Debate article
Uppsala Nya Tidning (UNT) 17 August 2009
Gunilla Carlsson, Minister for International Development Cooperation
Water - a climate and development issue
Today I will open the World Water Week in Stockholm, which is one of the world's largest annual water events. In the wake of climate change, the issue of water is becoming even more of a priority. Partly because of the increasing lack of water and partly because the water that we do have is being polluted. In the past few years, for example, the rainy period in Bolivia has become more intense as a result of climate change, with disastrous consequences.
How can development assistance do the greatest possible good in a world in which the climate is changing? How can the capacity of developing countries to cope with major changes and disasters be increased? To answer these questions, in 2007 the Government appointed a Commission on Climate Change and Development, which I chaired. The Commission presented its final report in May this year, including recommendations to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
The report shows that even if we succeed in reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, we will all have to adapt to a new, changeable and uncertain climate. Efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions must therefore be supplemented by measures to adapt our societies, strengthen their power of resistance and thereby reduce vulnerability due to climate change.
The report also establishes that there is a close connection between adaptation and developing new drought-resistant crops, and building water barriers and reducing emissions. Moreover, it is clear that in poor and vulnerable communities, climate measures do not help if citizens lack access to education, legal security or the resources needed to deal with a changed climate.
The Alliance Government has declared that development assistance will be climate-proofed. At the beginning of the summer the Government instructed the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) to draw up a policy for the environment and climate that will govern and guide the work of relevant ministries and agencies on climate and environment issues in Sweden's development cooperation.
Sweden is already doing much around the world. For Bolivia, Sida, acting through UNICEF, has initiated a preventive programme to mitigate the effects of the annual floods. Similar special projects are being carried out in countries such as Burkina Faso, Cambodia and Bangladesh. The climate and the environment are priority issues in the recently adopted strategy on Iraq. Along the same lines, the Government is phasing out traditional development assistance to China and India in favour of climate initiatives in those countries. A special climate attaché is being stationed in New Delhi.
Nearly 4 per cent of Sida's development assistance goes to measures directly related to water, but much more to other climate and environmental initiatives. Over and above our usual development cooperation, Sweden has already responded to the need for urgent action by setting aside a further SEK 4 billion for climate-related assistance over the period from 2009 to 2012. The main objective is to contribute to long-term measures for climate change adaptation in the poorest counties, as well as measures taken by developing countries to limit concentrations of greenhouse gases.
In December the countries of the world will meet in Copenhagen to try to agree on a new international climate agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Our demands that countries limit emissions come at a time when many developing countries are seeing their progress wiped out in the wake of the financial crisis.
Swedish measures can set an important example for other countries too. I therefore call upon my colleagues in EU Member States to follow Sweden's example. At global level, cooperation and commitments are needed to achieve real results.
The world's donor countries must fulfil their previous promises of a level of aid equivalent to at least 0.7 per cent of GNI. It is not just a substantial problem for developing countries that the money they have been promised does not benefit them; it is also a problem for the donor countries and others who want to see constructive international agreements. On top of this, climate adaptation needs additional contributions from both private and public funds.
The Government is aiming high in its climate efforts. However, the emissions reductions that Sweden achieves only affect around one tenth of one per cent of global emissions. It is beyond Sweden's borders that climate change has the most obvious impact and hits hardest. I want Sweden to be at the forefront, both in implementing effective measures at home and in helping to develop international cooperation to respond to the climate challenge.
Gunilla Carlsson
Minister for International Development Cooperation
