YouSaid · the spoken record

Gro Harlem Brundtland

THE RECORD WRITES THIS SPEAKER AS GRO HARLEM BRUNDTLAND

lines on the record: 102
first: 1988-09-24
most recent: 1996-09-24
sittings or episodes: 5
sources: un-general-debate

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“That process will require a combined political and scientific craftsmanship which will need to draw upon every experience we have had in multilateral diplomacy so far. There can be no civilized world unless we unite to strengthen multilateralism by establishing global norms, by building and raising the minimum standards of inter- and intra-State behaviour, and by building new norms of international accountability. The war crimes tribunal in The Hague is a building-block in that edifice. The preventive aspect would be served if the Karadzic´s and Mladic´s of this world were brought to justice to answer for their crimes. But again, conflicts should not be allowed to go that far. We must be able to address the root causes of conflict in time. That is what prevention is all about. That is the win-win game we should all be playing.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“No single country is powerful enough to deal alone with the threats that transcend our frontiers — terrorism, nuclear proliferation, drugs, crime, disease and damage to the environment. They all require common action. They all belong on our common agenda. Five years ago in Rio we reached consensus on Agenda 21. That was a call for action. Together we sowed the first seeds of a global norm for sustainable development. Now we must struggle on towards its implementation. Later this year we will start the final work on a climate protocol. No challenge is more global than climate change. We owe it to present and future generations to come up with a binding agreement that is cost-effective, equitable and verifiable.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“But only in a few countries is the human rights situation deteriorating. We may be impatient; we may find that progress is too slow in important countries; and there may be temporary set-backs. But in a world of global communication, facts can no longer be hidden. We cannot build fences around ideas in the age of the Internet. It will become increasingly impossible to derive the benefits of the global economy without exposing political power structures to the scrutiny of democracy. The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty established a global norm. This is what the United Nations does best and what it must continue to do. The first Chapter of the Charter calls for effective collective measures for the removal of threats to the peace. Our challenge is to grasp the complexity of today’s threats.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“We need a leaner — and thereby, I believe, stronger — structure to deal with what we decided in Rio, Cairo,Copenhagen and Beijing. Now we must do what we said there. The Nordic countries, in their ongoing project for United Nations reform, have focused on the other end of the spectrum — the country level. Today, there are several United Nations representatives in one country, often overlapping each other and often contributing to more fragmentation. But political issues, humanitarian issues and long-term development are interlinked. Our organizational set-up should be the same. Let us coordinate our humanitarian assistance activities better, thus allowing us to react more quickly and more effectively. And let us speak out more openly about human rights. Human rights are violated all over the world.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“The Security Council must reflect this world, and the issue of a regionally-balanced enlargement must now be addressed. Asia, Africa and Latin America should be represented on a permanent basis. Japan and Germany should each have a permanent seat. And as we enlarge the Council we must see to it that the efficiency 9 of decision-making is retained and that the Council’s implementing ability is greatly enhanced. If we had sat down at the drawing board to create the United Nations today, we would have grouped the most closely interlinked challenges together and designated a limited number of agencies to deal with them. Today, in the social and economic field, responsibility for sustainable development, poverty, population and education is divided. There is too much fragmentation and too many turf battles.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“The fund would facilitate immediate deployment of first-class expertise for proactive diplomacy. Any organization that fails to change is bound to lose its effectiveness. So we must press on with reform. But we cannot accept intimidation. Withholding legally assessed contributions amounts to just that. Today, some countries in fact pay more than their fair share. Other countries voluntarily pay more than their fair share. Many countries pay too little, or hardly anything at all. We now need to settle on a long-term solution based on a more equitable scale of contributions and scrupulous respect by Member States for their financial obligations and the payment of arrears. We must press on with reform of the Security Council. We are not served by protracted denials of the world as it is.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“But reacting in time need not be costly. On the contrary, there is so much to gain, there is so much to save. Much could be achieved if the United Nations were better able to send experienced diplomats and support missions to conflict-ridden areas in timely endeavours to deescalate conflict and reconstruct civil society. We know that the hands of the Secretary-General are often tied in such cases, when it comes to redirecting resources. That is another challenge. United Nations expertise — our expertise — may not show up in a situation because there are insufficient funds to pay for air tickets. Norway is ready to make an extra contribution. We offer to establish a fund for preventive action here at the United Nations. We pledge to fill it with approximately 1 million dollars on an annual basis, and we invite other Governments to join us.