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Greeting from UNEP’s Executive Director
and Norway’s Minister of the Environment
GRID-Arendal
Annual Report 2002
It is clear that goals set forth by
the implementation plan agreed
upon by the World Summit for
Sustainable Development
(WSSD) in Johannesburg in
August 2002 require a strong
focus on bridging the gap
between science, decision-
making and implementation.
GRID-Arendal is a key center in
strengthening UNEP’s capacity to follow up such commitments.
In particular, as UNEP’s Key Polar Center, GRID-Arendal
plays a crucial role in supporting UNEP’s capacity needs for
providing timely, high-quality environmental information in
these fragile regions which play an increasingly important role
as part of the global ecosystem.
UNEP recognizes that GRID-Arendal, also during 2002, has
continued to contribute substantially to the realization of
UNEP’s global environmental leadership.
Klaus Töpfer
Executive Director
UNEP
Norway sees the outcome of
the WSSD Summit in August
2002 in Johannesburg as an
important milestone in
achieving global commitment
in turning global development
into sustainable development
for future generations. We now
have to prove both nationally
and internationally that the
action plan agreed upon is more than a document with good
intentions.
Norway’s ambition is to do our homework in the follow-up
to Johannesburg through a national plan of action combined
with being a strong international actor in the environment and
development area.
We would like to see an energetic UN bringing the
Johannesburg goals into reality, and in particular we would
like to see a strengthened UNEP as the leading force for
developing global environmental policy for development. Our
support to GRID-Arendal is part of our efforts to strengthen
UNEP’s capacity and scientific authority to undertake the
challenges of producing and communicating environmental
information supporting environmental policies.
Børge Brende
Minister of the Environment
Norway