Madame Chair,

Yesterday I asked the question:

5. Why are we here?
6. Why on earth are we here?

My answer was, - we should be here for one reason and one reason only: to bring action in sustainable development forward – to the benefit of the poor and the environment. This should be reflected in the Political Declaration. We have to deliver on that: action.

This means reflecting concrete deliverables from the Plan of Implementation that hopefully will be agreed in the process. The political declaration has to include new commitments from our world leaders - to do more and deliver more. It has to provide "meat" and concrete deliverables.

This means Partnerships and structured type 2- initiatives that imply quantum leaps in a few sectors, building on national ownership and based on poverty reduction strategies. There has to be substantial deliveries negotiated in the WEHAB areas, ensuring a common structure to achieve them. This has to be reflected in concrete terms in the Political Declaration.

In Johannesburg world leaders will be faced with a crucial task: to focus on the principal challenges posed by sustainable development and agree on the need to make some major, but implementable decisions. These should be reflected in the Political Declaration, and build on a few crucial principles. We need decisions and language implying life, liberty and opportunity for hundreds of millions of people in the short and medium term, and safeguarding for future generations the life systems on which we all depend. This is what we should do in Johannesburg: make the right decisions, - and reflect them in the Declaration.

The UN Secretary General has identified five key areas where concrete results must be achieved, water, energy, health, agriculture and biodiversity.

Strategic investments and policy improvements in these areas will yield important dividends:

• An environment dividend of magnitude: safeguarding and improving critical environmental goods and services;
• A social dividend of significance: improving poor people’s health and standards of living;
• A major developmental dividend: improving poor people’s livelihoods, reducing their vulnerablility – providing sustainable growth.

This should be reflected in the Political Declaration.

In our view the Political Declaration should be structured in 4 sections:

• A Preamble that reflects the principles and previous agreements that have been made in sustainable development;
• Deliverables by Consensus – from the Plan of Implementation, deliverables that are "juicy" and imply action;
• Frameworks of Delivery, building on negotiated and structured Type 2 quantum leaps in the WEHAB-sectors, delivering in quality and quantity;
• Follow-up in terms of human resources, capacity and competence-building, financial resources in terms of ODA-commitments, and monitoring mechanisms – both of the Millennium Development Goals – which UNDP has the responsibility for and of the WSSD-results. Here a monitoring mechanism is also needed.

A Political Declaration that includes these four aspects, and delivers in terms of action will reflect the commitment the world expects from us in Johannesburg.

Why will we be going to Johannesburg, Madame Chair?

Because we have to provide the answers to this question: What kind of world is today’s poor 5 years-olds faced with? We have to provide the answer to that. What kind of world will today’s 5 year-olds be faced with at 50? We have to provide the answer to that.

We know the answer, Madame Chair!

In the Political Declaration we have to show the action necessary.

This is what the world expects from us.

Thank you, Madame Chair.