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Statement by Indonesia at the First Meeting of the Preparatory Committee of the World Summit on Sustainable Development |
Mr.
Chairman, Let me begin by adding my delegation's and my
personal congratulations to you and your distinguished colleagues on the
Bureau on your respective elections. I am convinced that given your
proven skills and able leadership, this preparatory process will be
brought to a successful conclusion. I can assure you that my delegation
will do its utmost in helping you and the Bureau in your demanding tasks
of seeking to achieve the objectives of the Preparatory Committee in the
lead up to the World Summit. Allow me also to associate my delegation with
the Chairman of the Group of 77 and China. Mr. Chairman, As we retuned home almost ten years ago from the
landmark United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development in
Rio, I well remember the sense of euphoria that the various delegations
enjoyed. Major documents had been adopted and high expectations had been
raised that the momentum generated would be carried forward and that the
concept of sustainable development with its mutually reinforcing
components would be integrated into economic and other relevant human
activities. Over the years since that time, progress has been indeed
registered, particularly in the field of national, regional and global
institutions and regulatory frameworks. In addition, awareness of the
vulnerability of ecosystems has become widespread and, as stated by the
Secretary-General, stakeholders including civil society and the private
sector have broadly embraced sustainable development as a new
development paradigm. However,
despite the heightened awareness of the dangers of environmental
degradation and the indisputable promise of Rio, results fell far short
of expectations and the much vaunted momentum of the Conference was
sharply eroded. Deterioration of the environment continued at an
alarming rate, poverty increases and negative the impact of
globalization has marginalized the developing countries. At the same
time, the overall ODA levels necessary for successful implementation
have dropped below their levels in 1992. What happened is certainly
grist for our future discussions and negotiations. In my
view, multilateral cooperation and the unprecedented partnership forged
at Rio were overtaken by the new emphasis on globalization and trade
liberalization. As a result, the implementation of the Agenda 21 became
less focused and the paradigm of sustainable development became
overshadowed and has not yet taken hold. Against this
backdrop, the World Summit on Sustainable Development presents us with
an opportunity to identify achievements and failures in implementing
Agenda 21 and the other relevant outcomes of U!\ICED. It also gives us a
good second chance to reinvigorate the commitment pledged in UNCED. The
overarching goal of the forthcoming World Summit, as stipulated in the
GA Resolution 55/199, is to reinvigorate at the highest level the global
commitment to sustainable development and to promote the partnerships
necessary to restore multilateral cooperation for the implementation
Agenda 21 and the other outcomes of UNCED. Furthermore, the early,
effective and high-quality preparations for the World Summit will help
to ensure a comprehensive assessment and to produce new action-oriented
and doable programme of action based on partnership to achieve our
common goals on sustainable development. For this
purpose, and in keeping with the thrust of GA resolution 55/199,
Indonesia embarked on a number of 1nitiatives at the local and national levies
designed to assess the implementation of the Indonesian Agenda 21. The
launching of Indonesia's Agenda 2; in march 1997 was followed by the
launching of Indonesia's Sectors.1 agenda 21. Its National Agenda 21
focuses mainly on social and economic dimensions, conservation and the
management 'of resources for development, as will as on strengthening
the role of the major groups and the means of implementation. Moreover,
the sectoral national agenda focuses on 5 major areas including as
forestry and energy Subsequently, in
order to ensure effective implementation of its national agenda 21 and
to coordinate its effective and efficient implementation, Indonesia
established National Council on Sustainable Development, which would
cover all relevant governmental departments and major stakeholders,
under the auspices of the Vice President.. The new council is to serve,
among other things, to better integrate and coordinate the
implementation of national programmers on sustainable development. As to
Indonesia's local and national preparations, we have identified
constraints including the lack of financial and human resources as well
as weakness in institutional capabilities, which undermined the
effective implementation of sustainable development. Moreover, in the
process of decentralization that was undertaken, new challenges emerged
of an institutional, human and financial nature. In addition,
the national preparatory committee has undertaken to coordinate the
preparations for hosting the final substantive preparatory meeting at
the ministerial level in 1Vjay 2002 as well JS to prepare for
Indonesia's participation in preparatory meetings 3t all levels. In this
connection, a series of inter-departmental coordination meetings are
being organized so as to provide inputs and to identify progress made
and constraints faced in the implementation of national Agenda 21 .The
local and national preparations and multi-stakeholder meetings leading
up to the regional and global preparatory meetings have been jointly
organized by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and of the Environment.
These preparations included the participation of a broad spectrum of
stakeholders and they have also aimed at broadening the outreach and participation
of the public at large. Mr. Chairman, I should
like to underscore the importance we attach to the role played by the international
community, including the relevant international organizations in
assisting governments in their preparation at the local, national, regional,.
sub-regional and international levels. In this context, the national and
regional preparatory processes should be in a position to provide
action-oriented and double inputs as well as lessons and best prdc:ic2s
!earned together with concrete proposals for the global preparatory'
process. Through this bottom-up approach" it is our belief that the
World Summit on Sustainable Development will be able to produce practical
solutions, or addressing the constraints facing the achievement of the
common goals of humanity. although my delegation see the need to
consider the themes and agenda of the summit at this time, we believe we
should not begin the process until most of the regional meetings have
been completed. Mr. Chairman, My
delegation would like to underline the pivotal role of the Bureau during
the intergovernmental preparatory processes by spearheading the
intergovernmental negotiations at the global level. We fully support the
Bureau in their endeavor to provide direction and guidance to help bring
about the successful outcome of the preparatory work. In this context!
it is also crucial that the Chairman and the Bureau members seek to
mobilize political support at the highest possible level in both the
developed and developing countries together with pursuing the support of
all the heads of international organizations within the United Nations
system. T o
conclude, Mr. Chairman, I would just 1ike to add that Indonesia is
committed to doing its best to ensure successful preparations for the
Summit. I trust and hope that through the preparatory processes .we will
be able, in a spirit of partnership, to ensure that the summit serves as
a turning point not only for renewing our political commitments but also
for implementing all our commitments in concrete terms so as to achieve
the objectives of sustainable development. While seeking to reclaim the
momentum generated in UNCED is indeed a formidable one, the early
beginning of the preparatory process, should greatly help to resuscitate
our collective political commitments for reaching our common and
ultimate goals. In this way, as stated in the Millennium Report, we
should be able ~o "meet the economic needs of the present without
compromising the ability of the planet to 9rovide for the needs of
future generations". Thank you. |