UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (Rio+20)
FINLAND STATEMENT
Delivered by Minister for Foreign Affairs Erkki Tuomioja
Thursday 21 June 2012
When I was born in 1946 the world's population was 2,3 billion. Since then
it has grown over three times. Today’s over 7 billion will grow to 9 or even
10 billion before reaching its peak.
This population growth is the single most important factor for
understanding how the world has irrevocably changed. Most obviously this
is crucial for how we arrange our existence with our natural environment.
In only a few hundred years time, since the beginning of the industrial
revolution, we have developed ever more efficient and wondrous ways of
extracting natural resources, transforming them into products for our use
and in doing so, have let ever growing amounts of waste, emissions and
poisons into our environment. Only relatively recently have we realized
that the way we have treated our natural environment has been
unsustainable.
The undeniable advance of global warming and climate change has been
the most striking wake-up call. We know that even the international
community’s stated goal of limiting global warming to 2 celsius degrees on
average will not be achieved. With the accelerating loss of biodiversity and
current other changes we may, at best, have only a few decades time to
reach ecologically, socially and economically sustainable development.
No-one can be certain that we can do this, or even if it is possible at all.
We need a strong sense of urgency to be able to correctly address our
agenda. The effects of climate change, future shortage of natural
resources, and possibilities of making a decent living during economic
turbulence - are all critical and tightly connected challenges for a secure
future.
On the way to Rio, Finland has tried to do its modest part in finding ways
to cope with and resolve future challenges. Former president of Finland,
Ms. Tarja Halonen co-chaired with President Zuma from South-Africa the
United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Global
Sustainability. We hope that the Report could give fresh encouragement
for a resilient and better future for all of us.
Madame Chair /Mr. President,
Twenty years ago, 114 heads of States and Governments had the courage
to take bold decisions. Today the world is politically much smaller than 20
years ago and ever more interdependent. No country, be it a super power
or a small island micro-state, can deny the sad condition of our planet.
Sustainable development is the only response. Rather than facing it as a
challenge – it should be seen as the opportunity.
The interdependence nurtured by globalization, population growth and
technological, demographic and environmental developments, together
with ever more demanding consumer habits, are changing the world with
an unforeseen pace.
Here I also want to highlight that poverty and inequality are global
problems, which need to be solved to make sustainable development
possible. Even though the economies of many countries have grown
rapidly, wealth has not been necessarily distributed to all. We cannot
continue to grow unsustainably at the expense of the poorest and most
vulnerable people and our natural environment. At the same time, climate
change and environmental degradation are also growing sources of
vulnerability of societies.
The dramatic change taking place has to thus be reflected fundamentally
also in how security is defined and what is done to achieve it. A
sustainable and secure future requires first and foremost multilaterally
agreed rules and their implementation.
No-one can meet the challenges we are facing on their own. Everyone
needs truly global solutions. This emphasizes the role of the UN system.
The Rio+20 is vital for the United Nations and its ability to cope with
challenges.
Madame Chair /Mr. President,
We came here with the aim of reaching a commitment for global
sustainable development before it is too late and to find concrete solutions
for achieving this. In light of the agreement on the final outcome document
we have to acknowledge that while we have made significant advances
and reiterated important commitments, we have also left a lot of the work
that should have been completed here in Rio for later. Therefore the
follow-up to this conference is vital and will determine whether we can call
this conference a success or not.
The sustainable development goals (SDGs) have been widely discussed. I
firmly believe that the SDGs could provide us with new ways to make wiser
needed policy decisions. But we also need appropriate indicators which go
beyond the traditional GDP to better reflect sustainable development
including natural capital and social wellbeing.
Fears that sustainable development would challenge the traditional
development agenda are completely unfounded. In fact, these agendas
are not competing but complementing each other. The challenge of equal
economic and social opportunities while respecting planetary boundaries
and human rights are equally vital for all our societies.
Madame Chair /Mr. President,
This Conference has brought the concept of green economy to the UN
Conferences. This is from where we have to continue our efforts. The
"Finnish version" of green economy has been a set of policies and tools,
which strive to enhance more sustainable consumption and production and
eco- innovations as well as strategies to create new businesses around
renewable resources and ecosystem services. In this regard, I welcome
the adoption of the 10 –year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable
Consumption and Production that we have Finns have been advocating
since Johannesburg Summit.
A number of green economic instruments have also been introduced in
Finland. The emphasis of taxation has gradually been shifted from taxation
of work to taxation of activities polluting the environment. The main
instruments for creating economic incentives to reduce pollution are taxes
and charges imposed on emissions directly - or indirectly, on products
closely related to harmful emissions.
In practice this means a triple win situation as we take into consideration
economic, social and ecological considerations of our actions. We cannot
afford to make wrong and short-sighted decisions. The challenge – or the
opportunity – is the same, be it in the north or south or in the east or west.
Take for example the water issue which has been one of our priorities here
in Rio. Only a few decades ago many of our lakes in Finland were badly
polluted. We have gone a long way in cleaning our lakes. The Baltic Sea is
one of the most polluted seas in the world and now we are working
together with the other coastal states to improve its condition. But we do
not work only with the neighboring states. We work with the civil society,
academia and private sector as well.
One aspect of it, wastewater treatment, contributes to social, economic
and ecological sustainability: improvements reduce water born diseases of
which the poorest suffer the most. It brings economic savings through
increased resource efficiency and protects water resources and
ecosystems for future generations.
It is important to join our efforts.
Our problems must also be resolved in innovative ways: using the
knowledge of citizens and all stakeholders in our societies.
What we also need, are the right incentives – both for consumers and
enterprises alike. It is our governments’ responsibility to create these
conditions. This is our urgent task today.
Madame Chair, Your Excellencies,
I could have touched upon many issues related to this Conference.
My choice was to highlight the urgency of action and opportunities for
future generations.
Thank you for your attention.
