Nigeria
FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA
STATEMENT DELIVERED BY DR. LAWRENCE C. ANUKAM, DIRECTOR ,
PLANNING AND POLICY ANALYSIS, NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL
STANDARDS & REGULATIONS ENFORCEMENT AGENCY (NESREA) OF
NIGERIA AND LEADER OF THE NIGERIAN DELEGATION, AT THE FIRST
MEETING OF THE PREPARATORY COMMITTEE FOR THE UNITED NATIONS
CONFERENCE ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, NEW YORK, 17 MAY 2010.
Mr. Chairman,
Nigeria wishes to associate herself with the statement made this morning by Yemen on behalf
of the Group of 77 and China. We also wish to take this opportunity to congratulate you –the
co-chairs and members of your Bureau for your election today to guide us in our preparation
for this very important process – the Rio+20 – the United Nations Conference on Sustainable
Development scheduled for 2010 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Mr. Chairman,
There has been quite some progress on protecting the environment and achieving sustainable
development since the first United Nations Conference on Human Environment in Stockholm
in 1972, to the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992, and to the World Summit on Sustainable
Development in Johannesburg in 2002. These major milestones in global environmentalism
have no doubt sharpened our thoughts and created/re-enforced institutional mechanisms at
national, regional and global levels. They have also facilitated the introduction and
negotiation of global agreements and treaties to address various environmental challenges
facing humanity today.
But a lot still remains to be done. There are still many unfulfilled commitments and pledges
since Rio. The rate of wealth generation in developing countries, particularly in Africa, is still
abysmally low. The exportation of polluting and obsolete technologies from the developed to
developing countries has not abated. Toxic and hazardous wastes, including e-wastes,
generated in the North are shipped and dumped in the South. There is weak support to the full
implementation of various environmental conventions and protocols, including the Rio
Conventions, to check our human excesses on the environment.
Mr. Chairman,
The hope is not lost. The Rio+20 process and the United Nations Conference on Sustainable
Development provide us yet with another chance to review and access what we have done
since 20 years ago. It will assist us to know how far we have gone in the implementation of
those landmark Declarations and Action Plans, particularly the Rio Principles, the
Johannesburg Declaration, the Agenda 21, and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation.
As we prepare for Rio + 20, we should lay emphasis on identifying gaps and challenges that
have impeded the implementations of those outcomes, and how to address them. The
preparation should start at all levels – local, national, regional and global levels. The private
sector, including multinational corporations, the civil society, and the academia, etc, should
be fully engaged in the process leading to Rio.
Nigeria participated actively in all the major processes leading to the Earth Summit in Rio in
1992, at the Summit itself, and all the follow-up activities. Following the Earth Summit, we
developed our National Agenda 21 to operationalise and implement the outcomes of the
Summit. We shall also be very active in all the preparatory processes of Rio+20 at national,
regional, regional and global levels.
Thank you.
STATEMENT DELIVERED BY DR. LAWRENCE C. ANUKAM, DIRECTOR ,
PLANNING AND POLICY ANALYSIS, NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL
STANDARDS & REGULATIONS ENFORCEMENT AGENCY (NESREA) OF
NIGERIA AND LEADER OF THE NIGERIAN DELEGATION, AT THE FIRST
MEETING OF THE PREPARATORY COMMITTEE FOR THE UNITED NATIONS
CONFERENCE ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, NEW YORK, 17 MAY 2010.
Mr. Chairman,
Nigeria wishes to associate herself with the statement made this morning by Yemen on behalf
of the Group of 77 and China. We also wish to take this opportunity to congratulate you –the
co-chairs and members of your Bureau for your election today to guide us in our preparation
for this very important process – the Rio+20 – the United Nations Conference on Sustainable
Development scheduled for 2010 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Mr. Chairman,
There has been quite some progress on protecting the environment and achieving sustainable
development since the first United Nations Conference on Human Environment in Stockholm
in 1972, to the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992, and to the World Summit on Sustainable
Development in Johannesburg in 2002. These major milestones in global environmentalism
have no doubt sharpened our thoughts and created/re-enforced institutional mechanisms at
national, regional and global levels. They have also facilitated the introduction and
negotiation of global agreements and treaties to address various environmental challenges
facing humanity today.
But a lot still remains to be done. There are still many unfulfilled commitments and pledges
since Rio. The rate of wealth generation in developing countries, particularly in Africa, is still
abysmally low. The exportation of polluting and obsolete technologies from the developed to
developing countries has not abated. Toxic and hazardous wastes, including e-wastes,
generated in the North are shipped and dumped in the South. There is weak support to the full
implementation of various environmental conventions and protocols, including the Rio
Conventions, to check our human excesses on the environment.
Mr. Chairman,
The hope is not lost. The Rio+20 process and the United Nations Conference on Sustainable
Development provide us yet with another chance to review and access what we have done
since 20 years ago. It will assist us to know how far we have gone in the implementation of
those landmark Declarations and Action Plans, particularly the Rio Principles, the
Johannesburg Declaration, the Agenda 21, and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation.
As we prepare for Rio + 20, we should lay emphasis on identifying gaps and challenges that
have impeded the implementations of those outcomes, and how to address them. The
preparation should start at all levels – local, national, regional and global levels. The private
sector, including multinational corporations, the civil society, and the academia, etc, should
be fully engaged in the process leading to Rio.
Nigeria participated actively in all the major processes leading to the Earth Summit in Rio in
1992, at the Summit itself, and all the follow-up activities. Following the Earth Summit, we
developed our National Agenda 21 to operationalise and implement the outcomes of the
Summit. We shall also be very active in all the preparatory processes of Rio+20 at national,
regional, regional and global levels.
Thank you.
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