Executive Director Delivers Opening Address to
20th session of UNEP's Governing Council
UNEP Press ReleaseFebruary 1, 1999
Nairobi - Delivering his policy statement today at the opening of the 20th session of UNEP's Governing Council, UN Environment Programme Executive Director Klaus Toepfer said the realization of his vision for UNEP "requires dedication and a spirit of cooperation from all of us. It requires adequate financial funding for the programme of work. And, most important of all, it requires a strong backing and cooperation from the environment ministries of the world, the NGOs, business and industry."
"My vision of UNEP remains as vibrant and optimistic as ever", said Mr. Toepfer. "It is a vision of UNEP with a strong environmental assessment, monitoring and early-warning capacity. It is a vision of UNEP fully capable of raising consciousness and awareness and educating about actions that negatively affect the environment. It is a vision of UNEP that working closely with the scientific community - makes the link between scientific knowledge and mobilization of action among new and broader constituencies."
In his policy statement, Mr. Toepfer said significant progress had been made in revitalizing and restructuring the organization to meet the expectations of Governments and to enable it to meet the complex challenges and risks facing our global environment. He then called on Governments to give the organization the resources it needed to do the job.
"The proposed biennial budget, or "financial envelope" of US$119.4 million before the Council for approval, has been made in the context of the immense challenges and expectations of UNEP", Mr. Toepfer told assembled delegates. "This sum is, in my view, the minimum financial level that would enable UNEP to regain the effectiveness, critical mass and operating capital that is essential to the execution of the programme of work."
Speaking to press after his speech, Mr. Toepfer said the budget requested represented only a modest increase on the current biennium, and based on what Governments agreed to in 1997, was merely linked to inflation.
"I don't believe that $60 million a year for the global environmental voice is too much to ask for", he said. "Especially when you consider the increased demands on the organization with our expanded mandate."
In his policy statement, Mr. Toepfer said the complexity of the new international environment heightens the need for international institutions that were adequately equipped, flexible and responsive to the emerging challenges. With limited capacity within the organization itself, UNEP must increasingly engage all relevant actors in developing the basis for environmental policy making and action. The focus must increasingly be on developing strategic partnerships and networks to involve all actors that could contribute to the best possible information basis for decision making, he said.
"Prevention is better than cure", Mr. Toepfer stressed. "Reliable, accessible and relevant monitoring and assessment is the basis of our approach to policy development. My policy statement and UNEP's organizational structure reflect this."
Looking beyond UNEP's five areas of concentration - environmental information, assessment and research; environmental conventions; freshwater; technology transfer and industry; and support to Africa - the UNEP Executive Director also singled out four "emerging and important environmental issues" that the Council might consider.
Acknowledging that the international community had made "tremendous progress" in the negotiation of the Convention on Prior Informed Consent on International Chemicals Trade and the positive ongoing negotiations on persistent organic pollutants, "our approach to chemicals is still partial", he said. "It is no longer adequate or acceptable to wait until the consequences of hazardous chemicals have permeated the environment before we act."
Proposing that the Council consider a "pre-emptive life-cycle approach" to chemicals that would establish early screening of chemicals before they enter into mass production, Mr. Toepfer reminded Governments that Chapter 19 of Agenda 21 had proposed a globally harmonized and compatible labeling system by the year 2000.
The UNEP Executive Director also proposed that the Council take up "the precedent" offered by the Aarhus Convention on the right to public access of environmental information; that it build on the "encouraging approach" taken by the Group of Eight industrialized countries (G-8) with respect to the enhanced enforcement of environmental law and prevention of environmental crime; and also look at the role of UNEP in the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
The week-long Governing Council meeting, a forum for the international community to address major and emerging environmental policy issues, is being attended by environment ministers and government representatives from around the world. It culminates in a "high-level" segment from 4 to 5 February.
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