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PAKISTAN:

Amb. Jamsheed K.A. Marker noted that the extremely busy calendar of activities over the past year and for the next year reflects the multifarious commitments made by the international community at Rio. The documents approved at Rio constitute an important advance towards a global recognition of the twin imperatives of development with equity and development without damage to the environment. The follow-up to Rio must fully imbibe these two principles. The international community must ensure that the experience of inequality in the evolution of international economic relations should not be repeated in the promotion of the new partnership for sustainable development. At its next session, the CSD must review the issue of unsustainable patterns of consumption and lifestyles in developed countries and solicit concrete, quantitative and qualitative commitments from the developed countries. Specific policies must also be formulated for a conducive international economic environment, including access of developing country exports to the markets of the developed countries.

The CSD's establishment of the two ad hoc working groups on technology transfer and finance is an important step forward in the implementation of the Rio commitments. The technology group must clearly identify the measures for the operationalization of the commitments regarding transfer of environmentally sound technology. The finance group must identify the exact figure required for the implementation of each programme area in Agenda 21 as well as mechanisms for financing them. Pakistan also welcomes the expected conclusion of the GEF negotiations in Cartagena in December. However, it is disappointing to notice the reluctance of donors to increase their contributions to the GEF to a level that would be commensurate with the Rio commitments. Pakistan also supports the INCD. While the regional instrument for Africa is of critical importance, Pakistan hopes that the other regional instruments can also be negotiated well in time. The problem of land degradation, especially caused by waterlogging and salinity, must be effectively dealt with in the context of the regional instruments. [Return to start of article]