Globaaleja muutoksia ei saada aikaan ellei päästä perinteisen etelä-pohjoinen -jaon yli, ministeri Heidi Hautala totesi puheessaan Delhin kestävän kehityksen huippukokouksessa. [:]Speech by Minister Hautala in DSDS summit 3.2.2012:

I will start with a story of two planets meeting each other: The other one said, “I am no feeling too well”. The other one assured “I bet you have Homo sapiens, but do not worry, it will not be lasting very long.”

I am convinced as the previous speaker said that harmonised carbon price is one of the solutions for preserving our global commons.

What I would like to underline is that this Delhi sustainable development summit can prepare us for the Rio+20.

The report of the High-level Panel of the UN Secretary General on Global Sustainability, our President Tarja Halonen co-chaired, was presented here in the DSDS summit. I am convinced Ban Ki-moon is preparing serious measures to make Rio+20 a success.

The panel proposed a modern trinity consisted environmental, economic and social aspects of sustainable development. We must integrate these three dimensions and not continue the game saying one is more important than the other. As researchers here have been reminding us, we need more interdisciplinary approaches so that this modern holy trinity could truly be brought together.

As Minister for International Development, I want to underline that the development aspects of Rio+20 need to be taken seriously and that we can’t take global action unless we are able to build bridges over the North-South division. Now fortunately, the equity issue has been recognised on a high level. Actors such as IMF, OECD and the World Economic Forum in Davos are pointing out that the unsolved equity problem hinders sustainable development and growth in both south and north.

In development financing, more and more resources go to climate action and overall we need to ensure climate resilience. In Finland we have mainstreamed climate change to our development policy and we are trying to ensure that our development cooperation will become carbon neutrality.

I would like to raise the question of including the aviation sector to the EU emission trading system. Why should air traffic be a free rider? We should all agree on a global goal of airplanes paying their fair share of the bill. However, at the moment we lack global solutions taken by global institutions. We need a global solution to solve the issue.

I would also like to draw a link between the work of the High-level panel on Global Sustainability and the new architecture we need. There is a need of a Sustainable Development Council with much more power to take action in order to preserve our global commons. We already have a model, the Human Rights Council which was turned into an important body having powers conducing peer reviews. Why could we not use this model as an example when it comes to sustainable development?

In Finland, we are preparing for the Rio+20 Summit and we have two priority themes that we are especially planning to bring up. First of all, as we have learned here, we need to create new partnerships to cross the dividing line and bring governments, civil society and companies together to bring about the change that is more equitable and efficient, one that works for the local people.

In the Rio+20 Finland wishes also to emphasize water especially from the resource efficiency and security angles.

In addition to this, new welfare indicators are needed. Bhutan has inspired us by developing Gross Happiness Index. There are also some other competitive initiatives, but this certainly is something very encouraging and we can use Rio+20 as a possibility to take this initiative further.

As one of the speakers said yesterday, sustainable development is about processes, not a stagnant thing. We need engagement and common learning. The Rio+20 will be an opportunity we should not miss.