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Monday, 3 September: 10.30 — 17.00

FORUM

OPENING STATEMENT

David Syz
Secretary of State

In many different quarters, not only Switzerland — national and international, governmental and non-governmental — preparations for the forthcoming event are underway. Yet judged against the overall achievements over the last ten years since Rio 92 and the despondent spirit prevailing in official international for a concerned with sustainable development, it is far from certain, that Johannesburg will in effect be the landmark event widely expected and indeed required for showing new ways forward for implementing Agenda 21, for committing the international community to renewed action and for sending strong and meaningful messages to all stakeholders in order to advance sustainable development around the world.

I am very pleased that FIDIC is devoting its 2001 Conference to sustainable development and, specifically, that the Consulting Engineers are presenting themselves as partners in sustainability. This is a most welcome initiative given the industry’s broad range of expertise across sectors and given the fact that engineers are known as hands-on practitioners which aim for concrete results and tangible solutions rather than lengthy discussions. Because sustainable development is in many ways a difficult and sometimes conflicting concept, it is paramount that action oriented people are ready to take up the challenge and strive for progress on the ground.

Indeed, as the 21st century dawns, implementing the sustainable development remains a considerable task. While it is true that progress has been made in a number of areas — though particularly in the industrialized world — we are all well aware of the fact that the overall picture is far from entirely positive. Against this background, there is clearly a need for new levels of cooperation and for better integrating environmental and sustainable considerations into long-term planning. Agenda 21 has set the basic framework for all parties to take this responsibility. And even though it has some times been criticized, and action follows only slowly, it remains on a world-wide scale the basic reference.

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