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Date : 01/09/2004
Source: Ministry of Environment Affairs and Tourism
Title: M van Schalkwyk: Johannesburg +2 Conference


OPENING ADDRESS BY MARTHINUS VAN SCHALKWYK, MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS & TOURISM, AT THE JOHANNESBURG SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE, Sandton, Johannesburg, 1 September 2004

MAINSTREAMING ENVIRONMENT & REAL PROGRESS ON WSSD TARGETS

Introduction

It has been two years since the Word Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD). It has been two years since last we gathered within these precincts. It has been two years since we entered into a solemn pact to preserve our planet and nurture our shared future.

Today we gather again - in part to recall and revive the spirit of the WSSD, in part to assess our progress in meeting the goals and targets set in 2002, and in part to chart our way forward to ensure that the ongoing legacy of Johannesburg is one of implementation and positive, lasting change.

On behalf of our Government and our people I would like to welcome you all to Johannesburg +2. This event embodies the best of the WSSD outcomes because it provides the opportunity to examine our progress, speed up our delivery, re-energise and remobilise our partners, and take the next steps on the road to sustaining the development of our common future.

The WSSD Context

The 1992 Rio Earth Summit placed sustainable development firmly on the global agenda - linking the environmental and developmental debates through a definition of sustainable development. The outcomes of the Earth Summit and Agenda 21 were significantly challenged however by the need for real implementation. In spite of the commitments made in Rio, global poverty levels deepened, environmental degradation intensified and sustainable development remained little more than a worthy ideal.

As the successor to the Earth Summit, the WSSD brought a multitude of direct benefits to South Africa. The single largest United Nations event ever held, it brought more than R8 billion in new business to our country, with Government's direct investment of about R337 million leveraging a further R250 million from international sponsors, donor agencies and the private sector. By far the most important benefit however was the contribution of the WSSD to the global development debate.

Building on the important lessons of Rio, Johannesburg was a defining moment for sustainable development. Where Rio described the sustainable development equation, Johannesburg placed people and their needs centre-stage in that equation, adding new relevance and urgency to the need for sustainable development. The WSSD also provided the launching pad for mainstreaming environmental issues in South Africa, helping us to raise wider public awareness of these issues and to promote their importance at the top of our governmental policy agenda.

Johannesburg identified poverty and global inequality as principle obstacles to the creation of a more sustainable world order. As an implementation-focused summit, the WSSD and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPOI) established 37 key time-bound targets incorporating the Millennium Development Goals - not only for governments but also for NGOs, intergovernmental organisations, and the private sector. Amongst the most notable of these were targets such as halving the proportion of people without access to basic sanitation by 2015; maintaining or restoring depleted fish stocks to levels that could support sustainable use; aiming by 2020 to use and produce chemicals in ways that do not damage the environment or human health; and to achieve, by 2010, a significant reduction in the rate of loss of biodiversity.

Two years have passed since the Johannesburg Summit, and we as South Africans and Africans need to ask ourselves what progress have we made in implementing the targets of the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation. As the Secretary-General of the summit observed, the question was and remains: "Will Johannesburg make a genuine difference?" Johannesburg +2 aims to begin to answer that question.

A Global Assessment

Globally there has been mixed progress on advancing the WSSD goals. As host of the WSSD South Africa has adopted an ongoing international leadership role in advocating the implementation of these targets. Amongst the more significant positive achievements has been the 11th session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD11), chaired by South Africa, which produced a globally negotiated program of work for the implementation of the Johannesburg outcomes. The very successful 5th World Parks Congress held in Durban in September last year also did much to concretise timeframes and targets for biodiversity protection, expanding protected areas, and ensuring that they become economic engines for poverty alleviation in surrounding communities. Other positive developments, like the $3 billion replenishment of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the opening of desertification as a new focus for GEF funding, and the launch of the Africa Water Facility have also added real impetus to the Johannesburg targets.

It has, however, become clear since 2002 that despite high levels of political commitment, the ability of most developing countries - particularly in Africa - to achieve the goals of the WSSD, remains extremely limited by constraints like inadequate funding and resourcing, insufficient capacity for local level implementation, rising levels of urbanisation, and continuing low levels of investment in water, sanitation and sustainable human settlements.

One of the most important outcomes of the WSSD was a major shift from the donor-recipient approach to one that focuses on removing the obstacles to economic growth in poor countries. Developments in the period since 2002 have reinforced the importance of increased aid from rich to poor nations, but focused on increasing global competitiveness and economic viability. Much work remains to be done in this regard - not least in addressing the failure of some developed countries to create a level playing field for more equitable global growth. Progress on issues of increasing market access for poor nations in sectors like agriculture has been minimal since the WSSD.

Domestic Implementation Largely Ahead of Schedule

On the domestic front, there has been better progress in meeting the goals of the summit - and particularly in providing real 'teeth' for the enforcement of many of these targets. As we celebrate Ten Years of Freedom and work to make a concrete reality of the people's contract to build a better South Africa and a better World, it is sustainable development that provides us with the tools to attain these goals.

At our present rate of delivery, our Government is on track not only to meet the WSSD targets for reducing the percentages of people without access to basic water and sanitation, but will also eradicate the backlog of infrastructure for water by 2008, and sanitation by 2010. In our rural water program alone, over 9 million people now have access to a reliable supply of fresh water. We are also well on track to meet the 2005 target for integrated water resource management plans.

