MR TIMOCI LESI NATUVA

Minister for Works, Transport and Public Utilities

CLOSING ADDRESS AT THE PRIME MINISTER’S SUMMIT ON THE GREEN GROWTH FRAMEWORK

Novotel Convention Centre Friday 13th June, 2014
LAMI
1430 Hours

Cabinet Ministers;
Members of the Diplomatic Corps;
Representatives of Development Partners, the Private Sector, and Civil Society;
Members of the National Peoples Charter Advisory Council;
Members of the Provincial Development Boards;
Senior Civil Servants;
Invited Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen.


Ni sa bula vinaka and good afternoon to you all.

On behalf of the Prime Minister, I would like to thank each one of you for your participation and your invaluable contribution to this Prime Minister’s National Summit on Green Growth particularly during the past one and a half days.

I have been informed by the secretariat of the openness, frankness and the genuine desire and commitment of the participants in each of the 10 Thematic Working Groups. You have together reviewed the draft Green Growth Framework, improved the identification of challenges, and identified time-bound practical solutions that must be addressed at all levels in the country. As we move forward together, putting the people at the centre of development we can with some surety anticipate building environmental resilience, building social improvement and reducing poverty, and building economic growth and resilience to the anticipated adverse effects of climate change.

Working together in an integrative and inclusive manner ensuring no-one is left behind is critical to support our objective to restore the balance in development that is sustainable for our future. This first Green Growth Framework for Fiji provides that opportunity.

However, it must be understood that we are not only exposed to risks beyond our control, but also through our own actions. We are the source of many risks. These risks result in "hot spots" as development progresses, and can become the root cause of development that is not sustainable.

As the Framework points out, for development to be sustainable it is everyone's business to understand as much as practically possible not only of the benefits but also of the costs of development. The risks must be determined, and a decision made as to whether the risks are acceptable or not. If the risks are not acceptable the development must not proceed. If the risks are acceptable, development should plan to avoid or eliminate them. If this cannot be done, the risks must be minimised through mitigation or adaptation actions.

Of course, my ministry is at the heart of these considerations and responsible for the many actions that are needed.

Many of these risks we are aware of are external to Fiji and beyond our control. One of this is our exposure to global fuel prices, notwithstanding the reality that our demand for fuel has increased since independence and no doubt will continue to increase as our population grows.

Our demand for energy, be it for electricity or transportation, must be sustainably managed and in this context, we must all work towards reducing our carbon footprints.

We must work better together to facilitate, develop and strengthen the national enabling environment and decision-making processes. This enabling environment hinges on partnerships, informed decision-making, human resources and capacity building, governance mechanisms, regulatory frameworks, technology innovation and development strengthening private sector development and finance and economic incentives.

It must be anticipated that sustainable development goals will need to be identified for Fiji, as is being suggested at the international level to replace the Millennium Development Goals in the post-2015 period. This must be supported by a robust national data gathering and information management initiative. As the global discussions on the post-2015 development agenda suggest, "A Data Revolution" is needed.

In this regard I note and support the sentiment in the Framework that an essential step to developing and strengthening the current national enabling environment, policies and supporting documents must contain a broader set of people-focused goals and indicators and for which necessary data gathering and monitoring capacity, storage and information sharing mechanisms are progressively put in place. I agree that a National Information System that is spatial (GIS-based) and at the right scale will necessarily be the preferred data storage and access modality. The knowledge derived over time will then better inform decision-making and facilitate reporting on progress with sustainable development as well as highlight "hot spots" for attention. It is essential that informed decision-making is supported by analyses of risks and full cost-benefit analyses that not only evaluate the benefits but also identifies and evaluates the costs.

It is imperative that we embrace this integrated development agenda and I assure you that the Bainimarama government will provide the leadership by establishing a High Level Multi-Stakeholder Panel on Sustainable Development to act in an advisory capacity.

The development of this Framework over the past six months through consultative processes at technical/thematic working groups and provincial level consultations, together with the validation process here at this Summit is over. It is now time to take the next steps to ensure that this Green Growth Framework for Fiji is taken to each and every individual in the country through the development and implementation of an ongoing communications and advocacy strategy.

This strategy will contribute to empowering people by ensuring they are consulted in the development of better informed decision-making machinery here in Fiji that in turn ensures development today and tomorrow will be sustainable into the future.

Key in this processes are the children and young people for whom actions now must be accounted for in the future.

In closing ladies and gentlemen, for too long we have taken our beautiful surroundings and abundant natural resources for granted. For too long, we have seen conservation as everybody’s business but someone else's responsibility. For example, we use the vast ocean around us as both a food source and a refuse dump. We take its abundance of seafood and give back sewerage and garbage.

We need a paradigm shift that inculcates a new culture and a new mindset of personal responsibility on the part of every Fijian to end this assault on our living space.

We are obliged under our new Constitution to protect our natural heritage. Section 40 says that every person has the right to a clean and healthy environment, which includes the right to have the natural world protected for the benefit of present and future generations through legislative and other measures.

Finally, let me stress that we are not closing this first Green Growth Framework. Rather, we have just opened a new historical development path for Fiji and for all Fijians that can ensure sustainability for our future generations. The Green growth Framework is a "living document". So whilst it can be said that we may be at the end of the beginning, we are certainly not at the beginning of the end.

Vinaka Vakalevu and thank you very much.