Media Room Information Kit

Governance

Recent experience with international initiatives has shown that good governance is a major factor in the success of sustainable development. It is now widely recognized among nations that sustainable development cannot succeed without the rules and the structures though which sound policies can take effect.

Since the United Nations Conference on Human Environment in 1972, the countries of the world have reached agreement on a range of issues related to the environment, social and economic development. However, the tendency has been to deal with these issues in isolation. Implementation has often been uncoordinated, even at cross purposes, producing mixed results that fall short of the goals envisioned a decade ago at the Rio Summit.

However, there is now momentum to draw together the separate threads of the sustainable development agenda and weave them together more effectively, at both national and international levels. This points directly to the issue of how countries can organize themselves to ensure effective, coordinated intergovernmental action. Environment Ministers from around the world have recognized the need for a stronger international environmental governance system that focuses attention on institutional coherence and the ability to implement international agreements.

For the past two years, the Canadian Minister of the Environment, the Honourable David Anderson, has been President of the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and Canada has been at the forefront of a global dialogue on international environmental governance issues. One of the key results has been international consensus on key steps that will strengthen the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP).

The International Conference in Financing for Development, held in Monterrey, Mexico this year set out to address the challenges of financing for development around the world. The Monterrey Consensus, adopted at the Conference, recognized that development assistance itself will not by itself create the sound economic growth necessary for sustainable development. The Monterrey Consensus moves beyond recognizing good governance as a desirable objective, by defining it as a necessary precondition for meaningful development. It requires good governance policies that create a framework for sustainable economic growth and private sector investment. Individual countries need effective governments that take action on environmental, economic and social issues, and provide peace and lasting quality of life.

At the WSSD, Canada will promote further deliberation on the crucial role that governance plays in efforts towards sustainable development. For more information on this and other issues that Canada will pursue at the WSSD, consult Canada's World Summit Web site at www.wssd-smdd.gc.ca.

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