UNESCAP Offers Expertise For Post-Johannesburg Follow Up
Asia paying heavy price for "grow now, clean up later" policy - Report

BANGKOK (United Nations Information Services)--Citing failures of Asian countries to effectively integrate sustainable development concerns into national policy-making, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) has offered its technical expertise and assistance to ensure meaningful and active implementation of the outcome of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg.

The Asian and Pacific region is "paying heavily for the combined effects of 'grow now, clean up later' policies that prevailed in the past," Mr. Kim Hak-Su, UNESCAP Executive Secretary, told Summit delegates.

Despite the introduction of environmental standards and various regulatory measures, many Asian and Pacific countries have failed to improve their environments "due to lack of integrated policies and coordinated approach," said Mr. Kim.

Indeed there has been a marked deterioration in environmental conditions in Asia and the Pacific region, according to "Environmental Governance for Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific," a joint-study just released by UNESCAP and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

As home to 60 per cent of the world's population, the region's need for sustainable development is particularly acute. The rapid expansion of the region's economies has given rise to major ecological problems, including shrinking forests, widespread land degradation, drying up of aquifers, increased waste loads, and an overall increase in pollution, the study finds.

As the United Nations' regional commission for Asia and the Pacific, UNESCAP is "strategically placed and prepared to take the regional initiatives for the development of robust and lasting partnerships," in order to ensure WSSD implementation, Mr. Kim told a WSSD Plenary Session on Regional Implementation.

Last November, Governments in the UNESCAP region reached agreement on the way forward for coordinated, sustainable development, agreeing on seven key initiatives now known as the Phnom Penh Regional Platform on Sustainable Development for Asia and the Pacific.

The seven initiatives include: 1) capacity-building for sustainable development; 2) poverty reduction; 3) cleaner production and sustainable energy; 4) land management and biodiversity conservation; 5) protection and management of, and access to freshwater resources; 6) oceans, coastal and marine resources and sustainable development of small island States and 7) action on atmosphere and climate change.

UNESCAP will place emphasis in providing its expertise to member countries in these areas.

Details of these initiatives, as well as the report on Environmental Governance, can be found at the UNESCAP and UNDP websites: www.unescap.org , www.undp.org

For further information, please contact:

Mr. David Lazarus, Chief, United Nations Information Services, United Nations Building,
Rajadamnern Nok Avenue, Bangkok, 10200, Thailand
Tel: +66-2-288-1866 (through 69) Fax: +66-2-288-1052 E-mail: unisbkk.unescap@un.org

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