Netherlands
On the occasion of the opening of the
High Level Segment
13th Session of the Commission on Sustainable Development
Statement by
Mr. Pieter van Geel
State Secretary for Housing, Spatial Planning
and the Environment
Turning Political Commitment into Action
United Nations
New York, 20 April 2005
THE KINGDOMTPOE OR TFMH TAEHN UEEN NNIETTTE MHDI ESNSRAILOTANINO ONDFSS
235 East N45etwh SYtroerekt,, N16Yth 1f0lo01o7r
wwftaewxl.. p((2v21n122e))w 35y71o90rk--91.o95r50g40
e every
Mr. Chairperson, distinguished delegates:
? There are four major messages that I feel should be passed on from the CSD to the
Millennium Review Summit later this year. They can all be found in the report of the
High Level Panel on Threats and Challenges and the Millennium Project Report in
the context of environment and sustainable development.
? The first message is that conservation of the environment is crucial for
achieving development goals. This is certainly evident for the current CSD cycle.
We can halve the number of people without sustainable access to safe drinking
water and sanitation only if progress is made on MDG7, environmental sustainability.
By the same token, making progress on water and sanitation will help us achieve
environmental sustainability. It will also have positive trickle-down effects on virtually
all the MDGs, including maternal health, child mortality, poverty, gender equality,
fighting disease and, of course, improving the lives of slum dwellers. CSD 13 should
underline this message and convey it to the Millennium Review Summit in
September 2005.
? The second message is that failing to protect the environment undermines
poverty reduction and public health - the health of women and children in
particular - and jeopardises peace, security and stability. In order to meet these
challenges and avoid threats that could arise if adequate action is not taken, it is
essential to achieve the WSSD goals and MDGs. Developed countries should take
measures at national level that reflect their shared responsibility for tackling global
"security" issues. Promoting sustainable production and consumption patterns is a
crucial challenge for all countries. But developed countries have special
responsibilities: for example, their contribution to the Millennium Review Summit and
its follow-up, fulfilling multilateral environmental agreements, with climate change
and biodiversity loss as key "security" issues, and living up to the MDG8
commitments in order to develop a global partnership.
1
? The third message is that a coherent strategy for tackling environmental
problems and eradicating poverty and illness will benefit sustainable
development. This is why the MDG follow-up needs to generate synergy between
the MDGs and the WSSD goals. The WSSD goals cover chemicals, water supply
and sanitation, depleted fish stocks and sustainable fishery, energy, biodiversity, and
natural resources and were formulated in close conjunction with the MDGs. Synergy
should also be generated with the ten-year framework of programmes for
sustainable consumption and production. To this end, clear linkages need to be
forged between the WSSD goals on the Road Map for implementation of the United
Nations Millennium Declaration. The MDG follow-up should focus on all the pillars of
sustainable development, and clearly acknowledge the environmental underpinning
of all MDGs. One challenge that must be addressed coherently is how to ensure that
sustainable water management and a healthy environment can co-exist with the
considerable growth in agricultural production needed to feed an increasing world
population. The Conference on Water for Food and Ecosystems, held in the
Netherlands last January, worked out ways to strike a new balance between water
for human consumption, water for food production and water for a healthy
ecosystem.
? The fourth message I would like to bring to your attention is the necessity to
better incorporate energy issues in the Millennium Development Goals. Last
December we organised the Energy for Development Conference in Noordwijk. My
colleague Agnes van Ardenne, Minister for Development Cooperation, and I chaired
that Conference, which was organised together with the World Bank, UNDP and the
World Business Council for Sustainable Development. One important conclusion that
the delegates agreed on was that energy must remain high on the development
agenda. To achieve that, energy must be more explicitly embedded in the Millennium
Development Goals and in national policy programmes in developing countries,
including poverty reduction strategies. Once again I would like to make a plea for
coherent strategies. For example, in order to pump drinking water or operate
sanitation facilities, there has to be an energy supply to operate the equipment.
?
