United States of America
United States Department of State
Washington, D.C.
Objectives of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development
Remarks by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Lawrence J. Gumbiner
Second PrepCom of UNCSD
March 7, 2011
The United States is pleased to participate in the PrepCom and to contribute to a
successful Rio 2012 Conference on Sustainable Development. We have developed a
robust process within our government to evaluate how far we have come since Rio, and
to identify gaps that we need to address and emerging issues where we need to make
progress. This effort is reinvigorating discussions on sustainable development within
our government as we work together to identify shortcomings and replicate successes,
and to avail ourselves of new science, information, technologies, and collaborations to
make real progress toward achieving sustainable development.
In doing this, we increasingly understand that, while the United Nations and national
governments are essential to sustainable development, our participation alone is not
sufficient for achieving meaningful progress that improves people’s lives and the
environment. We are beginning to engage our stakeholders – including
nongovernmental organizations, the private sector, local and regional governments, and
academia – all of which have important contributions to make to this process.
In this vein, a concise political document should only be a part of the outcome. We also
need to look to major groups and stakeholders to bring forward good ideas and take on
commitments and actions. Sustainable development can only be achieved when we
enable all citizens and empower all stakeholders to take action to achieve a sustainable
future. We need to invest in people, recognizing women and youth as key agents of
change in society. We need to promote human capacity development through
education, especially in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and to
enable the development of skill sets vital to emerging sectors of the economy.
development path.
The partnership approach out of the World Summit on Sustainable Development
continues to be an important tool for achieving sustainable development, and we should
look at how we can strengthen and further legitimize this approach. For example, our
domestic policy on innovation realizes that governments can catalyze and leverage
action across stakeholders, provide enabling frameworks and incentives for private
sector investment, invest in people, and facilitate meaningful collaborations across all
stakeholders. Together, we can address market failures, invest in sciences and
innovation, develop human capacity to meet today’s challenges, and adapt solutions for
local contexts.
Good governance at all levels is critical to our ability to make good on our Agenda 21
commitments. While national governments will make the political commitments, we
rely upon regional and local governments to implement new policies in the context of
local situations, to enforce environmental regulations, to innovate and adapt solutions
that will succeed in unique environmental, social, and political realities. Some of the
most creative solutions to our sustainable development challenges are emerging in the
U.S. from our state, regional and local governments. We should encourage
communities to do integrated planning, to develop sustainability plans and a local
Agenda 21.
Cities are hotspots for population growth, investment, and increasing demand for
energy, water, food, buildings and waste disposal. Rapid urbanization is a challenge
and an opportunity to focus our global efforts to minimize impacts from this
development, to develop state-of-the-art disaster preparedness plans, to integrate
planning with smarter designs, to build more livable communities and to address the
needs of the poorest of the poor. With good governance and sound planning we can
implement solutions that address the needs of people and promote inclusive growth that
works for all strata of society. We can identify and leverage solutions to improve access
to water, sanitation, food, and energy that will help us to achieve the Millennium
Development Goals.
Chair, we support the Rio 2012 process and the need to review our progress and to
identify gaps and emerging challenges. We want Rio 2012 to be forward looking, to
address ways that we can learn from past struggles, build on our successes, and achieve
a sustainable future. We believe that all countries should be able to monitor natural
resources and make informed and integrated decisions about their development paths.
We support efforts to measure progress and to share information and best practices.
Our challenges are significant. We recognize that economic growth is an essential
component of any sustainable development strategy. But economic growth should not
and does not need to be “development at all costs.” It should be balanced in a way that
takes into consideration the environment, natural resource, and social dimensions,
addressing poverty and improving the status of women. This is a challenging objective,
but one toward which we are making great strides. We are committed to this process
and to working with all stakeholders to identify actions we can take reinvigorate our
commitments and to harness 21st century tools and human capacity to achieve
sustainable development.
Thank you.
Drafted: OES/ENV: KJHolland
Approved: OES/DAS: LJGumbiner
Cleared: OES/ENV: WHBrakel – ok
OES/ENV: JMMatuszak – ok
OES/OPA: EKim – ok
IO/GS: REWebber – ok
S/P: RVArnaudo – ok
CEQ: MSamenfeld-Specht – ok
DOE: FCostantino – ok
DOT: LLawson – ok
DOL: KSchlach – ok
USTR: CVial – ok
HUD: JSchied – ok
Washington, D.C.
