Americas

Americas

UN chief presents report on global sustainability

16 March 2012 18:25 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon on Friday presented the report of his High-Level Panel on Global Sustainability to the General Assembly, offering recommendations on how to move towards the eradication of poverty around the world while helping build a more sustainable future, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

"The panel’s vision is to eradicate poverty and reduce inequality, to make growth inclusive and production and consumption more sustainable, while combating climate change and respecting a range of other planetary boundaries," said Ban.

Ban’s presentation came as the UN General Assembly met in an informal plenary on the report, which is titled "Resilient People, Resilient Planet: A Future Worth Choosing."

The panel, co-chaired by South African President Jacob Zuma and Tarja Halonen, former president of Finland, was launched by the secretary-general in August 2010.

"I asked the panel to formulate a new vision for sustainable growth and prosperity, along with mechanisms for achieving it," said Ban. "I asked them to be bold yet practical."

The UN chief said the report makes 56 recommendations on sustainability and combating poverty, which should be included in the outcome document of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, also known as Rio+20. The conference will be held in Brazil in June.

"We need everyone to work together to create a future worth choosing, the future we want," he said.

"The panel highlights good practices, without claiming to have found the perfect solution for all of today’s interconnected challenges," he noted. "Rather, it calls for a range of coordinated measures that can be implemented, that take us beyond regimented silos, and that have the potential to set us on a more sustainable path."

Ban outlined what he perceived to be the major points of the report.

"First is the nexus approach," said Ban. "Food, water and energy security are inextricably linked and must be pursued together."

Another major point, according to Ban, is the need to change the way progress is measured on sustainable development.

"Thinking solely in terms of quantitative growth, as measured by gross domestic product, is not adequate," he said.

The report also highlighted the need to strengthen international institutional architectures and bring together relevant actors from all sectors.

"In addition to national governments, the substantive involvement of civil society, the private sector and the scientific community, as well as sub-national and regional authorities, is necessary for the right discussions to be held, the right decisions to be made and implementation to happen on the ground," he said.

Ban said he would investigate the possibility of creating a periodic global sustainable development report, as recommended by the panel.

"Finally, I will work to strengthen the ties between the global scientific community and the United Nations, so that science occupies the central place it should in policy-making," said the secretary-general.