World Summit for Sustainable Development (WSSD)
New York, 28 January to 8 February 2002
Director-General’s speech at PrepCom II of WSSD
New York, 29 January 2002
1.
Opening remarks
I welcome this opportunity to speak on behalf of FAO, the 800 million or more people
who are food insecure, and the millions of farmers who play a critical role in sustainable
development and thereby contribute directly to realizing the goals of UNCED. .
2.
Main challenges for World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD)
Prior to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Rio 1992)
Agriculture and the Environment were often seen to be at loggerheads. With the advent
of important innovative concepts such as conservation agriculture, integrated pest
management, best agricultural practices, and others, this perception has changed and
there is a wider appreciation of the important contribution Agriculture, Forestry and
Fisheries are making to environmental sustainability. It is therefore highly appropriate
and important that they take a central position on the agenda of this preparatory event
and the WSSD itself.
Furthermore, the potential for sustainable agriculture and rural development (SARD) to
be the engine of economic development and social equity for many developing countries is
increasingly being recognised. It offers solutions to poverty and food insecurity, which
are major challenges for the WSSD.
3.
FAO’s main contribution to World Summit on Sustainable Development
The Declaration and the Plan of Action of the World Food Summit (WFS), held in Rome
in 1996, provide both the political framework and a set of concrete actions to achieve
the commitment made by Heads of State and Government to reduce the number of
undernourished people to half their present level no later than 2015, and thus alleviate
poverty world-wide. However, since then, progress has been disappointingly slow with
annual reductions in the order of 6 million rather than the 20 million needed to reach
that goal. For these reasons, the World Food Summit: five years later that will take
place in Rome on 10 – 13 June this year, will address the two major constraints
identified as hampering achievement of the WFS target: political will and resource
availability. In mobilising the international community once again and committing it to
adequately address these two crucial factors that are equally important for sustainable
development and the effective implementation of Agenda 21, FAO will be making a direct
contribution to the goals of WSSD.
4.
Further work on sustainable development and follow-up to the Summit
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In preparation for and follow-up to WSSD, FAO will reinvigorate its efforts to assist
member countries and other partners in the implementation of Agenda 21, focusing on
the following:
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work with national governments, local communities, Major Groups, financial
institutions and other stakeholders in the identification and implementation of
time-bound measures to reduce poverty and food insecurity;
promote grass-root involvement in multistakeholder dialogue, negotiation, and
action-oriented alliances;
help to strengthen the regulatory framework for sustainable development,
support the implementation at all levels of existing legal instruments and
agreements, such as the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, the
FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme and Codex Alimentarius, the
International Plant Protection Convention, and the Global Plan of Action for the
Conservation and Sustainable Use of Plant Genetic Resources;
promote effective implementation of ecosystem-based approaches in fisheries
and natural resource management;
promote integration of forest and mountain policy and programmes into the
policies and programmes of other sectors, as well as high level political support
for national forest and mountain programmes;
promote nutritional improvement as an explicit goal and objective of sustainable
development;
improve access to, and effective use of information by governments, NGOs and
grass-roots communities to achieve agriculture, rural development and food
security goals;
expand and improve monitoring, early warning and support systems for disaster
preparedness planning and the control of transboundary animal diseases;
provide guidelines for good agricultural practices covering soil and water
management, crop production and protection, and animal production, health and
welfare.
Improve and further develop agri-environmental indicators.
Consistent with its Strategic Framework 2000-2015, the Organization will reinforce its
cross-sectoral approach in the implementation of these tasks.
5.
Concluding remarks
In conclusion I wish to emphasise four features of the poverty and food insecurity
challenge.
First, environmental degradation and poverty are strongly linked. Reducing poverty and
hunger should therefore be accompanied by good environmental management. This can be
achieved if the needs and motivations of farmers depending on the use of natural
resources for their livelihoods are given due consideration at every level of governance.
Second, accelerating the fight against hunger is dependent on a strong political will.
Political actions need the participation not only of world leaders, politicians and
concerned citizens in developed and developing countries, but also of the people in towns
and villages where hunger is most prevalent. The preparatory process and the WSSD
itself provide unprecedented opportunities to FAO and other stakeholders to build
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partnerships and alliances that refocus the political will, at all levels, on the fight
against hunger.
Third, fighting hunger needs more capital and human resources than low-income
developing countries can afford. They lack the means to maintain the public services
required to develop new technologies, provide advice to farmers on sustainable
production systems, and ensure food and drinking water safety. The WSSD must help
to reverse the decline of official development assistance to sustainable agriculture and
rural development, forestry and fisheries. This decline has greatly hindered progress in
overcoming hunger and poverty and hence achievement of the broader goals of Agenda
21.
Finally, although the progress since 1992 in reducing poverty and food insecurity is
disappointing, we believe the World Food Summit Plan of Action provides an appropriate
framework for many WSSD initiatives. We have identified new opportunities for winwin programmes that could lower poverty and food insecurity and help at the same time
to mitigate climate change, lower the threat of desertification and reduce the loss of
biodiversity. We have a better understanding of ecosystem management for sustainable
development and better tools for producing appropriate technologies. We have
recognized the value of working closely with a full range of stakeholders in the strategic
alliances needed to realize our joint objectives for sustainable development.
FAO stands ready to transform these and other opportunities into well-defined timebound measures to reduce poverty and food insecurity and ensure effective follow-up to
the WSSD.
Thank you.