Partnership for Change

- Practical examples of Agenda 21 follow-up

1997 is a special year for environment and development. It is twenty-five years since the Unites Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm; it is ten years since the World Commission for Environment and Development submitted its report, and it is five years since the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro. For the first time, the concrete follow up of Agenda 21, the action programme agreed in Rio, will be reviewed and evaluated at a special session of the UN General Assembly. Environment and development have thus been given a higher place on the global agenda.

The comprehensive reporting on all the chapters of Agenda 21 to which the countries are committed has also provided us with a far wider review than we have ever had before. The specific results we have achieved here in Norway over the past years are described in Norway's country profile submitted to the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD). This report is available on paper and on the Internet. The same applies to the Report on the State of the Environment in Norway.

The results we have achieved in Norway are largely due to work done by many people in the private and public sectors in order to change attitudes and practices within their areas of responsibility and to the fact that several partners are working together across sectors and interest groups.

It is important that we all put our own house in order and that we make concrete efforts, but it is also important, not least to inspire and motivate, that we do this in consultation with others, that we give information, seek advice and discuss problems and solutions jointly, and then tackle our own part of the job. This philosophy of partnership requires openness and trust. It also requires practical preparation, such as areas for consultation and funds to cover extra expenses. We have adopted this kind of strategy in Norway. The Government will follow up and develop such models for consultation.

In its long-term programme (1997-2001), the Government has marked out a course for how it believes the Norwegian society should develop in the next century and, in so doing, has set specific goals for social development. It emphasises the need to activate commitment and dialogue in society.

We must have a global vision, we must think globally and act locally. In the world of today, as complex and interwoven as it is, everybody is dependent on each other, nationally as well as internationally. Solidarity and equity may only be achieved through a broader and more binding multilateral cooperation.

Everybody should be engaged in creating the future. The transition to sustainable development must be carried out in cooperation between all the stakeholders, and through the mall and big decisions we are confronted with daily. We must build partnership and take practical action that may inspire other groups and individuals. Everybody should feel responsible an be accountable for their actions. Together we can do more.

In this report you will find examples of what Norwegian authorities and organisations have done together in order to follow up Agenda 21. They are represented in the National Committee for International Environmental Questions. Each organisation is responsible for their own contribution to this report. The purpose is to present the various stakeholders in this work and give concrete examples on the follow-up of Agenda 21.

Thorbjørn Berntsen
Minister of Environment