Objectives of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development
Remarks by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Lawrence J. Gumbiner
Second PrepCom of UNCSD
March 7, 2011
The United States is pleased to participate in the PrepCom and to contribute to a
successful Rio 2012 Conference on Sustainable Development. We have developed a
robust process within our government to evaluate how far we have come since Rio, and
to identify gaps that we need to address and emerging issues where we need to make
progress. This effort is reinvigorating discussions on sustainable development within
our government as we work together to identify shortcomings and replicate successes,
and to avail ourselves of new science, information, technologies, and collaborations to
make real progress toward achieving sustainable development.
In doing this, we increasingly understand that, while the United Nations and national
governments are essential to sustainable development, our participation alone is not
sufficient for achieving meaningful progress that improves people’s lives and the
environment. We are beginning to engage our stakeholders – including
nongovernmental organizations, the private sector, local and regional governments, and
academia – all of which have important contributions to make to this process.
In this vein, a concise political document should only be a part of the outcome. We also
need to look to major groups and stakeholders to bring forward good ideas and take on
commitments and actions. Sustainable development can only be achieved when we
enable all citizens and empower all stakeholders to take action to achieve a sustainable
future. We need to invest in people, recognizing women and youth as key agents of
change in society. We need to promote human capacity development through
education, especially in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and to
enable the development of skill sets vital to emerging sectors of the economy.
development path.
The partnership approach out of the World Summit on Sustainable Development
continues to be an important tool for achieving sustainable development, and we should
look at how we can strengthen and further legitimize this approach. For example, our
domestic policy on innovation realizes that governments can catalyze and leverage
action across stakeholders, provide enabling frameworks and incentives for private
sector investment, invest in people, and facilitate meaningful collaborations across all
stakeholders. Together, we can address market failures, invest in sciences and
innovation, develop human capacity to meet today’s challenges, and adapt solutions for
local contexts.
Good governance at all levels is critical to our ability to make good on our Agenda 21
commitments. While national governments will make the political commitments, we
rely upon regional and local governments to implement new policies in the context of
local situations, to enforce environmental regulations, to innovate and adapt solutions
that will succeed in unique environmental, social, and political realities. Some of the
most creative solutions to our sustainable development challenges are emerging in the
U.S. from our state, regional and local governments. We should encourage
communities to do integrated planning, to develop sustainability plans and a local
Agenda 21.
Cities are hotspots for population growth, investment, and increasing demand for
energy, water, food, buildings and waste disposal. Rapid urbanization is a challenge
and an opportunity to focus our global efforts to minimize impacts from this
development, to develop state-of-the-art disaster preparedness plans, to integrate
planning with smarter designs, to build more livable communities and to address the
needs of the poorest of the poor. With good governance and sound planning we can
implement solutions that address the needs of people and promote inclusive growth that
works for all strata of society. We can identify and leverage solutions to improve access
to water, sanitation, food, and energy that will help us to achieve the Millennium
Development Goals.
Chair, we support the Rio 2012 process and the need to review our progress and to
identify gaps and emerging challenges. We want Rio 2012 to be forward looking, to
address ways that we can learn from past struggles, build on our successes, and achieve
a sustainable future. We believe that all countries should be able to monitor natural
resources and make informed and integrated decisions about their development paths.
We support efforts to measure progress and to share information and best practices.
Our challenges are significant. We recognize that economic growth is an essential
component of any sustainable development strategy. But economic growth should not
and does not need to be “development at all costs.” It should be balanced in a way that
takes into consideration the environment, natural resource, and social dimensions,
addressing poverty and improving the status of women. This is a challenging objective,
but one toward which we are making great strides. We are committed to this process
and to working with all stakeholders to identify actions we can take reinvigorate our
commitments and to harness 21st century tools and human capacity to achieve
sustainable development.
Thank you.
Drafted: OES/ENV: KJHolland
Approved: OES/DAS: LJGumbiner
Cleared: OES/ENV: WHBrakel – ok
OES/ENV: JMMatuszak – ok
OES/OPA: EKim – ok
IO/GS: REWebber – ok
S/P: RVArnaudo – ok
CEQ: MSamenfeld-Specht – ok
DOE: FCostantino – ok
DOT: LLawson – ok
DOL: KSchlach – ok
USTR: CVial – ok
HUD: JSchied – ok
Stakeholders