Statement by
H.E. Mr. Rezlan Ishar J enie
Charge d'Affaires a. i. /Deputy Permanent Representative
of the Republic of Indonesia to the United Nations
on Behalf of ASEAN
Before
The Second Committee of the 58th Session of the General Assembly
On Agenda Item 95:
Implementation of Agenda 21,
the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21
and the Outcomes of the World Summit on Sustainable Development

" New York 20 October 2003

Mr. Chairman,

I have the honour to take the floor on behalf of the member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) namely Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Allow me first of all to express our thanks to the Secretary-General for his report on activities undertaken in agenda items 95 : Implementation of Agenda 21, the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21 and the Outcomes of the World Summit on Sustainable Development. We also fully associate ourselves with the remarks made by the distinguished Representative of the Kingdom of Morocco on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.

Mr. Chairman,

There can be no denying that after the convening of major UN conferences and summits, our efforts and deliberations should focus on the implementation of all internationally agreed development goals and on our willingness to provide a strategic political guidance to promote the betterment of mankind, in accordance with the principles and objectives of the UN Charter. The Millennium Development Goals specify development targets and commitments to be achieved within definite time frames while the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation and the Monterrey Consensus provided the road map that should be pursued in the economic, social and environmental fields to attain those goals.

ASEAN welcomes the measures adopted by the CSD to expedite the implementation of the JPOI. We are encouraged as well by efforts to improve the inter- agency mechanism for system-wide follow-up of the JPOI. In light of these steps, we need to ensure that the UN system maintains this momentum by undertaking the necessary work to achieve goals and targets that fall within their respective mandates. To this end, we are in support of the request to the Secretary General to provide a focused yet integrative report on the thematic cluster of issues to be considered by the CSD in its 12th Session in 2004.

Likewise, we consider the means of implementation to be crucial for ensuring the full implementation of Agenda 21and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation. With regards to the work of the CSD, there is a need to examine recent efforts to provide the means of implementation to support sustainable development, utilizing inputs from relevant UN bodies and intergovernmental organizations.
The implementation stage of the JPOI have brought about some positive progress such as the convening of the meeting of experts of the Asia Pacific region on 21-23 May 2003 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, in which participants discussed the mapping out of a ten- year framework of programmes for sustainable production and consumption pattern.

Mr. Chairman,

We consider it crucial to underline the critical role of the regional and international organizations as well as the UN bodies, specialized agencies, regional commissions, Funds and Programmes in elaborating their programmes and activities further to help implement the sustainable development agenda in accordance with the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation. Following this principle, in a manner of bottom- up approach, the regional commissions should support the work of the CSD. In addition, we hope that inputs from regional implementation meetings takes into account the relevant thematic clusters contained in the Commission's programme of work.

Cooperation among sub-regional and regional organizations is indeed crucial in facilitating the exchange of experiences and best practices including the development of joint activities and programmes on sustainable development. The principle of sustainable development is clearly embodied in ASEAN Vision 2020, and the Hanoi Plan of Action (HP A) which contain time bound meaningful programs and activities, particularly in the areas such as trans-boundary haze pollution, nature conservation and biodiversity.

ASEAN also sees the benefits of promoting cooperation linking ASEAN with other regions through various partnership schemes with other countries especially our dialogue partners. In this respect, ASEAN Ministers of environment in cooperation with dialogue partners have agreed to the collaborative opportunities surrounding the challenge of sustainable development and agreed that the idea of each ASEAN country spearheading programmes in one specific area of interest from the ten priority areas of environmental protection for partnership. The 10 priority areas at the local, national and regional levels cover:

(i) Global environmental issues
(ii) Land and forest fires and trans boundary haze pollution
(iii) Coastal and Marine Environment
(iv) Sustainable forest management
(v) Sustainable management of natural parks and protected areas
(vi) Freshwater resources
(vii) Public awareness and environmental education
(viii) Promotion of environmentally-sound technologies and cleaner production
(ix) Urban environmental management and governance
(x) Sustainable development monitoring and reporting, and database harmonization.

These priorities will be further discussed and realized among ASEAN member countries in cooperation with our Dialogue Partners during the next 9th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on the Environment (AMME) to be held in Yangon, Myanmar, in
December 2003.

ASEAN has also established a Working Group on Environmentally Sustainable Cities, to spearhead programmes on urban environmental management and governance, particularly on sustainable cities. This working group is also handling UNEP International Environment Technology Centre (IETC)'s integrated waste management programme in ASEAN.

It is also within the spirit to implement sustainable development that ASEAN ministers responsible for environment met in Vientiane, Laos, in November 2002 at the 7th Informal ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on the Environment and have designated the ASEAN Environment Year 2003 with the theme Together Towards Sustainable Development. The ASEAN Environment Year is a celebration that will be held every three years to promote ASEAN's achievements in, and commitments to environmental protection, and to increase public awareness of environmental issues in general.

The stance of ASEAN on environment and sustainable development has been greatly strengthened by the recent ASEAN Summit held in Bali this month. ASEAN Leaders agreed that an ASEAN Community shall be established comprosing three pillars, namely political and security, economic and socio-cultural cooperations that are closely interwined and mutually reinforcing for the purpose of ensuring durable peace, stability and shared prosperity in the region. On the socio-cultural aspect, cooperation is envisioned to address problems associated with population growth, unemployment, environmental degradation and transboundary pollution as well as disaster management in the region to enable individual members to fully realize their development potentials and to enhance the mutual ASEAN spirit. ASEAN has undertaken and will carry out various measures and action plans to promote economic development in the region while maintaining environmental quality and resource sustainability for our future generation.

Mr. Chairman,

In looking towards the future, it is critical that we keep the momentum generated in Johannesburg alive and flourishing. To do so, we should embark on preparations for a more effective and fruitful meeting of the first cycle year of the Commission on Sustainable Development scheduled for next year. The meeting should serve, among other things, to follow-up on some of the essential and critical issues that need to be further elaborated and to monitor the activities undertaken thus far.

Thank you.