UN General Assembly
1992

commitment to protection of the world's forests, the agreements reached at Rio do represent a positive achievement. We must all share responsibility for care of our planet, and the developed countries must take the lead. This realization should give rise to a new quality in North-South relations. At Rio it became apparent that, in the long term, environmental protection and economic prosperity cannot be achieved at each other's expense. Ecology and the economy are not intrinsic foes; for the sake of our common well-being, and for the sake of future generations, they need to become very close allies. After Rio it is impossible to speak of protection of the environment without also addressing the development challenge. Nor is it possible to focus on development without taking into account the ecological dimension. Regarding the issue of international conflicts in the environmental sphere, I am very pleased to note that the Austrian proposal for the establishment of Green Helmets, submitted during the forty-fourth session of the General Assembly, has been favourably received. That Austrian initiative