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Minister Molewa’s Budget Speech 2012 for DWA: Water security, service delivery, enforcement and legislative review
A budget vote speech delivered by Minister Edna Molewa on 14 April 2011, outlining the Department of Water Affairs' strategy to increase water availability for economic growth and job creation in South Africa. The speech details major infrastructure projects, water security measures, regulatory frameworks for water quality, and plans for legislative review to prevent water hoarding.
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Document type: Statement
Minister Molewa’s Budget Speech 2012 for DEA: Job creation, biodiversity management, climate change and integrated permitting
The 2011 budget speech for the Department of Environmental Affairs details South Africa's commitment to reducing carbon emissions by 34% by 2020 and 42% by 2025. It highlights the transition to a green economy, the integration of 'working for' employment programmes to provide 5 million person-days of work in 2011/12, and the fight against rhino poaching. The speech also announces the upcoming National Biodiversity Assessment report and the commissioning of the SA Agulhas II research vessel.
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Document type: Statement
Minister Joemat-Pettersson’s Budget Speech 2011 for DAFF: Job creation, floods, climate change and forestry, and marine enforcement
The 2011/12 budget for South Africa's Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) is 4.719 billion rand, with a primary focus on poverty alleviation and job creation. The department aims to create 130,000 jobs in agriculture, forestry, and fisheries by 2014 and establish 50,000 commercially-oriented smallholder farmers. Key initiatives include the 'Zero Hunger Plan' for smallholder market access and the transformation of 12 agricultural colleges into National Agricultural Training Institutes. The budget allocates specific funds for flood relief (over 200 million rand over three years), forestry sustainability (300 million rand), and the sustainable management of forestry resources (550 million rand). In fisheries, the government has designated 9% of the coastline as prohibited zones and 3% of the offshore zone as no-fishing areas to protect marine ecosystems. The document also highlights South Africa's role as the host for COP 17 and its strategic alignment with BRICS to improve export access.
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Document type: Statement
Scientists’ Statement on the Clean Air Act
A statement from 2,505 scientists supporting the EPA's authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act to protect public health and address climate change.
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Document type: Statement
Speech by Minister Maite Nkoana‐Mashabane to the South African Institute off International Affairs (SAIIA) on the topic ‘The relationship between South Africa and the Emerging Global Powers’
The document argues that the rise of emerging powers—specifically the BRIC nations—provides an opportunity for South Africa and the broader African continent to shift the global economic center of gravity toward the South. Minister Nkoana‐Mashabane emphasizes that South Africa seeks to balance its memberships in IBSA and BRIC to amplify the voice of developing nations in multilateral processes and the reform of Bretton Woods Institutions. For Africa to transition into an emerging power itself, the Minister identifies four critical priority areas: Infrastructure, Intra-trade, Industry, and Integration. The speech frames these geopolitical shifts not as a zero-sum game, but as a means to address shared global challenges including climate change and energy security through cooperation between the developed and developing worlds.
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Document type: Statement
Internet Governance Forum 2009, "Taking Stock and Looking Forward" main session, Intervention by Heather Creech
Heather Creech, representing the IISD at the 2009 Internet Governance Forum, supports the renewal of the IGF's mandate for another five years but argues that the forum has been insufficiently inclusive. She specifically highlights the lack of representation for civil society concerns regarding the environment, social development, and economic development, urging that any mandate renewal include a directive to broaden stakeholder engagement.
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Document type: Statement
Keynote Address by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs (International Affairs) also holding the Portfolio of Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon. Okello Oryem Henry
In a keynote address at a 2009 roundtable conference, Minister Okello Oryem Henry identifies key drivers of African security, including conflict management, economic integration, and the governance of natural resources. He advocates for a gradual process of African integration toward a 'United States of Africa' to enhance the continent's collective ability to face endogenous and exogenous threats. The Minister highlights specific risks such as water disputes over the Nile, border demarcation conflicts, and the need for sustainable funding for African-led peace support operations like the Africa Standby Force.
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Document type: Statement
Statement by La Via Campesina and Friends of the Earth International
La Via Campesina and Friends of the Earth International advocate for a transition from industrial, export-oriented agriculture to a food sovereignty model. This model prioritizes the right to food as a human right, supports small-scale farmers' access to land and seeds, and promotes agroecological systems to mitigate climate change. The organizations reject 'false solutions' like carbon trading and agrofuels, and criticize the role of international financial institutions and the WTO in perpetuating unsustainable agricultural systems.
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Document type: Statement
IPEN Dubai Declaration for a Toxics-Free Future
The IPEN Dubai Declaration outlines a comprehensive strategy to eliminate persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and other toxic chemicals by 2020. It calls for the adoption of the precautionary principle, the 'no data, no market' rule, and the 'polluter pays' principle. The declaration emphasizes protecting vulnerable populations, including children and indigenous communities, and advocates for a just transition for workers. It further urges the expansion of international agreements like the Stockholm and Rotterdam Conventions and the establishment of a dedicated chemical safety focal area within the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
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Document type: Statement
SGR Statement
The statement welcomes the decision that GM spring-sown oilseed rape and GM sugar beet chemical regimes are more harmful to wildlife than conventional ones, contributing to the lack of commercial GM crop prospects in the UK. While GM maize (Chardon LL) was approved, the developer, Bayer Cropscience, abandoned commercialisation due to government restrictions and liability requirements. SGR argues that biotechnology company evidence on environmental and health risks is inadequate and calls for research funding to be redirected from GM crops to sustainable alternatives like organic farming.
