I am very happy the Dáil has the opportunity to discuss the forthcoming UN Conference on Environment and Development. The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development — UNCED — is the most comprehensive international effort ever mobilised in favour of the environment. More than two years of intensive negotiations for UNCED have now taken place; these have engaged an unprecedented number of countries and international agencies. These preparations will culminate in next month's Rio conference from which decisions of historic importance for environment and development are expected.
UNCED has been driven by three fundamental considerations: first, that the protection of the environment is increasingly a global enterprise and concern, for which global solutions are essential; second, that poverty is a major cause and effect of global environmental problems; these must therefore be addressed within a framework which takes account of the needs of the developing world, and; third, that sustainable development is the key to all the solutions involved — that is, development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Ireland strongly supports the UNCED process. We have participated fully at all four major preparatory committee meetings for UNCED, including the last one in New York in March at which I presented the conclusions of the Dublin Conference on Water and Sustainable Development. We have participated in all EC and OECD preparations for UNCED, including relevant EC Councils and an OECD meeting attended by the Minister for Environmental Protection. Ireland's particular contribution to UNCED preparations was to host a major UN Conference on Water and Sustainable Development in Dublin in January 1992. This conference was directly mandated by the UN to make an input to UNCED on freshwater policies. My Department have produced a national report for UNCED which has recently been submitted to the UN authorities and circulated to Deputies. My Department and the Department of Foreign Affairs are providing assistance to Irish environment and development NGOs to attend the UNCED Global Forum which is taking place in parallel with the intergovernmental conference and ENFO and the Department of Foreign Affairs have financed the production of an educational pack on UNCED to be circulated to schools by DESC, the Development Education Support Centre.
Ireland will also be strongly represented at UNCED next month. The Taoiseach has already made clear his commitment to the conference and will attend the concluding summit of heads of state and government. There will be ministerial representation at UNCED for other appropriate periods by the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment with responsibility for environmental protection, who will both be contributing to this debate, and by myself.
Not least important among our many preparations for UNCED is this Dáil debate itself. It is consistent with the broadly based consultative approach that has characterised UNCED preparations that elected representatives should have full opportunity to put their views on UNCED on the record. I would hope to be able to give some expression to the views emerging from this debate in my own contribution to the Conference.
The Rio Conference takes place around the 20th anniversary of the first world conference on the environment which was held in Stockholm, in June 1972. That United Nations Conference on the Human Environment was a milestone in international environmental co-operation. From our present vantage point, it is difficult to realise that prior to the Stockholm Conference formalised international co-operation on the environment was virtually non-existent.
In 1983, the UN General Assembly established a World Commission on Environment and Development, popularly known as the Brundtland Commission after its chairman. Mrs. Gro Harlem Brundtland, now Prime Minister of Norway. The Brundtland Commission was established as an independent body, representing the developed and developing world and was mandated by the UN to propose strategies for achieving global sustainable development into the next century. The Commission was particularly asked to recommend ways and means to promote sustainable development policies within developing countries.
The Commission's report — Our Common Future — was published in 1987 and forcefully concentrated public opinion on the new concept of sustainable development and on the important relationship between the environment and development. In the words of the Brundtland report:
it is impossible to separate economic development issues from environment issues; many forms of development erode the environmental resources upon which they must be based, and environmental degradation can undermine economic development. Poverty is a major cause and effect of global environmental problems.
The Brundtland report concluded by calling on the UN General Assembly to adopt a programme of action for sustainable development and to convene an international conference to review progress and to promote follow-up arrangements. This appeal sowed the seeds of the UNCED process. In 1989, the UN General Assembly acted on this UN recommendation by resolving to convene the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development on the 20th anniversary of the Stockholm conference; the Government of Brazil agreed to host the meeting in Rio de Janeiro.
The basic concerns of UNCED are continuous with those of the Brundtland Commission, although there is now a more refined understanding of the interaction between environment and development issues. The UNCED agenda has crystallised around a number of urgent environmental problems: climate change and biodiversity, on which global conventions are expected to be adopted; deforestation, on which a Conference statement will issue; desertification, and Agenda 21 which will seek to identify viable environmental strategies across a range of sectors for the 21st century.
