Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-09-25-Speech-3-045"
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"en.20020925.1.3-045"2
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"Mr President, I consider sustainable development to be an expression of the task given by God to mankind to cultivate and preserve the earth. It is essential for a balance to be struck between social, economic and environmental components. Moreover, we should try to achieve this balance in the developed and the developing countries alike. The Johannesburg Summit has culminated in a plan of action which mainly focuses on the economic goals and not so much on the environmental goals. This is hardly a balance, therefore.
Ten years ago, a legal framework for climate and biodiversity was established in Rio. The Kyoto Protocol has been drafted for climate, but ratification and implementation are still a major point of concern. As far as biodiversity is concerned, we opted for the status quo ten years ago. As Mr Alexander de Roo mentioned earlier, this goal has now been watered down in Johannesburg to a decelerated decline in biodiversity. In addition, the summit did not manage to reach definite agreement on sustainable energy. Despite great European ambitions, and it is certainly no criticism of the Commissioners, worldwide sustainable development has not been given any extra impetus.
Fortunately, there are also a number of positive elements to report, including target goals for drinking water and sanitary facilities, chemicals, fish stocks, the fight against poverty, hunger and child mortality. As regards development aid, however, the rich nations have for the past ten years been promising that they intend to spend 0.7% of their GNP on it. When will this happen? I would have liked to have seen a deadline set for this.
The fight against poverty can create scope for environmental protection, for it is true that if people have no food, no housing and no clean drinking water, environmental protection is often a concern for later. In other words, we must create a support structure for environmental protection and this is why it is our primary task to do something about the fight against poverty.
If the agreement, taken from the Johannesburg plan of action, that trade policy should not affect the development of poor countries and is taken seriously in the area of the environment, this will have far-reaching consequences for European agricultural and trade policy. I should like to hear from both Commissioners what their views are on this.
Many people seem happy with the outcome of the UN Conference in Johannesburg on sustainable development. Whether my grandchildren will see things in the same light 20 years from now remains to be seen. This is a requirement, however, if we consider Mrs Brundtland’s commitment to achieve a good definition of sustainable development. The implementation of the goals will certainly need to make a contribution to this."@en1
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