Statement by H.E. Børge Brende, Minister of the Environment, Norway, and Chair of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD), South Korea, 29.03.04

Global Environment Ministerial Forum

Distinguished Colleagues:

Nearly two years ago many of us were in Johannesburg at the World Summit on Sustainable Development. Agreement was reached on time-bound and specific targets.

This meeting will focus on the environmental aspects of water, sanitation and human settlements and the centrality of ecosystems approaches in water management.

I look forward to our deliberations over the next few days and I would like to acknowledge the key importance of the work UNEP is doing under the great leadership of the Executive Director Dr. Klaus Töpfer.

In less than three weeks time the world community will again meet in New York to review what has happened to these commitments and assess how words have been translated into action.

The 12 ^th> Session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD12) aims to keep up the political momentum. We will use the meeting to identify obstacles and constraints as well as success stories, to pave the way for effective implementation of the water, sanitation and human settlement targets.

How are we doing so far?

• Integrated Water Resources Management – Currently, about half of the developing countries have made progress in meeting the target of developing integrated water resources management and efficiency plans by 2005;
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• Water – Currently, half of the countries are on track to meet the water supply target; and
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• Sanitation – The least progress has been made on sanitation. Only one third of the countries are on track to reach the target.
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• Human settlements - So far, few reliable overall figures are available regarding efforts to substantially improve the lives of slum dwellers. Progress on this target is therefore difficult to measure.

Although the overall picture tells us that we are not on track, there are examples of progress and positive developments.

China, with 1.3 billion people, will probably achieve most of the Millennium Development Goals. India, with one billion people, is on track to meet the overall poverty goal.

So there are signs of hope and examples of progress both nationally and internationally.

How can we get on track and how can UNEP contribute? These are the questions we are here to address.

Let me start with the first water-related target – prepare integrated water resources management and efficiency plans (IWRM) by 2005.

In a number of countries water scarcity and deteriorating water quality have become critical factors limiting national economic development, expansion of food production and provision of basic health and hygiene services to the population. The recognition of the need to address these weaknesses in their water governance structures has convinced many countries that a new water management framework is needed.

Through IWRM we can achieve improvements in providing safe and affordable drinking water and basic sanitation. We can solve transboundary conflicts and crises and open up opportunities for cooperation. This of critical importance since more than 45% of the world’s water resources is shared.

Furthermore, we can use IWRM as a tool to ensure that development efforts within energy and agriculture are handled with due consideration to other water uses and the environment. Poor management of water resources causes health, environment and economic losses on a scale that hinders development and poverty eradication efforts.

We need to find integrated solutions for the demands we put on our freshwater resources and look beyond the specific needs of sectors, such as food production, hydropower and nature conservation.

Allocation of water between users has to ensure that we are using the best quality water to human consumption and lesser quality water to other users. There are cases where the best water is used for irrigation.

The ecosystem approach to water management may provide answers to the social, economic, and ecological problems we face. Recognizing the vital role of healthy ecosystems in the water cycle and protecting them should form the basis of any water management decision. In this connection I would like to highlight the key importance of protecting our wetlands and key function they serve. We have lost more than 50% of our wetlands – this can’t continue.

In the Aral Sea basin not enough attention was given to protecting the functioning of ecosystems when it was decided to grow cotton in this area. We all know the result – today the Aral Sea is disappearing.

The conclusion is clear: There is an urgent need to ACCELERATE efforts in this direction, starting with the preparation of IWRM plans as agreed in Johannesburg.

My concern is that if we miss the 2005 target this might defuse the gains being made and take the wind out of our collective sails to meet the 2015 targets on water and sanitation. Sound water management is fundamental to sustainable development and to reach all the MDGs.

In this connection I will compliment UNEP in taking the initiative to establish the “2005 Water Resources Alliance” and its commitment to get more actively involved in assisting countries to prepare IWRM plans in cooperation with other key agencies. This will also involve assisting developing the required capacity at national levels.

On the second water-related target – halving the population without sustainable access to water – we have made better progress. But still, for the world's poorest citizens, access to safe water remains a promise unfulfilled. This silent humanitarian crises take each day thousands of lives, rob the poor of their health, halt progress toward gender equality, and reduce economic growth, particularly in Africa and Asia.

In South Africa, free access to basic water supply is well within reach. In 1994, 15 million out of South Africa’s population of 40 million lacked access to basic water supply. Last summer; President Thabo Mbeki attended the celebration of the 9th million new receiver of free water since the program was initiated.

At this rate of progress, access to basic water supply will be universal by 2010.

South Africa has shown us that it is doable.

We need to sustain support for measures taken to reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water by 2015.

