The prosess brings the world forward

Mr Chairman, Excellencies,

This is the ninth time ministers meet to discuss commitments made to Agenda 21 in Rio. Nine years of painstaking review illustrates that it is not the single act of agreeing to a text which brings the world forward, it is the process of implementation. What we do at home and what countries do together decides how our policies will be judged.

I hope that by examining our common ground we will find that we can agree on more than just a reprint of Agenda 21. The issues have by now become even clearer, the problems are greater and the need for solutions more urgent. CSD-9 is but a step on the road to the World Summit, but we need to choose the right direction now. Norway firmly believes that global co-operation to tackle climate change must be based on the Kyoto Protocol. We therefore fully agree with the European Union that the challenge before us now is to make the Kyoto Protocol work.

Combating poverty is the overriding concern of the majority of UN member countries. Norway shares this concern. Within countries, we should never tolerate extreme differences in health and living conditions, it is equally unacceptable between countries. The challenge is to reduce poverty while protecting the environmental resources that form the basis for all future prosperity. We need growth in developing countries, to satisfy basic needs, but we also need changes in the direction of growth in all countries.

Key elements of the experience that industrialized countries have gained can be utilized so that developing countries can avoid making the same mistakes. In the context of the CSD we would like to focus on how to assist developing countries in building the infrastructure of ground rules and knowledge that is needed to make energy systems, industry and transport more sustainable. We would like to agree on how to make the international arrangements we already have more effective and we would like to identify where countries will achieve better results by co-operating.

Norway believes that we can have a common vision of sustainability and that we can identify common principles. The present challenge for most countries is how to make fossil fuel combustion less polluting and more efficient. At the same time we must make energy development sustainable by changing the profile of energy use, increased energy efficiency and a renewable energy supply.

To benefit the 2 billion people that lack access to modern energy sources, this issue must be addressed on the national- as well as at the international level. However, many parts of the solutions we need differ as much as the UN member countries do. Some countries import most of their fuel, others have huge, but unused resources, others again are just beginning to build a common electricity grid, while some are re-examining their consumption patterns. So, while environmental aspects have to be integrated into energy policies, the CSD should not try to make one set of prescriptions to fit all countries. Rather a policy menu could be drawn up which focuses on opportunities opened up by different policies and their consequences.

As always, national governments decisions on taxes and subsidies will set boundaries for what is economically viable. Private investment will not even begin unless it encounters an enabling environment; this is why we want framework conditions to be part of the financing discussion. Political choice has to be exercised beyond the sphere of economics. National decisions on health and resource protection must guide pollution control. National and international standards for buildings and technological equipment can ensure progress or stagnation while local government decisions on land use will tie up transportation patterns for years to come.

On behalf of the 25 member Governments of the International Energy Agency I would like to introduce the statement on sustainable development. This statement is the result of several months of study and discussion. It will be distributed to the delegates for their consideration.

After the high level segment is over, our officials will continue to elaborate the details of the decisions on energy, transport and atmosphere. My message to this process, is to make health and environment a priority. To achieve this, Norway supports national measures such as road pricing, we support the creation of regional conventions to prevent long-range air pollution and we would like to see agreement at the global level on taxation of aviation fuel. We would also like to see firm commitments to phase out the non-regulated ozone damaging substances.

Shipwrecks do happen: Norway does not want to run the risk of ships carrying dangerous radioactive materials passing along our shores. We certainly favour both stronger international regulation of transport of radioactive materials by sea and stronger liability rules. The proposal before us, based on the resolution from the IAEAs general conference in 2000 has our full support.

When we reach the stage of negotiation, within the appropriate international forum, we should as a minimum aim at setting an international standard requiring each transport to be notified in advance to those states whose territory might be affected in case of an accident. Only global rules will be truly satisfactory, but until this can be achieved, we will, as an interim measure, seek to put in place bilateral arrangements.

Norway would like the final results from CSD-9 to reflect the fact that it is not just technology or budgets that matter. How society is organized is crucial; that we try to influence the direction of growth, that we get our economic, legal and administrative structures right, that we are open about the state of the environment and that we reach out to ensure public participation.

We need indicators of sustainability. Without this map to guide us, we cannot know where we stand and we will not be able to discuss where we want to go. When we enact new policies, we will not know if we are moving in the right direction, nor will we know whether we have arrived. The democratic process needs open access to all relevant information for the public to have their say. The right to know and the right to participate must be ensured. A globalized version of the "Aarhus convention" enacted by the UN ECE will fill this need.

UNEPs capacity should be strengthened further. High priority tasks should be environmental monitoring, as well as assisting countries in developing institutional capacity and environmental competence. We welcome its work with the Global Environmental Outlook and see great potential in extending and combining this with the work on indicators of sustainable development.

The future problems of environment and development cannot be solved by merely introducing new treaties to cover today's problems. There is a need for rationalization, while preserving continuity and leadership. The UN must have co-ordination and integration of these questions at a high level.

We must ensure that present and future treaties are adequately funded, and we must ensure that the relevant skills and knowledge are made available to those who need them. Norway intends to continue its work with bilateral and multilateral funding of technology cooperation and competence building where the needs of the poor will have priority. Our aim is to ensure economic, social and environmental sustainability; in short, sustainable development.

Thank you Mr. Chairman.