We are indeed proud of the peaceful transition to democracy that has been achieved in our country. I am grateful for this opportunity to share with you the views and experiences of our country and of our continent as we grapple with development issues. I also wish to urge you to remain as positively committed as you are and to continue contributing to solutions to achieve sustainable development. The experience of South Africa regarding sustainable development, as well as its expectations, are relevant to the extent that they represent a microcosm of the experiences and expectations of the developing world.
Development is about raising the standards of living and quality of people's lives.
In South Africa our main preoccupation is to achieve that for the vast majority of our people who, during the apartheid era, were not able to share all the benefits our country is capable of providing. South Africa believes that sustainable development requires global co-operation, based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. Poverty and unsustainable production and consumption patterns, are interrelated and are among the major causes of environmental degradation. However, individual countries like South Africa can not address such problems alone and innovative partnerships within and between countries of the South and North are imperative. We equally believe that the countries of the North have a crucial role to play in support of the efforts of the South.