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“But to the United Nations, any armed conflict or threat of conflict must be vital. We need more preventive action and more preventive diplomacy. Here at the United Nations, we need to develop the institutional, legal and managerial capacity to act, which would provide a model for regional action. Preventing conflict and human suffering must not be hampered by the traditional norm of what is essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of States. Killing people cannot be protected by the Charter. A situation which is not visibly dangerous and which does not offer spectacular pictures for the evening news, is all too often silenced and out of the news picture. And since those who suffer have no vote in any of the countries which command the resources to help, it may be all too convenient to look the other way.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“But we all pay a price if the gap deepens between the fundamental norms of civilization and the daily suffering in too many countries in too many parts of the world. Reversing that trend is our moral obligation; preventing deadly conflict is our common challenge. True, the United Nations is increasingly involved in internal crises. We still do not possess the necessary means, mandates and mission capacity to suppress devastating conflict. All too often, intervention comes when the conflict has erupted, when the battles have been fought and the dividing lines have been cemented. When the peacemakers are ready to go, it may be late — often too late. We lack efficient procedures for dealing with emerging conflicts. To individual countries, emerging intra-State conflict may not be deemed vital.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“Today’s killing fields are within States. Out of around 40 cases of armed conflict in the world today, hardly any occur between States. These conflicts are deeply embedded in the history of regions and peoples, where disruption within societies date far back, some being centuries old. The price of intra-State conflict is being paid by civilians. Ninety per cent of casualties in armed conflict are civilians. They literally walk the minefields where millions of anti-personnel mines are strewn. Not only is the death-toll numbing; let us also count the many missed years of economic production, the livestock lost, the schools ravaged, the clinics destroyed. Millions pay the terrible human price.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“Every country, every man, woman and child depend on what we can achieve right here, and every country represented here has a stake in our success or our failure. 8 For more than 50 years, the United Nations has — for better, but also for worse — reflected its Members, global political trends, contrasts, conflicts and confrontations. It has been judged, unjustly, more by its failures than by its successes. The integration of scores of new Member States, peace-keeping operations, the promotion and protection of human rights, and field activities in developing countries bringing relief and consolation to millions of destitute people all bear witness to how the United Nations has harnessed the best of humanity and civilization. Today, the threats to peace come not so much from contention between great States.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“The decades of negotiations seemed endless, and without the perseverance of this Organization, it would not have worked. Where else could we carve out a global test ban? Where else can we cast norms of global applicability? Where else can we extend an international society based on law and contract? That is what the United Nations does best. It is easy to ridicule years of meticulous negotiations. It is easy to deride the process as bloated bureaucracy and inefficiency. It is easy because that also happens every day, here by the East River. And we must never become used to that. But some processes take time because they are difficult and because they have profound effects on the whole world.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“Tomorrow, I am going to sign the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty on behalf of Norway. We join with almost all countries in celebrating our new freedom — freedom from fear of nuclear contamination and proliferation. By our joint resolve, the terror of competitive madness fell victim to the sheer force of reason. Thanks to the United Nations, the norm of non-testing has been galvanized. It is today part and parcel of international law. In the future, no country, whether it has signed that treaty or not, will be able to break that norm. That can no longer be done with impunity. It will go down in the annals of history that nuclear testing was carried out over a period of 40 years in the twentieth century, and then never again.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“I urge this Assembly to create the post of high commissioner for human rights and to agree on a quantum leap in the allocation of resources for the United Nations human-rights activities. This is a modest price to pay for strengthening the basis for peace and stability. The lines between foreign and domestic policies have long since vanished. Narrow-minded forms of nationalism will not serve us. We must move towards an inclusive enlargement where the powerful are just and the weak secure. Only the United Nations can provide the framework of a better-organized world, which today is too fragmented and uncoordinated. More and more causes are common, as, indeed, is our whole future. The Middle East breakthrough gives us the hope that no challenge is too difficult and the belief that we can make this world a civilized place.”
