimilation system that, at its core, reflects the
fragility of our small island eco-systems”. We are
prepared to share our experiences with other developing
countries, especially small island developing states (SIDS)
and will utilize every opportunity to do so.
Madam President,
From 7th to 8th May this year Barbados, in collaboration
with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
hosted a High-Level Conference under the theme
“Achieving Sustainable Energy for All in SIDS –
Challenges, Opportunities, Commitments”. That meeting
of Leaders and Ministers from SIDS adopted the Barbados
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Declaration, which outlines an ambitious and action-
oriented agenda for achieving the goal of sustainable
energy for all in SIDS.
Some twenty-two (22) SIDS agreed to inscribe, in an
Annex to this Declaration, a range of commitments in the
energy sector. This represents a concrete expression of
our determination to promote transformational activities in
the areas of renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy
access and low carbon development. No other group of
countries has collectively expressed such a high level of
ambition on energy in any regional or international forum.
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For its part, Barbados has committed to increasing by 29
percent the share of renewable energy in the energy mix
and, by the year 2029, to improving by 22 percent its
efficiency in the use of energy.
Taken together, these measures will reduce emissions of
carbon dioxide by four and half million tons as well as
realize significant savings of foreign exchange.
I should like to commend the Governments of Australia,
Denmark, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom
for pledging to support SIDS in the implementation of our
ambitious commitments. We urge other development
partners to join us on this journey to ensure our energy
independence.
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Barbados has thrown its full and unconditional support
behind the UN Secretary-General’s Sustainable Energy for
All Initiative. We share fully his ambition of achieving the
energy access, renewable energy and energy efficiency
objectives in that Initiative.
Madam President,
In my capacity as a member of the UN Secretary-General’s
Panel on Global Sustainability, I championed the
perspective that any new vision for global sustainability
must encompass “the blue economy” or the conservation
and sustainable management of marine and ocean
resources.
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Within the Caribbean we have recognized that an
integrated management approach that involves all
relevant stakeholders provides us with the best option for
protecting the Caribbean Sea, our most valuable shared
resource. Barbados has led the regional effort in the
Association of Caribbean States to create the Caribbean
Sea Commission. The Commission represents an oceans
governance framework to promote cooperation towards
effective management of the Caribbean Sea area.
Barbados calls on the international community to support
this initiative, including the future designation of the
Caribbean Sea by the General Assembly as a special area
in the context of sustainable development.
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Madame President,
At the first Rio Conference in 1992, the international
community recognized that, given our unique and
particular vulnerabilities, Small Island Developing States
(SIDS) should be designated as a special case for
development and the environment. Two years later,
Barbados had the honour of hosting the First Global
Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small
Island Developing States. That Conference represented
the first attempt at translating the Rio outcomes into a
specific and operational Action Plan for a particular
category of countries. I consider that the Barbados
Programme of Action (BPOA) remains the essential
blueprint for the sustainability of SIDS.
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Barbados welcomes the decision of this Conference to
convene in 2014, the 3rd International Conference on
SIDS. The international community can be assured that
we will do our part to ensure the success of the Barbados
+ 20 Conference.
Madam President,
Barbados supports the call made by the Global
Sustainability Panel to embrace sustainable development
in a fresh and operational way and to bring the
sustainable development paradigm into the mainstream of
the global economic debate. We must find new ways,
new tools and new mechanisms to achieve the principles
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and objectives of sustainable development. I believe that
the outcome we will adopt seeks to do that.
I am pleased that we have decided to launch a process to
develop a set of global sustainable development goals as
tools for pursuing focused and coherent action on
sustainable development. These goals must be science-
driven and evidence-based and Barbados supports a
robust technical approach to define and develop them.
We also believe that it is essential that this new
framework build on the successes and lessons learnt from
the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) and incorporate areas such as oceans, food
security, social inclusion and energy. Barbados intends to
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play an active role in this new phase of work on the SDGs
to ensure that the perspective of SIDS is incorporated in
this emerging global framework.
Barbados supports also the work to be undertaken on
developing broader measures of progress to complement
Gross Domestic Product (GDP), given the, at present,
inherent limitations of that concept.
Madam President,
Rio+20 did not achieve a new treaty, a new organization
or a new set of financial commitments, as we did two
decades ago. I am not convinced, however, that
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outcomes such as these are always required as indicia of
success.
I believe that Rio +20 will be remembered as that unique
moment in time when we decided not to yield to our
fears, but rather to transform this present period of global
uncertainty and volatility into a major opportunity to set
new agenda, which can then be developed more fully over
the next few years.
President John F. Kennedy said also that “Man's reason
and spirit have often solved the seemingly unsolvable”.
The participation in this Conference of over 130 Heads of
State and Government inspires such hope. I believe that
if implemented, the outcome document that we will adopt
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later this week will place us on the pathway on which we
initially embarked, in Rio de Janeiro, this beautiful city.
Thank you.
