Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-09-05-Speech-3-228"
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"en.20070905.22.3-228"2
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"I seem to have detected in this debate a certain sadness, a certain consternation and perhaps a little scepticism on the part of some Members as to what we can do from now on to combat drought and desertification, having regard to what we have done to date in this field.
The establishment of a European observatory on drought was mentioned. That was in fact one of the points discussed and debated at the informal meeting of Environment Ministers in Portugal and one could conclude from that debate that they regard the establishment of a European observatory on drought as an important measure both to draw attention to drought-related problems as well as to build the model required for the measures which must be, or could be, implemented in order to combat drought. This is therefore, as I said, a measure that the Environment Ministers view with interest and enthusiasm.
Let us hope, then, that the Madrid Conference will produce results that come up to our expectations.
However, I think that the conditioning factors and the context have changed significantly since 1994, particularly in more recent times. I think that the growing awareness among governments, politicians in general, civil society and public opinion of issues concerning climate change, the environmental challenges facing us and, in particular, combating desertification, climate change and water shortages, will help us to press ahead, with confidence, optimism, and a renewed impetus in combating the serious environmental problems that we shall increasingly have to face.
We also have reasons for some confidence and optimism when we see the Council of the European Union taking on important commitments, I would even say extremely important commitments, and taking the lead internationally in announcing measures for combating climate change and proposing that they become standards, goals to be achieved by the entire international community.
Portugal, in its Presidency of the European Union, will naturally have an important role to play here too, since we shall be leading the European Union at the Bali Conference which, as you know, will be preparing the decisions that we shall need to take in that area post-Kyoto 2012.
We think that the Madrid Conference of the Parties to the Convention to Combat Desertification could in fact provide an opportunity for renewing and updating the commitments made in 1994. We hope so. We have three or four priorities that we think it would be useful to achieve.
First, it is our opinion that the Parties to the Convention should improve their internal coordination as regards combating desertification, by taking a more integrated approach to this issue as a whole. As the honourable Member mentioned, ministers for the various sectors often adopt domestic measures without previously agreeing on the objectives to be attained, so that decision-making is rather ad hoc and random. At national level, therefore, coordination between the various departments holding responsibilities in this area needs in fact to be more effective and more efficient.
It was mentioned in this House, and I also said it myself in my first speech, that it is very important for civil society to feel more involved in implementing the measures needed to combat desertification. Many of the problems are specific and localised, having a profound effect on the local population, and it is important in this combat that there should be a sense of ‘ownership’ or taking on board of the policies necessary to combat desertification.
We must also enhance the institutional mechanisms for implementing the Convention. We also think it is important, at regional and international level, to step up such cooperation as well as cooperation to combat desertification. The Parties to the Convention frequently tend to view their own problems from an exclusively national point of view. This is one area where it seems to us, by the very nature of the problems involved, that regional and international cooperation are particularly appropriate.
To conclude, the question of the budget was mentioned here – budgetary appropriations. It is an important point; naturally we must also allocate sufficient financial resources to enable these mechanisms to meet needs."@en1
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