UNEP Ministerial meeting

Madame Chairperson,

It is a pleasure to be here and I thank you and your Government for the cordial hospitality you have provided for us.

Madame Chairperson,

I would like to commend Minister Anderson for the amended paper which I believe will serve as an excellent basis for our continued discussions at this meeting. I believe that the "building blocks" concept and the holistic approach adopted in Algiers provide a good and balanced direction for our further work.

Firstly, I would like to emphasise that one of the key outcomes of the IEG process must be to ensureadequate, predictable and stable funding for UNEP. After all the General Assembly has mandated UNEP to be the centerpiece in coping with global environmental concerns. This is an impossible task without financial resources. The current system of voluntary contributions is not viable. A shrinking donor base is of serious concern. A system of fairer burden-sharing is essential. The establishment of such a system will be of importance for the level of future Norwegian contributions. We must make progress on the basis of para. 12 (b) in Minister Anderson’s paper. A broader donor base depending on burden-sharing and predictability must be the goal. The proposed strategic partnership between UNEP and GEF I believe also deserves full consideration, and could be a means to attract additional resources.

Secondly, it is my firm belief that an enhanced GMEF could provide for universal membership and meaningful participation by representatives of civil society. In order to improve the coherence in policy making, GMEF must provide a wide and cross-sectoral platform with the necessary authority to conduct political debates on environmental issues. If necessary, the UNEP rules of procedure must be modified to this end.

Thirdly, I believe that the emphasis on the need to further strengthen UNEP in the field of scientific assessments is entirely correct. The time has come to enhance UNEP’s capacity in this field. The fact that 40,000 species become extinct each year, talks volumes to this need. We must ensure that we make our political decisions based on solid scientific information. I therefore propose that we consider the establishment of an Intergovernmental Panel on GlobalEnvironmental Change under the auspices of the UNEP Governing Council/GMEF, and with the support of the UNEP secretariat. The modus operandi for the panel would have to be carefully designed to ensure that it draws upon existing scientific assessments, that it maintains scientific independence, and that it serves as an interface between science and politics. Norway has prepared a non-paper containing the rationale for this proposal which has been distributed for consideration by colleagues at this meeting, and I shall look forward to further discussions on this proposal.

Fourthly, a main concern to me is the need to strengthen UNEP. One idea could be to consider the establishment of an international High Commissioner or Ombudsman for the environment. Norway sees the potential for achieving greater worldwide prominence for environmental questions through such an institution. One possibility would be to add this function to the role of the Executive Director of UNEP. I would welcome informal comments already this week. Perhaps the Executive Director of UNEP could be invited to gather information on similar functions within the UN system and present a brief and preliminary report at the meeting of the GMEF in February.

Fifthly, countries wishing to implement their environmental commitments, but are not in a position to do so, should be assisted. This is why I think the gap between environmental commitment and its implementation must be addressed. The need to strengthen the capacity and capability of developing countries should be given key priority, and a more coordinated and concerted effort must be ensured both at the national and regional levels. This should be an important component of UNEP’s work. Progress must be made on the basis of Chapter 4 in Minister Anderson’s paper. I would, however, add that an Intergovernmental Strategic Plan of Action for Implementation Support should be developed. A key element of the Action Plan should be a programme of capacity building, as suggested in Minister Anderson’s paper. The overall goal should be to provide financial and technical support for implementation of the multilateral agreements, as well as other instruments in accordance with national plans, priorities and programmes. UNEP should cooperate closely with other UN agencies and financial institutions to ensure the effective implementation of the strategy. Close consultation with the EMG should be ensured. GEF should also be involved. We have developed a background paper on this concept which we would be glad to distribute to delegations at this meeting.

Sixthly, on the issue of Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) I strongly support Minister Anderson’s emphasis in para. 16 on the need to fully exploit the possibilities for clustering. The area of chemicals could provide a very good starting point.

Finally, Madame Chairperson,, we strongly support the role of the EMG in strengthening coordination throughout the UN system. I understand that the EMG, for a number of reasons, has had a fairly slow start. It would be useful, I believe, to invite the Executive Director to present a report to the next GMEF on how he sees the role of the EMG developing, and informing about any difficulties encountered hitherto.

Madame Chairperson, I believe we have already made significant progress in our work, not least thanks to the outstanding efforts of our colleague, David Anderson. We must maintain a high ambition level for our work, and ensure that the results of the efforts provide a carefully reasoned and constructive contribution to the preparations for the Johannesburg Summit next year. At this 4 ^th> IEG meeting we have to build a solid foundation on which we can continue building an efficient IEG structure. This implies that we must agree on a vision for the future. A vision that will guide the recommendations we bring to Cartagena. These recommendations must cater for a robust environmental regime that in turn can cater for the environmental challenges ahead of us.

Thank you, Madame Chairperson.