Institutional Framework for Sustainable Development
Statement by the delegation of Egypt
before the First Session of the Preparatory Committee of Rio+20, New York, May 19th 2010
delivered by Mootaz Ahmadein Khalil, Deputy Assistant Foreign Minister
Egypt associates itself with the statement made yesterday by the distinguished representative of
Yemen on behalf of the Group of the 77 and would like to add the following comments:
One of the main principles of good governance is to make the best and most efficient use of
existing resources and structures. This includes doing so in a balanced manner.
The report of the Secretary General recognizes that “the test for sustainable development lies in
the extent to which its three components are integrated or brought together”, and “that one
major goal for the institutional reform is to clarify that sustainable development is not restricted
to the environment pillar” (paragraph 69). The report recognizes as well that “the rate of
institutional growth in the environmental pillar is faster than the other two, namely the
economic and social pillars” (paragraph 62). Yet, when it comes to sustainable development
governance at the international level, the same report focuses on the environmental pillar alone
in section C entitled International Environmental Governance and Governance of the Economic
and Social Pillars of Sustainable development. This methodology reflects, and deepens, the
current imbalance between the three pillars. Hearing the statements made yesterday and this
morning, I felt we were at the UNEP Governing Council or the High Level Group on IEG. This
imbalance has to be redressed. Rio + 20 should address the individual governance
arrangements of the three pillars in an integrated and balanced manner, not restrict itself to only
one of them.
This brings me to the questions raised for this session:
1-What are the changes that are needed to strengthen the global institutional architecture of
sustainable development?
The day before yesterday the issue of the imbalance between developed and developing
countries in the global economic governance, was raised. Ambassador Park mentioned that
Korea intends to deal with that at the G-20 summit next November. Egypt reaffirmed that this
has to be addressed at the United Nations level as well, as it is the only multilateral forum
where all parties stand on an equal footing. We believe that Rio+20 is an opportunity to restore
this deficit.
Mr. Co-Chair, the main reason for the gap in implementation and the need for reform is the
lack of sufficient means of implementation. This gap will not be bridged unless we ensure a
stable, predictable and adequate financial basis for the international cooperation in the field of
sustainable development and unless we demonstrate the necessary political will.
On the IEG, Egypt is looking forward to transform UNEP into a successful action oriented
implementation programme with sufficient resources, comparable to the UNDP, not into a
normative, enforcement oriented world organization comparable to the WTO.
2-Egypt fully supports effective synergies between existing instruments and processes
addressing the three pillars of sustainable development, not only one of them. Yet synergies
should be achieved in an inclusive and transparent manner that respects the differences in the
membership and mandates of the different instruments in question.
3-On the actions required to build stronger bridges between the three pillars of sustainable
development, I’ll focus on the international level. Strengthening inter-agency coordination is a
must. A clear distribution of work between the different instruments and coordination bodies
might help as well to avoid unnecessary and unproductive turf battles, provided there is enough
flexibility to allow for the participation of all relevant institutions and organizations (or what I
would call all institutional stakeholders).
Changing names or institutional architectures might not necessarily be very effective. We have
to realize that the same countries sit in the different organizations that address sustainable
development. Change is not going to happen unless the same countries and representatives
display a strengthened political will that is action oriented.
In short, we expect the following from the United Nations Conference on Sustainable
Development:
1- Addressing the current imbalance at the global economic governance level.
2-Restoring the institutional balance between the three pillars.
3-Strengthening implementation on all three pillars.
4-Providing a strong and predictable financial basis for action.
5-Developing an empowering / supportive approach towards developing countries, and an
effective compliance / enforcement approach towards developed countries; that corresponds to
the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities.
To conclude, I would like to stress that the institutional reform should help developing
countries achieve the goals of sustainable development, by ensuring access to new and
additional financial and technological resources. It should not lead by any means to new and
additional burdens on developing countries.
Thank you for your attention.
