NEWS |
UNEP News ReleaseUN and NGOs must work together as partners to spread the environmental message, says UNEP Executive DirectorUN and NGOs must work together as partners to spread the environmental message, says UNEP Executive Director Amman, 4 October 2000 - Civil society as represented by organizations such as the World Conservation Union (IUCN) has a vital role to play in saving the global environment, the UN's top environment official told delegates to the IUCN Congress here today. "I am convinced that the role of civil society is not to act as the loyal opposition but as a responsible partner with governments and with the United Nations," said Executive Director Klaus Toepfer of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). "Rather than usurping the functions of government, the role of civil society is to shape and steer public issues and to monitor the implementation of public policy. Its mission is to ensure that governance is democratic, accountable, transparent, inclusive, participatory, and equitable," he said. At the same time, he added, governments and the UN must be able to demand high standards from NGOs. Civil society has become particularly diverse and influential in the field of environment. In addition to the IUCN, with its unique worldwide partnership of states, government agencies, NGOs, and experts, advocacy organizations such as the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Greenpeace have contributed to promoting environmental action. "Without the voluntary sector and NGOs, there would have been no UNEP," said Mr. Toepfer. "Governments careless of the environment would be able to destroy or pollute it at a more frightening rate than we see today." Highlighting the rewards of interaction between the UN and civil society, the Cambridge-based World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC), itself a creation of civil society, became an agency of UNEP earlier this year. Together, WCMC's expertise and UNEP's political and financial resources promise to generate greater support for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity. The new relationship will ensure WCMC's continued independence and integrity. WCMC's new Scientific Advisory Council, announced Toepfer, will be chaired by Christian Samper, Director of the Alexander Hulmboldt Institute in Colombia and Chairman of the Convention on Biological Diversity's Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice. Civil society also has an essential role to play within the UNEP-linked conventions. The 1973 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, the 1979 Convention on Migratory Species, and the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity all strongly depend on civil society and active NGO participation for their effectiveness. "The UN, governments, and NGOs and community groups need to work more closely together than ever to sell the environmental message," said Mr. Toepfer. "I believe we should develop a Special Partnership Statement setting down key principles and the standards which UNEP and the NGOs expect of each other. We must also make sure that the role of civil society develops in a way that reduces rather than widens the North-South divide." The IUCN's Congress meets every four years to chart the organization's strategy and priorities. Congress 2000, which runs from 4 to 11 October, is thought to be the largest-ever environmental conference in the Middle East. Note to journalists: For more information, please contact: (In Amman), Ms. Nalini Sharma, Assistant Programme Officer, Division of Environmental Conventions, Le Meridien Hotel, Amman, Jordan; tel.: (0096 265) 696511; fax 667137. In Nairobi, please contact: Tore J. Brevik, UNEP Spokesman. Tel: 254-2-623292, Fax: 623927; email: cpiinfo@unep.org UNEP News Release 00/103 |