UNITED NATIONS
Economic and Social Council
Commission on Sustainable Development
Twentieth session
Friday 20 September 2013
ITALY
Statement delivered by Mr. Paolo Soprano
Director for Sustainable Development and NGOs
Ministry of Environment, Land and Sea of Italy
Mr. Chairman, distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Italy aligns itself to the statement delivered by the representative of the European Union and wishes to add some additional remarks.
Expectations and ambitions on the CSD capacity to perform have always been high.
At the time when CSD started its works, sustainable development concept was just born and all these years were needed to understand its real essence and, in particular, the extent to which it is a complex and revolutionary matter, not easy to translate in concrete actions and policies, nor to measure.
We understood that sustainable development implies real policy choices, inlcudes winners and losers and need to be accompanied by adequate transitional measures. Sustainable development is, now we know it better, a difficult and long – nevertheless urgent – process.
In many ways, CSD has been successful and has provided answers to most of the challenges it was confronted with. CSD has performed fundamental tasks. It has given a UN home to sustainable development. Its first home ever. It has also often played an impressive catalytic role, in particular at national level having inspired several MS Sustainable Development National Strategies.
It has involved and engaged together governments and stakeholders on sustainable development policy-making. Its capacity to opening the doors to major groups has fostered mutual understanding, partnerships and actions that, otherwise, would not have happened.
I believe that if today we have a new, bigger (because universal), more appropriate home for sustainable development – the HLPF – it is because CSD has been successful in paving the way, in showing what was really needed to ensure implementation of sustainable development.
The UN system and us, member States, are currently confronted with an enormous challenge: the framing of the Post-2015 Agenda. I believe we should strive for creating a framework where sustainable development could finally be integrated in the fight against poverty, representing its most precious ally. In this context, we believe that a strong, credible, open HLPF will be crucial and instrumental.
The implementation of sustainable development lays in our hands, in our ability to make our new home beautiful by cooperating and outreaching to all stakeholders; capitalizing on the lessons learned and being courageous enough to take real innovative steps forward. It lays on our capacity to make the HLPF more open, functional and responsive to the challenges that will be soon enshrined in the Agenda Post-2015.
Thank you.