Let me remind you of Nelson Mandela's words at WSSD:

”Are we to decide the importance of issues by asking how fashionable or glamorous they are? Or by asking how seriously they affect how many”

He was of course talking about sanitation – the orphan of the water agenda.

Managing water supplies and boosting sanitation is linked with fighting poverty, protecting the environment and delivering sustainable economic growth.

The environmental and health burden caused by lack of sanitation and good hygiene practices is enormous.

Half of the developing world's population is sick from unsafe water and sanitation and 80 percent of those who are hospitalised in Africa are affected by water-related diseases.

On a wider scale, sanitation also includes wastewater and solid waste collection, treatment and disposal. In Africa 90 percent of the wastewater enters the waterways untreated. UNEP needs to continue to put this issue high on the agenda and address seriously how we should deal with our waste. The environmental perspective is enormous.

Investments in sanitation in the last decade stood at one quarter of the investment in water supply in the same period. This leads me to the conclusion that we need to REBALANCE the provision of water and sanitation services so that it is possible to halve the proportion of people who do not have access to basic sanitation, by 2015.

We need to EMPOWER local governments to fund and deliver water and sanitation services in a disciplined, reliable and environmental manner.

The sanitation crisis is just that – a crisis. It is as shocking as AIDS, as weakening as malaria, and as solvable as polio. Simply meeting the sanitation target by 2015 could avert 390 million cases of diarrhoea a year - and with them the loss of years of schooling, and years of productive and social life.

In India alone the World Bank has estimated that this loss of productive time amounts to 40 million person years.

Even though cost figures vary, estimates presented to me at the recently held OECD Round Table on Sustainable Development indicated that meeting the target could garner an economic gain in the order of US$63 billion every year. And if we get it right all this could come at the price of just over US$11 billion each year.

Let's discuss over the next two days how we really can put this issue on the agenda. We need to come up with practical recommendations on how we can safeguard the environment and at the same time reach the sanitation target, a target we fought hard for in Johannesburg!

Recent trends suggest that the number of slum dwellers worldwide is projected to rise to about 2 billion over the next 30 years. It is the poorest that suffer most from inadequate water and sanitation services, particularly in urban areas where they often live in settlements with little or no planning or services.

We see today a lack of urban and land use planning to meet this rapid rise in the number of slum dwellers in the developing world. To prevent new slums we need to allocate land in safe areas and provide necessary infrastructure. It makes better sense to think about water and sanitation during city or land use planning than afterwards.

Colleagues, let me quote the International Herald Tribune –“ The slums, which hovers a water basin, has no sewerage system. Residents dig holes in their dirt floors and put a toilet on top. The raw waste seeps into the ground, contaminating the water. The cost of installing underground sewer pipes in an already-established city would be high.” (January 21, 2004)

We need to RECOGNIZE the challenge of rapid urban growth.

Colleagues:

Reaching the global targets will require IMPROVING governance at all levels, be it the international as well as the local level, and mobilizing financial resources.

Within the UN-system there are 26 agencies and secretariats that deal with aspects of water and sanitation. This demonstrates the inter-sectoral role of water and the fact that water is essential for life. The UN system has taken steps to improve coordination and cooperation among these agencies through UN Water. There is however, scope to improve coordination.

We also need to consider upgrading the status of UNEP to ensure that we have an effective international environment organization.

Finally, expanding access to water, sanitation and urban services requires money from national and local government tax revenues and user fees; cross-subsidies from users who can afford to pay; private sector investments and commercial lenders; multilateral financial institutions and development assistance; and voluntary donations.

Today developing countries invest about US$15 billion in water and sanitation annually. Of this about 5 billion is development assistance. We need to use these existing resources more efficiently.

There is no solution to the water problem without a complete overhaul of the way agriculture is subsidized, water is priced, local authorities are vested with the responsibility to provide water to their inhabitants. We need to allocate good managers and sustainable financial resources to local authorities and utilities.

At the national level, basic water supply and sanitation are not found to be an expenditure priority. Investments in water are often perceived as having lower returns as compared to funds spent in other sectors. This also applies to environmental expenditures.

We need to convince our cabinet colleagues of the environmental, social and economic benefits of access to water supply and sanitation – we have to make the case for investments in water, sanitation and human settlements.

Colleagues: We are not on track!

However, I believe that the time-bound targets we have agreed on are specific, practical and realistic. They are technically feasible. They are financially affordable.

Reaching the targets is doable. We know it takes leadership. As ministers, leadership is among our most precious and important tasks. If we fail in implementing the commitments, we will not exercise that leadership.

We all share one planet. It is time to restore balance to the way we use it. It is time to put sustainable development where it belongs: At the core of our agenda.

THANK YOU