1993-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 48 (1993)
“It is a matter of utmost priority to broaden and deepen the non-proliferation regime to comprise a broader pattern of commitments and cooperative behaviour. In this connection, Norway urges the nuclear-weapon States to redouble their efforts to conclude a comprehensive test-ban treaty. We expect that they will refrain from any testing while negotiations proceed. We also urge North Korea to submit fully to the safeguard regime of the International Atomic Energy Agency and to adhere to the Non- Proliferation Treaty. Development without democracy and respect for human rights will never be sustainable. Democracy is indispensable for promoting and upholding respect for human rights, for social and economic development, for peace and security, and for liberating the human creativity which is so vital to any social and economic development.”
1993-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 48 (1993)
“And while we reduce our strain on finite natural resources, the environmental agenda is constantly widened by the unveiling of the ecocide almost committed by the former Communist countries. Forty-eighth session - 27 September l993 23 The nuclear threat is not confined to that inherent in the remaining arsenals of nuclear weapons. Increasingly, our security is threatened by the enormous deposits of nuclear waste on land and at sea. Large-scale international cooperation is required to eliminate this threat. Nuclear weapons have not disappeared, and the capacity to make them is broadly present. Proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the means of their delivery constitutes perhaps the greatest threat to international peace and stability.”
1993-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 48 (1993)
“For most countries, strongly dependent as they are on international trade, an agreement, even if each and every provision may not be ideal, is absolutely necessary. I urge the major parties to live up to the expectations created at the Group of 7 meeting in Tokyo that before the end of the year the deal will be closed. Environment and trade must be the next agenda item. We should be more outspoken about conflicting interests and more receptive to the fact that we do not have the option to go our separate ways. We must develop a sound, scientific basis for managing our natural resources in a sustainable way. In a politically, culturally and socially diverse world, science and knowledge can be the only basis for sound and lasting cooperation in this field.”
1993-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 48 (1993)
“The world will not forget, and our children will long remember, that the industrialized countries committed themselves in Rio to providing new and additional funding to combat climate change and safeguard biological diversity. So far, however, contributions have been small-scale. The aid fatigue continues despite enormous needs and a more fertile ground for development in countries which have made sacrifices and taken the bitter but crucial medicine of structural adjustment, and despite the reduction of military budgets to levels where countries again should be deemed creditworthy. Far, far more serious, and not only for the developing world, is the gambling with the Uruguay Round holding the prospects of global free trade hostage to narrow national interests.”
1993-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 48 (1993)
“Ninety per cent of this increase is taking place in developing countries, many of which are unable to feed their present populations. We may soon be facing new famine of a magnitude dwarfing even Malthus’ gloomiest predictions. There may be mass migration and the destabilization of countries and regions as people compete for ever-scarcer land and water resources. The International Conference on Population and Development, to take place in Cairo in September 1994, must address the complex root causes of the population explosion. The agreements reached at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio last year, however imperfect, set a sound, ambitious agenda for action to ensure sustainable development. Yet, I regret to say, the momentum generated in Rio has been allowed to lose some of its force.”
1993-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 48 (1993)
“If current forms of development were employed, a further fivefold to tenfold boost in economic activity would be required over the next 50 years to meet the needs and aspirations of 10 billion people. Currently, the vast majority who are poor make only a minimal claim to our natural resources, while the more voracious North is consuming in a few decades what it has taken the planet billions of years to accumulate. The Norwegian Minister of the Environment raised the issue of production and consumption patterns in the industrial part of the world at the first session of the Commission on Sustainable Development. Early next year Norway will host a meeting on these issues as a contribution to the next session of the Commission. The rapid population growth in many parts of the world is a ticking time-bomb.”