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Document type: Statement
The Cartagena Declaration
The Cartagena Declaration, issued in September 2003, argues that a 'predatory economic model' and the 'greed' of the Global North drive systemic environmental and human rights violations. It highlights specific injustices, such as the fumigation of the Amazon and the desecration of sacred sites by the oil industry, while criticizing the role of transnational corporations and multilateral development banks. The declaration calls for a shift toward 'ecological security, food security and energy security' and an end to the criminalization of environmental defenders.
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Document type: Statement
NO INVESTMENT NEGOTIATIONS AT THE WTO Declaration of Non Governmental Groups and Civil Society Movements
The document is a formal declaration by a broad coalition of non-governmental organizations and civil society movements opposing the inclusion of investment and other 'Singapore Issues' in WTO negotiations. The signatories argue that previous multilateral investment attempts, such as the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI), focused excessively on investor protections while neglecting poverty reduction, sustainable development, and corporate accountability. They contend that current investor protection rules in NAFTA and bilateral agreements are used to challenge essential governmental actions, and that there is little empirical evidence that such rules increase the quality or amount of investment flows. The declaration asserts that the WTO is the wrong forum for these talks and that adding these issues would hinder necessary reforms and impose rules that developing countries cannot afford.
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Document type: Statement
SGR Statement
SGR calls for the protection of existing worldwide cooperative agreements regarding space to prevent 'selfish and warlike exploitation'. The organisation specifically opposes the US National Missile Defence programme, citing risks of a nuclear arms race and the waste of resources that could instead fund renewable energy technologies to combat climate change and air pollution. SGR also warns against the use of nuclear-powered spacecraft, highlighting the extreme radioactivity of Pu238 used in missions like Cassini. Finally, the statement urges civil society to reinforce treaties such as the Outer Space Treaty and the Moon Agreement against trends of increasing commercialisation and militarisation.
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Document type: Statement
Policy statements
The Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research outlines policies for the sharing, preservation, and accessibility of global change data. Key principles include the requirement for high-quality, long-term data sets, free access to IAI-funded results for scientific purposes, and the use of international standards for data exchange. The policies also address the preservation of critical data through a clearinghouse process and the limitation of data costs to the marginal cost of fulfillment.
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Document type: Statement
ACTE DE MONTEVIDEO
The Act of Montevideo establishes the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) as a regional network of research units. The IAI is designed to coordinate scientific and economic research on the extent, causes, and consequences of global change in the Americas, serving as an interface between science and policy. The agreement emphasizes that scientific interest should drive the implementation of research programs and the development of specialized facilities. To facilitate the transition to operational status, a Implementation Committee composed of representatives from signatory states was created to prepare basic materials until the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties. Signatory nations include Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, the United States, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
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Document type: Statement
DECLARACION DE MONTEVIDEO
The Declaration of Montevideo, signed between May 12 and 14, 1992, establishes the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) as a regional network of research centers. The IAI aims to coordinate scientific and economic research on the causes and consequences of global change in the Americas to bridge the gap between science and policy. The declaration outlines the creation of an Organizing Committee to make the Institute operational and notes the commitment of several American states to support the initiative.
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Document type: Statement
Afrodad Harare Declaration French
The Harare Declaration, adopted during the first African Conference on Debt and Development (AfCoDD) in August 2021, calls for a systemic overhaul of the global debt architecture to address the vulnerabilities of African nations. It highlights how the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated poverty and debt burdens, potentially pushing 39 million Africans into extreme poverty. The document criticizes the current system for prioritizing creditor interests over social and environmental justice, noting a shift toward commercial bonds and a lack of transparency in debt contraction. To counter this, the declaration proposes the creation of an African Monitoring and Control Mechanism, a Monetary Fund, and an African Bank. It further advocates for a feminist approach to macroeconomics, a green recovery aligned with the AU's Agenda 2063, and the possibility of collective debt default to break the cycle of neoliberal dependency.
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Document type: Statement
Finance for local level adaptation
The text emphasizes the urgent need to scale out community-based adaptation (CBA) through increased finance, noting that mitigation currently dominates climate funding. It highlights successful local initiatives in Colombia, Ethiopia, Uganda, Mozambique, and Vietnam, while praising Nepal's target of directing 80% of climate finance to the local level via its Local Adaptation Plans of Action (LAPA) programme.
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Document type: Statement
scan0177-85aa448dae2ea2d2.pdf
A letter from the South African Minister of Energy to the Centre for Environmental Rights regarding the government's energy policy and the coal Independent Power Producer (IPP) programme.
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Document type: Statement
catataibo_3-0e57b6422b435a77.pdf
A public statement issued by FENACOCA in August 2007 opposing hydrocarbon exploration in proposed Cacataibo territorial reserves to protect the lives and integrity of Cacataibo people in voluntary isolation.
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Document type: Statement