OAS Assistant Secretary General Albert Ramdin

“Poverty remains a key driver of environmental degradation in the hemisphere,” Ambassador Ramdin emphasized as he addressed an international forum on sustainable development, which opened today in Soria, Spain. Ramdin noted that in 2005, the Americas had the highest level of deforestation of any region on Earth. “As forest canopies disappear to make way for expanding agricultural lands and urban areas, the vicious circle of poverty, social instability and environmental degradation tightens,” Ramdin told the participants, among them the Chairman of the Soria 21 Forum for Sustainable Development, Amalio de Marichalar; Soria Mayor Encarnación Redondo; and the Director of the Population Division of the United Nations, Hania Zlotnik.

Speaking on “The Challenges of Sustainable Development in the Americas,” the OAS Assistant Secretary General said sustainable development “is not an option but an imperative, one of shared responsibility among all in society.” Ramdin argued that “sustainable development demands a long-term and strategic perspective on creating growth and distributing wealth in an economy.” He added that governments alone cannot be held accountable for balanced growth and progress. “Of equal importance, as part of modern governance, is the responsible engagement of civil society, including the private sector, NGOs, trade unions, religious organizations and the media,” he said.

Ramdin acknowledged positive moves towards sustainable development in the Americas by nearly all the sub-regions and countries of the Americas over the past 10 years. “There is a greater level of environmental awareness at all levels of society. A number of sustainable development policies and strategies have been approved and are being implemented. Through heightened international cooperation and global partnerships, more resources are being devoted to various sustainable development initiatives,” he explained. But he also noted that climate variability and climate change contribute to dire projections of worsening environmental degradation, and said there is growing scientific consensus that “the record-breaking 2005 Atlantic season was not an anomaly, but instead presaged an increased frequency and severity of natural disasters.”

Turning to the small and more vulnerable countries of the Caribbean and Central America, he noted that their annual challenge of devastating hurricanes, floods and other natural disasters pose potentially “catastrophic” threats to the tourism industry, now the fastest growing and most important economic sector in most of the Caribbean and of increasing importance in Central America. In this regard, he supported the call by the Small Island Developing States—many of them Caribbean country members of the OAS—for more resources, funding and expertise to implement strategies to lessen the effects of climate change.