Holy See
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Statement by H.E. Archbishop Celestino Migliore
Apostolic Nuncio
Permanent Observer of the Holy See
Economic and Social Council
14th session of the Commission on Sustainable Development
High-level segment
New York, 11 May 2006
1
Mr Chairman,
Let me first of all congratulate you and the bureau, and commend you
for the organization of the work of this year?s CSD.
Recent progress in sustainable development reported in the
Commission?s preparatory documentation is to be welcomed, but these are
modest successes when placed beside a sobering global picture. Only the
integration of environmental and developmental concerns into policymaking
and a committed political follow-through will lead to the essential
improvement in living standards for all, while assuring our world?s
environmental future.
In addition to the irrational destruction of the natural environment,
there has been the more serious destruction of the human environment.
Although people are rightly worried about preserving natural habitats, too
little effort has been made to safeguard the moral conditions for an authentic
human ecology. Such an ecology will place the human person at the centre
of environmental concerns, while simultaneously promoting an urgent sense
of human responsibility for the Earth, be it at the level of states, commerce
or individuals. Happily, as the essential symbiosis of life on the planet
becomes plain, there is already a growing acknowledgement that good
environmental policies are by extension good people policies too.
One such area is that of water. Within twenty years the reserves of
water per person will be a third of what they were in 1950 and, by 2025, a
third of the world?s nations will have catastrophically low levels of water.
Even today, 34,000 people die every day for lack of clean water: one and a
half billion people do not have access to clean water, a figure which could
rise to 3 billion by 2025. This is already a humanitarian and environmental
crisis, as well as a question of social justice. Encouraging change in
consumption patterns and in increasing access to water supply and sanitation
is also a matter of developmental common sense, since both yield very high
rates of return, making them extremely attractive from a social investment
standpoint. For this reason, my delegation is pleased to salute the
Ministerial Declaration of the Fourth World Water Forum in Mexico City
which reaffirmed the critical importance of water in all aspects of
sustainable development.
Related to this is another essential question, that of food security.
From sub-Saharan Africa to the CIS, there has actually been an increase in
numbers of hungry people in the last three years although, in world terms,
the general picture appears to have improved. There can be little doubt that
2
changing climactic conditions have had an impact here. We can no longer
pretend that human activity has little or no impact on these matters.
Energy is central to achieving sustainable development goals. With
more than 1.6 billion people still lacking access to electricity worldwide and
2.4 billion using traditional biomass, improving access to reliable, affordable
and environmentally friendly energy services is a major challenge to poverty
eradication and the achievement of the MDGs. There is also an urgent need
to transform global energy systems, as current approaches are causing
serious harm to human health, the Earth?s climate and ecological systems on
which all life depends, and because access to clean, reliable energy services
is a vital prerequisite for alleviating poverty.
While the absolute amount of worldwide renewable energy use has
been rising significantly, the overall share of renewables in the world?s total
primary energy supply has increased only marginally over the past three
decades. Some renewable energy technologies are already mature and
economically competitive, but the development of renewables continues to
be a human, ecological, economic and strategic necessity and should have a
priority in public research projects. For example, in heating, lighting and
eventually transport, solar photovoltaics appear to offer almost unlimited
sustainable potential. Research in this and other fields should be vigorously
pursued.
The transportation sector is rightly found in all of the focal themes of
the fourteenth and fifteenth sessions of the Commission, as it accounts for a
large proportion of worldwide energy demand, is a major source of air
pollution and greenhouse gas emissions and is an important element of
industrial development. The continued market penetration of various
innovations needs to be encouraged through appropriate economic
incentives and ongoing research, development and deployment. Reliance in
industry, transport, commerce and defence upon traditional combustion
engines is already a century old. For several reasons, their replacement with
clean, renewable alternatives is long overdue.
The Earth?s climate system has demonstrably changed on both global
and regional scales since the pre-industrial era. Agenda 21 recognizes the
legitimate priority needs of developing countries for the achievement of
sustained economic growth and the eradication of poverty, but this clearly
cannot be achieved at any price. Even if greenhouse gas emissions were to
be stabilized at present levels ? an unlikely eventuality as things stand - the
global warming trend and sea-level rise would continue for hundreds of
years, due to the atmospheric lifetime of some greenhouse gases and the
long timescales on which the deep ocean adjusts to climate change. In such
circumstances, moves to turn the United Nations Environment Programme
into a more robust United Nations Environment Organization appear both
prudent and welcome, in order to achieve a truly integrated approach to
sustainable development in which both halves of that term are given their
due weight.
Mr Chairman, the dovetailing of environmental and developmental
concerns with commercial and industrial policymaking will surely lead to a
safer, more prosperous future for all. No nation can achieve this alone, but
member states working together can and must do so, if sustainable patterns
in these fields, essential to our common future, are to be assured.
Thank you, Mr Chairman.
