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GERMANY:

Prof. Dr. Klaus T”pfer, German Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, stated that Agenda 21 must become an integral structural element in both the Agenda for Development and the Agenda for Peace. The CSD must further the coordination within the UN system in the field of environment and development. The ad hoc working groups on finance and technology, as well as other government initiatives, must provide a basis for clear political decisions at the second CSD meeting. With regard to the Climate Change Convention, Germany will host the first Conference of Parties in March-April 1995 in Berlin. He stressed the importance of the Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States and the Conference on Straddling and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks. With regard to the INCD, apart from the global geographical significance of desertification, particular attention must be directed at the African countries.

In order to react adequately to the global environmental problems faced today, it is essential that there be a deep-seated ecological structural change in economies and societies, Topfer continued. Important elements include an ecologically oriented national account, environmentally friendly technology, and strengthening of capacity building. With regard to implementing the forest principles, at the second CSD meeting participants must agree on an adequate mechanism to ensure an efficient treatment of the topic in 1995. He also supported the GEF restructuring, the need to open up markets, and the importance of environment and trade.