"Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,
When more than 100 world leaders met in Rio de Janeiro at the first Earth Summit, globalization was in its infancy. The message from UNCED was clear: globalization should not be confined to the selective and exclusive unification of markets. Nothing, after all, could be more global and important than the future of the planet itself. Thus, if we wished that rich and poor share a common but differentiated responsibility for the planet, we had to meet its pre-condition: to share, on an equitable basis, the access to finance, to markets, to technology.
Over the past 5 years, despite undeniable but modest progress, we have failed in meeting expectations in critical areas which define the developmental side of the sustainable development equation. Having chaired the group on finance at UNCED, I share the disappointment expressed by speakers who have preceded me.
Finance, export-led growth, investment and technology remain essential components of sustainability. Unless we deal with economic questions of development as a priority, sustainable development will remain an illusion for the great majority.
Since Rio, globalization and liberalization have accentuated the close relationship between trade, investment, technology and sustainable development and the need for their integrated treatment. Improved resource efficiency, good environmental performance and income generation depend increasingly on trade expansion, investment promotion and technological dynamism. Equitable opportunities for trade, access to and transfer of environmentally sound technologies and incentives for investment are key ingredients for sustainable development.
Today´s world is different from 1992. The dynamics of a global economy have changed some of the premises on which Agenda 21 was built. The spectacular growth of foreign direct investment exemplifies this. Only seven years ago, ODA exceeded foreign direct investment to developing countries by over 30%. Today, the balance has changed dramatically. Foreign direct investment exceeds ODA by over 300%. As a result, the role of markets has moved to center stage.
Left by themselves, however, markets cannot solve the problems of the global commons, a reality recognized by the emergence of international environmental regimes. Cooperation is the only way to address market deficiencies and failures, often using market mechanisms based on incentives and preferences to achieve the desired goals.
UNCTAD has been working to identify positive measures to use trade and investment as tools to promote a better environment. We have also been developing practical ideas to help make the conventions on climate change and biodiversity operational in economic terms. In the first case, by creating market mechanisms to reduce carbon dioxide levels and generate new financial resources for developing countries. In the second case, by working with governments, private industry, local and indigenous communities to help create a viable market through which developing countries will be able to earn fair revenues from their genetic resources.
But, we have to complement market mechanisms with policies designed to manage and steer the process in the right direction. Globalization itself, as you know, is the result of deliberate policy choices. Also today, leaders have choices. Markets are not an end in themselves but instruments in the hand of society. As such, they must be coupled with a purpose. No purpose could be more compelling than to create hope and opportunity for the millions of people excluded from the global market place and who lack the prerequisites to compete on a level playing field.
We must acknowledge that we have not yet found the key to reconcile the creative forces of private entrepreneurship with the needs of the disadvantaged and the requirements of future generations. Recent initiatives for Africa may prove a first and encouraging example of how political will can mobilize market forces in the service of sustainable development, providing incentives for growth, trade and investment.
The stakes are high. Fifty years ago, Albert Camus remarked that, for the first time in History, mankind had made collective suicide a distinct possibility. Nuclear war is now perhaps less of a threat than in Camus´ days and the world did not end with a bang. It is, however, the cause of this and future generations to ensure that the world will not now end with a whimper, that life shall not perish from the Earth because of our selfish insouciance. This is the ultimate challenge of true globalization with a human face: to bring about the unification of the space for the action and cooperation of human beings.
My organization, UNCTAD, is committed to work towards that end. As we proceed to UNCTAD´s tenth conference, to be held in Thailand in the year 2000 - which is the new millennium´s first global event on development - we hope to contribute to translating the promises of this extraordinary era into better lives for all."
