European Union
Ireland 2004 Presidency of the European Union
Check against delivery
CSD 12
High Level Segment, 28 th April, 2004, 11 .30 - 1 .00
Meeting Targets, Goals and Timetables - Key Elements for Sustainable
Development.
Mr. Chairman,
I have the honourl to speak on behalf of the European Union . The Acceding Countries
Cyprus, the C ech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, the
Slovak Republic and Slovenia, align themselves with this statement .
The EU would like to thank you for your summary of last week's proceedings and for
your personal commitment to making this first review session a truly open and interactive
process.
The EU would also like to thank the Secretary General for his report on overall progress
on the implementation of Sustainable Development commitments . We believe that it
reflects very well on overall progress on the implementation of commitments and also
identifies constraints in the process of this implementation . We warmly appreciate the
Secretary General's participation here this morning . This is the first time that any
Secretary General has attended a meeting of this functional commission and is a clear
signal of Mr. Annan's personal commitment to the success of this process.
In addition, the presence here of some 80 Ministers shows a very high level of political
commitment to CSD .
1
CSD 12 has facilitated a review of implementation of internationally agreed development
goals, including those contained in the UN Millennium Declaration, among which is MDG
7 on ensuring environmental sustainability, and of the commitments in the JPOI .
The measure of success of this session will be our ability clearly and accurately to
identify the obstacles, constraints and challenges for implementation of these
commitments and goals. This is critical to the success of next year's policy session .
During the past year, the EU has been engaged in an intensive review of progress at the
regional level and we have identified a number of major constraints and challenges . At
the global level, among the main constraints/obstacles to implementation are finance,
good governance, capacity building and technology transfer .
Financing of sustainable developments under all three themes requires a combination of
public and private, fiscal and financial measures and investment to bring about
public/private partnerships as well as public/public partnerships .
In order to bring about the climate for these changes, the establishment of the necessary
responsible institutions and legislation is vital . Key elements are good governance,
capacity building, including enforcement capacity, and technology transfer, particularly at
local and regional level . Another factor is the involvement of all other stakeholders,
including local authorities, the private and business sector, as well as that of all sectors
of civil society, in particular women .
Mr. Chairman,
The EU has identified a number of challenges and priority issues in relation to water,
sanitation, human settlements and the various cross-cutting issues which should be
addressed during CSD 12 and 13 and are set out in our brochure on EU priority issues,
which we launched last week here at the UN . These include:
?
The development of Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) and Water
Efficiency Plans by 2005, based on the ecosystem approach .
?
Prioritisation of water, sanitation and human settlement issues in National
Sustainable Development Strategies (NSDS) and PRSPs .
?
The importance of all countries having these NSDS or PRSPs in place by 2005 .
2
? The need to maintain momentum on the 10-year framework of programmes on
Sustainable Consumption and Production .
? The gender equality dimension should permeate all stages of the CSD process,
particularly in relation to the thematic cluster of water, sanitation and human
settlements .
?
The importance of education in promoting an understanding of the interlinkages
between these three themes, within the framework of sustainable development .
The issue of the most appropriate route for monitoring and reporting progress to the
CSD and other relevant bodies needs to be addressed . Provision should be made
adequately to resource this process .
We believe that there is a need for more active follow-up by the UN system to the water
and sanitation targets and goals in cooperation with relevant organisations that are
already involved .
Meeting the targets for water and sanitation involves a process which will take us to
2015. We must confirm the roadmap from CSD 12 to CSD 13 and the Major Event in
2005, and identify the major milestones and responsibilities from CSD 13 to 2015 . We
trust that Part 2 of the Chair's summary will make a significant advance in this regard .
Meeting the goal for environmental sustainability as well as the broader MDGs requires
a sharper, stronger focus on sanitation in particular .
Ultimately, the economic and social cost of not investing in IWRM, water, sanitation and
human settlements, needs to be articulated in a manner understandable by ministers of
finance and planning . The cost of not investing is much greater then investing .