The other fundamental question facing UNCED is that of the financial and other transfers and support structures necessary to permit the developing world to assume its environmental obligations. UNCED is also expected to agree a set of fundamental legal principles for the guidance and development policy in the future. This is to be known as the Rio Declaration or Earth Charter.
I would like to comment briefly on these main UNCED agenda items. The Rio Declaration will embody the principles to which states should adhere in drawing up environment and development policies. These principles are all embracing and highlight in particular the importance of environmental protection and the needs for developing countries. At the last preparatory committee meeting in New York, substantial agreement was reached in this very important item. Ireland has supported the declaration as a strong statement of political intent which Heads of State and Government should endorse.
Agenda 21 will define the programmes and activities needed in specific environmental and cross-sectoral areas to implement sustainable development for the future. When finally agreed, Agenda 21 will comprise some 1,000 pages and 30 chapters of programme areas. The topics covered include protection of the atmosphere, oceans and freshwater resources, desertification, deforestation, biotechnology, biodiversity and waste management. Cross-sectoral issues include poverty, consumption and demographics, human settlements and health. These concerns are comprehensive and will be important for future policy making. Wide ranging agreement has been reached on most of Agenda 21. The main outstanding question to be resolved in Rio relates to the means of implementation. These are essentially the issues of finance, technology, and institutional follow-up to the conference. These, and in particular, the question of finance will require difficult political negotiation at Rio.
The financial issue is also critical to final agreement on the conventions on climate change and biodiversity. These are being negotiated in separate parallel processes, but should be completed to allow signature in Rio. Both conventions involve specific commitments. In the case of climate change, the commitments will relate to controls on carbon dioxide and possibly other greenhouse gas emissions. In the case of biodiversity, countries will be required to protect species and habitats and to integrate conservation considerations into other policies. The negotiations on the climate change convention are expected to conclude later today in New York. The negotiations on biodiversity resume next week.
A key factor in both of these negotiations is the need for the developed world to make available to developing countries additional financial resources to assist them to meet their obligations under the conventions. My colleague, the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, will have more to say on this general issue. In principle, however, Ireland supports the provision of new and additional resources and we are prepared to explore the possibilities for this within the constraints of our current economic situation.
I would now like to recall Ireland's particular contribution to the UNCED process by the hosting of the International Conference on Water and the Environment in Dublin in January of this year. This conference was convened by the World Meteorological Organisation on behalf of the many UN organisations with an interest in freshwater issues. It was attended by some 500 participants, including government designated experts from 100 countries and representatives of 80 international, intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations. The Dublin conference was mandated directly by the third preparatory committee to review the freshwater work of UNCED with particular reference to implementation, mechanisms, programme targets and costings. I presented the results of the Conference to the Fourth UNCED Preparatory Committee meeting in New York.
The freshwater chapter of Agenda 21, which is acknowledged to be one of the clearest and most forceful, incorporates much of the language and many of the ideas of the Dublin statement and report on water and sustainable development. In representing the results of the Dublin conference in New York, I called for the dedication of a major share of the funds flowing from UNCED to freshwater management and provision. Improved fresh water management is not just an environmental imperative, it has enormous potential to improve human health, human settlements and agricultural production. Better water management is a core issue in the environment and development relationship. It links many of the problems addressed by UNCED and it should allow these to be resolved simultaneously.
Having surveyed the international background to UNCED, I would now like to describe the relationship of Irish environment policies to the principles and themes of UNCED. Ireland places a high value on its natural environment. Our clean and green environment is rightly perceived as sustaining the quality of life in this country. Ireland's good environment is important economically, because it enhances the quality of our agricultural production and facilitates its marketing. It is also advantageous to tourism and in attracting high class industry and services. It is a fundamental natural asset which will be fully protected and preserved for future generations.
The Irish national report to UNCED, which has just been published, provides an overall view of the interaction between environment and development policies across key sectors of the economy.
Agriculture makes a significant contribution to Irish economic and social life. However, if not properly managed, agriculture can be a source of pollution and destruction for watercourses, habitats and wildlife. The Government response to these problems includes stronger water pollution legislation, a major programme of farmyard pollution control grants and a greater emphasis on educating farmers about conservation and habitat protection.
