‘Developed countries must now deliver on their commitment to poverty eradication’

Date: 01/08/02

Promises made in Rio need a shot in the arm. Johannesburg offers the chance to do just that, says EU Development Commissioner Poul Nielson.

THE Rio Earth Summit in 1992 raised considerable expectations. It agreed an ambitious and comprehensive strategy to address developmental and environmental challenges through a global partnership.

Ten years down the line, the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) will provide an opportunity to revitalise the spirit of Rio, shape a renewed political commitment to sustainable development and, above all, make concrete achievements on delivering not just on Rio but also on the Millennium Development Goals.

The EU will, as it has throughout the preparations, play an active role in Johannesburg in a bid to get concrete results.

We are doing this through active dialogue with partners, including those from developing countries.

The EU wants the WSSD to send a clear political message on the need to make globalisation more sustainable for all and, just as importantly, to agree on measures to achieve this.

Since the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio, north-south relations have fundamentally changed. Today, there is a wide agreement on the fact that economic, social and political developments require an integrated approach.

The achievements of the major UN conferences in the 1990s have built a new framework for development policies, with the overarching objective of poverty eradication, and which focuses on human, social and environmental aspects as well as sustainable management and use of natural resources.

Based on these developments, the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000 adopted a set of comprehensive goals in order to eradicate poverty - the Millennium Development Goals - which set out concrete objectives for the year 2015. Visions such as achieving universal primary education, combating diseases such as HIV/AIDS and ensuring environmental sustainability can only be realised by a common effort of industrialised and developing countries and the international community.

The positive outcomes of the WTO ministerial meeting in Doha in November 2001 and of the International Conference on Financing for Development in Monterrey in March 2002, provided further important elements towards reaching the Millennium Development Goals.

In both the 'Doha Development Agenda' and the 'Monterrey Consensus' a framework was agreed for improving market access, for upgrading multilateral rules to harness globalisation, and for increasing financial assistance for development.

The developed countries must now deliver on their commitments. Also the EU, as the world's leading partner of developing countries and as the biggest provider of development aid, is fully determined to do so.

The EU and its member states have pledged, as a first significant step towards reaching the UN target of 0.7 of gross national income for Official Development Assistance, to raise the collective average from the current 0.33 to 0.39 by 2006.

Concretely, this should result in an additional annual amount of aid of €9 billion by 2006, and about €22 billion between now and 2006. The developing countries must take their responsibilities by improving internal policies and domestic governance and creating an enabling climate for investment.

All the countries must work together, recognising common but differentiated responsibilities, to ensure that growth is separated from environmental degradation and that the needs of the present generation are satisfied without destroying the capacity of future generations to cater for their needs.

In the light of the Doha and Monterrey achievements, the WSSD is a unique opportunity to close the implementation gap left after Rio - and to renew political commitments made by all stakeholders.

Making development policies sustainable implies tackling problems with foresight, an approach that the Union aims to promote and has embraced in its Treaty, in the agreements it has signed and in the policies it has adopted.

Therefore, the EU wants the WSSD to take further steps towards implementing the Millennium Development Goals, and to build on them, particularly in crucial areas such as sanitation and energy.

The EU intends to play a vital role in ensuring that the outcome of Johannesburg addresses the three pillars of sustainable development (economic, social, environmental) and enforces coherent global management.

All the players will have a role - developing countries by implementing sound policies, good governance and the rule of law, and industrialised countries by ensuring that markets are open to all.

All the stakeholders should commit to a sense of common ownership, which is indispensable in the summit follow-up.

The WSSD should adopt concrete commitments with a precise timeframe, carried out on the basis of effective partnership. One of the implementing mechanisms could be well-developed partnerships between governments, the private sector and civil society.

There should, however, be a clear link between the political goals and the partnerships decided by the WSSD so that everyone can see how the political goals are being achieved.

The EU wants the WSSD to send a clear political message on the need to make globalisation more sustainable for all and to agree on measures aimed at promoting this goal.

In order to be clear and coherent in its approach to the WSSD, the EU strategy for Johannesburg follows an integrated approach: we start by putting our own house in order and thus provide leadership in translating rhetoric into action.

This internal strategy for sustainable development was endorsed by the Göteborg Council in June last year, when poverty eradication and promotion of sustainable production and consumption patterns were identified as overriding objectives for the summit.

In addition, the Union has to make its contribution to promote sustainable development beyond its own borders.

Putting this into practice, the EU wants to promote progress in five key areas: water, energy, health, agriculture and biodiversity.

The EU water initiative, for instance, plans to bring together, in partnership with countries and regions, public and private funds, stakeholders and experts to provide sustainable solutions to problems of water management.

Reaching the political goal of halving the number of people without access to clean water and sanitation by 2015 would provide a major contribution to improved health and economic development.

At June's European Council in Seville, the EU reaffirmed its commitment to be a constructive force at the Johannesburg summit.

We will use all opportunities to achieve a positive outcome; the people and this planet deserve no less.

Promises made at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 need a shot in the arm, and Johannesburg offers the chance to do just that, says the EU Development Commissioner. Article is part of a European Voice survey on sustainable development.

http://www.johannesburgsummit.org http://www.johannesburgsummit.org

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