1. Integrating the Economic, Social and Environmental Pillars of Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific Dr. Noeleen Heyzer Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of ESCAP Dialogue of Executive Secretaries of Regional Commissions with Second Committee of the United Nations General Assembly 4 October 2011, New York

2. ClimateEnergyWater Natural resources Biodiversity PovertyHungerIllnessIgnoranceDiscriminationFear Jobs Productive assets SavingsInvestmentWealth Challenges of sustaining development in the Asia-Pacific region today Maintaining high economic growth to create Achieving social justice for all by freeing people from Ensuring environmental sustainability by preserving/conserving

3. Regions dynamic growth threatened by new economic uncertainties Inflationary pressures from high food, fuel and commodity prices Speculative capital inflows and currency market volatility Further weakening of export markets due to deepening crisis in US & EU economies Prospects of new global recession ESCAP Economic and Social Survey 2011

4. Economic growth has had a large impact on poverty reduction ESCAP Economic and Social Survey 2011

5. But growth has not fully benefitted households and social injustice has risen ESCAP Economic and Social Survey 2011

6. And the scale of deprivation is still large ESCAP /UNDP/ADB : Asia –Pacific MDG Report 2010/11

7. High food and energy prices are serious threats ESCAP Economic and Social Survey 2011 Food and oil price trends

8. Overall rise in materials consumption Overall rise in carbon dioxide emissions However, per capita resource consumption in developing countries remains low Growth has also increased pressures on natural resources Materials consumption Carbon dioxide emissions per capita BP CO 2 Data CSIRO-UNEP: Asia-Pacific Materials Flow Data Base

9. Energy intensity of GDP (toe/000 2000 $) Reducing energy intensity of economic growth Reducing proportion of fossil fuels in energy supply mix Opportunities to sustain growth at a lower natural resource cost ADB: Improving Energy Security and Reducing Carbon Intensity in Asia and the Pacific Primary energy mix UNDESA: World Economic and Social Survey 2011

10. Summing up… Economic dynamism of Asia- Pacific threatened by prospects of a new global recession/depression and longer term shrinking of traditional export markets Imbalances between growth and equity worsened by slowdown/reverses in progress with MDGs and poverty eradication Added pressures on natural resources and climate change risk from efforts to raise domestic consumption to compensate for loss of traditional export markets People in Asia-Pacific developing countries earned in 2008 what people in developed countries earned 80-100 years ago. UNDESA: World Economic and Social Survey 2011 Per capita income trends: 1850-2008

11. Rising up to the challenges: integrating the economic and social pillars Medium-term challenge is to boost demand in the region to complement sluggish demand in developed countries Demand can be boosted in some countries by increasing the consumption of the poor, in others by increasing investment increase consumption through better social protection and public service provision, reducing precautionary savings increase investment by bridging huge infrastructure gaps, through infrastructure financing mechanism Exploiting the potential of regional economic integration ESCAP Economic and Social Survey 2011

12. Rising up to the challenges: integrating the environmental pillar Demonstrating the potential of greening as one of the new engines of growth, seizing opportunities and creating enabling conditions Incentivizing and promoting growth in green Jobs Demonstrating the value of ecosystems and biodiversity, and reversing the vicious cycle of environmental losses and poverty UNEP: Green Economy Report Projected GDP trends under a green investment scenario

13. 23% of global green stimulus investments originated in Asia-Pacific Chinas $468 billion investment in greening key sectors by 2015; more than double in the past five years Indias National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme to reduce poverty through sustainable infrastructure development Indonesias goal of a green and everlasting Indonesia by 2025, aims for 7% GDP increase & 41% GHG reduction by 2030 Japans 3R (reduce, reuse, recycle) policy to increase resource efficiency and minimize waste Republic of Koreas Green New Deal policy seeks 2% of GDP to be invested in Green Growth Asia-Pacific initiatives towards a more sustainable future Developing countries need access to green technologies and financial assistance to invest in them Green investments should not raise indebtedness of developing countries, nor erode gains in poverty eradication Benefits of greening, e.g., green industries and green jobs, must be diffused across all countries Fossil fuels and depleting natural resources should be shared equitably among nations Greening should avoid inefficiencies of central planning and excesses of poorly regulated markets Guiding principles

14. Regional Commissions in the institutional framework for sustainable development Regional Commissions are ideal platforms to pursue the integration of the pillars of sustainable development because of their central role in the intergovernmental process They have a mandate to promote social and economic development through a multisectoral approach with close attention to environmental sustainability The key role of Regional Commissions was recognized in Agenda 21 Reorienting the mandate of Regional Commissions to focus on sustainable development will enable them to support member States more comprehensively

15. Human beings are ultimately the subjects and objects of sustainable development