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UN Environment Chief: |
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By Environmental News Service
"We must be determined and united in our efforts to bring those responsible to justice," Toepfer said. "What happened in the United States was a crime against humanity, an act of horrendous violence against all races and creeds. But we must also expose the forces that create poverty, intolerance, hatred and environmental degradation that can lead to an unstable world." At a press conference in Almaty, Toepfer said, "I am not suggesting for a moment that poverty and environmental degradation are factors on their own. Intolerance also has its role. But it can fan the flames of hate and ignite a belief that terrorism is the only solution to a community's or nation's ills." "When people are denied access to clean water, soil, and air to meet their basic human needs, we see the rise of poverty, ill-health and a sense of hopelessness. Desperate people can resort to desperate solutions. They may care little about themselves and the people they hurt," he said. He congratulated the Central Asian countries for their cooperation on the Regional Environment Action Plan since it was adopted in May 2000 to address the degradation of the Aral Sea and the other trans-boundary problems. The plan was launched by environment ministers from the five Central Asian countries: Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. It focuses on air and water pollution, land degradation, waste management and mountain ecosystem degradation.
As solutions it emphasizes the importance of public involvement in decision making, the polluter pays principle, clean technology, environmental impact assessment and the precautionary approach in planning.
The plan is also a collaborative effort between the Asian Development Bank, the United Nations Development Programme and UNEP in the region. "It is a living document and the Central Asian countries need to create an institutional framework for its regular review and update," said Toepfer. Today's launch follows meetings earlier in the week to determine Central Asia's contribution to next year's World Summit on Sustainable Development, the 10th anniversary of the Rio Earth Summit. Toepfer said in his keynote address to the ministerial conference, "In Rio we brought environment and development together into the goal of sustainable development. In 2002 in Johannesburg we will take stock of what has been achieved and the considerable amount of issues that remain unresolved." The rise of globalization and its impacts on global trade patterns is a key issue that the international community must face up to, Toepfer told the ministers. "You cannot be for or against globalization. It is a simply a fact of the modern world. To ignore it you would have to be a hermit or someone, like Robinson Crusoe, who has been abandoned on a desert island. But we need a just and fair system that brings sustainable, economic benefits to rich and poor countries alike." Without this, he said, "the forces that forge civil unrest and in the extreme can give rise to terrorism will continue to flourish impoverishing everyone." |
UN environmental chief Klaus Toepfer says poverty, environmental degradation and hatred give birth to intolerance 
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