Statement by H.E. Archbishop Celestino Migliore
Apostolic Nuncio
Permanent Observer of the Holy See
Economic and Social Council
14th session of the Commission on Sustainable Development
High-level segment
New York, 11 May 2006
1
Mr Chairman,
Let me first of all congratulate you and the bureau, and commend you
for the organization of the work of this year?s CSD.
Recent progress in sustainable development reported in the
Commission?s preparatory documentation is to be welcomed, but these are
modest successes when placed beside a sobering global picture. Only the
integration of environmental and developmental concerns into policymaking
and a committed political follow-through will lead to the essential
improvement in living standards for all, while assuring our world?s
environmental future.
In addition to the irrational destruction of the natural environment,
there has been the more serious destruction of the human environment.
Although people are rightly worried about preserving natural habitats, too
little effort has been made to safeguard the moral conditions for an authentic
human ecology. Such an ecology will place the human person at the centre
of environmental concerns, while simultaneously promoting an urgent sense
of human responsibility for the Earth, be it at the level of states, commerce
or individuals. Happily, as the essential symbiosis of life on the planet
becomes plain, there is already a growing acknowledgement that good
environmental policies are by extension good people policies too.
One such area is that of water. Within twenty years the reserves of
water per person will be a third of what they were in 1950 and, by 2025, a
third of the world?s nations will have catastrophically low levels of water.
Even today, 34,000 people die every day for lack of clean water: one and a
half billion people do not have access to clean water, a figure which could
rise to 3 billion by 2025. This is already a humanitarian and environmental
crisis, as well as a question of social justice. Encouraging change in
consumption patterns and in increasing access to water supply and sanitation
is also a matter of developmental common sense, since both yield very high
rates of return, making them extremely attractive from a social investment
standpoint. For this reason, my delegation is pleased to salute the
Ministerial Declaration of the Fourth World Water Forum in Mexico City
which reaffirmed the critical importance of water in all aspects of
sustainable development.
Related to this is another essential question, that of food security.
From sub-Saharan Africa to the CIS, there has actually been an increase in
numbers of hungry people in the last three years although, in world terms,
the general picture appears to have improved. There can be little doubt that
2
changing climactic conditions have had an impact here. We can no longer
pretend that human activity has little or no impact on these matters.
Energy is central to achieving sustainable development goals. With
more than 1.6 billion people still lacking access to electricity worldwide and
2.4 billion using traditional biomass, improving access to reliable, affordable
and environmentally friendly energy services is a major challenge to poverty
eradication and the achievement of the MDGs. There is also an urgent need
to transform global energy systems, as current approaches are causing
serious harm to human health, the Earth?s climate and ecological systems on
which all life depends, and because access to clean, reliable energy services
is a vital prerequisite for alleviating poverty.
While the absolute amount of worldwide renewable energy use has
been rising significantly, the overall share of renewables in the world?s total
primary energy supply has increased only marginally over the past three
decades. Some renewable energy technologies are already mature and
economically competitive, but the development of renewables continues to
be a human, ecological, economic and strategic necessity and should have a
priority in public research projects. For example, in heating, lighting and
eventually transport, solar photovoltaics appear to offer almost unlimited
sustainable potential. Research in this and other fields should be vigorously
pursued.
The transportation sector is rightly found in all of the focal themes of
the fourteenth and fifteenth sessions of the Commission, as it accounts for a
large proportion of worldwide energy demand, is a major source of air
pollution and greenhouse gas emissions and is an important element of
industrial development. The continued market penetration of various
innovations needs to be encouraged through appropriate economic
incentives and ongoing research, development and deployment. Reliance in
industry, transport, commerce and defence upon traditional combustion
engines is already a century old. For several reasons, their replacement with
clean, renewable alternatives is long overdue.
The Earth?s climate system has demonstrably changed on both global
and regional scales since the pre-industrial era. Agenda 21 recognizes the
legitimate priority needs of developing countries for the achievement of
sustained economic growth and the eradication of poverty, but this clearly
cannot be achieved at any price. Even if greenhouse gas emissions were to
be stabilized at present levels ? an unlikely eventuality as things stand - the
global warming trend and sea-level rise would continue for hundreds of
years, due to the atmospheric lifetime of some greenhouse gases and the
long timescales on which the deep ocean adjusts to climate change. In such
circumstances, moves to turn the United Nations Environment Programme
into a more robust United Nations Environment Organization appear both
prudent and welcome, in order to achieve a truly integrated approach to
sustainable development in which both halves of that term are given their
due weight.
Mr Chairman, the dovetailing of environmental and developmental
concerns with commercial and industrial policymaking will surely lead to a
safer, more prosperous future for all. No nation can achieve this alone, but
member states working together can and must do so, if sustainable patterns
in these fields, essential to our common future, are to be assured.
Thank you, Mr Chairman.