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..Press
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UNESCAP News Services
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Date 24
March 2005
Press Release No: G/03/2005
UN WARNS ASIA-PACIFIC’S HIGH ECONOMIC
GROWTH
IS ENVIRONMENTALLY UNSUSTAINABLE
Ministerial Conference on Environment and
Development seeks new balance between
economic growth and “green growth”
Bangkok (United Nations Information Services)
– The fifth Ministerial Conference on Environment and
Development in Asia and the Pacific opened today with a warning
that the region’s high economic growth is environmentally
unsustainable.
“We cannot continue with a “grow first,
clean up later” policy, said Mr. Kim Hak-Su, United Nations
Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary, UNESCAP. “We
need a new paradigm, a balance of economic growth and “green
growth.”
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Conference,
Mr. Kim told delegates that while the region’s recent
spectacular economic growth has contributed to the reduction
of poverty and social progress in many places, “it has
also placed increasingly high pressure on the region’s
environmental resources beyond its carrying capacity.”
Mr. Kim congratulated governments for sincere
efforts to improve environmental performance, which have resulted
in improvements in urban air quality in some cities, slowed
rates of forest loss, increased forest planting rates and considerably
reduced the use of ozone-depleting substances.
“On the other hand we still observe with
concern: declines in fishery resources; degradation of marine
and coastal resources; loss of biodiversity and forests; land
degradation and natural disasters,” he said. “Deterioration
of these natural resources have continued to affect human health
and livelihoods, and increased the vulnerability of many economies.”
The Korean Minister of Environment, Mr. Kwak Kyul-Ho,
reminded delegates of the price tag accompanying the Republic
of Korea’s outstanding economic growth over the past 40
years.
“We have severely polluted the environment and have had
to learn costly lessons in restoring our damaged environment.”
Mr. Kwak said his Government would propose that
the Conference adopt the “Seoul Initiative for Green Growth.”
The Seoul Initiative includes recommendations for balancing
environment and economy, practicing sustainable production and
consumption, and improving environmental sustainability.
The Ministerial Conference, organized by UNESCAP,
is being hosted by the Government of the Republic of Korea in
its capital, Seoul, from 24-29 March 2005. The Conference takes
place once every five years.
More than 350 participants are expected to attend,
including representatives from 53 countries in the UNESCAP region,
NGOs, international organizations, and United Nations agencies.
Thirty-one Ministers in charge of the environment
will take part in the meeting’s Ministerial Segment, set
for 28-29 March. Other participants of note include Mr. Klaus
Töpfer, Executive Director, UN Environment Programme and
Mr. Haruhiko Kuroda, President, Asian Development Bank.
For further information, please contact:
Mr. David Lazarus, Chief, UN Information Services Bangkok
Tel: +(66-2) 288-1861-66; Fax: +(66-2) 288-1052
Mobile: 82-010 3982-3529
E-mail: unisbkk.unescap@un.org
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