India Seeks Saarc Plan For Eco Protection

India yesterday called on South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) nations to review the possibilities of trans-border cooperation in the protection of biodiversity and evolve appropriate mechanisms for this purpose.

Inaugurating a two-day conference of Saarc environment ministers here, environment and forests minister Saifuddin Soz said developed countries had failed to appreciate the gravity of the problem of poverty in developing countries and their impact on environment.

On its concluding day today, the conference is expected to adopt the Delhi Declaration on Environment, in preparation for the Basel Convention, scheduled to be held in October this year.

The minister said mindless imposition of conditions by rich nations on international trade and financial flows in the shape of environmental clauses needed to be opposed as they were impractical and unfair.

He said lack of will and consequent support on the part of developed nations had hampered the implementation of Agenda 21 by the developing nations.

He said there was little evidence of any major shift in attitudes and behaviour on the part of the industrialised countries even five years after the Rio summit.

Soz asserted that industrialised nations had failed in honouring their commitments enshrined in Agenda 21 to facilitate the transfer of environmentally sound technologies to developing countries and to provide financial assistance.

He pointed out that the threat of hazardous wastes generated by the industrialised nations was a major environmental concern facing the developing countries.

He asked Saarc countries to forge regional consensus on this issue and emulate Asean in making representation at the conference of the parties to the Basel Convention. Saarc nations must cooperate to evolve a common strategy for the minimization of hazardous wastes.

Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda said that while the primary responsibility for the implementation of Agenda 21 was of the national governments, it had to be recognised that the developing countries require a substantial flow of additional finances to deal with the global environmental problems and accelerate the process of growth with equity.