Estonia, 2003

Allow me to

congratulate you, Sir, on your election as President of

the General Assembly at its fifty-eighth session. That is

a significant tribute to you and to Saint Lucia. Estonia,

like Saint Lucia, is a small State, and together we can

admit that the United Nations is an Organization that

allows small States to participate on equal footing with

large ones in influencing global processes. I also

commend your predecessor, Mr. Jan Kavan, for his

accomplishments in presiding over the fifty-seventh

session of the General Assembly. I am particularly

pleased to do so in the light of the similar histories of

Estonia and the Czech Republic and of our common

endeavours to join the family of democratic nations,

the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty

Alliance.

The fifty-eighth regular session is the first since

the outbreak of the war in Iraq. This year has been a

difficult one, both for the United Nations and for the

entire world. Long and emotional debates in the

Security Council preceded the Iraq crisis. Many think

that the war, rising tensions among States and the

country’s post-war reconstruction have tested the

Organization’s capabilities, its credibility and its role in

the world. I should like to believe, not that the past

year has undermined the Organization’s morale, but the

contrary. Those ordeals and the Iraq war have served as

a lesson and have deepened our conviction that the

United Nations should be even more decisive and

efficient in the future than it is today.

Unfortunately, the crisis in Iraq has affected more

than the morale of the United Nations. Although the

Organization has been the target of terrorist attacks

before — such an attack was planned against United

Nations Headquarters many years ago — the terrorist

bombings of the United Nations headquarters in Iraq a

couple of days ago and on 19 August — which claimed

more than 20 lives — were unprecedented. Terrorism

and violence never choose their victims and it is

significant that the United Nations, as an Organization

for global peace and stability uniting all States of the

world, was targeted.

I would like to emphasize that Estonia has

resolutely condemned the terrorist attack on the United

Nations mission in Baghdad. Together with all

representatives here, the people of Estonia and I are in

deep morning over the tragic murder of Sergio Vieira

de Mello, Special Representative of the Secretary-

General, and others. I deeply sympathize with their

relatives and colleagues.

A terrorist act against people who are committed

to assisting the people of Iraq is a painful blow to the

United Nations and a crime against the people of Iraq

and the international community. However, it cannot

serve as an impetus for the United Nations to withdraw

from hot spots. Estonia welcomes the statement made

by Secretary-General Kofi Annan that, despite the

attacks, the United Nations will continue its activity in

Iraq. Terrorists should not determine the future of Iraq

8

or make the people of that country and the international

community withdraw from the goal of building up a

sovereign, democratic and prosperous Iraq.

Recent events have even more clearly

demonstrated the need for the presence of stabilization

forces in Iraq. In order to enforce peace and stability in

the Persian Gulf region, enhanced cooperation between

coalition forces, the United Nations and the

international community is necessary. Despite its small

size and moderate resources, Estonia is also actively

involved. In May 2003, the Estonian Parliament

approved the deployment of a unit of the Estonian

Defence Forces to peace enforcement operations in

Iraq and Estonian servicemen joined the mission in the

Persian Gulf region in June. Estonia has acceded to all

12 United Nations anti-terrorist conventions and is

actively cooperating with many States and international

organizations.

Now I will proceed to a central topic of my

address — the environment and sustainable

development. I consider a sustainable approach to the

environment and sustainable development to be one of

the most significant commitments, both for the United

Nations and for States. In the long term, the welfare

and conditions of peoples will depend primarily on our

ability or will to use wisely and sparingly the limited

resources of our planet and to shape the environment

we live in. With respect to the ever-growing population

of the world, increased production and consumption, as

well as the resulting pollution, the pressure of human

activity on our living environment is continuously

building. In the circumstances, environmental

protection and ensuring the welfare of mankind and

wildlife are becoming an ever-more important and

difficult task. It is not by chance that the United

Nations proclaimed the year 2003 as the International

Year of Fresh Water and that the year 2002 focused on

eco-tourism and mountain regions.

Twenty years ago, the General Assembly adopted

a resolution establishing the World Commission on

Environment and Development to define global

problems and to find ways of solving them. Gro

Harlem Brundtland headed the Commission. The report

entitled Our Common Future, completed in 1987,

defined sustainable development. The main message of

the report was that economic growth and increased

welfare of the people should not compromise the

ability of future generations and the environment to

meet their own needs. Global economic development

should take into consideration the tolerance thresholds

of the environment and the need to preserve natural

resources.

Sustainable development, as a cohesive

development of the socio-economic field and the

environment, has become a priority of most

democracies throughout the world, especially after the

United Nations Conference on Environment and

Development in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. As the head of

the Estonian delegation to the Conference, I signed

Agenda 21 and the Framework Conventions on Climate

Change and Biological Diversity.

