Jürgen Trittin supports UNEP commitment to assessing war-related environmental damage in Iraq

On Saturday 26 April 2003, Federal Environment Minister Jürgen Trittin took part in the 2003 meeting of the G8 environment ministers in Paris, on the invitation of the French environment minister Roselyne Bachelot-Narquin. The current environmental situation in Iraq played an important role at the meeting. Concepts for a sustainable and environmentally sound development of Africa, the development of sustainable production and consumption patterns and the strengthening of international structures for environmental protection were also discussed. UNEP executive director Klaus Töpfer and the Senegalese environment minister Fada Diagne also attended the G8 meeting.

A report published by UNEP on 24 April, dealing with the ecological consequences of the war, formed the basis of the talks on Iraq. "I fully support UNEP's commitment to evaluating the war-related environmental damage in Iraq and to identifying necessary emergency measures," said Federal Environment Minister Jürgen Trittin.

Referring to the fundamental role of environmental measures in crisis regions, the minister stressed that these were not an end in themselves. Environmental protection, he said, could play a considerable role in avoiding and solving conflict. "The G8 can substantially forward poverty reduction, "added Trittin, "if they promote and support the creation of unhindered access to clean drinking water and the use of renewable energies in developing countries."

A further topic of the G8 meeting was the protection of the marine environment and maritime safety. In the wake of the "Prestige" tanker disaster, Germany last year addressed concrete proposals to the G8 environment ministers, which will be developed together with a British initiative into an "action plan for marine protection and tanker safety". Federal Environment Minister Trittin called on the G8 to proceed in this regard, particularly by replacing single-hull tankers with double-hull tankers, and introducing piloting obligations in ecological sensitive marine regions.