Mr. Chairman,

1. I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.

2. An overview of the results achieved since the landmark Conference of 1972, the Earth Summit in 1992 and the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002, show that there is a persistent implementation gaps, and many commitments by the international community have not been fully met at the time when the world is still suffering from the repercussion of the multiple and interrelated crisis, particularly food crisis, climate change, the global economic and financial crisis. These challenges are posing serious threats to the achievement of sustainable development and internationally agreed development goals, including the MDG's.

3. The G77 and China believes that UNCSD and all its preparatory process offer an important opportunity to deeply and frankly reflect on where we have failed and why. Assessing the progress to date and the remaining gaps in the implementation of the outcomes of the major summits on sustainable development, in our view, would give us a sense of where we failed and how to move forward without making the same mistakes again in dealing not only with the old but the new and emerging challenges.

4. There are several critical gaps with regard to the fulfilment of international commitments, although a number of achievements have been made. There is a lack of mutually coherent policies or approaches in the areas of finance, trade investment, capacity building, technology transfer and sustainable development. Since 1992, official development assistance (ODA) has declined proportionally, the burden of debt has constrained options for poor countries and the expanding flows of private investment have been volatile and directed only at few countries and sectors. A fragmented approach has been adopted towards sustainable development. The unsustainability and over consumption in developed countries is negatively impacting the health of the Earth. There is a need for a more systemic approach that taken into consideration the negative impact of human activities in ecosystems dynamics and functioning.
 
Mr. Chairman,

5. Guided by the "Rio Spirit", a Rio-plus-20 Summit 2012 and their preparatory process should provide the necessary political impetus for the range and level of action required to bridge the implementation gap, in developing countries, especially Africa, LDC, LLDCS , MICs & SIDS which grapple with the effects of multiple crises. Furthermore, it's critical that the international community's commitment to international cooperation needs to be reinforced.

6. Therefore, the UNCSD Conference should focus on implementation, on action, on concrete proposals and time bound measures. The renewal of commitments with a focus on action should be one of the outcomes of UNCSD. In the context, the Group would like to reiterate the following:

i. The downward trends in ODA and capital flows, including FDI, and systemic imbalances in the international financial system, including the institutional architecture, must be urgently addressed. The commitment of developed countries to allocate 0.7 % of their GDP to developing countries in the framework of ODA must be met.
ii. We call for the fulfillment of all official development assistance-related commitments, including the commitments made by many developed countries to achieve the target of 0.7% of gross national income for official development assistance by 2015, as well as the target of 0.15% to 0.20% of gross national income for least developed countries, and urge those developed countries that have not yet done so to make concrete efforts in this regard in accordance with their commitments.
iii. We are concerned that the commitment of doubling aid to Africa by 2010 as articulated at the Summit of the Group of Eight, held at Gleneagles in July 2005, are not reached.
iv. The need for the mobilization of financial resources and allocation of grants and credits. In this framework, the Group calls for substantial increase and allocation of additional financial resources and investment.
v. Urgent need for the international community to adopt an effective, equitable, durable and development oriented solution to the debt problem of developing countries, particularly through total debt cancellation, and increased concessional financial flows.
vi. The shortfall of technology transfer, knowhow and expertise requires to be underscored. Expanding the space of technologies in the public domain should become the focus of the international community and the UN System, including at the highest political level. This should include the full implementation of the Bali Strategic Plan for Technology Support and Capacity Building, the goals contained in Chapter 34 of Agenda 21 and JPOI Agreements on technology transfer is a serious priority issue.
vii. Technology transfers to support sustainable development, including adaptation to and mitigation of climate change and the transfer of environmentally sound and clean technologies.
viii. Developing countries should be enabled to develop their own technology with the support of international community, including building local capacity to design and develop technologies.
ix. The need for a universal, rules-based, open, non-discriminatory and equitable multilateral trading system which promotes development, and the need to redouble efforts towards the reinvigoration of the multilateral trade negotiations and to achieve a development oriented outcome of the Doha Round.

Mr. Chairman,

7. The Conference on Sustainable Development Rio+20, including its preparatory process, should therefore ensure the balanced integration of economic growth, social development and environmental protection, as these are interdependent and mutually reinforcing components of sustainable development.

8. The G77 and China is deeply concerned that severe challenges still remain in achieving the goals of the three pillars of sustainable development, particularly in the context of the current global crises. At the same time, there is a need to address new and emerging sustainable development issues that arise, including from current and future global crises and challenges. These include the financial and economic, food and energy crises and the challenges, including those relating to limit and unsustainable use of resources, climate change, biodiversity, drought and desertification, land degradation, urbanisation challenges, sustainable forests management, water and sanitation, water scarcity, frequency of disasters social impact of extreme weather events, health, seas and ocean acidification and the need to prepare and recover from disasters. All of these crises and challenges have significant and, in some cases, unforeseen impacts on the standards of living, the achievement of the MDGs and the health of those in developing countries, particularly the most vulnerable.

9. While some of these crises and challenges might not be new, the extent to which they have affected developing countries has in some cases intensified significantly, thereby compromising the ability of these countries to respond effectively. In this regard, the G77 and China is of the view that the preparatory process could be used to raise new and emerging issues on sustainable development for consideration at the Conference on Sustainable Development, particularly since the Conference will take place in 2012 and there might be, in the interim, global crises that significantly affect sustainable development which needs to be addressed. In this regard, Food security and agriculture need to be prioritized to fulfil the right to food and proper nutrition. This must be done, inter alia by promoting local food production by small farmers, indigenous peoples and rural communities.

10. The discussions on new and emerging challenges should focus on preventing new crises, achieving sustainable development, eradicating poverty and addressing inequalities. It should also be based on the principles of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development.

11. At the same time, these issues should be examined in the context of the other objectives of the Conference, which are to secure renewed political commitment for sustainable development and to assess the progress to date and the remaining gaps in the implementation of the outcomes of the major summits on sustainable development.

Thank you.