Commissioner Nielson's speech on WSSD

Sumario: April 18, 2002: Speech by Poul Nielson, European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid. "World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg" (WSSD) at the closing session of « Green Week » in Brussels

The recent Conferences in Doha and in Monterrey have cleared some of the issues, that could have been a stumbling block on the road to a successful Summit in Johannesburg, but many issues will remain on the table.

However, in order to turn Johannesburg into a success, perceptions and words will not be enough. Leadership will also be needed in terms of action. The Commission has expressed this clearly in its communication on the external dimension of sustainable development adopted in February, which complements the internal strategy adopted last year. The EU must lead by example, in key interrelated areas. I would like to stress the points that flow most prominently from this document:

We need to give high priority to fighting poverty. The Conference in Monterrey has prepared the way in that respect. The "Monterrey Consensus", as well as the commitments made by countries outside of that document, has put in place the elements of the partnership that Johannesburg has to develop and strengthen. The commitments contained in this document can also, overall, be considered in accordance with the EU's concept of a global partnership, encompassing the results of global meetings on sustainable development from Doha, to Monterrey, to Rome and finally to Johannesburg.

With respect to the mobilization of public financial resources, the EU has already committed itself at Barcelona to an increase of ODA from the current average of 0.33% GNP/ODA to the 0.39% GNP/ODA between now and 2006. This will translate into an extra € 8 billion per year by the year 2006 for development aid focusing on poverty reduction and sustainable development.

There are however some points on which Monterrey falls short of expectations. Let me point out a few major topics where action and initiative from the EU is needed and on which we will continue to work until and in Johannesburg to ensure an adequate solution:

On the issues relating to global governance, the Monterrey Consensus limits itself to stressing the need to enhance the voice of developing countries in the international financial architecture without going into any concrete proposals. We need to go beyond that and work on improving the system of global governance by making global governance structures more inclusive and coherent with each other as well as by strengthening in particular global governance in the social and environmental sector.
On innovative sources of financing, the Monterrey Consensus does not go beyond a general sentence on the need to further explore this issue, while the global public goods are not even mentioned. We must seize the opportunity that will be provided by the Johannesburg conference to further advance the international discussion of these issues and to agree on ways to address them.

One of the innovative features of the Johannesburg Summit is that, besides the formally agreed Declarations, there will be voluntary initiatives and partnerships involving countries, international organizations, stake holders (so-called "type 2 outcomes").

The EU is considering, amongst others, the following initiatives:

A strategic partnership for the sustainable management of water resources, based on the principle of integrated river basin management.
A strategic partnership in the field of energy for sustainable development.
A specific initiative for Africa, building on ongoing initiatives like the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD).

Strengthening coherence of EU policies. We must ensure that all EU policies, including our agricultural and fisheries policies, immigration policies, regulation on arms exports are conducive to global sustainable development.

The Development Council will adopt conclusions on these key issues of the EU external dimension of sustainable development at the end of May.

Ref: SP02-214EN
Fuente UE: Comisión Europea
Foro NU: Otros
Fecha: 18/4/2002

| Arriba |

< Vuelta a la pagina anterior