STATEMENT BY
ALEMKA VRCAN
REPRESENTATIVE OF THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA
TO THE SECOND COMMITTEE
General Assembly
Sixtieth Session
Item 52 (b), (d) (e) and (h)
New York, 2 November 2005
Mr. Chairman,
In addressing today Item 52 - b, d, e and h, let me at the outset commend the Secretary-General, Executive Secretary on the Convention on Biological Diversity, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme for their comprehensive reports.
Let me also say that my delegation aligns itself with the statement of the EU on sustainable development. We would like, however, to stress a few national points.
Small Island Developing States: Croatia with its littoral of over 1,000 islands is strongly aware of the special environmental and developmental challenges that SIDS face and was an active participant as a member of the bureau of the SIDS conference in Mauritius last January. In the aftermath of tsunami and other natural disasters, it clearly shows that the Mauritius Declaration and Mauritius Strategy is the only path to follow for the international support of SIDS and the need to concentrate on the implementation in order to combat SIDS vulnerabilities and help them attain internationally agreed development goals including the Millennium Development Goals. We stand ready to work with others in the international community in this regard.
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change: In June 2005 Croatia submitted to the UNFCCC Secretariat the National Inventory Report for the period 1990-2003 and Croatia''''s Projections of Greenhouse Gas Emissions for the period up to 2020. The National Communication on climate change for the period 1996-2003 is under preparation and will be submitted to the UNFCCC Secretariat in the first half of 2006.
During the UNFCCC negotiation process, Croatia submitted a proposal for the increase of the base year emission level in order to establish a realistic basis for fulfilling the commitments under the Convention. The Croatian proposal reflects a proper balance between specific circumstances, the need for economic development and stable growth and the cost of implementation measures. During the 22nd session of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation, in May 2005, a Draft decision was recommended for adoption at the 11th session of the Conference of the Parties stipulating that, as provided in Article 4.6 of the Convention, Croatia will be allowed a certain degree of flexibility in relation to its prior level of greenhouse emissions and that the Subsidiary Body for Implementation will consider, at a future session, the level of greenhouse gas emissions for the base year of Croatia as well as the exact nature of such flexibility.
The Republic of Croatia maintains its firm intention to ratify the Kyoto Protocol so, prior to the ratification and in line with the 2002 National Environmental Strategy and Action Plan, Croatia is implementing measures for greenhouse gas emission reduction in order to meet the commitments set out in Annex B to the Protocol.
This year, through financial and technical assistance of LIFE-Third Countries Programme and the European Commission, Croatia has started activities concerning the preparation of the documents needed for the UNFCCC and Kyoto Protocol implementation which are expected to be completed in 2007.
Sustainable development in mountain regions: Croatia actively participated in the International Year of Mountains - 2002 and was one of the 16 European countries that established a national committee for the observance of the Year of Mountains. This has significantly raised awareness of challenges facing mountain peoples. In Croatia only 3 per cent of the Croatian population lives on 21 per cent of its total surface that is higher than 500 m or more above the sea level. Even though progress towards sustainable development in mountains has been achieved in recent years, much remains to be done regarding the issues of mountain environments and mountain peoples. In this regard, Croatia actively participates in regional and international initiatives to find best arrangements to fight these challenges.
Convention on Biological Diversity: The State Institute for Nature Protection is the institution responsible for monitoring biodiversity in Croatia. In compliance with the Nature Protection Act which was adopted in May 2005, the State Institute is currently preparing the first Report on the State of Nature and Nature protection. The Report will also serve as a basis for the revision of the National Strategy and is expected to be submitted to the Government by the end of this year.
This year the Global Environment Facility has granted the funding of the project concerning Croatia''''s preparation of the Third National Report on Biodiversity. The Project, which includes the cooperation of relevant government authorities with interested stakeholders including the civil society, started this September and is expected to be completed in spring 2006.
The State Institute for Nature Protection also participates in the European Union CEA/CARDS project concerning the preparation of the national list of indicators. The main objective of the project is to develop a national list of biodiversity indicators which will be monitored and reported regularly.
In addition, the Institute has started setting up the National Biodiversity Monitoring Program. The program has been established within the framework of the LIFE III project National Ecological Network and is being further developed through the CARDS project “Institutional Capacity of the State Institute for Nature Protection”. The objective of the project is to improve the state of nature conservation in Croatia through setting up a systematic biodiversity inventorying and monitoring as well as adequate planning of the protected areas management.
Finally, let me very briefly mention the importance of regional activities which help us act in compliance with the Convention on Biological Diversity. One of those activities in the European region is the Intergovernmental Biodiversity in Europe Conference. Ever since 2000 when the First Intergovernmental Biodiversity in Europe Conference was convened under the auspices of the Pan European Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy, such meetings were proved to be important fora for discussing priority issues, and shaping the positions to be taken at the Meetings of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention. At the same time such meetings are important for the promotion of Pan-European cooperation and developing activities for the implementation of the Convention at regional level. In this regard let me say that Croatia is hosting the Fourth Intergovernmental Biodiversity in Europe Conference which will take place at Plitvice Lakes from 22 to 24 February 2006.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
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