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ECOSOC SEMINAR – FIJI 18-20 October 2004
Introduction by G. Carrara, Rural Development Adviser
Partners and colleagues,
To give a short introduction to a workshop entitled “Promotion of
Sustainable Development in the Pacific: opportunities and challenges
for small island states” looks like a major challenge in itself. I will
therefore try to limit myself to issues related to the thematic areas I
cover in my daily work while trying not to forget the bigger picture.
“Sustainable development” is the latest in-fashion word in the circles
of cooperation-aid and development that joins other fashionable words
such as “millennium development goals” and “poverty alleviation” to
which, lately, the pressure from recent world events has added some
conditionalities such as Democracy, Good-governance and Security.
The goals are quite clearly set in the above catch phrases but it is
difficult to plan ahead without looking at the achievements of the past.
Unfortunately, when looking at some 45 to 50 years of development
cooperation in the majority of ACP countries, the picture is quite
bleak. Most of the countries where at the periphery of wealth and
trade then, and are much more so now, with almost entire continents,
such Africa, remaining at the margins of trade and commerce. The
natural tendency is to think that we achieved little. But then, we have
to ask ourselves, how the situation would be without aid? To that there
is no easy answer.
The examples of successful countries are few. One example of success
that I like to mention, particularly in an island context, is Mauritius. In
the seventies it was a country very much in a similar situation as some
of the middle size Pacific countries but, by the nineties, Mauritius was
a relatively well developed and rich country. The income from
tourism and sugar was apparently reinvested in diversification,
education and training under an overall blanket of rule of law, liberty
of expression, democracy, inter-racial cohesion and, most importantly,
national hard work.
I think that what makes a country successful or not, is not really the
problems they are confronted with (in small island states we can
mention size, remoteness, rapid population growth, limited resources)
but the capacity of the people to evolve, adapt and find solutions to
their personal and common problems in an equitable and just manner.
This, unless there are very critical situations, is achieved through good
primary, secondary and technical education. This is why I see the
rising importance of education in the EDF national and regional
priorities in the Pacific as very encouraging.
45 years ago, we felt no urgency to resolve matters related to
sustainable use and preservation of renewable resources and medium
term global challenges such climate change. Now, these are issues that
cannot be forgotten. So, if education is in the present and very much
in the future of EU intervention in the Pacific, the past and present
emphasis on natural resources and vulnerability will not be left to
dwindle. Multimillion Regional projects such as the Pacific Regional
Oceanic and Coastal Fisheries project, the Development of
Sustainable Agriculture in the Pacific, the Plant Protection in the
Pacific and the Reducing Vulnerability of Pacific ACP states are
ongoing and a new project, Development of tuna fisheries in the
Pacific ACP countries, should be starting in the near future. Obviously
the financial resources are limited and choices have to be made in
collaboration with governments, civil society and cooperation
partners. In the case of the Regional Programme, the Mid-term
Review will take place early next year and will be an occasion to
assess and possibly redirect our focus. At the same time, we should
not forget to address crisis situations.
We also have to reflect on a striking reality for most of the small
Pacific states. There is practically no prospect for small countries to
ever have, in house, the many specific specialists and human resources
needed to address the conservation and sustainable use of natural
resources. This, I believe, has been already largely addressed by the
reliance the Pacific countries have on regional technical agencies such
as SPC, SOPAC and others, without forgetting the need to dialogue
and have common approaches to policy issues through more political
organisations such as the Pacific Islands Forum. The development
partners of the Pacific have to accept the fact that the technical
organisations will never manage to work themselves out-of-business.
But this does not mean that they do not have to strive for efficiency
and effectiveness.
When thinking of natural resources and vulnerability in the Pacific,
and in particular in the smaller islands states, two main issues come to
my mind: Fisheries and climate change. As others have said, the ocean
divides and unites the islands. While Fisheries is not the only resource
in the ocean, it is the one with the major prospects for national
revenue increase and economic development (think tuna). That is why
this sector has been for a long time, and will continue to be in the
future, a focal issue for the EU cooperation. To this, nevertheless, I
would like to add some personal, possibly polemic, notes. The Pacific
islands should not think that taking over industrial fishing from distant
water fishing nations is the easy solution and that relying on revenues
from licenses is necessarily a shameful thing to do. If you deposit your
money in the bank you practically take no risks but at the end of the
day you get interests. When you invest the money in a risky business
venture you can make big gains but you also risk of loosing it all.
Large industrial fishing vessels are a risky business where many
experienced hands have lost it all. It is also to be noted that revenues
to the country due to the physical presence of foreign fishing vessels
in their ports, often outweigh license revenues. What I mean is that
investments in fisheries infrastructure should precede prudent and
private sector driven investment in fishing proper while ensuring that
license revenues are maximised in a publicly transparent manner.
Obviously, at the basis of it all is the need to preserve the fish stocks
at national and regional level. The EDF cooperation is very active in
this sector since more than 15 year and will continue to be so under
large ongoing and future projects in collaboration with SPC and FFA.
The positive contribution that the EU has brought to the West and
Central Pacific Fisheries Convention Preparatory Conferences is also
to be noted demonstrating its commitment to the principles of the
Convention and its desire to become a full member of this very
important organisation as soon as possible.
In regard to climate change, the EU has shown its strong commitment,
notably with its position on the Kyoto protocol, to a cause that
understandably is crucial for the Pacific Island Sates. Nevertheless I
would also like to make some personal remarks on the issue. While,
thankfully, only few “negationists” governments and individuals
remain in the world, climate change and future sea level rise should
not become an excuse for small islands to put solely on the shoulders
of others environmental problems that are, at least in the short and
medium time frame, mainly self-inflicted and linked to local
population increase and mismanagement of island systems. So,
lobbying for a brighter future should be accompanied by local and
national efforts to tackle urgent national environmental problems. At
this level, the EU is financing in large part the work of SOPAC in
regard to reduction of vulnerability and management of island systems
and will soon accompany an ongoing solar project in Kiribati with a
new renewable energy programme in five new ACP countries of the
Pacific. This is in addition to world-wide energy initiatives in final
phase of preparation.
With this I think I have already exceeded my allocated time and need
to urgently introduce the main key-note speaker, Mr. Greg Urwin,
better known to us as the Pacific European Development Fund
Regional Authorising Officer but, to most, as the Secretary General of
the Pacific Island Forum.
Thank you