Montenegro
STALNA MISIJA CRNE GORE PRI UJEDINJENIM NACIJAMA
PERMANENT MISSION OF MONTENEGRO TO THE UNITED NATIONS
801 Second Avenue, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10017
Phone: (212) 661-3700 Fax: (212) 661-3755
STATEMENT BY
H.E. Mr. Milorad Šćepanović
Permanent Representative of Montenegro to the United Nations
at the
Second open-ended informal intersessional meeting of the
Preparatory Committee for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development
New York, 15-16 December 2011
Mr. Co-Chairs,
Sustainable Development is one of the main priorities for the Government of Montenegro. The
main characteristic of the country's evolving legal framework in all the areas pertinent to
sustainable development is its progressive harmonisation with the EU acquis, as a part of the
accession process. Bearing in mind the importance of Rio+20 Summit, the Government of
Montenegro undertook numerous activities in the context of the preparations.
Mr. Co-Chairs,
I would like to join other speakers in stressing the importance of adopting the Road map for
green economy which should contain specific goals, objectives and actions at the international
level. The transition to green economy requires a well-balanced policy mix and financing
mechanisms. Choosing the most cost-effective and efficient policy mixes for the green economy
needs to be country specific and to rely on specific information and analysis. To this end, it is
necessary to develop adequate national capacities and to secure international coordination.
Furthermore, ecosystem services should be promoted through the concept of green economy.
Ecosystem services valuation represents an important tool and a good argument in advocating
for green economy.
With regards to the international level, we are all in agreement that the CSD, the main pillar of
the international SD system today, has not lived up to the hopes of the international community
that set it up after the original Rio Summit. It does not have the mandate to coordinate globally
implemented initiatives, programmes and activities and its resources have been significantly
reduced in terms of the ability to provide support to the member countries. In the context of its
reform, this capacity to provide direct expert and technical support to the member states (as
the CSD once had) should be in the mandate of the new body that will emerge as a result of the
Rio Summit. This should be followed by a mandate to measure and review the progress made by
all the member states but also across the regions and globally.
Mr. Co-Chairs,
The way the UN provides support to its member states in general needs to be reformed.
Measuring national progress requires that we assess cumulative performance at the level of
overall organization rather than the results achieved within frameworks of individual UN
agencies. As a country chosen to implement the new UN coordination approach, Montenegro
would like to give its support to the endeavours to increase coherence and efficiency of its
operations through the "Delivering as One” approach.
The need to reform institutional framework for sustainable development (IFSD) is apparent in
order to provide for adequate responses to current and future challenges, to bridge gaps in the
implementation of the sustainable development agenda, as well as to accelerate global action
towards a greener and more sustainable economy and eradication of poverty. International
Environmental Governance (IEG) needs to be strengthened as a part of the broader IFSD reform.
In this context, Montenegro supports the strengthening of UNEP through its transformation into
a specialized environment agency. We believe this would also help streamline and reinforce the
Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) system and reinforce and mainstream the
environmental dimension within the UN system.
Montenegro would like to extend its full support for the inclusion of major groups through the
establishment and the functioning of the National Councils or Commissions for Sustainable
Development. In our experience, with evolving structure over the last ten years, NCSD has
proven to be a useful tool in enhancing stakeholder participation and wide consultations, with
the potential to replicate this experience to other countries.
Creating multisectoral teams with the goal of monitoring the implementation of the SD
strategies greatly increases the communication and coordination within the government. Many
delegations stressed the need for these bodies to be properly resourced. Here we would like to
stress that resources are needed in both financial and human capacity as no multistakeholder
body (such as the Councils) or mulstisectoral body within the government can function
effectively over time unless it is supported by the permanent expert secretariat designated
solely to support its work. This is a recommendation we would like to see incorporated at all
governance levels -- international, regional, national and local.
Mr. Co-Chairs,
We are of opinion that the institutional framework for sustainable development at the national
levels needs to be expanded to include Parliament in an effort to strengthen the oversight and
monitoring function. In this context we welcome the idea of creating Ombudsmans for future
generations, which in some countries have been placed under the structures of the Parliament.
