Message from the President of the Republic of Finland Tarja Halonen to the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit in February 2006

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure to extend my warmest greetings from Finland, from the middle of snow and ice, to the 2006 Delhi Sustainable Development Summit. The major theme of this year’s Summit — ‘Linking across MDGs: Towards innovative partnerships and governance’ — is very important in today’s globalized world.

We have a shared responsibility for our world. The United Nations Millennium Declaration is a truly fundamental and far-reaching political commitment for peace, security and development. World leaders have unanimously accepted the Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals, and the Goals were once again confirmed at the United Nations Summit in September. We have the goals, and we have the capacity, the knowledge and resources. We only lack delivery.

We are all members of the global community. By increasing our cooperation, we can make globalization fairer and thus turn it into an effective tool for achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Eradicating poverty and inequality, and promoting sustainable economic and environmental development are our shared targets.

I am very happy that the Energy and Resources Institute has organized this Summit. The Summit itself and its main theme are excellent examples of how we can promote sustainable development in practice. Cooperation between governments, corporations and non-governmental organizations creates a better potential for having a positive impact on global issues. Meetings such as this one play an important role in taking sustainable development forward and in making the Millennium Development Goals come true. TERI has been doing excellent work for over thirty years, actively seeking solutions to global problems. Organizing summits on sustainable development provides a part of these valuable efforts.

TERI has focused in particular on energy and climate-change issues. These themes affect both industrialized and developing countries, and they are significantly interrelated. Although the challenge is a global one, the connection between energy and climate change is highlighted especially in the developing countries. Developing countries cannot afford to invest in sustainable energy production and industry, which means that they suffer the worst from the immediate effects of air pollution. As is so often the case, it is women and children who are particularly vulnerable. Indirect damage from climate change also hits the developing countries the hardest. Floods, rising sea levels, drought and loss of biodiversity are just a few examples of the negative trends among which people have to live their everyday lives.

Energy supply is a fundamental requirement for development and welfare. It is a challenge for all of us to produce energy in a manner that is environmentally and socially sustainable. Unless we find a way to solve this problem, climate change will accelerate.

The responsibility for solving such problems rests with all of us. Our continued concern is how to create sustainable economic production and wellbeing without endangering the atmosphere or depleting natural resources. Climate change is a global challenge and thus requires global efforts in line with the principles of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Know-how, technological development and transfer of new technologies play a major role in combating the threat of climate change.

To succeed, we must cooperate. Only by cooperating can we respond to the challenges that face us. The Climate Change Conference in Montreal demonstrated that the importance of cooperation is well understood, even when the approaches of various parties differ from each other. Sustainable development can be achieved only if we can find a balance between economic, ecological and social factors.

With these words, I wish the Summit every possible success. I hope you have interesting and fruitful discussions. I am sure that this meeting will strengthen the commitment to work for sustainable development, security and the wellbeing of all people.