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UNCED AND BANGLADESH EXPECTATIONS

Md. Fazlul Huq Joint Secretary Ministry of Environment & Forest
Background
Every year June 5 is observed as World Environment Day. Rut this year, the 5th ol June is an unique occasion.
Because It is coinciding with the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) which is being held in Ido de Janeiro, Brazil from 3-14 June, The UNCED Is an event of the Century and a followup of the historic United Nations Conference on Human Environment held In Stockholm In 1972. Since then environment has been an Important Item In the national and global agenda for priority action and the UNCED is likely to see the culmination of this process of integrating environment with development.
The United Nations Conference on Environment and De velopmcnt (UNCED) presents a unique opportunity for mankind to focus international attention on the fundamental interdependence between en-
vironment Issues and development. From a global perspective. the process represents a modest beginning of an international effort to redefine and reorient human behaviour, consumption and production patterns towards a new sustainable development Index for human development. Probably no process has mobilized the public opinion so much on a single Issue apart from the two world wars. Indeed at no time in human history, has the need for remedial action been so urgent and Insistent. All of us are now well aware that the only place where human life exist in Its natural form Is on the surface of the planet earth and If we do not nurture the envl-. ronmcntal patrimony which we have Inherited. We will be the last generation to enjoy It.
Thts Conference, therefore has been aimed to ensure our common development terms. The obligations of this confer-
cnee are not only to our peoples and to our age but our commitment must also be to those as yet unborn.
Environment Development Linkage As environment and development are two sides of the same.coin. It requires to go together and therefore development needs of the poor must be met in order to achieve a healthier environment. After all sustainable development can not be achieved while two thirds of humanity live in poverty. In a resource system with rampant poverty, as in Bangladesh as well as tn many other countries. development becomes essential for environmental protection both globally and locally. Saving the earth means of course, first of all saving the human beings presently on the earth. Wc should point out that there Is enough in the earth for everybody's need but there is not enough for everybody's greed. Therefore the alleviation of poverty In the poor countries, and the containment of environmental unlrfcndly consumption in the richer countries should essentially be an absolute emergency worldwide. A sustainable development as a whole-can only be approached on the basis of resource reallocation and a change of life style of the rich.
Bangladesh Scenario
A major challenge facing Bangladesh Is to meet basic human needs while sustaining the very limited resource base upon which these needs depend. The problems of population growth and consequent pressure on natural resource are the existing realities in Bangladesh. At the same lime, environmental degradation in the region has Increased the intensities or major natural calamities like floods and cyclones. Bangladesh has suffered repeatedly from these calamities.
In the coming years If the prediction of scientists come true. Bangladesh will be experiencing more frequent flooding. increasing so soil erosion.
, unusual droughts, and Inunda-I tions of vast coastal area as a consequence of global warming due to much talked about ■green house effect." In
| Bangladesh, one metre sealevel rise will inundate about
I 5.608 million acres of land, which Is about 15.8% of the total area. So, we have prlori-| tics to address in National, Re-, gional and Global perspectives at the same time.
Within the national bound-■ ary. population control and . poverty alleviation arc the priority Issues. On the regional
environmental problems, we attach priority to the proper management of the shared ws-
and cooperation in regional water management and Globally. we attach priority to development needs and the global warming and climate change issues. Bangladesh delegation to UNCED arc ex peeted to highlight these Is-
Expectation from UNCED
Wc expect that UNCED will be a turning point in global cooperation towards sustainable development, as environmental degradation has reached a stage where Immediate global Intervention Is necessary to arrest and reverse this trend.
Wc expect that new additional resources, both In terms of concessional finance and access to environmentally sound technology. On affordable non commercial terms, would be channeled to countries like Bangladesh tn overcoming en virnnmental problems, and In combating regional and global environmental degradation..
As Bangladesh will . have hardly contributed to the overall process of global environmental degradation, but Is apprehended to be one of the worst sufferers of such eventualities. it legitimately expects that the principle of "Polluters should Pay" will be established and the affected countries like Bangladesh, should be compensated in terms of higher global assistance for Improvement of their capabilities to face the calamities caused by these changes.
Bangladesh Is firmly committed to a process of environmentally safe, sound and sustainable development. It therefore expects that a new partnership in progress will emerge out of the UNCED which will give due emphasis to priorities of developing countries like Bangladesh in their effort to build a happy, prosperous and sustainable future for the present and the future generations.