Our housing delivery programme is also well advanced. Since 1994 we have delivered 1,5 million houses, providing secure tenure and real human dignity to people in every South African community. At our most recent Cabinet meeting Government also considered a new approach to sustainable human settlement that will see housing programmes break new ground in terms of flexibility on issues like access to credit and choice of top structure, upgrading of informal settlements and innovative rental options, and will further speed up delivery in this key area by building bridges between the booming housing market of our first economy and the relative stagnation in our second economy market.

We have also made good headway on energy issues. Our power system is more than 95% directly coal-based. In the context of climate change and the Kyoto Protocol we know that this is unsustainable. We must diversify our energy sources to reduce our over-dependency on coal - exploring all other options like gas, solar power, wind generation, hydroelectric power and nuclear energy. All of these issues are addressed in the targets that we have adopted for renewable energy - meeting the commitments made by our Minister of Minerals & Energy at the WSSD - and the energy plan that has been compiled by our Department of Minerals and Energy.

There has also been great progress on the environmental front - mainstreaming these issues and providing the 'teeth' necessary for enforcement. We have recently added another 66 000 hectares of land to our national parks system and proclaimed 4 major new Marine Protected Areas bringing more than 18% of our coastline under protection. Our new Biodiversity Act has been signed into law setting up a system to protect and control the use of South Africa's rare and endangered species, as well as giving legal powers to plan and protect different bio-regions. Our new Air Quality Bill will set ambient air quality standards and will regulate emissions, at the same time empowering all spheres of Government to act against those responsible for damaging air quality.

I wish today to give notice to some industries in South Africa - especially to some of our refineries: it is past time to clean up your act. If your equipment and plants are outdated, if your technology is unsafe, recapitalise and replace now before it is too late. Don't wait for accidents or incidents because with our new Air Quality legislation you will be held accountable.

In many respects South Africa has helped to forge international best-practice in delivery on sustainable development - especially in terms of the strength of partnerships between Government and civil society. In this regard I am pleased to announce that I will shortly be appointing the members of the National Environmental Advisory Forum (NEAF) in terms of our National Environmental Management Act (NEMA). This forum will comprise experts and leaders from environmental institutions of civil society and will advise our Department on all matters of environmental governance - taking the partnerships forged at the WSSD to new heights and further main-streaming environmental policy considerations.

Filling in the Gaps

Any honest assessment of progress in implementing the WSSD goals must also include an open acknowledgement of the challenges that remain for us to face. The Johannesburg +2 deliberations will achieve much if, in addition to reflecting on successes, they also identify structural gaps in delivery and help to develop plans to address these gaps.

In South Africa we know that much of our sustainable development planning has proceeded on a project-by-project basis. Although we are meeting the majority of our WSSD commitments, we are still in the process of creating for ourselves a national framework for sustainable development, which integrates our environmental, economic, and social priorities. The Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) was a good starting point, but with ten years of experience and delivery behind us there is a real need to review and reflect on policy issues and contradictions, for example:

* The contradiction between our industrial strategy, with its focus on petrochemicals, and improving health and environmental quality - especially in terms of air pollution;
* The contradiction between the imperative for an ongoing supply of relatively cheap energy and the need to seriously address climate change;
* The contradiction between the need for investment, jobs and development and the long-term benefits of conserving biodiversity; and
* The contradiction between food security, biotechnology and concerns about the impact of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) on the environment.

Without such a national negotiated framework there will continue to be policy inconsistencies in delivery.

The planned developments in the Pondoland region of the Wild Coast are a good example of this tension between traditional development options and longer-term sustainability. We have examples of how some of these tensions can be addressed by linking sustainable development to poverty alleviation. The approach adopted by the St. Lucia Wetland Park in partnership with local communities and the private sector provides, I believe, a good model for cases like the Wild Coast. Thus far it has created 4500 temporary jobs and will be creating 2400 more with 900 permanent direct jobs over the next 36 months. We have also recently awarded 8 concessions for eco-friendly private sector developments, which average over 75% Black Economic Empowerment, of which 20% is from the local communities. This first phase of R450 million tourism investments in 8 sites will bring about R300 million annually into the local economy, with a further R1, 5 billion investment and another 1500 permanent jobs targeted for 2007.

Until we have an updated national sustainable development framework and strategy however, we will not have a consistent approach to the trade-offs that any development decisions entail.

This is also one of the most valuable aspects of Johannesburg +2. It is our hope that these three days will provide further opportunities for Government and civil society to engage with our partners in discussion and debate about structures to implement sustainable development priorities.

Conclusion

On the subject of our partners, I would like to take this opportunity to renew our deep appreciation for the help and support of our NGO sector - both domestic and international. The more than 300 partnerships formed between Governments and NGOs at the summit have also translated into real progress in South Africa - especially on the environmental and conservation fronts. Partnerships like those with WWF, Wessa, the Endangered Wildlife Trust, the Botanical Society of South Africa, Birdlife South Africa, the Peace Parks Foundation, the Wilderness Foundation and many others, are the cornerstones on which many of our recent successes are built. We thank you for your ongoing commitment and enthusiasm for sustainable development.

In 2002 South Africa hosted the WSSD under the slogan "People, Planet, and Prosperity". In 2004 we hope to reconnect with that theme. Johannesburg +2 will be about reflection and forward planning, assessment and a renewed commitment to implementation - it will be our chance to ensure that the Johannesburg legacy is more about action than debate, more about change than talk, and more about lasting prosperity than recurring poverty. I wish you every success in your deliberations over the next three days, and I look forward to engaging with you in this important forum. It is my great pleasure to officially declare the Johannesburg +2 Sustainable Development Conference open.

Issued by: Ministry of Environment Affairs and Tourism
1 September 2004

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