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Statement by Dr. Atsushi Suginaka
Director, Global Environment Division
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan
Second Intersessional Meeting of the UNCSD Preparatory Process
United Nations, New York
15th December 2011
Thank you, Mr. Co-Chair,
Six months from now in Rio de Janeiro, the leaders of the world are to adopt a
document securing renewed political commitments for sustainable development,
wherein all three pillars of which; economic, social and environmental, are to be fully
integrated. Such a document should be clear and concise in order to send a strong
message to the world encouraging the transition toward a green economy with enhanced
governance of sustainable development.
Mr. Co-Chair,
Japan firmly believes that a transition to a green economy is a critical means to
achieve sustainable development. For that purpose, Rio+20 should confirm the
necessity for all stakeholders to take part and play role toward common goals, taking
into acount the diversified international community. Also, various policy measures
and experiences, including green innovation, should be shared among countries, and a
framework to formulate a green economy strategy for each country needs to be
established.
Japan considers that sustainable development goals (SDGs) could play an
important role in supplementing the current MDGs, by covering such areas as resource
and food security, climate change, and disaster risk reduction. It also is essential for
the discussion on SDGs to fully contribute to the process toward the formulation of the
post-MDGs. Japan further believes that the formulation of SDGs and post-MDGs
should be based on a new international strategy on sustainable development with the
concept of human security as a guiding principle.
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Mr. Co-Chair,
As part of its input for Rio+20, Japan has put forward 9 proposals to achieve
sustainable development in such area as disaster risk reduction, energy, food security,
water, and future cities. Japan is making efforts toward the global transition to a green
economy, including such activities as proposing the “Low-Carbon Growth and
Sustainable Development Strategy for Africa” at the 3rd Tokyo International Conference
on African Development (TICAD III) Ministerial Follow-up Meeting in May, and
presenting the “Vision and Actions toward Low-Carbon Growth and a Climate Resilient
World” at UNFCCC COP17 in November. Japan is ready to contribute to concrete
undertakings on this issue at Rio+20.
Mr. Co-Chair,
With respect to the institutional framework for sustainable development, Japan
recognizes that one of the challenges we face is consolidating over 500 multilateral
environment agreements (MEAs). Japan believes that a step-by-step approach is most
realistic, starting with enhancing coordination among the related organizations. With
this in mind, Japan has proposed three steps to strengthen international environmental
governance, and three points to strengthen the functions of the CSD.
Mr. Co-Chair,
Realizing sustainable development is an urgent task for all countries. Although
discussions up to today seem to have been dominated by the outdated perception gap
between North and South, now is the time for all of us to cooperate together under a
new partnership during the six month leading up to Rio+20. In this context, Japan will
extend assistance of 100,000 US dollars in order to encourage more participation from
developing countries in the preparatory process, which is in addition to the 90,000
dollars we pledged in February. Japan hopes to actively contribute to the forthcoming
negotiation of the outcome document to ensure the success of Rio+20 in June next year.
Thank you, Mr. Co-Chair.
