• Title: An opportunity not to be missed

• Speaker: Parliamentary State Secretary Astrid Klug
• Occasion: Berlin Seminar "Priorities for CSD 15"
• Date/Location: 19 March 2007, Berlin, Schloss Glienicke

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am delighted that you have come to Berlin for today's exchange of views in preparation of CSD 15. We very much appreciate that you are here - I know that everyone's schedules are particularly busy at this time of year and that some of you have travelled a long way to be with us today.

Perhaps the beautiful location of our meeting venue here at Schloss Glienicke also contributed to making this informal exchange of views constructive.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The current two-year cycle of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development has an impressive agenda: energy for sustainable development, industrial development, air pollution, climate change. These issues are closely interrelated; they are at the heart of ensuring long-term sustainable development, in particular progress in the areas of poverty eradication and climate change.

CSD 15 offers the unique opportunity to lay important foundations for the years to come. I very much hope that we will be aware of this in May and that we will later be able to say with a clear conscience that we have moved a big step forward. I am confident that this is possible.

In view of rising energy prices and the increasing threat of climate changes, the expectations are high that CSD 15 will adopt policy recommendations that take equal account of the needs of both economic development and environmental protection. We know that the costs of inaction are immense. If we do not take the right decisions now, one day our children will say that we could have stopped some developments in our time, but for them it is too late.

We in the EU have therefore decided to pursue ambitious goals.

The European Union is taking the lead with the adoption of binding energy targets. As you may know, EU heads of state and government have adopted an energy policy for Europe which aims at boosting competitiveness in the energy market and at securing energy supply, while saving energy and promoting climate-friendly energy sources.

In this context, the European Council has agreed on a binding overall target of 20% for renewable energy sources by 2020, compared to the present 6.5% share of renewables in all energy generated in the EU. EU leaders have also set a firm target of cutting 20% of the EU's greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 as part of the post-Kyoto arrangements.

Furthermore, the EU will be willing to increase this target to 30% if other states make comparable commitments. By adopting these conclusions, the European Council has sent a clear signal to the international community that the EU is ready to make a fair and appropriate contribution to breaking the deadlock at international level.

For CSD 15, the EU proposes - as you know - that all states adopt time-bound national and regional targets and objectives in order to increase

• energy efficiency,
• the share of renewable energies in energy supply and consumption and
• access to sustainable, reliable, affordable and environmentally sound energy services, as one of the prerequisites for reaching the Millennium Development Goals.

These objectives should be integrated into national sustainable development strategies, national poverty reduction strategies and other national planning frameworks as well as into development cooperation strategies by 2010.

Such concrete priority objectives will facilitate cooperation in this policy area with international financial institutions and bilateral donors and enhance financial contributions towards reaching these targets.

This CSD cycle presents the opportunity to address the strategic challenge of transforming our energy systems to become environmentally sustainable. Tackling this challenge in a balanced way is crucial for sustainable development. As energy, along with water and sanitation, has no particular "home" in the UN system, we propose that the CSD - on the same lines as with water and sanitation - should devote time to reviewing and following up on energy for sustainable development in its sessions in 2010/2011 and 2014/2015.

In order to foster a better understanding of where further action will be required, we call on the CSD to endorse an effective follow-up and review arrangement regarding progress on the expansion of renewable energy, energy efficiency and access to energy. This review arrangement should contribute to and accelerate the worldwide development of energy for sustainable development and economic growth. That idea of this review arrangement is not to identify specific countries that are not living up to their set priorities, but to provide a long-term perspective and encourage prompt action. It would, among other things, allow bi- and multilateral donors to further focus their support and increase investment and funding opportunities for public and private investors.

In addition, the EU proposes a compilation of national and regional goals and commitments as an action-oriented, non-negotiated outcome of CSD 15. Such a compilation, based on a unified and simple format, would help to identify the areas of energy for sustainable development which are in need of support by the donor community.

The EU also believes that increasing resource efficiency, enhancing technological innovation and decoupling economic growth from resource use offers the opportunity to reduce costs, increase competitiveness and thereby preserve jobs or even provide additional employment. Moreover, changing unsustainable consumption and production patterns is fundamental to delivering tangible results not just in the area of industrial development, but also in the other thematic clusters of CSD 15. We also strongly advocate placing the issue of indoor air pollution in developing countries and its severe health impacts high on the international agenda. Improving access to cleaner cooking and heating fuels in developing countries is relevant especially for women and children. CSD 15 needs to agree on concrete action on this topic and will commit relevant states as well the international donor community to act with a sense of urgency. The WHO should continue to play a key role in advocacy, programme development and implementation.

The ECE region has developed an ambitious convention on long-range air pollution. We believe that it can serve as a model for other regions, and we are ready to support information and knowledge exchange. The EU has made considerable progress on the control of air pollution and more action is underway. Traffic-related emissions of the automobile, aviation and maritime sectors should be a top priority for international action.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Continuing with our wasteful consumption of scarce resources places a burden on the poor and on future generations. This must stop. Let us work together to achieve the Millennium Development goals and the Johannesburg objectives! I wish us all a productive and successful CSD 15.

Thank you.