Responding to the four messages I have just conveyed will not come cheap. Major
investment is needed. The Millennium Project Report recommends a substantial
increase in investment in a range of basic services, such as safe drinking water and
basic sanitation, sustainable energy - including renewable energy and electricity -
2
safe cooking fuels, adequate shelter, sustainable and affordable public transport,
conservation and sustainable management of the natural environment. To help
expedite the concrete implementation of the Millennium Development Goals, the
Netherlands has set national targets for its contribution. Our country has undertaken
to do what is needed to facilitate access to safe drinking water and sanitation for 50
million people. That includes providing social and economic services, targeted at the
poorest countries, mainly in Africa. Our development minister, Agnes van Ardenne,
wants to deploy every available instrument to achieve this goal, including bilateral
cooperation, partnerships with UN entities and International Financial Institutions,
and partnerships with the private sector. To live up to the energy commitments it
made at the WSSD, the Netherlands adopted a national goal to provide sustainable
and modern energy services to 10 million people, especially in Africa.
The CSD's role in relation to the Millennium Development Goals is clear. All the
major thematic areas covered by the CSD's first three cycles are important for
reaching the Millennium Development Goals. The CSD should therefore take
substantial and concrete steps to bring about the required investment in these areas.
This will forge a solid link between the WSSD agenda and the MDG agenda.
Obviously, the CSD must deliver on commitments that have already been made and
commit to policies and actions that add value to the implementation of the JPol and
MDGs. To that end, it is essential to clearly identify the action owners and
implementation leaders in each policy year. It might be worthwhile to make a
distinction between actions for all countries, actions where individual "lead countries
or champions" could take the lead in coordinating implementation, and actions where
UN agencies or IFIs need to deliver on their mandate. In this respect UNDP, UNEP
and IFIs should take a much more active part in the CSD cycle. The Commission for
Sustainable Development should do more to coordinate the process and to get the
other actors more closely involved and stimulate the participation of all major groups
- especially women and youth. This could help prevent crucial issues being
systematically overlooked in national strategies. These issues include safe drinking
water and basic sanitation; energy, including electricity and safe cooking; adequate
shelter and a sustainably managed and conserved natural environment. Investment
in these areas is essential in the MDG follow-up.
Thank you Mr. Chairperson.
High Level Segment
13th Session of the Commission on Sustainable Development
Statement by
Mr. Pieter van Geel
State Secretary for Housing, Spatial Planning
and the Environment
Turning Political Commitment into Action
United Nations
New York, 20 April 2005
THE KINGDOMTPOE OR TFMH TAEHN UEEN NNIETTTE MHDI ESNSRAILOTANINO ONDFSS
235 East N45etwh SYtroerekt,, N16Yth 1f0lo01o7r
wwftaewxl.. p((2v21n122e))w 35y71o90rk--91.o95r50g40
e every
Mr. Chairperson, distinguished delegates:
? There are four major messages that I feel should be passed on from the CSD to the
Millennium Review Summit later this year. They can all be found in the report of the
High Level Panel on Threats and Challenges and the Millennium Project Report in
the context of environment and sustainable development.
? The first message is that conservation of the environment is crucial for
achieving development goals. This is certainly evident for the current CSD cycle.
We can halve the number of people without sustainable access to safe drinking
water and sanitation only if progress is made on MDG7, environmental sustainability.
By the same token, making progress on water and sanitation will help us achieve
environmental sustainability. It will also have positive trickle-down effects on virtually
all the MDGs, including maternal health, child mortality, poverty, gender equality,
fighting disease and, of course, improving the lives of slum dwellers. CSD 13 should
underline this message and convey it to the Millennium Review Summit in
September 2005.
? The second message is that failing to protect the environment undermines
poverty reduction and public health - the health of women and children in
particular - and jeopardises peace, security and stability. In order to meet these
challenges and avoid threats that could arise if adequate action is not taken, it is
essential to achieve the WSSD goals and MDGs. Developed countries should take
measures at national level that reflect their shared responsibility for tackling global
"security" issues. Promoting sustainable production and consumption patterns is a
crucial challenge for all countries. But developed countries have special
responsibilities: for example, their contribution to the Millennium Review Summit and
its follow-up, fulfilling multilateral environmental agreements, with climate change
and biodiversity loss as key "security" issues, and living up to the MDG8
commitments in order to develop a global partnership.
