Bulgaria and Croatia
1
SEVENTH SESSION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OPEN WORKING GROUP ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
6-11 January 2014
Sustainable Consumption and Production
Key Notes on behalf of Bulgaria and Croatia
Mr. Co-Chair,
Excellences,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is an honor to present the statement on behalf of Bulgaria and my country, Croatia; sharing a seat in the Open Working Group for Sustainable Development Goals.
Allow us first to express the appreciation on dedicated work of our both Co-Chairs and their support to this Group which is helping us to make progress in a constructive manner. We thank dr. Weizsacher for his inspiring introductory words and we welcome the papers prepared by the UN Technical Support Team which give food for thought for our elaborations and discussions.
Mr. Co-Chair,
Today, more than ever before human activities worldwide seriously endanger life on the Earth. Race for faster development threatens the environment, which is reflected in climate change, biodiversity loss, water scarcity, energy shortages, food shortages, to name some; generating social inequalities that aggreviate poverty and result in economically unsustainable development that has already overstepped Planetary boundaries.
The Global Footprint Network estimates that we are using 40 percent more resources today than the Planet can supply and this will rise to 100 percent by the middle of the next decade. If we are to maintain progress in living standards, which we wish, it is clear that we need new business models, as well as innovation and new public policies. We need socially and environmentally responsible enterprises and consumers aware of their footprint to make a leap to a genuinely sustainable economy by restructuring the business sector and infrastructure, by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, by reducing exploitation of natural resources, by investing in energy efficiency and renewable energy, by decreasing waste generation, by sound management of chemicals, by life-cycle approach, by educating and raising awareness, by changing lifestyles and by taking responsibility for our choices. All this is integrated in SCP concept.
2
The Agenda 21 and the Johannesbourg Plan of Implementation recognized sustainable consumption and production as overarching objective of sustainable development and the world leaders reiterated their commitment to SCP policies by adopting the 10-Year Framework of Programmes at the Rio + 20 conference. SCP policies are the means to decouple the economic growth form resource consumption and environmental degradation, to leap-frog to a more resource-efficeint, profitable and cleaner growth and the means to reduce inequalities and secure social justice.
In that sense, Bulgaria and Croatia fully support the United Nations Secretary General's High Level Panel on Post-2015 Development Agenda findings that the MDGs fell short by 'not addressing the need to promote sustainable patterns of consumption and production' and we firmly believe in the 'rapid shift' towards SCP, that needs to be embedded among the priorities of the Post-2015 development agenda in order to make a transition towards Green economy and transformative shift needed for developing sustainably.
In Post-2015 framework, the SCP could be put forward as a cross-cutting objective across SDGs, supported by the targets of the multilateral environmental agreements in force, to create a forward-looking interlinkages between inherently complex, but complementary dimensions of sustainable development; whereby finally we could achieve the well-being of all people within the Earth's carrying capacity.
Thank you.
SEVENTH SESSION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OPEN WORKING GROUP ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
6-11 January 2014
Sustainable Consumption and Production
Key Notes on behalf of Bulgaria and Croatia
Mr. Co-Chair,
Excellences,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is an honor to present the statement on behalf of Bulgaria and my country, Croatia; sharing a seat in the Open Working Group for Sustainable Development Goals.
Allow us first to express the appreciation on dedicated work of our both Co-Chairs and their support to this Group which is helping us to make progress in a constructive manner. We thank dr. Weizsacher for his inspiring introductory words and we welcome the papers prepared by the UN Technical Support Team which give food for thought for our elaborations and discussions.
Mr. Co-Chair,
Today, more than ever before human activities worldwide seriously endanger life on the Earth. Race for faster development threatens the environment, which is reflected in climate change, biodiversity loss, water scarcity, energy shortages, food shortages, to name some; generating social inequalities that aggreviate poverty and result in economically unsustainable development that has already overstepped Planetary boundaries.
The Global Footprint Network estimates that we are using 40 percent more resources today than the Planet can supply and this will rise to 100 percent by the middle of the next decade. If we are to maintain progress in living standards, which we wish, it is clear that we need new business models, as well as innovation and new public policies. We need socially and environmentally responsible enterprises and consumers aware of their footprint to make a leap to a genuinely sustainable economy by restructuring the business sector and infrastructure, by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, by reducing exploitation of natural resources, by investing in energy efficiency and renewable energy, by decreasing waste generation, by sound management of chemicals, by life-cycle approach, by educating and raising awareness, by changing lifestyles and by taking responsibility for our choices. All this is integrated in SCP concept.
2
The Agenda 21 and the Johannesbourg Plan of Implementation recognized sustainable consumption and production as overarching objective of sustainable development and the world leaders reiterated their commitment to SCP policies by adopting the 10-Year Framework of Programmes at the Rio + 20 conference. SCP policies are the means to decouple the economic growth form resource consumption and environmental degradation, to leap-frog to a more resource-efficeint, profitable and cleaner growth and the means to reduce inequalities and secure social justice.
In that sense, Bulgaria and Croatia fully support the United Nations Secretary General's High Level Panel on Post-2015 Development Agenda findings that the MDGs fell short by 'not addressing the need to promote sustainable patterns of consumption and production' and we firmly believe in the 'rapid shift' towards SCP, that needs to be embedded among the priorities of the Post-2015 development agenda in order to make a transition towards Green economy and transformative shift needed for developing sustainably.
In Post-2015 framework, the SCP could be put forward as a cross-cutting objective across SDGs, supported by the targets of the multilateral environmental agreements in force, to create a forward-looking interlinkages between inherently complex, but complementary dimensions of sustainable development; whereby finally we could achieve the well-being of all people within the Earth's carrying capacity.
Thank you.