1
Statement on behalf of the European Union and its 27 Member States
By
Peter Schwaiger
Deputy Head of the Delegation of the European Union to the United Nations
Intergovernmental preparatory meeting
of the 19th Commission on Sustainable Development
Opening Session
United Nations
New York
28 February 2011
CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY
2
3
Distinguished Chairman, Excellencies, Distinguished D elegates,
I have the honour to speak on behalf of the EU and its 2 7 Member States.
Let me first congratulate you once again for you election as chair of CSD19, we are
convinced that under your leadership, we will reach meaningful agreement on
a complete set of decisions on the thematic issues of the current cycle of CSD.
Much has changed in the world since the Johannesburg Summit in 2002 when we
looked at the challenges related to the thematic issues of the current CSD cycle:
transport, chemicals, waste, mining and sustainable consumption and production
(SCP).
On the one hand, we can see remarkable improvements, both in the well-being
of many societies and in the state and availability of science and technology. However
much remains to be done to address the global challenges of tackling poverty,
hunger, environmental degradation, and misuse of available resources.
We would like to express our recognition to the work done, including at the
intersessional meetings, since the last CSD 18 last year in order to make progress on
the different topics of this CSD cycle.
Mr Chairman,
At the Conference of Rio, governments committed to promote patterns
of consumption and production that reduce environmental stress and will meet the
basic needs of humanity. Ten years later, the international community recognized in
Johannesburg the need to shape and launch at CSD19 an ambitious and actionable
10-year framework of programmes on sustainable consumption and production
(10YFP on SCP) for the period 2011-2021 in support of regional and national
initiatives to accelerate the shift towards sustainable consumption and production.
This need has been reconfirmed in the Chair?s summary of CSD18, stating that
Sustainable development calls for fundamental changes in the way societies produce
and consume. In order to carry out effectively these fundamental changes , the EU
wants to reaffirm the urgency for all countries to endorse a 10YFP at the latest at
CSD19.
In this reagard, the adopted 10YFP will be an important step towards an succesful
outcome of UNCSD2012. Indeed it will be a crucial response to various challenges on
the way to green the economies worldwide while addressing social concerns and
ensuring competitiveness, prosperity and high quality of life.
We would therefore strongly welcome any initiative of the Chair to build consensus
towards the elaboration of the negotiating document.
Mr Chairman,
Addressing the specific difficulties of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) is a
standing challenge and we welcome the opportunity to discuss this issue after the
crucial High-Level Review Meeting on the implementation of the Mauritius Strategy
which took place last September. We have a long standing concern for the difficult
conditions that SIDS face , taking into due account their increased vulnerabilities, in
addressing their most vital challenges : adaptation to climate change, promoting
renewable energies, making a shift to more sustainable agriculture, protection of
4
fragile ecosystems, and overcoming isolation and vulnerabilities (like expensive
transport costs and communications, access to and provision of financial resources,
access to science and technology, waste management, freshwater and land
resources?).
We would like to reiterate the call we made last year for an urgent implementation of
the Barbados Plan of Action and the Mauritius Strategy. While SIDS have largely made
progress in formulating and implementing strategies and policies to advance
sustainable development, there are still important challenges ahead. Regional efforts
must be encouraged and complemented by the international community?s response
particularly regarding capacity building, technology transfer and the financial
resources mobilisation. The EU and its Member States will keep on supporting SIDS in
addressing these challenges .
Mr Chairman,
Transport is an essential part of a sustainable world, especially for a high standard of
living, international trade and tourism. However, transport can cause significant
environmental and health problems and since it is largely dependent on fossil fuels, is
one of the big drivers of climate change.
Sustainable mobility can improve the quality of life and human health, and helps to
protect the environment, too. Furthermore, equal access to mobility is essential to
achieve the MDGs.
We believe that sustainab le transport solutions are directly linked to the objective of
promoting sustainable consumption and production patterns. CSD 19 should promote
a globally harmonized and consistent progress in developing sustainable transport
patterns worldwide, thus stimulating job creation in the framework of green growth.
In our view, CSD 19 should call for an international target to decouple transport
growth from its energy consumption and its negative environmental and social
impacts.
We would like to recall that Waste is linked to many of the Chapters of Agenda 21 -
either as a cause of a number of environmental problems, or as a result/output of
human activities. There are clear connections between waste management issues and
the need to change unsustainable patterns of consumption and production, as well as
to protect and manage the natural resource base of economic and social development.
The EU and its Members States aim to achieve, both internally and internationally, a
decoupling of environmental degradation and resource consumption from economic
growth.
This can be done by promoting the waste hierarchy, by favouring waste prevention
over its reuse, followed by recycling, recovery of energy embedded in waste, and with
disposal as the last resort.. In addition, it is also our priority to continue to combat
illegal shipments of waste, improving the overall environmental performance of
products throughout their life-cycle, and addressing unsustainable patterns of
consumption and production.
Mr Chairman,
(Mining) Minerals and metals are essential for modern living. Access to and
affordability of mineral raw materials are crucial for the sound and sustainable
functioning of the world economy and modern societies. Mine operations, when
5
properly managed, also have an enormous potential to create, contribute to and
support sustainable development of communities.
In the 21st century, mining mineral extractive industries will continue to be a
fundamental sector for sustainable development and poverty eradication. Therefore,
an integrated and holistic approach is necessary in the mining sector to address the
above mentioned challenges.
It will become ever more necessary to minimise the generated waste, increase
recycling and reuse of water and other resources, and minimize the energy used to
produce raw materials and products.
Access to raw materials could be increasingly limited in the future. Therefore, it?s
necessary to have i) an improved knowledge of the fundamental changes in the global
markets which are threatening the principles of competitiveness, ii) the promotion of
transparency to avoid measures that distort international trade in raw materials and
iii) an ensured access to raw materials from international markets under best possible
conditions for all competitors, through enhanced dialogue between producers and
consumers. The specific interests of Least Developed Countries should be taken into
account in this dialogue.
Mr Chairman,
Chemicals provide us with both great benefits but also raise important challenges. As
part of our daily life, chemicals contribute to improved living standards, but their
production often makes demands on consumption of natural resources unsustainable.
If chemicals are not managed soundly over their whole life-cycle, they can n egatively
influence human health and the environment.
The EU regulation system of chemicals , REACH1, aims to address the above
challenges, by setting out rules for registration, evaluation, authorization and
restriction of chemicals. Through REACH, responsibility has moved from governments
having to prove risks to requiring manufacturers, importers and downstream users to
make sure that the substances they develop, place on the market or use, do not harm
human health or the environment throughout their life cycle.
We believe that the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management
(SAICM) constitutes an important global framework for strengthening capacities for
sound chemicals management and narrowing the capacity gap between the
developing and the developed world. All countries should use the SAICM process
actively, in order to achieve the 2020 goal of ensuring that chemicals are produced
and used in ways that minimise adverse effects on the environment and human
health.
Thank you for your attention.
1 Regulation on Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals. It entered into force
on 1st June 2007 and streamlines and improves the former legislative framework on chemicals of the EU.
