UN Ministerial Meeting in New York
Federal Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel is travelling to New York this Tuesday to participate in the High Level Segment of this year's session of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD), which will run until 11 May. About 100 environment, energy and development ministers are expected to take part in the meeting. Chaired by the vice prime minister of Qatar, Mohammed Al-Attiyah, ministers will discuss the issues of sustainable energy policy, climate protection, industrial development and air pollution.
"Developing and newly industrialising countries increasingly recognise that economic growth and environmental protection are not only compatible, but even mutually dependent. In view of the consequences of climate change and increasing environmental pollution worldwide, the ministerial meeting in New York has to send the signal that both industrialised and developing countries make the increase of energy and resource efficiency and the expansion of renewable energies their priority," Minister Gabriel stated.
The European Union under the German Presidency is advocating a CSD decision on national and regional energy targets. The focus is on an increase in energy efficiency, the expansion of renewable energies and access to energy supply. The EU takes the view that these targets should be integrated into national sustainability strategies or comparable planning processes by 2010 at the latest. Moreover, the EU supports the establishment of an international review mechanism by the CSD and the inclusion of the issue of energy on the agendas for 2010 and 2014 in order to determine, on the basis of the review results, if new CSD decisions are required.
The UN Commission was established in 1992 to promote implementation of the decisions taken at the World Summits in Rio and Johannesburg (Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, 1992 and World Summit on Sustainable Development, Johannesburg, 2002).
Detailed information on the 15th session of the CSD is available on the Internet at www.un.org/esa/sustdev/csd/policy.htm .
Further information:
- Press Release as at 12.05.2007: 15th Session of the Commission on Sustainable Development
- Press Release as at 10.05.2007: Climate protection is the greatest challenge for mankind in the 21st century
- www.bmub.bund.de/international