1993-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 48 (1993)
“The post-cold-war patterns of risks and uncertainties have brought about a wider recognition and understanding of the need to address the serious economic and social inequalities in the world and their implications for global security. Core issues such as environment and development used to be seen as side issues by the prime movers of international affairs. There is a new hope that this could be changing. The Secretary-General points out in his report that without sustainable development peace cannot long be maintained and that political, social, educational and environmental factors must all be part of development. Unsustainable production and consumption patterns still prevail and can be counteracted only by changing how and in which fields our economies continue to grow.”
1993-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 48 (1993)
“As the eighth-largest contributor to the United Nations system in absolute terms and by far the largest in per capita terms, we find it exceedingly difficult to 22 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session understand how so many countries fail to honour their obligations. The Secretary-General has said that "the Organization lives from hand to mouth." (Statement by the Secretary- General to the Fifth Committee, 26 August 1993). The permanent members of the Security Council have a special responsibility. But we should also ask ourselves if countries should be eligible at all for the Security Council if they have not paid their contributions.”
1993-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 48 (1993)
“We need improved training and analysis of past experience; our training facilities should be linked in a consortium for United Nations peace-keeping training. There must be an immediate and substantial increase in the United Nations reserve fund for peace-keeping; moreover, a unified peace-- keeping budget must be introduced which allows the Secretary-General to obligate at least 20 per cent of the estimated cost of peace-keeping operations once they have been approved by the Security Council. We need improved financing for peace-keeping operations and financial discipline among Member States. Indeed, the whole financial situation of the United Nations is disgraceful.”
1993-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 48 (1993)
“The result is that troop- contributing nations exercise direct control, which radically reduces coherence and effectiveness. The situation is aggravated by the Security Council’s propensity to make ambitious decisions but fail to provide the Secretariat with the means to implement them. Failing to provide financial, human and technological resources undermines both peace and the authority of the United Nations. We know what needs to be done. We must focus on the following: There must be realistic mandates for new United Nations peace-keeping operations whose goals and means must be clearly defined. We must have proper stand-by arrangements for troops and equipment from Member States, and Norway is prepared to contribute in concrete terms to a collective stand-by effort.”
1993-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 48 (1993)
“It is absolutely imperative to improve on the coordination and cooperation between United Nations peace-keeping operations, United Nations humanitarian agencies and non-governmental humanitarian organizations. Somalia is an obvious case in point. For Norway it is a priority issue to move such coordination forward. We shall convene a conference before the end of the year with the aim of improving our capacity to organize real peace operations incorporating both humanitarian and military tasks. We should all support our Secretary-General’s proposals for a necessary strengthening of the Department of Peace-keeping Operations. The management organization for United Nations peace-keeping operations here in New York is manifestly inadequate.”
1993-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 48 (1993)
“Let us be inspired by the Israelis and the Palestinians, and let us all send a message to the parties in Bosnia: enough! Peace is possible. The time for a settlement is long overdue. The situation is already disastrous, and another winter of war is bound to take a severe toll of lives. Norway is among the major providers of humanitarian assistance to the area. International attention is focused on the terrible ordeal of the Muslims, but there are Croats and Serbs who suffer greatly as well. We should be even-handed in our humanitarian assistance, making a clear distinction between, on the one hand, warlords and war criminals and, on the other, those on all sides who are without a voice and without a choice, those who are victimized and whose only hope is the assistance we can provide from the outside.”
1993-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 48 (1993)
“In the former Soviet Union alone, ethnic tensions are reaching critical mass or have already erupted, as in Nagorny-Karabakh and Abkhazia. The authority of the United Nations is seriously undermined if there is vacillation on where and how to use the "Blue Helmets". We should admit that there have been failures along the way and learn from experience. Our main thrust must be to aim for a negotiated solution based on known elements. The alternative to a negotiated settlement is continued bloodshed. The alternative to peace is war. Norway fully supports the efforts of Thorvald Stoltenberg and David Owen. All parties must now cease hostilities and allow time for the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina to heal so that we can start slowly to build a foundation for peace.”
