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World
Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) International Eminent Persons
Meeting on Interlinkages Bridging Problems and Solutions to Work Towards
Sustainable Development |
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Highlights
from Monday, 3 September
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Opening and Welcoming Remarks |
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Yoriko Kawaguchi, Japanese Minister of the Environment, highlighted
the difficulty of arriving at a common understanding of the multiple,
complex issues underlying sustainable development, and their linkages.
She said more efforts are needed to bridge the gaps, and commended the
interlinkages initiative of the UNU. |
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Shigeo
Uetake, Senior Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, Japan, highlighted
the need to meet the concerns of future generations and accommodate
development needs. Uetake highlighted the use of Japanese Official Development
Assistance in promoting the compatibility of environment and development.
He closed by supporting use of market mechanisms, environmental technologies,
and the involvement of business, scientists and civil society. |
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Ryutaro
Hashimoto, Chairman, GLOBE, Japan, Former Japanese Prime Minister,
proposed addressing inter-linkages between national and local governments,
as well as between environment and economic spheres. He reviewed lessons
from pollution and waste problems in Japan, remarking that initial actions
often had unexpected secondary effects. He noted that initial incineration
practices for waste led to new pollutants, while early policy responses
for reducing industrial pollution had a positive impact resulting in new
industries and technologies. |
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Shigeo Uetake and Ryutaro Hashimoto |
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Keynote Address: Maurice Strong |
Maurice
Strong, President of the Council, University for Peace, underscored
that this Conference promises to make a valuable contribution to preparations
for the World Summit on Sustainable Development. He proposed that the
theme of the Johannesburg conference could be "Earth Security" and noted
his disappointment that the Rio Conference had failed to address interlinkages
in its final results. He underscored that the 2002 Summit can provide
new impetus and direction to the implementation of Agenda 21 and the Rio
Conventions, provided that world leaders recognize practical and policy
linkages between issues that will lead to strengthening and reorientating
sustainable development institutions and processes. He proposed measures
that could make the Johannesburg Summit a successful milestone on the
pathway to a sustainable future including: affirmation of decisions and
commitments made at the Earth Summit and subsequent, related international
fora; establishment of an "Earth Security Support Fund" committing governments
to providing new funds to developing countries at a minimum level of 1%
of Gross National Product (GNP); establishment of a "People's Earth Fund"
and a Consultative Group on Clean Energy; upgrading of UNEP to a specialized
agency, making it the centerpiece of a "UN Environment Group" to ensure
cooperative decision-making and coordinated action on environment and
sustainable development issues within the UN; using a single framework
for sustainable development-related conventions for administrative and
policy coordination purposes; expansion of the GEF's mandate; and endorsement
of the "Peoples" Earth Charter. Click
here for text of Maurice Strong's address. |
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Ryutaro Hashimoto,
Maurice Strong and Jan Pronk, Minister of Housing, Spatial Planning
and the Environment, the Netherlands
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Langston
"Kimo" Goree, Director, Reporting Services, International
Institute for Sustainable Development (kimo@iisd.org)
with Shinichi Arai, Secretary General, IGES, (left); Participants
exchange business cards (right)
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Gary
Sampson, Chair of International Economic Relations, UNU/IAS, and Bradnee
Chambers, Fellow, UNU Institute of Advanced Studies
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Case
Study Presentations to introduce the Working Groups
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Martin
Kohr, Director, Third World Network (twn@igc.apc.org
or twnet@po.jaring.my),
highlighted the conflict raised by globalization and links to sustainable
development. He said that achievements of Rio had been weakened because
the sustainable development paradigm was competing with the globalization
paradigm. He suggested that globalization had found a new institutional
home in WTO agreements and that the WTO's dispute settlement system
based on retaliation and sanctions gave it a strong enforcement capability.
He noted that UNCED did not have a compliance system nor a strong agency
for following up its agreements. He said that that the most glaring
weakness at Rio was the failure to include frameworks to regulate business,
financial institutions, TNCs and new technologies. Kohr's
paper on Globalization and Sustainable Development |
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Samnotra
Vijay, Head of Synergies and Interlinkages Unit, UNEP (Vijay.Samnotra@unep.org)
highlighted the International Environmental Governance initiative
and related consultations with the MEA secretariats. He said UNEP supports
an approach based on incremental steps to make the existing system work
more efficiently, to enhance coordination, coherence, compliance and
capacity building. He outlined aspects of the UNEP approach including
the strengthening of: coordination between MEAs at the international
policy level; coordination at the national level; harmonization of information
systems, exchanges and access; joint efforts with regard to compliance
and enforcement, and capacity building transcending administrative and
sectoral boundaries; cost effectiveness and rational organization of
MEA meetings; and financing. UNEP
Proposal for a Systematic Approach to Coordination of MEAs. |
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Norman
Myers, Honorary Visiting Fellow, Oxford University (myers1n@aol.com),
noted that the problem with addressing and acting on interlinkages is
their intangible and abstract nature. Using examples of bananas and
gasoline, he highlighted that their market price does not include all
of the interlinkages or externalities involved in their production and
consumption, most especially environmental impacts. He proposed shifting
to full-cost pricing of products and services to reflect the true environmental
and social effects. He recommended shifting the tax burden from productive
individuals and businesses to those causing pollution and unsustainably
exploiting natural resources. Myers'
paper on Sustainable Development: Tackling Problems--Or Sources Of Problems?
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| Related Links |
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 United
Nations University |
| Global
Environment Information Center |
| IISD
coverage of Workshop on Interlinkages, Synergies and Coordination among
MEAs 26-27 February 2001 |
| IISD
coverage of Interlinkages Conference 14-16 July 1999 |
Sustainable Developments home page ~ Linkages home page