Thank you .
Check against delivery
CSD 12
High Level Segment, 28 th April, 2004, 11 .30 - 1 .00
Meeting Targets, Goals and Timetables - Key Elements for Sustainable
Development.
Mr. Chairman,
I have the honourl to speak on behalf of the European Union . The Acceding Countries
Cyprus, the C ech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, the
Slovak Republic and Slovenia, align themselves with this statement .
The EU would like to thank you for your summary of last week's proceedings and for
your personal commitment to making this first review session a truly open and interactive
process.
The EU would also like to thank the Secretary General for his report on overall progress
on the implementation of Sustainable Development commitments . We believe that it
reflects very well on overall progress on the implementation of commitments and also
identifies constraints in the process of this implementation . We warmly appreciate the
Secretary General's participation here this morning . This is the first time that any
Secretary General has attended a meeting of this functional commission and is a clear
signal of Mr. Annan's personal commitment to the success of this process.
In addition, the presence here of some 80 Ministers shows a very high level of political
commitment to CSD .
1
CSD 12 has facilitated a review of implementation of internationally agreed development
goals, including those contained in the UN Millennium Declaration, among which is MDG
7 on ensuring environmental sustainability, and of the commitments in the JPOI .
The measure of success of this session will be our ability clearly and accurately to
identify the obstacles, constraints and challenges for implementation of these
commitments and goals. This is critical to the success of next year's policy session .
During the past year, the EU has been engaged in an intensive review of progress at the
regional level and we have identified a number of major constraints and challenges . At
the global level, among the main constraints/obstacles to implementation are finance,
good governance, capacity building and technology transfer .
Financing of sustainable developments under all three themes requires a combination of
public and private, fiscal and financial measures and investment to bring about
public/private partnerships as well as public/public partnerships .
In order to bring about the climate for these changes, the establishment of the necessary
responsible institutions and legislation is vital . Key elements are good governance,
capacity building, including enforcement capacity, and technology transfer, particularly at
local and regional level . Another factor is the involvement of all other stakeholders,
including local authorities, the private and business sector, as well as that of all sectors
of civil society, in particular women .
Mr. Chairman,
The EU has identified a number of challenges and priority issues in relation to water,
sanitation, human settlements and the various cross-cutting issues which should be
addressed during CSD 12 and 13 and are set out in our brochure on EU priority issues,
which we launched last week here at the UN . These include:
?
The development of Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) and Water
Efficiency Plans by 2005, based on the ecosystem approach .
?
Prioritisation of water, sanitation and human settlement issues in National
Sustainable Development Strategies (NSDS) and PRSPs .
?
The importance of all countries having these NSDS or PRSPs in place by 2005 .
2
? The need to maintain momentum on the 10-year framework of programmes on
Sustainable Consumption and Production .
? The gender equality dimension should permeate all stages of the CSD process,
particularly in relation to the thematic cluster of water, sanitation and human
settlements .
?
The importance of education in promoting an understanding of the interlinkages
between these three themes, within the framework of sustainable development .
The issue of the most appropriate route for monitoring and reporting progress to the
CSD and other relevant bodies needs to be addressed . Provision should be made
adequately to resource this process .
We believe that there is a need for more active follow-up by the UN system to the water
and sanitation targets and goals in cooperation with relevant organisations that are
already involved .
Meeting the targets for water and sanitation involves a process which will take us to
2015. We must confirm the roadmap from CSD 12 to CSD 13 and the Major Event in
2005, and identify the major milestones and responsibilities from CSD 13 to 2015 . We
trust that Part 2 of the Chair's summary will make a significant advance in this regard .
Meeting the goal for environmental sustainability as well as the broader MDGs requires
a sharper, stronger focus on sanitation in particular .
Ultimately, the economic and social cost of not investing in IWRM, water, sanitation and
human settlements, needs to be articulated in a manner understandable by ministers of
finance and planning . The cost of not investing is much greater then investing .
Thank you .