1
? The third message is that a coherent strategy for tackling environmental
problems and eradicating poverty and illness will benefit sustainable
development. This is why the MDG follow-up needs to generate synergy between
the MDGs and the WSSD goals. The WSSD goals cover chemicals, water supply
and sanitation, depleted fish stocks and sustainable fishery, energy, biodiversity, and
natural resources and were formulated in close conjunction with the MDGs. Synergy
should also be generated with the ten-year framework of programmes for
sustainable consumption and production. To this end, clear linkages need to be
forged between the WSSD goals on the Road Map for implementation of the United
Nations Millennium Declaration. The MDG follow-up should focus on all the pillars of
sustainable development, and clearly acknowledge the environmental underpinning
of all MDGs. One challenge that must be addressed coherently is how to ensure that
sustainable water management and a healthy environment can co-exist with the
considerable growth in agricultural production needed to feed an increasing world
population. The Conference on Water for Food and Ecosystems, held in the
Netherlands last January, worked out ways to strike a new balance between water
for human consumption, water for food production and water for a healthy
ecosystem.
? The fourth message I would like to bring to your attention is the necessity to
better incorporate energy issues in the Millennium Development Goals. Last
December we organised the Energy for Development Conference in Noordwijk. My
colleague Agnes van Ardenne, Minister for Development Cooperation, and I chaired
that Conference, which was organised together with the World Bank, UNDP and the
World Business Council for Sustainable Development. One important conclusion that
the delegates agreed on was that energy must remain high on the development
agenda. To achieve that, energy must be more explicitly embedded in the Millennium
Development Goals and in national policy programmes in developing countries,
including poverty reduction strategies. Once again I would like to make a plea for
coherent strategies. For example, in order to pump drinking water or operate
sanitation facilities, there has to be an energy supply to operate the equipment.
?
Responding to the four messages I have just conveyed will not come cheap. Major
investment is needed. The Millennium Project Report recommends a substantial
increase in investment in a range of basic services, such as safe drinking water and
basic sanitation, sustainable energy - including renewable energy and electricity -
2
safe cooking fuels, adequate shelter, sustainable and affordable public transport,
conservation and sustainable management of the natural environment. To help
expedite the concrete implementation of the Millennium Development Goals, the
Netherlands has set national targets for its contribution. Our country has undertaken
to do what is needed to facilitate access to safe drinking water and sanitation for 50
million people. That includes providing social and economic services, targeted at the
poorest countries, mainly in Africa. Our development minister, Agnes van Ardenne,
wants to deploy every available instrument to achieve this goal, including bilateral
cooperation, partnerships with UN entities and International Financial Institutions,
and partnerships with the private sector. To live up to the energy commitments it
made at the WSSD, the Netherlands adopted a national goal to provide sustainable
and modern energy services to 10 million people, especially in Africa.
The CSD's role in relation to the Millennium Development Goals is clear. All the
major thematic areas covered by the CSD's first three cycles are important for
reaching the Millennium Development Goals. The CSD should therefore take
substantial and concrete steps to bring about the required investment in these areas.
This will forge a solid link between the WSSD agenda and the MDG agenda.
Obviously, the CSD must deliver on commitments that have already been made and
commit to policies and actions that add value to the implementation of the JPol and
MDGs. To that end, it is essential to clearly identify the action owners and
implementation leaders in each policy year. It might be worthwhile to make a
distinction between actions for all countries, actions where individual "lead countries
or champions" could take the lead in coordinating implementation, and actions where
UN agencies or IFIs need to deliver on their mandate. In this respect UNDP, UNEP
and IFIs should take a much more active part in the CSD cycle. The Commission for
Sustainable Development should do more to coordinate the process and to get the
other actors more closely involved and stimulate the participation of all major groups
- especially women and youth. This could help prevent crucial issues being
systematically overlooked in national strategies. These issues include safe drinking
water and basic sanitation; energy, including electricity and safe cooking; adequate
shelter and a sustainably managed and conserved natural environment. Investment
in these areas is essential in the MDG follow-up.
Thank you Mr. Chairperson.
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