Thank you.
PERMANENT MISSION OF MONTENEGRO TO THE UNITED NATIONS
801 Second Avenue, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10017
Phone: (212) 661-3700 Fax: (212) 661-3755
STATEMENT BY
H.E. Mr. Milorad Šćepanović
Permanent Representative of Montenegro to the United Nations
at the
Second open-ended informal intersessional meeting of the
Preparatory Committee for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development
New York, 15-16 December 2011
Mr. Co-Chairs,
Sustainable Development is one of the main priorities for the Government of Montenegro. The
main characteristic of the country's evolving legal framework in all the areas pertinent to
sustainable development is its progressive harmonisation with the EU acquis, as a part of the
accession process. Bearing in mind the importance of Rio+20 Summit, the Government of
Montenegro undertook numerous activities in the context of the preparations.
Mr. Co-Chairs,
I would like to join other speakers in stressing the importance of adopting the Road map for
green economy which should contain specific goals, objectives and actions at the international
level. The transition to green economy requires a well-balanced policy mix and financing
mechanisms. Choosing the most cost-effective and efficient policy mixes for the green economy
needs to be country specific and to rely on specific information and analysis. To this end, it is
necessary to develop adequate national capacities and to secure international coordination.
Furthermore, ecosystem services should be promoted through the concept of green economy.
Ecosystem services valuation represents an important tool and a good argument in advocating
for green economy.
With regards to the international level, we are all in agreement that the CSD, the main pillar of
the international SD system today, has not lived up to the hopes of the international community
that set it up after the original Rio Summit. It does not have the mandate to coordinate globally
implemented initiatives, programmes and activities and its resources have been significantly
reduced in terms of the ability to provide support to the member countries. In the context of its
reform, this capacity to provide direct expert and technical support to the member states (as
the CSD once had) should be in the mandate of the new body that will emerge as a result of the
Rio Summit. This should be followed by a mandate to measure and review the progress made by
all the member states but also across the regions and globally.
Mr. Co-Chairs,
The way the UN provides support to its member states in general needs to be reformed.
Measuring national progress requires that we assess cumulative performance at the level of
overall organization rather than the results achieved within frameworks of individual UN
agencies. As a country chosen to implement the new UN coordination approach, Montenegro
would like to give its support to the endeavours to increase coherence and efficiency of its
operations through the "Delivering as One” approach.
The need to reform institutional framework for sustainable development (IFSD) is apparent in
order to provide for adequate responses to current and future challenges, to bridge gaps in the
implementation of the sustainable development agenda, as well as to accelerate global action
towards a greener and more sustainable economy and eradication of poverty. International
Environmental Governance (IEG) needs to be strengthened as a part of the broader IFSD reform.
In this context, Montenegro supports the strengthening of UNEP through its transformation into
a specialized environment agency. We believe this would also help streamline and reinforce the
Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) system and reinforce and mainstream the
environmental dimension within the UN system.
Montenegro would like to extend its full support for the inclusion of major groups through the
establishment and the functioning of the National Councils or Commissions for Sustainable
Development. In our experience, with evolving structure over the last ten years, NCSD has
proven to be a useful tool in enhancing stakeholder participation and wide consultations, with
the potential to replicate this experience to other countries.
Creating multisectoral teams with the goal of monitoring the implementation of the SD
strategies greatly increases the communication and coordination within the government. Many
delegations stressed the need for these bodies to be properly resourced. Here we would like to
stress that resources are needed in both financial and human capacity as no multistakeholder
body (such as the Councils) or mulstisectoral body within the government can function
effectively over time unless it is supported by the permanent expert secretariat designated
solely to support its work. This is a recommendation we would like to see incorporated at all
governance levels -- international, regional, national and local.
Mr. Co-Chairs,
We are of opinion that the institutional framework for sustainable development at the national
levels needs to be expanded to include Parliament in an effort to strengthen the oversight and
monitoring function. In this context we welcome the idea of creating Ombudsmans for future
generations, which in some countries have been placed under the structures of the Parliament.
Thank you.
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