Mr. Chair,
I would like to join the previous speakers in congratulating you, Bureau members and the
Secretariat on the excellent preparations for this session. I would also like to thank you at
the outset for kind words of sympathy to the victims of the devastating earthquake and
tsunami that hit Japan on March 11. The Delegation of Japan is fully committed to engage
itself constructively in the policy dialogue on the important thematic issues of the Fourth
Implementation Cycle.
The growing scarcity and degradation of natural resource coupled with the pressure of
world population and economic growth calls for a new paradigm that enables us to
overcome the traditional dichotomies of developed versus developing countries and the
environment versus development. We must develop a green growth model, which
reconciles economic development and environmental protection.
Japan turned away from being a society of mass production and consumption in 2003 by
adopting the Fundamental Plan for Establishing a Sound Material-Cycle Society,
promoting the principle of the 3R?s: reduce, reuse and recycle. To share our experience in
this field, on Thursday, 12 May, my Government will organize a side event entitled
?Building Partnerships for Moving towards Zero Waste? jointly with UN DESA and
United Nations Center for Regional Development (UNCRD). My Government also
collaborates closely with UNCRD to promote ?Environmentally Sustainable Transport? to
cope with the impacts of rapid economic growth and urbanization in Asia.
Mr. Chair,
Last but not least, I would like to remind the distinguished delegates to the CSD-19 of the
inter-relatedness of the various developmental issues at stake. Each of the thematic issues
we highlight at this Policy Session should be considered with the broader picture of
sustainable development in sight. We are convinced that through the lens of human security
and by focusing on the human dimension of each issue, we would better understand the
intertwined nature of sustainable development.
To conclude, the Delegation of Japan expresses its sincere hope that the policy dialogue
during the CSD-19 will contribute toward nurtur ing the collaborative spirit with which the
Member States should prepare for the Rio + 20.
Thank you very much.
