STATEMENT BY THE RT HON PRIME MINISTER
DR B.SIBUSISO DLAMINI
AT OFFICIAL OPENING OF ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHERN AFRICA CONFERENCE
AT ESIBAYENI LODGE, MATSAPHA
MONDAY 21 SEPTEMBER 2015
Your Royal Highnesses
Chiefs
Honourable Ministers
Excellencies of the Diplomatic Corps
Vice-Chancellor of the University of Swaziland
Chairperson and Board of the Swaziland Environment Authority
President of the Environmental Education Association of Southern Africa
UNEP Head of Environment and Training
Distinguished Delegates
Ladies and Gentlemen
It is a great honour for me to address this, the 33rd International Conference of the Environmental Education Association of Southern Africa and to welcome all our distinguished visitors to the Kingdom of Swaziland.It is a real privilege, and a source of considerable pride for our country to be hosting this Conference for the third time.We have good memories of those two earlier occasions, the second in 2008 coinciding with the 40th anniversary of Swaziland’s independence and thus a special year in our Nation’s history.
We meet at a time of great significance as the responsible countries of the world continue the process of awakening from the inertia – even denial – of earlier decades, indeed centuries.In recent times the environment has become a worry of increasing magnitude, with climate change at the forefront.This year’s conference rightly carries the theme “Creating Sustainable Societies.”
This is a theme well captured, not least because the term “sustainable society” sends a very clear message – the world in which we live will either have a population that can carry on with socio-economic development within a stable physical environment, or one that will leave its descendants to slide towards extinction in an environment of diminishing condition.
It is a very clear choice.But as the saying goes – the devil is in the detail.Global society is in agreement that the environment has to be sustained but not everyone is prepared to do enough about ensuring the environment is not diminished.Our key challenge is how to mitigate the adverse impacts of climate change and environmental degradation caused by human activities while advancing prosperity and social equity.In practical terms the big questions are – how can we build, travel, educate and manage resources and provide energy for our societies in ways that do not degrade the natural environment?
This Conference has much to offer the world of environmental protection as part of the global mechanism to come up with, and find agreement on, the measures necessary to achieve sustainability. Environment Education and Education for Sustainable Development has already played a significant role in the global conferences from Stockholm in 1972 to Nagoya in 2014.
At each step of the way we have discussed and we have come up with recommendations for members of the United Nations to go away and implement.It is regrettable – indeed, worrying – that despite the various declarations, increased awareness and oral expressions of commitment, we are informed that the rate of deterioration of the environment continues to increase at an alarming rate.
The evidence of deterioration of the environment ranges from loss of biodiversity to climate change.Human consumption patterns continue to exert intense pressure on the diminishing environmental resources.As more and more of the countries of the world continue to pursue unsustainable means of production and consumption patterns, the world’s eco-systems are pushed into ever deeper crisis.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) reports that if we continue the present rate of consumption and production patterns, then by 2050 with the expected world population of 9.6 billion, we will need three times the existing supply of resources to sustain our way of life.That has to come across as more than a little frightening.We have to change these patterns and Africa has its part to play in considering innovative development strategies that promote environmental sustainability.
But however creative the approach, success will be dependent on people – their behaviour, attitude and sense of responsibility.That is people at all levels of society.Education on environmental sustainability – whether it is education in the formal or non-formal sense – has a huge role to play in making people more environmentally sensitive and responsible.We need to educate in a way that makes awareness and commitment to protecting the environment as fashionable and stylish as having the latest smartphone or high fashion clothing.And we all know how important it is to start young.The youth are the future of our respective societies and they have a role to play now.Where new subjects such as the Environment compete for space with the traditional subjects let them blend with each other so that, for example, grammar, comprehension and mathematic exercises use material that is environment-focused.
We view the Global Action Programme (GAP) on Sustainable Development as an opportunity to scale up progress towards sustainable development.I have expressed concern at the lack of global progress in environmental protection.As I do so, I recall that challenging saying: people who live in glass houses should not throw stones.What, therefore, have we done in Swaziland?Well, in the first instance, following the Rio Conference in 1992, we launched our comprehensive Swaziland Environment Action Plan to address loss of biodiversity, land degradation, water and air pollution, poor waste management and sanitation.And relevant to the agenda of this Conference we can report that the National Environmental Education Strategy, that related to both formal and non-formal areas, was developed and implemented.We have that degree of commitment in Swaziland, highly protective of the diversity and quality of our natural environment.Indeed, Environmental Sustainability of one of the priority focus areas of our 2013-18 Programme of Action.
Then, in the United Nations Decade on Education for Sustainable Development 2004-14 we launched the Regional Centre on Education for Sustainable Development for Swaziland.We also implemented the MESA Initiative which involved Mainstreaming Environment and Sustainability in African Universities through the University of Swaziland MESA Chair.
This Conference is being held on the eve of CoP 21 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, to be held in Paris during December 2015.The agreement for which negotiations started in CoP 17 in Durban should be finalised in Paris and come into effect in 2020.The Kingdom of Swaziland is fully committed to the current and ongoing climate change negotiations and, in particular, the SADC position.
It is my fervent hope and that of His Majesty’s Government that this Conference will make tangible suggestions to show that education and learning play a central role in driving societal change towards a more secure planet.The delegates are from many countries.The many experiences that will be shared at the Conference will be immensely valuable.
As I conclude, allow me to express our deepest gratitude to the companies, development partners and individuals who have contributed financially and materially towards the cost of this Conference.I wish also to applaud those delegates who have used their personal resources to travel to this Conference and even pay the registration fee from their own pockets.That certainly shows commitment to a cause.I also thank the Organising Committee for its work in putting this Conference together.
I do hope that delegates will enjoy the tour at the end of the Conference and, in the meantime, that all have the fullest opportunity to engage in the most creative and productive of discussions.On behalf of His Majesty’s Government, I now declare the 33rd Conference on Environmental Education for Southern Africa officially opened.
Thank you.