Minister Väyrynen: The environment and development are inseparable

Press release 224/2009
2 September, 2009

Several publications on policies supplementing Finland’s Development Policy Programme of 2007 – the Environmental Policy within Development Policy, the Forest Policy Supporting the Operationalisation of Finland’s Development Policy Programme and the International Strategy for Finland’s Water Sector – were presented by Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paavo Väyrynen at the House of the Estates in Helsinki on 2 September.

Prepared under the direction of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the policies aim to promote implementation of the principles of sustainable development in practical development cooperation in the sectors of forestry, the environment and water.

“In our development policy and development cooperation, we have to return to the spirit of Rio, which confirmed the clear link between the environment and development. Development cooperation will not yield quick and permanent results unless it is ecologically, socially and economically sustainable,” Väyrynen stated.

In his address, Väyrynen also highlighted Finland’s strengths in the sectors of these new publications. As an example he mentioned the forest sector, where Finland has strong, specialised national expertise on the basis of which we can also support sustainable forestry in developing countries.

“Our country has nothing less than the duty to be internationally active in forestry issues. Finland also wants to continue strong cooperation with a view to supporting forestry and sustainable use of forests in developing countries,” Väyrynen emphasised.

He also pointed out the important role forests have in mitigating climate change and adapting to it. “Most of the carbon dioxide emissions caused by deforestation arise in developing countries,” Väyrynen continued.

Referring to the future adequacy of the water supply, the Minister also stressed that water reserves have wider importance than ever in international politics.

“Water and its many forms of use are closely linked with various global changes such as food security, health, energy production and ecological sustainability. In the face of pressure from climate change, population growth and rising standards of living, adequacy of the water supply is a real challenge to the future,” Väyrynen remarked.

Additional information: Pertti Anttinen, Head of the Unit for Sectoral Policy, tel. +3589 1605 6410, E-mail: [email protected], and Päivi Nevala, Adviser to the Minister for Foreign Trade and Development, tel. +358 9 1605 6171