ECA
ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA
COMMISSION ECONOMIQUE POUR L'AFRIQUE
14th SESSION OF THE COMMISSION ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
REGIONAL SESSION ON AFRICA
02 May 2006
Introductory Remarks
by
Josue Dione
Director, Sustainable Development Division (SDD)
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)
Mr Chairman,
Distinguished Participants,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I would like, on behalf of Mr . Abdulie Janneh, Executive Secretary of the Economic
Commission for Africa, to thank you for attending this important session, which focuses on
regional discussions of the implementation of the outcomes of the World Summit on
Sustainable Development in Africa, for the thematic areas of energy for sustainable
development, industrial development, climate change, and air/atmosphere pollution .
Since the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, African
governments, regional and sub-regional institutions and other stakeholders have pursued a
wide range of strategies and activities aimed at implementing the global commitments
towards attaining sustainable development. For the cluster of thematic issues at hand, the
Chair of the Africa Regional Implementation Meeting (RIM) will give you a report of the
achievements, constraints/barriers, challenges, opportunities, lessons learnt and the way
forward . For my part, I wish to thank our partner agencies and programs, especially UNEP
and UNIDO, for their effective technical contribution to the regional review and limit my
remarks to highlighting just a few points .
Distinguished Participants,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Socio-economic development in African countries is critically impaired by their limited
production and consumption of modern energy and extreme vulnerability to climate change,
as well as the inadequate contribution of the industrial sector to growth and environmental
sustainability .
First, the economies of most African countries largely depend on natural resource-based
sectors such as agriculture, forestry, fisheries and tourism, which are particularly vulnerable
to climate change . Climate change is expected to result in increase in droughts, floods and
other extreme weather events adding to the stress on water resources, food security, health,
infrastructure, and thus overall development . Most of African communities are vulnerable to
these impacts mainly because of high poverty levels, heavy reliance on rain-fed agriculture,
limited access to technology and cultural practices .
Second, we know that industrialization is crucial for overall development in Africa . Yet, by
all industry-related indicators, the continent lags behind other developing regions in industrial
performance . For instance, Africa's meagre share of world manufacturing output declined
from 0.9% to 0 .8% over the last two decades . The contribution of manufacturing value added
to GDP in 2004 ranged from a high of about 20% in Mauritius to as low as 0 .5% in Djibouti
and an average of only 9% .
But the quest for industrial development carries with it several threats to the environment,
which require explicit attention on the road to sustainable development in the region . The
main concerns here relate to air emissions, discharge of effluents, use of non-renewable
material and energy resources as well as toxic substances, hazardous waste, non-recyclable
products, and pressures on biodiversity. Any strategy aimed at fostering environmentally
sustainable industrialization in Africa must focus on structural issues, which relate, among
others, to building domestic capacity and strengthening domestic factor markets and supply
of public goods. Sustainability will require a shift from current production processes to less
polluting and resource-wasting industries and production processes .
Third, the key air pollutant sources in the region vary among countries, but include, in
general terms, the industrial sector (especially thermal power stations, cement factories and
chemical industries), the transport sector, and domestic fuel use and waste burning .
Emissions from these sources have negative impacts on human health, the ecosystems on
which livelihoods depend, materials and infrastructure, climate change and biodiversity .
Fourth, despite relatively important energy resources, Africa generates only 3 .1 % of the
world electricity, less than any other region of the world . This, share has not changed for the
last 10 years and most analysts forecast that this will remain the case for the next 15 years,
although production of fuels used for electricity will continue to grow steadily . Efforts
undertaken by various actors must be pursued to improve the institutional, legal and
regulatory environments in order to attract the private sector and more investors in energy
production and distribution . In so doing, there is also a need to promote environmentally safe
energy technologies, and to increase access to modern energy for the rural and urban poor .
Mr Chairman,
Distinguished Participants,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
To conclude, we must reiterate that overall success in meeting the objectives of sustainable
development in Africa will, to a large extent, depend on good governance within each
country and at the international level, transparency in the financial, monetary and trading
systems, as well as the fulfilment by the international community of the implementation
commitments made in Rio, Monterrey and Johannesburg.
