15th Session of the UN Commmission on Sustainable
Development
EU Closing Statement High Level Segment, May 11th, 2007
Sigmar Gabriel, Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature
Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Germany, President of the
Environment Council of the EU
Mr. Chairman, Ministers/Colleagues, dear Delegates, Ladies and
Gentlemen,
I am taking the floor on behalf of the EU and its 27 member states.
From the outset, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all
ministers and all partners in these negotiations for their hard work
during the last days.
Mr. Chairman,
This is not only the end of a two-week session but the end of a two-year
implementation cycle that was to deal with major challenges of our time.
The EU welcomes the strong statements and the personal commitment
expressed by the Secretary General of the UN and Gro Harlem
Brundtland during the opening plenary. The world outside expects the
UN to tackle energy for sustainable development. The challenges posed
by climate change, energy security, and air pollution are now seen more
clearly than five years ago. They require strengthened and more
ambitious international policy commitments.
We acknowledge the sincere efforts of most negotiating partners to find
common ground and advance sustainable development.
And of course there is nothing fundamentally wrong in the draft decision
text submitted by the chair. But unfortunately the text does not offer
any solution to the pressing challenges I just mentioned. We think that
by agreeing to this text we would send the wrong signal to the world.
We can only regret that the outcome of this session of the CSD falls
short of our expectations and even threatens the commitments taken by
the international community in Johannesburg, not even five years ago. It
does neither meet the challenges nor the expectations of the outside
world, and therefore the EU has to reject this tabled text.
In the face of the challenges confronting us, the EU came to New York
with an ambitious agenda. We were also ready to find compromise. Not
all did seem ready or willing to take this path yet.
However, looking forward from here we believe it is critical for us to find
ways to ensure that we don?t arrive at this situation again, but to ensure
that future CSD cycles achieve a progressive outcome as is necessary for
pursuing our common goal of sustainable development. Let me stress
this, the EU remains convinced that global challenges can only be
addressed through multilateral cooperation.
To conclude, Mr. Chairman, let us not forget that the CSD has a mandate
to be the high level commission on sustainable development within the
UN system. Sustainable development is far too important to run the risk
of failure. We must improve the way decisions are made in this forum.
The very relevance of this commission is at stake.
We are convinced that we can work differently and ensure much more
ambitious and progressive outcomes at future CSD cycles. In particular,
we very much hope that the 2008/2009 implementation cycle of the CSD
will more effectively deliver results that are meaningful to people
throughout the world, especially the poor. Let me assure you that the EU
will continue to engage constructively in this endeavour.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