1993-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 48 (1993)
“Such acts have been committed in the name of a doctrine - the doctrine of the ethnic state - and thus prolong the sinister existence of doctrine as a source of war and contention in this century. Ethnic nationalism is a threat to peace and stability everywhere. The ethnic mosaic of Europe does not lend itself to such reduction. A doctrine of the ethnic state is a prescription for war. Our task is to build communities which include rather than exclude and to make all multi-ethnic regions safe refuges of enlightened diversity. A military victory in which aggression appears to pay in Bosnia will be noted in those parts of the world where different nationalities are sharing territory and political organization.”
1993-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 48 (1993)
“Education and training are needed for generations which are now ready to assume an equal role in the economy of their country. We must now act forcefully, encouraging proponents of peace and transition, and Forty-eighth session - 27 September l993 21 discourage the shrill voices of hatred and interposition so that one day - soon - the South African man and woman may be free at last. We must never lose hope that peace can be achieved. But our hope has been severely tested by the protracted atrocities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. There seems to be no limit to the brutality that human beings are capable of mobilizing in the service of a nationalistic goal.”
1993-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 48 (1993)
“Fixing a date for democratic elections in April next year is a beacon of hope that the post-Apartheid system will finally gain the democratic legitimacy which the South African Government cannot claim today. Until the day when black South Africans can enjoy the human rights of which they have been oppressively deprived, until the day when violence is ended and joint political control has been established over the military and police forces, until that day South Africa will remain a country in imperative transition. The outside world and the United Nations must, in time, recognize the potential of post-apartheid South Africa - at peace with itself and endowed with immensely rich natural and human resources - for the whole region of southern Africa.”
1993-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 48 (1993)
“Now we must assist in building houses, roads and water supplies, and make reconciliation pay, so that new generations of Israelis and Palestinians may grow up without fear, as good neighbours, in a life of dignity. A period of healing is needed in which all peace-loving countries, the United Nations itself, the Bretton Woods institutions, other financial institutions and the European Community join financially - and substantially - in a coordinated, immediate investment-for-peace programme. I pledge and confirm that Norway’s assistance will be substantial and that we shall be honoured to play a continuing political role should the parties so desire. A period of renewal and change must also embrace South Africa and our relations with that country. South Africa is in desperate need of peace and reconciliation.”
1993-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 48 (1993)
“In this spirit, we shall go to Washington on 1 October, committed to help in building peace. For the peace process to succeed, it must be consolidated and stabilized by the economic development the two parties have agreed to undertake together. The fruits of peace must become tangible and real for the women, men and children of Gaza and the West Bank. The process of implementation could change the perspectives and expectations of the parties, convert interdependence into a sense of community, and make possible solutions and visions which today seem beyond reach. The economic situation in Gaza and on the West Bank is dramatic and calls for immediate and extensive economic aid. Now we must respond to the just but unfulfilled aspirations of the Palestinians: for job opportunities and for schools, hospitals and universities.”
1993-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 48 (1993)
“Now we must answer the clarion call and mobilize our collective political and financial resources to help move the peace process forward. The time has come to let the divisive, acrimonious Middle East debates and decisions of the past fade into history. Israeli and Palestinian leaders have made reality of the seemingly impossible. We would fail abysmally in our duties should we falter now in our efforts to support the process of prying peace out of the knot of conflict, a process which men and women of vision have dared to think, dared to do. Due to our long-standing relations with the parties, both our friendship with Israeli leaders and the mutual trust we have established with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Norway was privileged to contribute to these defining dramatic events.”
1993-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 48 (1993)
“It gives me great pleasure to congratulate Ambassador Insanally on his election to the high office of President of the General Assembly. I should also like to welcome the new Members of our Organization: Andorra, Eritrea, the Czech Republic, Monaco, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Slovakia. The historic and courageous breakthrough in the Middle East tells us that even the deepest trench can be bridged. Conflict has tormented that entire region for most of this century. It has brought super-Powers to the brink of war. It has placed enormous burdens on the United Nations itself. It has deprived families of their dear ones and held people under the ominous spell of fear. Now we must seize the moment. Now we are at a turning point for the United Nations as well.”