Thank you.
COMMISSION ECONOMIQUE POUR L'AFRIQUE
14th SESSION OF THE COMMISSION ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
REGIONAL SESSION ON AFRICA
02 May 2006
Introductory Remarks
by
Josue Dione
Director, Sustainable Development Division (SDD)
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)
Mr Chairman,
Distinguished Participants,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I would like, on behalf of Mr . Abdulie Janneh, Executive Secretary of the Economic
Commission for Africa, to thank you for attending this important session, which focuses on
regional discussions of the implementation of the outcomes of the World Summit on
Sustainable Development in Africa, for the thematic areas of energy for sustainable
development, industrial development, climate change, and air/atmosphere pollution .
Since the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, African
governments, regional and sub-regional institutions and other stakeholders have pursued a
wide range of strategies and activities aimed at implementing the global commitments
towards attaining sustainable development. For the cluster of thematic issues at hand, the
Chair of the Africa Regional Implementation Meeting (RIM) will give you a report of the
achievements, constraints/barriers, challenges, opportunities, lessons learnt and the way
forward . For my part, I wish to thank our partner agencies and programs, especially UNEP
and UNIDO, for their effective technical contribution to the regional review and limit my
remarks to highlighting just a few points .
Distinguished Participants,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Socio-economic development in African countries is critically impaired by their limited
production and consumption of modern energy and extreme vulnerability to climate change,
as well as the inadequate contribution of the industrial sector to growth and environmental
sustainability .
First, the economies of most African countries largely depend on natural resource-based
sectors such as agriculture, forestry, fisheries and tourism, which are particularly vulnerable
to climate change . Climate change is expected to result in increase in droughts, floods and
other extreme weather events adding to the stress on water resources, food security, health,
infrastructure, and thus overall development . Most of African communities are vulnerable to
these impacts mainly because of high poverty levels, heavy reliance on rain-fed agriculture,
limited access to technology and cultural practices .
Second, we know that industrialization is crucial for overall development in Africa . Yet, by
all industry-related indicators, the continent lags behind other developing regions in industrial
performance . For instance, Africa's meagre share of world manufacturing output declined
from 0.9% to 0 .8% over the last two decades . The contribution of manufacturing value added
to GDP in 2004 ranged from a high of about 20% in Mauritius to as low as 0 .5% in Djibouti
and an average of only 9% .
But the quest for industrial development carries with it several threats to the environment,
which require explicit attention on the road to sustainable development in the region . The
main concerns here relate to air emissions, discharge of effluents, use of non-renewable
material and energy resources as well as toxic substances, hazardous waste, non-recyclable
products, and pressures on biodiversity. Any strategy aimed at fostering environmentally
sustainable industrialization in Africa must focus on structural issues, which relate, among
others, to building domestic capacity and strengthening domestic factor markets and supply
of public goods. Sustainability will require a shift from current production processes to less
polluting and resource-wasting industries and production processes .
Third, the key air pollutant sources in the region vary among countries, but include, in
general terms, the industrial sector (especially thermal power stations, cement factories and
chemical industries), the transport sector, and domestic fuel use and waste burning .
Emissions from these sources have negative impacts on human health, the ecosystems on
which livelihoods depend, materials and infrastructure, climate change and biodiversity .
Fourth, despite relatively important energy resources, Africa generates only 3 .1 % of the
world electricity, less than any other region of the world . This, share has not changed for the
last 10 years and most analysts forecast that this will remain the case for the next 15 years,
although production of fuels used for electricity will continue to grow steadily . Efforts
undertaken by various actors must be pursued to improve the institutional, legal and
regulatory environments in order to attract the private sector and more investors in energy
production and distribution . In so doing, there is also a need to promote environmentally safe
energy technologies, and to increase access to modern energy for the rural and urban poor .
Mr Chairman,
Distinguished Participants,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
To conclude, we must reiterate that overall success in meeting the objectives of sustainable
development in Africa will, to a large extent, depend on good governance within each
country and at the international level, transparency in the financial, monetary and trading
systems, as well as the fulfilment by the international community of the implementation
commitments made in Rio, Monterrey and Johannesburg.
Thank you.
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