ESTONIA
CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY
ADDRESS BY H.E. MR ARNOLD RUUTEL
PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF ESTONIA
AT THE GENERAL DEBATE 58TH SESSION
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF
THE UNITED NATIONS
NEW YORK, 24. SEPTEMBER 2003
Mr President,
Allow me to congratulate you
on the election to the office of the President of the fifty-eighth
Session of the General Assembly. This is significant tribute paid
to you and St. Lucia. Estonia, similar to St. Lucia, is a small state and
together we can admit that the UN is an organisation,
which allows small states to participate on equal footing with large
ones in influencing global processes.
My commendation also goes to
your predecessor Mr Jan Kavan
for the accomplishments in presiding over the fifty-seventh session
of the General Assembly. I am pleased to do so, considering the largely
similar fate of Estonia
and the Czech Republic and our joint endeavours to join the family of democratic nations, the
European Union and NATO.
Mr President,
Mr Secretary-General,
Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates
Ladies and gentlemen,
The 58th regular session
is the first since the outbreak of the war in Iraq. This year
has been a difficult one both for the UN and the
entire world. Long and emotional debates in the UN Security Council
preceded the crisis of Iraq.
Many think that the war, arising tensions between states and post-war
reconstruction of the country have put to test the UN capability,
credibility and role in the world. I would like to believe that the
passed year has not undermined the morale of the world organisation
but rather on the contrary. The ordeals and the war of Iraq have been a lesson and deepened
conviction that the UN should be even more decisive and efficient
in future than today.
Unfortunately the crisis in Iraq has had not only a moral impact
on the UN. Although the UN has been a target of terrorist attacks
before - the UN Headquarters were planned to blast ten years ago -
the terrorist bombing of the UN Headquarters in Iraq on 19 August,
which took more than twenty lives, is unprecedented. Terrorism and
violence never choose their victims and it is significant that the
UN as a global peace and stability organisation,
uniting all states of the world, was targeted.
I would like to emphasise
that Estonia has
resolutely condemned the terrorist attack on the UN mission in Baghdad. Together with
all of you the people of Estonia
and I are in deep morning over the tragedy of the murder of Sergio
Vieira de Mello, Special Representative of the Secretary-General of
UN, and others. I deeply sympathise with
the relatives and the colleagues.
A terrorist act against people who are committed to
assist the people of Iraq
is a painful blow to the UN and a crime against the people
of Iraq
and the international community. However, it cannot be an impetus
for the UN to withdraw from hot spots. Estonia
welcomes the statement made by H.E. Secretary General Kofi
Annan stating that despite attacks the United
Nations will continue its activity in Iraq. Terrorists should not determine
the future of Iraq
and make the people of Iraq
and the international community to withdraw from the goal of building
up a sovereign, democratic and prosperous Iraq. The resent events have even
more clearly demonstrated the need for the presence of stabilisation
forces in Iraq.
In order to enforce peace and stability in the Persian
Gulf region, enhanced cooperation between coalition forces,
the UN and the international community is necessary. Despite its small
size and moderate resources, Estonia
is also actively involved. In May 2003, the Estonian Parliament Riigikogu approved
to deploy a unit of Estonian Defence Forces
to peace enforcement operations in Iraq
and Estonian servicemen started the mission
in the Persian Gulf region in June. Estonia has acceded to all twelve
UN anti-terrorist conventions and is actively cooperating with many
states and international organisations.
Mr President,
Now I will proceed to a central topic of my address
- environment and sustainable development. I consider sustainable
approach to the environment and sustainable development one of the
most significant commitments both for the United
Nations Organisation and states.
In long-term, the welfare and state of people will primarily depend
on our ability or will to use wisely and sparingly the limited resources
of our planet and shape the environment we live in. Vis-a-vis the overgrowing population of the world,
increased production and consumption and also
the resulting pollution, the pressure of the human activity on our
living environment is continuously adding up. Under the circumstances
environment protection and ensuring of the welfare of the
mankind and wildlife is becoming an ever more important and
difficult task. It is not by chance that the UN declared the year
2003 the International Year of Fresh Water and that the year 2002
focused on eco-tourism and mountain regions.
Twenty years ago the UN General
Assembly resolution set up the World Commission of Environment and
Development to define global problems and find ways of solving them.
Gro Harlem Brundtland chaired
the Committee. The report Our Common Future, completed in 1987, defined
sustainable development. The main message was that the economic growth
and increased welfare of the people should not compromise the ability
of future generations and the environment to meet their own needs.
The global economic development should take into consideration the
tolerance thresholds of the environment and the need to preserve natural
resources.
Sustainable
development as a cohesive development of socio-economic field and
the environment has been one of the priorities in most of the democracies
all over the world, especially after the UN Conference on Environment
and Development in Rio de
Janeiro in 1992. As the head of the Estonian
delegation I signed Agenda 21 and the Framework
Conventions on Climate Changes and Biological Diversity.