Environmental considerations are also central to the development of Irish industry. Investment in science and technology will ensure that Irish industry benefits from research in emerging areas such as clean technologies and low waste production processes. The recent major review of industrial policy has argued strongly in favour of Ireland seeking opportunities for advancing ahead of other countries in environmental protection and development and applying environmentally sound technology and processes.
The Irish marine sector has been making a growing contribution to the economy in recent years in terms of increased output, employment and exports. The aquaculture industry is expanding and is opening up new opportunities, particularly for isolated communities. Recreational fisheries is developing as part of the tourist industry. The environmental sustainability of sea fishing is controlled primarily by international arrangements, including a quota system to conserve stocks. In the development of the aquaculture sector, account is taken of potential environmental impacts and the operational controls necessary to minimise these impacts.
An EC assisted investment programme is under way to promote and develop Irish forestry. Ireland is the least forested country in the Community but the increased rate of afforestation in recent decades has brought about a significant change in Irish land use patterns. Land use change on this scale, by its very nature, produces positive and negative impacts on the environment. Environmental impact assessment incorporating greater sensitivity to environmental considerations is a precondition for afforestation. Diversification to broadleaved species is stressed. Increased afforestation also plays a significant and beneficial role in enhancing carbon sink capacity and this is an important aspect of climate change policy.
Environmental protection and sustainable development in Ireland are also supported by the specialised environmental legislation which has been developed over the last 15 years. The development of legislation in the seventies to control water pollution was followed in the eighties by major legislation on air pollution. Irish waste legislation has been developed mainly to transpose the requirements of relevant EC legislation but comprehensive legislation on waste is at present being prepared to complete the main body of Irish environmental legislation.
The Environmental Protection Agency Act, 1992, is the most recent addition to Irish environmental legislation. The new Act sets out a number of guiding principles which the agency must adhere to in the carrying out of their functions. These principles include the need for a high standard of environmental protection, the need to promote sustainable development, the precautionary principle, the polluter pays principle and the need to insure that a proper balance is achieved between environmental and developmental considerations.
Principles alone will not achieve results. Concrete measures are also necessary and these too are provided for in the Environmental Protection Agency Act. The new agency are charged with the operation of integrated pollution control licensing for activities with serious polluting potential. The new system will deal with all emissions to the environment from the activity and will require the application of the best available technology not entailing excessive costs. This approach will ensure that a global multimedia approach rather than a narrow sectoral one will be adopted to environmental licensing. It will recognise the environment as an integrated system to be preserved and renewed rather than as a collection of expendable assets.
A national Environment Action Programme was published by the Government in January 1990. This was the first comprehensive environment programme ever adopted in Ireland and is in line with the international trend towards a programmatic and strategic approach to national environmental management. The Action Programme systematically sets out objectives for protecting and improving the environment across the range of relevant public sector activities and it is founded on the principle of sustainable development, on the precautionary principle and on the integration of environmental considerations into all policies.
The methodology of the Irish environment action programme is clearly based on the identification and setting of targets and policy objectives. They are being subjected to regular review by means of progress reports, the first of which was published in July 1991.
The environment action programme places a high value on environmental awareness, information and promotional programmes — all designed to enable people to act positively towards their environment. This emphasis on environmental awareness and information is consistent with UNCED policies. ENFO has been established as a publicly accessible information service. It has had an enthusiastic response from the public with over 1,000 visitors per week during its first year and a half of operation. Computerised access to ENFO systems is also being made available through the main public libraries.
The Department of the Environment and other public bodies are increasing the output and quality of their environmental publications. Finally, the Environmental Protection Act, 1992, provides for a number of new or improved measures in the area of environmental information. The Environmental Protection Agency will co-ordinate environmental data bases which will be open to the public. The new Act also makes provision for ECO labelling and ECO audit of industries. The Act also provides for regulations to implement the EC directive on freedom of access to information on the environment.
In conclusion, UNCED faces the global community with fundamental decisions about its future. Despite the many difficulties involved, there are some grounds for optimism about the political willingness to address the challenges. UNCED does not, however, represent a panacea or a once and for all solution to the formidable problems which it will confront. The Rio conference is only a beginning: the hope must be that it will set new thresholds and objectives for the ongoing development of sustainable policies into the next century. The Irish Government will make every effort to ensure this outcome.