S T A T E M E N T
by H.E. Mr. J. Enkhsaikhan, Ambassador,
Permanent Representative
United Nations, at the Ninth Session of the
Commission on Sustainable Development
19 April 2001
My delegation agrees that irresponsible exploitation and depletion
of natural resources, marginalization and impoverishment of those increasingly
excluded from the process of globalization and technological advancement are
undermining the basis of well-being for both the present and future generations.
CSD-9 is rightly focusing on a number of areas that are of priority importance
in reversing the above trends and creating a sound basis for sustainable
development, and particularly of the most disadvantaged among the developing
countries.
Thus, the issue of access to transport and the efficiency of the
transportation system are still of great importance for such developing
countries like Mongolia, that has a large, sparsely populated territory and
limited domestic resources to develop transport infrastructure. Small size of
the country’s over-all population and low level of economic development raise
the question of finding the optimal way of developing and utilizing the
infrastructure to its full capacity. It is for this reason Mongolia is seeking
to develop the transport infrastructure bearing in mind the needs and interests
of its immediate neighbors and the region at large. For instance, the Millennium
Road project, that envisages building over 2.500 km of road in Mongolia, is to
interlink not only the country’s all five economic regions and enhance thus
access of the rural population to transportation. At the same time it would also
link and offer greater opportunities of economic cooperation with and among its
neighbors as well as with the region as a whole.
The special needs and problems of the land-locked developing
countries (LLDCs) have been a subject of discussions in various international
fora for many years. However, the challenges that these countries still face
continue to be formidable, with globalization threatening them with further
marginalization. That is why the Millennium Summit Declaration has urged both
bilateral and multilateral donors “to increase financial and technical
assistance to this group of countries to meet their special development needs
and to help them overcome the impediments of geography by improving their
transit transport systems”. Therefore, it is important that in the spirit of the
Declaration, special emphasis be made during the discussions on increasing
international support to enhance the capacity of land-locked developing
countries to effectively participate in the rapidly globalizing world.
Addressing the problem of land-locked developing countries is addressing the
core developmental problems of 1/5 of UN membership, most of them being the
least developed.
My delegation fully concurs with the importance that is given to
international cooperation within the framework of Agenda 21 for creating an
enabling environment for sustainable development. In this context, we attach
great importance to the activities of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) as a
mechanism for financing global environmental aspects of sustainable development.
Taking this opportunity, I would like to draw the attention to the issue of
funding of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, the only convention
which is not supported by a predictable financial mechanism. Although land
degradation, specifically desertification, is part of GEF activities, its share
in the latter’s overall funding remains extremely low. Therefore my delegation
expresses its full support for the proposal that GEF be made the full-fledged
financial mechanism of this convention, enabling thus more than 110 countries
with a population of over 1 billion to make use of GEF`s resources to tackle the
problems and challenges of creeping desertification.
Financial
resources and mechanisms are the most crucial means for implementing Agenda 21.
In this regard, my delegation expresses the hope that the outcome of the
International Conference for Financing for Development, to be held next year,
will contribute to attaining the major goals of sustainable development, in
particular economic growth, poverty eradication and protection of the
environment.
In conclusion, I would like to underline that the major achievement of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) process is bringing the concept of sustainable development to the mainstream of developmental policy. Even more importantly, it is being translated into practical actions in the form of implementation of the conventions on Biological Diversity, Climate Change and Desertification, among others. I would like to stress the political importance of the forthcoming ten-year review of the progress achieved since UNCED that is expected to give a new impetus to the commitment to sustainable development by all countries and stakeholders. Let me express my delegation’s hope that CSD-9 would achieve substantive results and make a worthy contribution for the Review Conference. As member of CSD as of its 10th session, Mongolia will take a most active part in the Commission’s work, especially in the preparations for Rio+10.