As we have heard, the thematic issues of land, agriculture and desertification are strongly inter-related. These topics also touch upon other key agendas, including climate change adaptation as a means of sustaining livelihoods and reducing the potential for disaster and conflict - in Africa and elsewhere.
We have also heard that many of the obstacles within the different topics are much the same. There is a general need for more capacity building, research, education and information, local ownership, and stakeholder and gender participation. It it especially crucial to recognise women's rights and roles related to land and agriculture. There is also a need for mainstreaming environment into sector policies, and to shift towards more sustainable production and consumption patterns.
To promote coherent and integrated responses to these challenges, Norway attaches great importance to having the UN "Deliver as One".
-This is essential at the country-level, where we should strive for a common and coherent framework for implementation in support of the MDGs and other globally-agreed goals.
-This is also important at the policy and normative levels. Norway will continue to take part in discussions on how to make the CSD itself - with its unique cross-cutting mandate - as interactive and actions-oriented as possible. We will also continue to contribute actively to the larger International Environmental Governance debate - including the need to strengthen UNEP and build on synergies between global envionmental conventions.
At the national level, we see sustainable development strategies as useful instruments for more coherent action - and Norway has just revised its own national strategy.
Finally, todays challenges - including the food situation, biofuels, deforestation - are complex. The CSD should therefore stress the need for broad-based responses at alle levels, based on a broad understanding of the interlinkages and dynamics at hand.
