Environment
Cautious Optimism for the Future
Developments over the past 12 months have given us cause for greater but still cautious optimism over the sustainability over our future. The main global event for the environment this year was the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD).
For small island developing states (SIDS) there is much that we can be satisfied about in the aftermath of the Summit. As a region we were able to successfully launch a package of initiatives to provide a valuable platform to assist the implementation of sustainable development. Importantly a number of developed countries have thrown their support behind this platform, including Australia, Denmark, New Zealand, Japan and the European Union. Further support is expected from Canada and the United States. Another important achievement of the Summit for us, was the continued recognition that as a special case, the international community will take specific actions to assist our islands region, and other small islands states. A review in 2004 of progress towards sustainable development in relation to island states through the Barbados Programme of Action will be one of these initiatives.
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On the climate change scene, we all remember the disheartening news over the Kyoto Protocol, the global instrument which would bind all parties to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Without the participation of the United States, there did not seem to be any way forward towards the implementation of the Protocol. Yet, less than twelve months later we learned of actions taken by other key players in this arena to ratify the protocol. This means that the protocol can, in fact, come into force in the very near future. Other encouraging news has been the increasing attention accorded to our region by the secretariats of other environment-related international conventions such as the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, the Basel Convention on hazardous wastes, Persistent Organic Pollutants Protocol and the Chemicals Office of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), their office for the Regional Seas Programmes, the Biosafety Protocol, the work of UNEP collectively, UNDP, the Global Environment Facility, the European Commission, the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, Asian Development Bank, World Bank, Conservation International, The Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund, the Danish Government and China, the list goes on. Some of the increased focus on the Pacific has been assisted by the very strong advocacy role of SPREP’s developed member states—Australia, France, New Zealand and the United States—in international fora. There has, therefore, been evidence of increased dedicated environment activities within our region. More encouraging still, is the increased environment-related activities of local community groups as well as our private sector.
Amongst all our regional agencies—Forum Fisheries Agency, Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, Pacific Islands Development Programme, Secretariat of the Pacific Community, South Pacific Geoscience Commission, South Pacific Tourism Organisation, and the University of the South Pacific—there is clear evidence of increased focus by all of them on matters environmental. This is an important aspect of mainstreaming environmental considerations within our region.
An exceptionally significant meeting this year, was the Seventh Regional Nature Conservation Meeting, hosted by the Cook Islands. Delegates from many diverse professional and community backgrounds reviewed the implementation of the regional Action Strategy for Nature Conservation, then sorted out priorities and an agenda for the next four years. Conservationists agree that the next big step is to make conservation relevant and viable in all development activities.
Nature conservation, while essential to the achievement of sustainable development, is still perceived as peripheral to economic development and decision-making. This mindset needs to change if nature conservation is to progress and genuine sustainable use of resources is to be achieved. While there has already been some success, such as defining a 10.9 million square kilometres sanctuary for whales by individual countries, the threat of over-harvesting, climate change, population growth, natural disasters and invasive species ensures there is still much work ahead.
By all reports, the conference took nature conservation an important step closer to the mainstream level, and we look forward with some optimism to our region achieving this worthwhile aim sooner rather than later. The recommendations from the conference, have formed the basis of the 2003-2007 Action Strategy on Nature Conservation. I am confident this will provide regional guidance, and an integrated framework towards addressing these challenges.
There are, therefore, several encouraging as well as sobering developments towards a sustainable future for our region and our respective islands. Achieving a united front at the national level to address our respective priority areas of concern will go a long way towards achieving this aim. SPREP will continue to do its part towards the achievement of this goal by our island members. For we recognise that it is through empowerment at the national level, and across society as a whole, that we will have any hope of sustaining our region and its resources.
Above all, we need to maintain a constant positive focus. This involves patience and dedication, which is sometimes a difficult state to acquire, given the dispiriting situation the majority of our people face daily. But it is at the community level, that we must nurture Pacific islanders to accept whatever challenges are in front of us, with the determination and commitment that has characterised much of our heritage. On behalf of my staff, and myself, I wish everyone an enjoyable festive season, and a prosperous new year.
