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Opening Remarks by Kerstin Müller (Minister of State
at the German Federal Foreign Office)
Under
Secretary General Diabré, Ms Eichhorn, Mr Umaña, Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am delighted to welcome you this evening on behalf of the German Government
to the opening of the exhibition "Focus on Nature/ People, Forests
and Biodiversity". I am particularly pleased that this opening is
taking place during the current Session of the Commission on Sustainable
Development. The pictures focus in an impressive manner on the CSD's goal:
fostering sustainable development in all countries of the world without
jeopardizing the sources of life on our planet.
Ladies and gentlemen, the earth's biodiversity is an invaluable asset.
Its deterioration has already reached dramatic proportions. Ecosystems
of global importance are at risk all over the world. In many regions of
the world, biodiversity is depleted so much that it is no longer possible
to provide clean water, air or fertile soil. The consequences of the worldwide
destruction of nature have long since become an economic problem. Biodiversity
is not distributed evenly across the planet. Nearly 90% of animal and
plant species live in developing countries. For the mostly poor people
living there, biodiversity represents one, indeed the key resource on
which life depends, in particular a source of food, medicine and building
material. Furthermore, biodiversity offers poor people in developing countries
in particular an additional source of income through the marketing of
products derived from biodiversity. The loss of biodiversity thus leads
directly to a decline in living conditions among the local population
in developing countries. Of course, the deterioration in biodiversity
also has an impact on us in industrialized countries. Often we can only
try to compensate for what can no longer be produced by degraded ecosystems
by employing considerable technical - that is to say financial - resources.
However, we should remember that we are also depriving ourselves of future
opportunities by thoughtlessly destroying nature: for biodiversity is
- thanks to its potential for the development of new foodstuffs and medicines
- a valuable asset for the future of everyone.
At the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio
de Janeiro, the international community acknowledged its responsibility
for biodiversity. One significant outcome of this Conference was the Convention
on Biological Diversity, the CBD. With its three objectives, all of equal
importance,
- the conservation of biological diversity,
- the sustainable use of its components
- and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of
the utilization of genetic resources, so-called benefit sharing,
it provides a framework for preserving biodiversity in the future. The
fact that there are now 188 states parties to the CBD shows that governments
all over the world are aware of their responsibility for the preservation
of biodiversity.
Ladies and gentlemen, the preservation of biodiversity plays a prominent
role in the Federal Republic of Germany's development cooperation. For
we regard the protection and sustainable use of biodiversity as an important
key to reducing poverty. The first projects began way back in the early
eighties, thus long before the Convention on Biological Diversity was
adopted. At present, Germany makes available roughly 70 million euro each
year via the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development
for financial and technical cooperation projects in the field of biodiversity.
Within the framework of bilateral development cooperation, we are supporting,
in about 180 projects, the efforts of our partner countries to protect
and sustainably use their biodiversity. Germany is also participating
at multilateral level in measures to preserve biodiversity. For example,
Germany, with a share of 11.5%, is the largest donor to the Global Environment
Facility (GEF).
Ladies and gentlemen, biodiversity was also one of the main issues negotiated
at the World Summit on Sustainable Development held in Johannesburg in
2002. The Johannesburg Plan of implementation provides that a significant
reduction in the current rate of loss of biological diversity should be
achieved by 2010. In order to attain this ambitious goal, the commitment
of many different players is necessary, as well as alliances among strong
partners. For that reason, too, I am very pleased that such a large number
of people and organizations have made this evening possible by acting
as organizers. I would like to thank the Equator Initiative, UNDP, the
German magazine GEO and the Wildlife Conservation Society which have organized
this event in cooperation with the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation
and Development, the Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ)
and Germany's Permanent Mission to the United Nations. We are pleased
to invite you to the German House again on 19 May for the presentation
of this year's Equator Initiative Awards and for a panel discussion on
biodiversity.
The exhibition which we are opening here today consists of two parts:
firstly the "Focus on Nature" which was assembled by the magazine
GEO and the Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit prior to the
World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. "Focus on
Nature" is supplemented by the GTZ special exhibition "People,
Forests, Development" which documents concrete projects and the work
with local communities in tropical rain forests in western and central
Africa.
With the help of these impressive pictures, we want to raise visitors'
awareness of the earth's biodiversity and the threats facing it. At the
same time, it is intended to demonstrate that although developing countries
will be hit hardest by the loss of biodiversity, there are many communities
in these countries which are meeting the challenge of a changing environment
and are developing innovative approaches to sustainable development. In
this way, these local communities are helping to improve living conditions
and to break the vicious circle of poverty and environmental destruction.
Three objectives are thus being achieved simultaneously: protecting natural
resources, reducing poverty and preserving development opportunities for
coming generations.
Thank you for your attention. I wish the exhibition every success.
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