Mr. Chairman,
My delegation aligns itself with the statement delivered by the distinguished representative of Algeria on behalf of the Group of 77 & China, and the statement delivered by Barbados on behalf of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
In the light of the developments which have emanated from the Rio+20 Conference which took place this past June, my delegation considered it opportune to participate in our deliberations on Agenda Item 20 – Sustainable Development and its various sub-items. We thank the Secretary-General for the reports which were prepared on the sub-items, and which have informed our intervention today.
Mr. Chairman,
Jamaica is a member of the group of Small Island Developing States (SIDS), whose standing as ‘a special case for environment and development’ was recognized during the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, which took place in Rio in 1992. We welcome the reaffirmation, at the Rio+20 Conference, of the international community’s commitments to SIDS, as embodied in the Barbados Programme of Action for SIDS (BPoA) and the Mauritius Strategy for the Further Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of SIDS (MSI). We welcome, also, the decision to convene the Third Conference on SIDS in 2014, and appreciate the offer by the Government of Samoa to host the Conference.
My delegation supports the efforts underway to have 2014 designated the International Year of Small Island Developing States and trusts that SIDS will receive the strong support and commitment of the rest of the international community in this endeavour.
Mr. Chairman,
This session we will again negotiate the biennial resolution entitled ‘Towards the sustainable development of the Caribbean Sea for present and future generations’. The Secretary-General, in his report contained in document A/67/313, has pointed to the developments in this area. My delegation, like the rest of CARICOM and the other members of the Association of Caribbean States, accords a great importance to the resolution given the importance of the Caribbean Sea to our sustainable existence. We anticipate the continued support of the international community for the efforts of the countries of the wider Caribbean region to ensure the protection and sustainable management of the Caribbean Sea and its preservation for generations to come.
In relation to oceans governance more generally, we look forward to the commemoration, later this Session, of the 30th Anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which was signed in Montego Bay, Jamaica on 10th December 1982. The Convention’s continued relevance is clear as an indispensable instrument for promoting the peaceful uses of the Seas and Ocean, the equitable and efficient utilisation of their living resources and the study, protection and conservation of the marine environment.
Jamaica recognizes the urgency of promoting global actions to encourage rational and sustainable use of natural resources, and for the preservation and protection of the environment. It is for this reason that we support the Secretary-General’s “Sustainable Energy for All Initiative” and joined with other SIDS in signing the Barbados Declaration on Achieving Sustainable Development for All in Small Island Developing States in May of this year.
Mr. Chairman,
As it regards disaster risk reduction, the Secretary-General’s comprehensive report contained in document A/67/335 has provided an assessment of the situation to date. My delegation remains committed to supporting the efforts underway to advance the implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005 – 2015 and to support the efforts underway to develop a post-2015 disaster risk reduction framework which is in sync with the broader efforts to elaborate a post-2015 UN development framework.
As an island nation, Jamaica is particularly vulnerable to the vagaries of extreme weather conditions and natural disasters. The fact of our acute vulnerability was again in evidence last week when Hurricane Sandy swept through the region passing over Jamaica and neighbouring islands of Cuba, Haiti and the Bahamas, resulting in several lives lost and the destruction of property. This late-season hurricane, which also affected the East Coast of the United States, has again served as a vivid reminder of the potential for significant damage to lives, livelihoods, infrastructure and entire productive sectors of our economies, including, most importantly, the agricultural sector, posed by extreme weather phenomena.
Though the economic costs of the damage in the Caribbean region incurred due to this latest hurricane have yet to be determined, the cumulative negative effects of such natural disasters on our long term development prospects has been clear for some time, particularly in relation to the achievement of the MDGs. The recent hurricane has also underscored the importance of climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction and taking steps to ensure that urbanisation and housing development are sustainable.
Mr. Chairman,
Several of the aforementioned environmental and socio-economic challenges are inextricably linked to climate change. In a few weeks, our climate change negotiators will journey to Doha, Qatar for the 18th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP- 18). We anticipate that the meeting will advance work on the pre-2020 agenda which will allow for us to meet the critical target of ensuring that the international community will be in good stead to meet the internationally agreed goals of below 2 degrees or 1.5 degrees.
Mr. Chairman,
We welcome the decision at Rio + 20 to launch an open and inclusive process aimed at developing a set of sustainable development goals (SDGs). We urge the early establishment of the Open-Working Group on the SDGs and anticipate the inclusion of several Small Island Developing States (SIDS) to allow for our particular concerns to be considered in the process.
It is our expectation that the SDGs to be proposed by the Open Working Group, and ratified by the General Assembly, will be universal and encompass a realistic set of targets and indicators which will serve as the impetus for the widespread adoption of more sustainable policies and programs in all countries, developed and developing alike. As our Heads agreed in Rio, it is important that the process of elaborating the SDGs be “coordinated and coherent with the process to consider the post-2015 development agenda”.
Jamaica welcomes the decision to establish an inter-governmental process to address the matter of financing for sustainable development and anticipates that the intergovernmental committee of experts to see to the implementation of the process will be convened early enough to allow for the conclusion of its work by 2014.
Mr. Chairman,
The Rio+20 Conference provided us with an opportunity to come to terms with some of the shortcomings of the two previous decades and to renew commitments we made to each other and to future generations as guardians of the earth’s limited resources. The aspirations which underpinned Agenda 21 in 1992 and which were reaffirmed at the Rio + 20 Conference last June are just as relevant now as they were twenty years ago. However, they will not be achieved without collective efforts to ensure the protection of the environment while pursing sustainable approaches to social and economic development which ultimately result in poverty eradication and social inclusion.
The onus is on us, the Member States of the international community to work together in good faith to ensure that we secure the sustainable future which we have envisioned and which will bring us closer to the ideal of integrating economic and social development goals within a broad environmental framework.
I thank you Mr. Chairman.