Speech by President of the Republic of Finland Tarja Halonen at the opening of the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit, 22 January 2007

(check against delivery)

Sustainable development means human security, democracy, respect for human rights, and well-being for both mankind and nature. Mahatma Gandhi, as we all know, once said: “There is enough in the world for everybody’s need but there cannot be enough for everybody’s greed.”

We all share this planet. Poverty, inequality, population growth and climate change together with other environmental problems are our common challenges. We have long been aware of the negative impacts of today’s industrial development but have been unable – or unwilling – to take sufficiently radical action to deal with them.

The Kyoto Protocol has been signed and ratified by all the EU countries, including Finland. I still think that the Protocol is a major achievement, even though it has not been applied in the manner and in a scale that we originally envisaged. The fact that the Protocol does not have global coverage has also prompted accusations of unfair competition.

We must already set our sights beyond Kyoto and decide what to do after 2012. After Kyoto, the world needs a new and a more comprehensive treaty that will achieve real cuts in total greenhouse gas emissions. This requires a strong political will and difficult decisions – even sacrifices – from all countries.

Fortunately, it is already commonly recognized that greenhouse gas emissions generated by human activity must be cut. The more quickly we act, the lower the costs caused by climate change will be. Maybe this is a good enough incentive for change.

According to a recent report by the International Energy Agency (IEA), energy conservation, new technology and improved efficiency could cut energy consumption by about 10% between now and 2030. This is equivalent to China’s present energy consumption. The means for dealing with the matter do exist - we must now tackle the problem.

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Sustainable development must also be socially fair. A fairer and more balanced globalization could be the answer. Sustainable development on a global scale can only become a reality if people can make a better living, if there are more job opportunities, if there is equality between men and women, and if there is environmental awareness. In the long run, well-being for mankind and nature go together.

Though many problems involving sustainable development require global action, most of the work must be done at the national and local level. This was one of the messages conveyed by the World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization. I had the great honour of acting as co-chair of this ILO-appointed Commission with the then President of Tanzania, Benjamin Mkapa.

I believe that efficient implementation of the Millennium Development Goals will help the developing countries join in globalization. And vice versa. More efficient governance of and fairer rules for globalization will turn it into a means to attain the MDGs.

With regard to any individual examples, I am naturally best familiar with my own country, Finland. A northern – and originally a poor – nation has over the decades, as a result of hard work, transformed itself into a Nordic welfare state. Our model guarantees minimum income and access to social and health services to everybody, and equal opportunities for education.

I believe that this welfare model has also helped Finland to cope with the challenges of international competition. As a small nation we can compete only with quality. This requires both skills and creativity, which is also the key message contained in Finland’s national globalization strategy. In my New Year’s speech in 2004, I proposed that Finland should have such a strategy. The Government took on board this suggestion and, even though there have been sharp disagreements at times about the details, there is unanimity in Finland about the main content of the strategy.

Finland has done well in a number of international surveys estimating the degree of sustainable development. The World Economic Forum (WEF) has given us the highest marks in three successive comparisons evaluating the Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI). The latest top ranking was in 2005. Finland has also come first in a number of comparisons assessing how countries manage their water resources.

We have also done well in surveys examining how comprehensively gender equality has been implemented. In 2000 and 2003, Finland scored high marks in the PISA survey in which the OECD examined the performance of 15-year-olds in mathematics, science and reading. Asian countries, such as Japan and Korea, were also among the top-ranking nations. The latest survey by Transparency International again finds that Finland is virtually corruption-free.

Naturally, there is always room for improvement. In terms of ecological comparisons, Finland has two specific challenges: its northern location and a very energy-intensive forest industry and also high consumption of domestically produced wood and paper. This easily leaves a huge ecological footprint.

The Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI) survey urges Finland to do more in particular in two areas: assumption of global responsibility for the environment, and the reduction of environmental loading by our industries. We know what the challenges are and are ready to address these issues.

Finland has a particular strategy for sustainable development, which was approved last summer. This document forms a basis for both short-term and long-term action. We have estimated that for Finland the most important development trends and challenges in connection with sustainable development are climate change, adjusting to rapid shifts in the global economy, and demographic change.

For decades, the Finns have been fast appliers of new technologies. For a small nation struggling with severe climatic conditions, this has simply been the only option. Finland has for example invested in climate and energy technology, particularly in combined heat and power production, bioenergy and wind power technology.

Most of Finland’s natural resources are renewable – that is, water and wood – and we want to use these resources in a sustainable manner. For example, Finland’s forest resources are now substantially larger than just after the Second World War even though they have been intensively utilized. Finland has longer than century-old traditions in forest protection, deriving from the need to preserve the forests’ ability to regenerate. This is also a principle that we would like to see applied in the international forest trade. The forest industry has been an important factor in the development of Finnish environmental technology, especially as relates to the protection of waterways and local communities. In addition, the need to make forest-industry processes more efficient has provided the incentive to develop energy technology expertise.

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All countries have the right to aim for growth and prosperity. However, at the same time we must all recognize our joint responsibility for dealing with global challenges. Tackling these requires extensive international cooperation on a multilateral basis. We should see the United Nations and its organizations as the central forum for such efforts.

We also need other forms of multilateral cooperation. It is clear that the European Union, the G8 and the emerging economies must share the responsibility for promoting sustainable development. And developing countries must also have a say in the matter. The EU wants to cooperate closely with different regions. During the Finnish EU Presidency, which came to a close a few weeks ago, the EU-India Summit and the ASEM summit were held in Finland. Just to name few.

In addition to intergovernmental institutions, unofficial forums – such as the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit – have been set up. After all, in democratic societies people must make every effort to influence matters. Different types of networks, which bring together national governments, non-governmental organizations and businesses, can be highly influential. We must make effective use of this potential for influence, and I can say that I am proud to be able to take part in this Delhi Sustainable Development Summit.