1993-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 48 (1993)
“The world is indebted to Javier Perez de Cuellar, a man of dedication and skill for having served us - the United Nations.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“There is a need for the United Nations to be given the resources to deal more quickly and more effectively with such crises. Responsibility should be vested in a person serving directly under the Secretary-General, who has sufficient authority to ensure effective action on behalf of the United Nations family. In closing, I should like to express our respect and gratitude to our Secretary-General, who has guided our work for 10 years with such distinction and who has steered the Organisation through some of the most difficult, but also the most promising years, of its history. His impeccable moral integrity, his sincerity and courage, and his outstanding political judgement, have enabled the United Nations more than once to rise to the occasion.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“But we must stress that governments are accountable for the way they treat their own populations. The United Nations must deal seriously with these dilemmas. A tragic number of natural as well as man-made disasters have placed tremendous additional burdens on many developing countries. This year we have witnessed the tragedy of the Kurds, the new famine in Africa and another disastrous flood in Bangladesh. The international community has all too often been slow to react to such disasters, as if they were completely unexpected. We have seen too many examples of international relief efforts that are slow in getting off the ground when crises occur. Too often, we see the lack of clear institutional responsibility and an ensuing lack of coordination. There is a need for a permanent machinery operating on red alert.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“In the light of the experience gained in connection with the Gulf crisis and the horrifying prospect of large-scale violence, social disruption and civil war in various regions of the world, we cannot simply put a lid on the new debate on the relationship between the concept of national sovereignty and the authority of the international community. We have reached a stage in the ethical and political evolution of our civilisation in which the compelling force of a broad public opinion will raise the issue of international enforcement in exceptional circumstances involving grave atrocities. Massive, deliberate violations of human rights will become known to the international community in an age of instant global television. We should not pretend that there are easy solutions.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“Then, I believe, we can truly pursue the common good by pursuing common interests. The record of the United Nation as the universal protector and custodian of human rights is widely acclaimed. Still, it remains a paradox that human rights are systematically and persistently violated even today. We must oppose and obstruct such violations tirelessly and relentlessly. We must admit that we have been too selective in the past in pointing a finger at specific problems. We must defend human rights wherever and whenever they are violated. We must use the means of implementation and we must strengthen them when they are imperfect.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“This must be the primary objective of a new generation of environmental agreements. In the ongoing negotiations on a climate convention, Norway has proposed a cost-effective way of achieving targets set to limit global emissions of greenhouse gases. Targets can be reached by States acting individually or in cooperation with other States. If they do, this would encourage investment in countries where reductions can be achieved more cheaply than the high-cost countries. This could tap new financial resources and encourage the private sector to take part. Through a clearing-house we could make specific projects known, which could attract potential partners in the North and the South, projects which are economically profitable and which will lead to reduced total emissions by the countries involved.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“Industrialized countries are still the biggest polluters. But we need a climate of cooperation between the North and the South if we are to conclude the international agreements that we need. And unless we are able to provide additional money and technological cooperation to developing countries in order to tackle their existing environmental and developmental problems, chances are less that they will see their best interests served by global agreements. Additionality, equity and efficiency are the only options that will work. Efficiency means that we must search for cost-effective solutions to environmental problems. If we fail to do so, then we risk stagnation of the whole process. Our goal must be to achieve maximum environmental benefit at the minimum cost. He will all benefit if we reduce emissions where reductions cost the least.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“Scientific evidence shows how serious these problems are. We are overloading the planet's ability to absorb the effects of human activities in ways never before experienced in human history. While we still have time to make necessary changes, that time is fast running out. For the Rio Conference to be truly successful, it is essential that governments become involved at the highest level in the preparations and that they not wait until the Conference itself. The large number of non-governmental organisations and independent conferences now preparing their contributions to the Conference are presenting positive challenges to governments. Public forums are being held in all regions of the world. All these activities demonstrate that sustainable development is a participatory process on which we all should build.