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UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

With new blueprint in hand, Ban calls for action to chart more sustainable future

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called for action on a new blueprint for creating a sustainable planet, a just society and a growing economy, stressing that the current path will not lead to a fair and resilient future for the world¡¯s people.

¡°We need to chart a new, more sustainable course for the future, one that strengthens equality and economic growth while protecting our planet,¡± he stated. ¡°Sustainable development offers our best chance to change course.¡±

Speaking at the launch in Addis Ababa of the report prepared by his High-level Panel on Global Sustainability, Mr. Ban stressed that sustainable development is a top priority for his second term of office. Sustainable development offers our best chance to change course.

¡°Sustainable development is a social, economic and environmental imperative,¡± he stated. ¡°I call on all sectors of society to join in this effort. We need everyone ¨C government ministers and policymakers, business and civil society leaders, and young people ¨C to work together to create a future worth choosing ¨C a future we want.¡±

The 22-member panel, established by the Secretary-General in August 2010 to formulate a new blueprint for sustainable development and low-carbon prosperity, was co-chaired by Finnish President Tarja Halonen and South African President Jacob Zuma.

The group¡¯s final report, Resilient People, Resilient Planet: A Future Worth Choosing, contains 56 recommendations to put sustainable development into practice and to make it a part of mainstream economic policy as quickly as possible.

¡°Today our planet and our world are experiencing the best of times, and the worst of times,¡± states the report. ¡°The world is experiencing unprecedented prosperity, while the planet is under unprecedented stress.¡±

It adds that because of the array of overlapping challenges the world faces, it is more urgent than ever to take action to embrace the principles of the sustainable development agenda. ¡°It is time that genuine global action is taken to enable people, markets and governments to make sustainable choices.¡±

The report calls for integrating social and environmental costs in how the world prices and measures economic activities. It also calls for a set of sustainable development indicators that go beyond the traditional approach of gross domestic product (GDP) and recommends that governments develop and apply a set of ¡°Sustainable Development Goals¡± that can mobilize global action and help monitor progress.

It underscores the importance of science as an essential guide for decision-making on sustainability issues. It calls on the Secretary-General to lead efforts to produce a regular Global Sustainable Development Outlook report that integrates knowledge across sectors and institutions, and to consider creating a science advisory board or scientific adviser.

¡°The need to integrate the economic, social and environmental dimensions of development so as to achieve sustainability was clearly defined a quarter of a century ago. It is time to make it happen,¡± states the report.

¡°The opportunities for change are vast. We are not passive, helpless victims of the impersonal, determinist forces of history. And the exciting thing is that we can choose our future.¡±

The report serves as an important contribution to the UN¡¯s work on sustainable development, particularly in preparation for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in Brazil this June.

Source: UN News

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