Eleven
years have passed since the Rio
de Janeiro Conference. Considering the developments,
we see that meanwhile some progress in global environmental cooperation
between states has taken place. New goals were set and interim conclusions
made at the special session of the UN General Assembly in New
York in 1997 and at the World Summit on Sustainable Development
in Johannesburg
in 2002. The session of the UN General Assembly in 2000 agreed upon
the UN Millennium Declaration, with the main goal set as environmental
sustainability.
However,
we should admit that the world population has added another billion
since the Rio de Janeiro
Conference in 1992. In 1990ies the world
GDP grew an average of 2.6 per cent a year. No doubt, sooner
or later these processes are going to influence the living
environment of us all. Although we cannot as yet
single out the actual relationship between human activity and the
climate of our planet, a glimpse into the climate changes of the last
decade is worrying. Natural phenomena like el Who
and la nina have come to set a lasting impact
on human life. Floods, droughts, tornados and extreme fluctuation
of temperature have become nearly daily reality on our planet. European
states have not remained untouched by the
climate changes, either. In 1997, floods devastated Eastern Europe;
last summer Western and Central Europe
was hit by a heat wave. These facts should convince us that
the environmental protection is a matter of common concern for the
mankind.
Cooperation
readiness is extremely important and Estonia has done its best to collaborate.
We have acceded to all essential environment conventions
and wish all other states in the world to do the same. Estonia ratified
the Framework Convention on Climate Changes on 27 July 1994 and acceded
to the Kyoto Protocol on 17 November 1998. In unison with Europe Estonia
expresses its clear will to enforce the Kyoto Protocol as soon as
possible.
Estonia is a small state with moderate resources, playing a significantly
small role in world economy and environment. Nevertheless, we adhere
to the principle - act local, think global. It is extremely important
in environment protection. Estonia
has long traditions of nature conservation. As early as in 1297 King
Erik Menved of Denmark
banned cutting forests on several Estonian islands. Only four years
after regaining of independence, in 1995, Estonia adopted Sustainable Development
Act. In 2001, on the proposal of the Committee on Sustainable Development
the Government of Estonia approved A Strategy of Sustainable Development
- Sustainable Estonia 21.
In environmental protection, more than in any other field,
inter-state cooperation is important and regional organisations
play a substantial role here. The Baltic Sea States have displayed
remarkable initiative worth following by other regions of the world
as well. The Baltic Sea regional sustainable development process, unique
in the world - Agenda 21 for the Baltic Sea States - Baltic 21 - was launched in 1996. The parties to the process involve
all Baltic Sea
States and the European Commission who
target the elaboration and implementation of sustainable development
visions and an action plan for the entire region and key sectors.
As water - the Baltic Sea - joins together
members of the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) it is especially
appropriate to speak about the protection of the Baltic
Sea in the International Year of Fresh Water. Currently
Estonia holds the CBSS Presidency and the protection
of environment, first and foremost, of the
Baltic Sea is among the top priorities
of the Presidency. During our Presidency
we would like to focus on new hazards arising from ever intensifying
marine traffic on the Baltic Sea.
Estonia is targeting its efforts to achieve
an agreement between the member states to reduce the oil tanker pollution
hazard to minimum. Estonia
supports the initiative of the European Union to ban the traffic of
single-hull tankers on the Baltic Sea and is committed to having the
Baltic Sea classified as a Particularly Sensitive Sea
Area (PSSA).
Mr. President,
Mr Secretary-General,
Distinguished Delegates,
I would like to conclude by stressing that although I
have touched upon only terrorism and environment, Estonia fully shares all the EU
priorities at the 58 th
General Assembly of the United Nations Organisation.
In particular, nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction,
peacekeeping, protection of human rights and combating HIV/AIDS pandemic.
However, also the future of the United Nations Organisation is important for Estonia. The UN needs improvement
and restructuring. Estonia
has been in favour of overall.
strengthening of our common organisation and welcomes the efforts by Secretary General
Kofi Annan to
"revitalise" the United Nations Organisation
and, firstly, its General Assembly. In our opinion
a reform of the Security Council should allow the UN to participate
more efficiently in problem-solving and crisis resolution in the world.
The recent
report of the Secretary-General on the Implementation of the United
Nation's Millennium Declaration is a significant and important document,
which deserves a detailed analysis and serious consideration. Hasn't the right time come for the UN family to stand behind
the Secretary-General in his concern about the present and future
of the organisation? Let's
agree - both the larger and the smaller member states - what and when
we would like to accomplish and let's move steadily ahead! Only a
strong United Nations Organisation, having
efficient decision-making mechanisms, can ensure global welfare and
balance. Be this a target for us to accomplish!
Thank You!
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