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“Alone, even the best economic policies will not suffice unless the human potential of a healthy and educated population can be unleashed and unless people can participate in political life without fear. Aid will remain important, in particular for Africa. Many donor countries can increase the quantity of their aid and improve its quality. I feel I can point to this since Norway maintains its development assistance in excess of 1 per cent of GDP, the highest in the world. Yet, aid alone can never solve the poverty problem. Aid must be designed to help in building sound economies and in implementing policies of social reform. In less than nine months, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development will be held in Brazil. Our ambitions for this Conference must match the nature and the magnitude of the problems facing us.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“A striking illustration has been offered by the World Bank: developing countries would have the benefit of some $ 55 billion if they were granted unrestricted access to the markets of the industrialised countries. This is equivalent to what they now receive in aid. The Uruguay Round is vital and must be successfully concluded. World trade must be governed by common rules. The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) must be the stronghold of trade discipline. Enforcing mechanisms are important, particularly for weaker parties. Moreover, we need coordinated macroeconomic policies and the advisory roles of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). While economic policies are important, all evidence supports the assertion that social development depends on democracy and on pluralism.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“How can developing countries make the investments needed to provide health, education and basic amenities for such growing populations when today they are suffocating under crushing burdens of debt and when financial flows are going from poor countries to the rich? Creating economic growth in developing countries is essential, and the concept of growth must be adjusted to the requirements of sustainable development. People must have a real chance to acquire the means whereby they can make their own choices and take responsibility for their own future. We must create a world economy in which all countries can participate on an equal footing. To get out of the crisis, we need to improve developing countries' access to the world market.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“It is appalling that hundreds of millions of people live on less than a dollar a day. How can we live with a situation where 40,000 children die each day of malnutrition and disease? We must break that vicious circle. Poverty is both a cause and an effect of the devastating environmental breakdowns in many developing countries, which threaten vital life-support systems on which future generations depend. We must break the deadlock of poverty causing large-scale migration and ever-increasing numbers of refugees. If we fail to resolve the poverty issue now, our problems will multiply. The population explosion is likely to double or triple our numbers, with 90 per cent of that increase occurring in developing countries. Debt relief is necessary.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“The international community is likely to examine such national priorities. How can there be any justification for allocating 10 per cent, 15 per cent or even higher percentages of State budgets to military spending when education and health receive far less, and when the future of those countries lies not in arming but in educating a healthy population? We must address issues of peace in a precautionary manner. True conflict prevention means vigorously addressing all the underlying causes of human conflict and distress. Above all we must be uncompromising in our determination to alleviate poverty. Look at sub-Saharan Africa, where the vast majority of the population is being robbed of any hope of a decent future. Just look at the appalling gaps between the opulent wealthy and the most miserable poor.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“Governments and the private sector alike are responsible. Governments have failed to establish the necessary international rules, and the private sector has exploited that vacuum in pursuit of profit. Never again can we allow dictators to arm for aggression. Irresponsible regimes must be denied access to weapons of mass destruction. He must have a world-wide ban on chemical weapons and limit trade in arms. We support the idea of a register of all arms sales. The United Nations needs to give this issue top priority. If the five permanent members of the Security Council, which are the principal manufacturers and exporters of arms, can cooperate also in this important field, we have a chance to improve the situation. In too many countries we see military budgets of astonishing proportions.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“Any potential aggressor must now think more than twice, and all countries can be more secure with the major Powers now working together - not against each other - here in the Security Council. The Security Council is and must remain the foremost guardian of our collective security. To meet the present and future challenges it is important that the full weight of the Security Council be brought to bear. Similarly, the high office of the Secretary-General has clearly defined responsibilities. His role in preventive diplomacy should be further strengthened. We must give him and the United Nations the means as well as the clout. Nothing less will serve us. An essential part of the security problem is the arms culture which we have allowed to flourish. How could we allow the enormous clandestine build-up of power in some countries?”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“We need a more dynamic, better focused and securely financed United Nations which sets the priorities based on present and future needs. This cannot be a General Assembly doing business as usual. Having recently withstood severe tests, the United Nations now can proceed with confidence and assertiveness. Let us imagine what it would have been like to assemble here in New York in September 1991 if Iraqi occupation forces had still been in Kuwait. What kind of credibility would any discussion of peace-making, peace-keeping and conflict prevention have had if we had failed to counter such flagrant aggression? But the United Nations rose to the challenge and brought us closer to the collective system for international peace and security envisaged in the Charter.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)