Eleven years have passed since the Rio de Janeiro

Conference. Considering developments since then, we

see that some progress in global environmental

cooperation among States has taken place. New goals

were set and interim conclusions made at the special

session of the General Assembly in New York in 1997

and at the World Summit on Sustainable Development

in Johannesburg in 2002. The General Assembly

session in 2000 agreed on the Millennium Declaration,

with the main goal set as environmental sustainability.

However, we must note that the world’s

population has grown by 1 billion since the Rio de

Janeiro Conference in 1992. In the 1990s, the world

gross domestic product grew by an average of 2.6 per

cent a year. No doubt, sooner or later these processes

are going to influence the living environment of us all.

Although we cannot as yet define the actual

relationship between human activity and the climate of

our planet, a glimpse into the climate changes of the

last decade is worrying. Natural phenomena like El

Niño and La Niña have had a lasting impact on human

life. Floods, droughts, tornadoes and extreme

fluctuations of temperature have become nearly daily

realities on our planet. European States have not

remained untouched by the climate changes. In 1997,

floods devastated Eastern Europe; last summer,

Western and Central Europe were hit by a heat wave.

These facts should convince us that environmental

protection is a matter of common concern for all

mankind.

Cooperation readiness is extremely important and

Estonia has done its best to collaborate. We have

acceded to all essential environmental conventions and

wish all other States in the world to do the same.

Estonia ratified the Framework Convention on Climate

Change on 27 July 1994 and acceded to the Kyoto

9

Protocol on 17 November 1998. In unison with the

European Union, Estonia expresses its clear

determination to enforce the Kyoto Protocol as soon as

possible.

Estonia is a small State with moderate resources,

playing a small role in the world economy and the

environment. Nevertheless, we adhere to the principle,

“act local, think global”. Environmental protection is

extremely important. Estonia has a long tradition of

nature conservation. As early as in 1297, King Erik

Menved of Denmark banned cutting forests on several

Estonian islands. In 1995, four years after regaining

independence, Estonia adopted its Sustainable

Development Act. In 2001, at the recommendation of

the Committee on Sustainable Development, the

Government of Estonia approved a strategy of

sustainable development — Sustainable Estonia 21.

More than in any other field, inter-State

cooperation is important in environmental protection,

and regional organizations play a substantial role in

this regard. The Baltic Sea States have displayed

remarkable initiative, which other regions of the world

would find worth following. The Baltic Sea regional

sustainable development process was launched in 1996.

It is unique in the world — an Agenda 21 for the Baltic

Sea States — Baltic 21. The parties to the process

include all Baltic Sea States and the European

Commission. The process targets the elaboration and

the implementation of sustainable development visions

and an action plan for the entire region and key sectors.

The Baltic Sea joins the members of the Council

of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS). It is especially

appropriate to speak about the protection of the Baltic

Sea in the International Year of Fresh Water. Currently,

Estonia holds the CBSS presidency, and the protection

of the environment, first and foremost of the Baltic

Sea, is among the top priorities of the presidency.

During our presidency, we would like to focus on new

hazards arising from the intensifying marine traffic on

the Baltic Sea. Estonia is targeting its efforts towards

achieving an agreement between member States to

reduce the oil-tanker-pollution hazard to a minimum.

Estonia supports the initiative of the European Union

to ban the traffic of single-hull tankers on the Baltic

Sea, and is committed to having the Baltic Sea

classified as a Particularly Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA).

I would like to conclude by stressing that,

although I have touched only upon terrorism and the

environment, Estonia fully shares all the priorities of

the European Union (EU) at the fifty-eighth session of

the General Assembly, particularly, the non-

proliferation of weapons of mass destruction,

peacekeeping, the protection of human rights and

combating the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

The future of the United Nations is also important

for Estonia. The United Nations needs to be improved

and restructured. Estonia has favoured the overall

strengthening of our common Organization and

welcomes the efforts of Secretary-General Kofi Annan

to revitalize the United Nations, primarily the General

Assembly. In our opinion, reform of the Security

Council should enable the United Nations to participate

more efficiently in problem-solving and crisis

resolution throughout the world.

The Secretary-General’s recent report on the

implementation of the Millennium Declaration is a

significant and important document that deserves

detailed analysis and serious consideration. Isn’t it time

for the United Nations family to support the Secretary-

General in his concern about the Organization now and

about its future? Let us agree — both the large and the

small Member States — upon what we would like to

accomplish and when, and let us move steadily ahead.

Only a strong United Nations, with efficient decision-

making mechanisms, can ensure global welfare and

balance. Let that be a goal for us.