UN Economic and Social Development
Division for Sustainable Development

CSD-19

Message from the Chair H. E. László Borbély
Minister of Environment and Forests of Romania

• pdf version of the message from the Chair

The recent crises and their tremendous impact at local, regional and global levels have highlighted the importance we must place on cooperation, consensus building, communication and the involvement of relevant stakeholders in policy decision-making in international fora. Building on the results achieved so far and on the lessons learned from each other’s experiences, we should mobilize the political will of all actors to identify concrete policy actions and measures that would tackle the present sustainable development challenges and advance the implementation of sustainable development, bearing in mind in particular the many forthcoming high level events, most notably the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) in 2012. The enhancement of modal shift and the effective use of public transportation; the implementation of international agreements regarding chemicals; the prevention and minimization of waste; the development of sustainable mining and a 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production are cornerstone issues which will be thoroughly analyzed and integrated into the policy decisions to be recommended by CSD-19.

Sustainable development requires a continuous adaptation of the society and the economy. It requires a well balanced approach, in order to allow for a better management of potential future crises, both environmental and economic.

We should not forget that the core of sustainable development is human development and progress. By improving the quality of life, by using natural resources in a sustainable manner and by promoting a healthy environment, we will succeed in preserving the Earth’s life-support systems for present and future generations.

The next 10 years are critical for sustainable development. Recent crises created a new sense of urgency. In our globalized world, the impacts of local crises that occur in one geographic area have effects at regional or global scale. To overcome these effects we have to cooperate within the international community, to have debates with all relevant stakeholders, to listen and learn from one another’s experiences.

The themes of the current CSD cycle provide an opportunity to initiate coordinated and coherent action on several increasingly challenging dimensions. The review process carried out at CSD18 was essential to pave the way for policy decisions to be made at CSD19. We should build on the results achieved so far and make use of existing synergies, in order to accelerate the implementation of the future policy decisions on each thematic cluster.

These themes are interlinked with each other as well as with other sustainable development themes, including those of past and future CSD cycles and of several forthcoming high level events, most notably the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD), to be convened in 2012 in Brazil.

In the review year, CSD identified a range of challenges and constraints hindering implementation of the sustainable development agenda in the areas of transport, chemicals, waste management, mining and the ten year framework of programmes on sustainable consumption and production patterns. It has, at the same time, analyzed a series of best practices and lessons learned. This review serves as basis for mobilizing political will for identifying concrete policy actions and measures, as well as partnerships to accelerate the implementation.

On transport, greater development and effective use of public transport systems and enhancement of modal shift can contribute to achieving sustainable transport and solving the associate environmental and health problems, especially air pollution and sector specific GHG emissions;

We should ensure the sound management of chemicals over the whole life-cycle by promoting the full and effective implementation of existing global agreements, including SAICM which constitutes an important global framework for strengthening capacity for sound chemicals management;

We will need to ensure the safe and environmentally sound management of waste and foster the development of policy instruments encouraging waste prevention and minimization. Emerging new waste streams such as electronic waste need to be also addressed through appropriate programmes.

Mineral resources continue to play an important role in the economy by contributing to income generation and government revenues, but it can also be a source of social conflict and environmental and health hazards. We need to develop mining solutions that are sustainable at the community, national and global levels, while preserving social development and protecting the environment and cultures, in keeping with the principles of the JPOI.

We need to continue our discussions towards developing, in a transparent manner, a proposal for a 10-Year Framework of Programs on Sustainable Consumption and Production (10YFP on SCP), taking also into account the experience and results of the Marrakech process on SCP.

Economic growth is the prerequisite for societal development. Yet it needs not be „development at all costs” but one that is well balanced, that takes into consideration the environment and its resources, their capacity to regenerate, or the possibility of replacing them with other resources, reducing pressure on ecosystems.

As Chairperson of CSD-19, I commit myself to work with all of you in order to facilitate consensus building and ensure the success of CSD 19. Our main objective is to adopt practical measures that can effectively address the constraints and challenges, in a forward-looking and action-oriented exercise.

H. E. László Borbély, Minister of Environment and Forests of Romania