Economic and Social Council, 2008 Substantive Session: High Level Segment
30 June – 3 July 2008 (New York, USA)
With no relief in sight from the tight credit conditions, record-high commodity prices and financial market fluctuations weighing heavily on the global economy, the Economic and Social Council today concluded the high-level segment of its annual substantive session with Government ministers calling for “urgent individual and collective actions […] to stem these risks and place the global economy on a firm sustainable foundation”.
Adopting by consensus a Declaration on the theme of the Council’s 2008 session, “Implementing the internationally agreed goals and commitments in regard to sustainable development”, the ministers recognized that they were meeting “at a critical juncture in our efforts to realize [those goals], including the Millennium Development Goals”. They further recognized that all nations faced multiple development challenges because of current financial instability and uncertainty; slowing global economic growth; rising food and fuel prices; and the impacts of environmental degradation and climate change.
In closing remarks, Council President Léo Mérorès (Haiti) said the Council had come to the end of a truly groundbreaking high-level segment. The Council had finally set in motion its new functions as mandated by the General Assembly in 2005. The level and breadth of the engagement had been extraordinary. From ministers and high-level officials to civil society and private sector participants, all had exhibited a “new wave of enthusiasm and determination”.
Robert Watson, Chief Scientific Adviser, Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs of the United Kingdom, said that, although food prices were high, they were lower than in the 1970s and 1980s. One of the problems today was that the focus was solely on agriculture production. However, agriculture must be viewed as a multifunctional sector, and the important role of women, health and traditional knowledge must be recognized. The world community must invest in agro-ecological research and integrate traditional knowledge with academic knowledge. In that context, he urged targeting all such measures in the small-scale farmer sector, and increasing public investment in extension systems. He further called for the creation of cooperatives and scientific organizations to support their needs.
