29 April 2003

Mr Chairman,

Honorable Ministers,

First, I would like to associate myself with the statement made by Greece on behalf of the European Union.

A new era is dawning for the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development. We are gathered to assign the CSD a new work programme. This work programme should guide us when we work together to monitor, evaluate and further promote global policies for sustainable development.

There is consensus that time is ripe for a new modus operandi, geared towards explicit targets and concrete results. Through your commitment and perseverance, Minister Moosa, you set high standards for our work. Sweden is prepared to give you any support and to work very hard with all our colleagues, to ensure success in shaping the new CSD.

Our motto in Johannesburg was "From Words to Action". The proposed two-year cycles of work, with review years and policy years intermittently will be a good way to proceed. It will allow us to monitor progress towards the Johannesburg targets, while also embracing new challenges and developing new policy.

Sweden would like to highlight three aspects of critical importance, as a new work programme for the CSD is launched:

1. To apply a gender perspective in the work of CSD.

2. To strengthen the scientific underpinning of sustainable development.

3. To stimulate innovation and exchange of experiences through task forces or subcommittees of the CSD.


1. Gender equity

The Plan of Implementation contains a considerable number of concrete references to gender perspectives, gender equality and women’s roles and rights – an indication that there is now broad political support internationally for these issues in the context of sustainable development. Our task now is to ensure that a gender perspective is integrated at all levels of our work in the CSD.

Both women and men will be required to take part in the implementation of the World Summit commitments. Women's knowledge, experiences and interests should be embraced. Women should be granted opportunities to exert influence on equal terms with men. The different conditions of women and men should be taken into account in the promotion of the Plan of Implementation. The division of labour between women and men, and its implication for sustainable development, must be increasingly recognised in research and policy development.

Why is this so important?

There is ample evidence that women’s equal access to full participation in decision-making at all levels, on the basis of equality with men, will trigger dynamic and positive spirals of change. Women are key actors in fighting poverty and in securing sustainable livelihoods.

What a gender perspective can do in the promotion of sustainable development is no less than a miracle: When women are allowed to share resources and decision-making power with men, every society will be twice as strong. On the day when every citizen is given a chance to develop his or her full potential, all nations will prosper.

Gender-sensitive policies should be promoted, which address the different needs of women and men. Existing information must be made better use of and relevant gender-sensitive indicators should be identified and developed. Equal rights and opportunities should be granted women in areas such as land rights, education, health-care services - including reproductive and sexual health-care services, and access to financial credit.

In the process leading up to the Johannesburg Summit, a Network of Women Ministers of Environment was formed. Drawn from all continents and regardless of political convictions, we are determined to help integrate women's perspectives in the work of the CSD. I co-chair this Network together with Ms. Rejoice T. Mabudafhasi, Deputy Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, South Africa. I invite you all to join us in this effort for the benefit of men and women alike, and for the efficiency of sustainable development policies everywhere.

2. Strengthen the scientific basis of policies for sustainable development

In his report, the Secretary-General convincingly argues how scientific expertise can be brought to bear on the deliberations in the CSD. I would like to particularly underline the need for more social science research in the field of sustainable development.

One of the profound conclusions of the WSSD is that we need to organise our society in a new – sustainable – way. And in order to do so, we need a clear understanding of how societies work and in what ways change can be brought about. We need more elaborated theories based on empirical data.

I have noted that many people tend to think that processes of historical change, or situations of complex social interactions, are better understood by journalists and politicians than by professional social scientists. I disagree. Arguably, the social sciences are not yet as far developed as the natural sciences. We tend to become frustrated at disagreement between academics on important points, where we, as politicians, would need clear and unambiguous advice.

In fact, a major transformation is in the making within social science. Never before in history have so many social scientists been engaged in understanding basic social processes – such as economic growth, good governance and traditional divisions of labour by gender. And never before have social scientists had so many empirical observations upon which to build their theories. Never before has such efficient equipment been available to analyse data and test hypotheses.

Indeed, we need to make use of the constantly growing body of social science knowledge that is produced, and elaborated, every day.

Only if we understand the society in which we live, will we be able to change it for the better. The complexity of a globalised society makes this long-standing insight challenging. The CSD will be right to rise to that challenge.

3. Stimulate innovation and exchange of experiences through task forces

The new CSD should benefit from innovative policy thinking and the sharing of best practices in multiple ways. Sweden strongly supports the idea that subcommittees and task forces should be formed to bring different views on the table and arrive at higher levels of common understanding. The work of any task force is likely to run parallel to that of the new CSD: first, review of the state of art; second, deliberation of policies and ways forward.

Together with France, Sweden has initiated an international task force on Global Public Goods. The objective of the Task Force will be to identify key global public goods from a perspective of poverty reduction and of common interest for sustainable development, and make recommendations to policy makers and other stakeholders on how to provide and finance them. It will also propose responsibility for follow up and monitoring effectiveness and results. The work of the Task Force will be inclusive and transparent, involving a number of interested parties. We would be prepared to share the product of this work here in the CSD in the second work cycle.

I can imagine a number of issue areas that could benefit from a broad and non-preconceived process of deliberations in a subcommittee or task force under the CSD:

The important area of corporate social and environmental responsibility might be one.

A fresh look at the interrelationship between population trends and sustainable development is another area of concern. It is becoming possible to predict, with an impressive degree of reliability, any nation's economic development based on demographic data. Wisely used, this tool should be incorporated by governments to grasp opportunities for growth and quality of life.

Task forces would be an exemplary way to promote dialogue and productive problem solving between governments and major groups in the work of the CSD. International organisations would also have a self-evident role to play.

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Mr Chairman,

I have highlighted three aspects to be considered in the work of the new CSD. They concern a gender perspective, scientific knowledge and forums for innovative problem solving.

At the end of the day, the challenge before us is great but simple. Our commitment must be to launch an investment programme in people and the environment that far exceeds what the world spends on military arms. Our priority actions must be to implement a framework of programmes for sustainable consumption and production, while reducing by half the number of women, men and children who live in extreme poverty.

Thank you.