Law: Let us integrate our approach
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KUALA LUMPUR, Mon. —Malaysia, just like any Third World or developed country, has consistently maintained that there is a need for an integrated and comprehensive approach towards the environment and development.
The Science, Technology and Environment Minister Mr Law Hieng Ding, said today such an approach was vital because the two subjects were inter-related and mutually reinforcing.
"In this regard, the thrust of the raging international debate on the environment and development should be on the unsustainable and wasteful lifestyles of the North and the urgent. need for economic growth and development in the South," he said.
The North and South must be equally committed to the promotion of policies to improve economic. growth and development, Law said at the opening of the second ministerial conference of developing nations on the environment and development today.
"The challenges ahead can only be confronted if the developing and industrialized countries are committed and work together.
"A delay in addressing the problem will leave us with reduced options."
"Developing countries must be spared the problems of debt, structural adjustment and unfair trade practices," he said.
Poor nations cannot be expected to carry out the programme of action within Agenda 21 if there is no new and additional financial resources, he said.
Law said the transfer of environmentally-sound technology must be made available to developing countries.
"The international community must draw up programmes which can promote and finance the transfer of such technology on concessional and preferential terms without impediments caused by claims of intellectual property rights," he said.
Developing countries would not be able to meet the environmental challenges effectively if they were deprived access to technological alternatives to be more efficient in food and energy production and to control and dispose of waste.
Developed nations urged to help South countries
KUALA LUMPUR, Mon. —The Group of Three — Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela — today called upon developed countries to make an initial pledge in Rio de Janeiro during the Earth Summit to substantiate their commitment in providing new and additional financial resources for South countries.
Colombian National Preparatory Commission chairman to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) Enrique Penalosa said the new financial resources should be channeled on a concessional basis.
"This must be made through appropriate institutional mechanisms complying with the criterion of equity between developed and developing countries, under a democratic and transparent management," he said.
Penalosa, who is senior advisor to the 1992 UNCED secretary-general Dr Maurice Strong, said concessional and grant funds administered by existing regional financial institutions were an avenue for implementing Agenda 21 issues.
"Policy making and monitoring should be the responsibility of a democratic integrated body," he said.
The three countries, which were nominated lead speakers on the financial resources issue during the Senior Officials Meeting that ended yesterday, recognized that the Official Development Assistance (ODA) was the main source of external additional funding for sustainable development and the implementation of Agenda 21.
"In this respect, substantial additional resource flows are required," he said.
Penalosa added new and additional funding for Agenda 21 and other outcomes of UNCED should be provided by developed countries through all available sources and mechanisms, including multilateral development banks and funds, relevant specialized agencies and other United Nations bodies and bilateral assistance programmes.
"We recognize the Global Environment Facility (GEF) could serve as an appropriate multilateral mechanism to provide new and additional financial resources to developing countries on global environmental issues and their sustainable development components," he said.
"GEF should encourage universal membership. Its governance must be transparent and democratic.
"This must be reflected in all its decision-making," he added.
US opposes eco-terrorism on tropical timber
KUALA LUMPUR, Mon. —The United States dissociates itself from any form of eco-terrorism carried out by certain environmental groups involved in anti-tropical timber campaigns.
This was stated by the US Ambassador Robert Ryan who pointed out that the United States was not involved with any nongovernmental organization (NGO) on the reported campaigns waged by extremist groups in the West.
Ryan, who is also the director of the US United Nations Conference of Environmental Development (UNCED) co-ordination centre, said:
"Personally, I am not familiar with the reported acts of terrorism against tropical timber.
"But certainly the US Government does not want to see the NGOs resorting to such acts to reach their objectives," he said at a Press conference.
Ryan is leading the US observer delegation. He was accompanied by the deputy assistant administrator for International Activities at the US Environmental Protection Agency, Dr Man D. Hecht.
Yesterday, Primary Industries Minister Datuk Sen Dr Lim Keng Yaik disclosed that environmental groups such as Earth First were planning to resort to terrorism in their smear campaign against tropical timber.
Lim said the group had predicted that explosives will soon be required to attack tropical timber depots and stores.
Ryan said the United States would continue to pursue the Forestry Convention issue which bad been taken off the Earth Summit agenda in Rio de Janeiro in June following objections by developing countries, spearheaded by Malaysia-
He said the United States was disappointed that there was no agreement during the four Prepcom meetings in using the forest principles for the Rio summit to reach an agreement on the convention.
Video clip on threat of pollution
KUALA LUMPUR, Mon. —Conference delegates and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad viewed a 20-minute video clip on the world’s environmental ills called An Initiative for the Greening of the World.
The clip gave glimpses on key environmental issues like global warming, biodiversity and forest destruction.
It highlighted the challenge made by Dr Mahathir earlier to set targets to reduce excessive carbon dioxide emissions through more efficient use of fossil fuels.
Accompanied appropriately in the opening segments with Zainal Abidin's environment-inspired song Hijau, the clip zeroed on some of the worst polluters in the world.
These polluters were the big industries of the North and the lifestyle which indirectly supported such desecration of the environment. A booklet printed on recycled paper and published by the Science, Technology and Environment Ministry that accompanied the clip was handed to delegates.
It exhorted that people could not continue to desecrate the planet as it had been done in the past.
The booklet emphasizes on Malaysia’s commitment to keeping its forest intact by comparing the forest cover of other countries.
It says the 56 per cent forest cover in Malaysia is larger when compared to the whole of Europe (32.1), North America (25 per cent), the Nordic countries (54.8), and Oceania (17.9 per cent).
Source : New Straits Times, April 28, 1992
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