Message of Secretary Heherzon T. Alvarez

Secretary-General Tajima, President Tadao Chino, Secretary Romulo, Dr. Gonzalez, delegates, friends in the green productivity movement, honored guests, ladies and gentlemen, good morning.

This is one of my last public engagements as the Secretary of the DENR, but this is not the end of my advocacy for the environment. Fighting for the cause of sustainable development must be pursued whether we're in government, the business sector, or civil society. I will be pursuing the cause of sustainable development as a citizen and as member of local and international environmental non-government organizations.

The contribution of each citizen to making this planet a better place is as important as that of a government official. Our environmental and social are too big and often require a partnership between the public and private sectors, especially in a situation where many government have limited funds and capability.

One of the important messages that was expressed in Johannesburg was the urgent need to address poverty and environmental threats. Last June, the Regional Preparatory Committee met in Bali, Indonesia, ably chaired by Dr. Elim Salim.

Four months later, Bali was attacked by terrorists. The Bali bombings symbolize how far we still are to creating a humane, equitable, and caring global society.

One way of responding to these new threats to human security is by fulfilling the commitments and responsibilities we agreed upon in Rio and Rio+10.

What are some of the commitments made in Johannesburg?

• The reduction by half the number of people living on less than US$1 a day by 2015 and establishing a world solidarity fund to eradicate poverty.
• The development of integrated water resource management and water efficiency plans by 2003
• The restoration of depleted fish stocks by 2015 and the elimination of destructive fishing;
• The establishment of marine protected areas networks by 2012;
• A significant reduction in the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010 and negotiations for benefit sharing in the use of resources;
• Programs to reduce infant/child mortality by two-thirds by 2015 and the improvement of global health literacy by 2010;
• The reduction by half the number of people without access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation by 2015.

There were some disappointments during the Johannesburg Summit, especially in its inability to extract commitments on increased funding from developed countries and the non-agreement on the target for increased share of renewable resources.

But I believe that Johannesburg produced more positive results than disappointments. Johannesburg, without doubt, succeeded in maintaining the momentum of awareness and support for sustainable development worldwide.

What then must the Asian Productivity Organization (APO) do in light of the Johannesburg?

I believe the APO must equally act with urgency in promoting and expanding its programs and projects. Although APO has had many gains in promoting green productivity, it has yet to gain a critical mass of followers.

The Green Productivity Program, which seeks to enhance business competitiveness and profitability through increased savings and less production inputs, must reach out to more organizations, especially the small and medium enterprises.

We must seek better ways of mainstreaming green productivity in government policies and in education.

We must continue to promote the green productivity concept to all stakeholders. We must expand the sharing of green productivity best practices in industry, service, agriculture, ad communities.

We must strive to improve the capabilities of the national productivity organizations of the APO.

An innovation of Johannesburg is its recognition of multi-sectoral partnerships in support of sustainable development. One of the more than 200 hundred partnerships that was presented in the Johannesburg is the APO's regional partnership for poverty alleviation and environmental protection through green productivity-integrated community development and clean development mechanism.

This initiative seeks to expand green productivity projects in several countries with a view to meeting millennium development goals. It involves training and capacity building, demonstration projects, technical assistance, information dissemination, and technology transfer.

We must fulfill our commitments to make this Type 2 Partnership initiative a success among our members.

The essence of Johannesburg was to go beyond promises and to make sustainable development happen. APO is one organization that has quietly been making it happen through its green productivity program and other important initiatives.

It is my hope that this 2nd World Conference on Green Productivity will succeed in enhancing competitiveness, protecting the environment, and achieving social fairness in its 19 member governments.