20/04/2005: At a glittering
event hosted by the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) at the UN Headquarters in
New York on Tuesday night, President Thabo
Mbeki and the people of South Africa were
recognised for outstanding achievements in
the field of the environment. Accepting the
Champions of the Earth award on behalf of
the President and all South Africans, Marthinus
van Schalkwyk, Minister of Environmental Affairs
and Tourism said: “For our world to perish,
all that is required of us is to do nothing.
It is possible to integrate environmental
protection and poverty eradication in a sustainable
synergy.In beating poverty and in building
prosperity we must not sacrifice our future
by pillaging the planet.”
The premier environmental award of the United
Nations, this was the first time that the
Champions of the Earth awards were presented.
The six other recipients were the King and
people of Bhutan; the late His Highness Sheikh
Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan of the United Arab
Emirates; the Prince of Orange of the Netherlands;
Ms. Julia Carabias Lillo of Mexico; Ms. Sheila
Watt-Clourier of Canada; and Mr. Zhou Qiang
and the All-China Youth Federation.
South Africa was recognised both for its
own commitment to cultural and environmental
diversity and its strong leadership role on
the African continent through the environmental
component of the New Partnership for Africa
's Development (NEPAD). “The timing of this
ceremony could not be more significant,” said
the Minister. “With the UN Commission on Sustainable
Development (CSD13) meeting at the same time
here in New York , we are demonstrating that
the needs of people and the needs of our planet
are one and the same. Sanitation, fresh water
resources, global warming, climate change,
biodiversity loss, desertification – these
are all intertwined and interconnected challenges,shared
by both the developed and the developing world.”
Amongst the many specific South African achievements
highlighted by UNEP was the fact that South
Africa had pioneered the Peace Parks initiative,
brought nearly 19% of its coastline under
direct protection through the declaration
last year of four new Marine Protected Areas,
had created specialist environmental courts
to back up a wide range of cutting-edge environmental
legislation, and was party to more than 43
multilateral environmental agreements.
“There is no greater asset for humanity than
the long-term health and well-being of our
planet. There can be no goal more crucial
to our survival than the protection and nurturing
of our natural environment,” said Minister
Van Schalkwyk. “One of our most urgent challenges
as the global community is to convince all
nations to join and support the international
effort to reduce the emissions of greenhouse
gasses. I have no doubt that the next few
years will be crucial to move us out of an
approach of stalling, of avoidance, and of
excuses to one where we all accept our responsibility
to deal with climate change within an inclusive
multilateral international framework.Climate
change is a global scourge and requires a
unified global partnership for action.”
Thanking UNEP for the award the Minister
added: “Such recognition is high praise and
greatly motivational for our further efforts
in environmental protection and promotion.”
