Kuwait has expressed hope that countries taking part in the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD), or the Rio+20 summit held here, will succeed in working out ‘a future map for securing better living for nations of the globe.’

Sheikha Amthal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Head of the Kuwaiti delegation taking part in the summit, noted in her address to the conference that Kuwait adhered to all resolutions that were issued by the 1992 Earth Summit.

“We hope this conference will help realize our aspirations on drawing up a future road map for securing better standards of living for people of the world, preserving resources of this planet for the next generations,” said Sheikha Amthal, who also noted that she was a member of a delegation that represented Kuwait at the 1992 Earth Summit, headed by the late Amir Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.

This conference constitutes an opportunity to review and evaluate what was accomplished in terms of objectives, and discuss means of overcoming hurdles “that we faced to draw up work programs and follow up mechanisms to meet future requirements.

“The State of Kuwait affirms the necessity to implement principles and mechanisms of sustainable development, adopted at the Earth Summit in 1992,” Sheikha Amthal said. Sheikha Amthal affirmed the right of states to develop their resources and economies, according to each country’s circumstances and needs.

Shedding some light on Kuwait’s long record of efforts to help people, Sheikha Amthal drew attendees’ attention to the initiative of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, during the Arab Economic Summit in January 2009, to create a two billion dollar fund for financing small enterprises in the Arab World.

Kuwait alone donated up to $ 500 million for the fund.Moreover, HH the Amir had masterminded the establishment of a fund, aimed at aiding nations to improve agricultural production. Kuwait had contributed with $ 100 million.

Furthermore, Kuwait, since its independence, has supported a long chain of development and philanthropic ventures in various spots of the earth, out of its belief in the necessity of backing efforts of the international community to realize sustainable development and contribute toward programs to combat poverty.

Much of the aid granted to nations, communities and associations in need has been secured and relayed through Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development. Earlier, Sheikha Amthal attended a roundtable meeting held on the sidelines of the summit.

Speaking at the meeting, Sheikha Amthal called for setting a clear-cut definition of green economy before using it as a key tool for development. She said the green economy attracted much attention from the UN, its agencies, programs and funds in the field of environment and development.

She elaborated that the green economy is an ambiguous concept that has no unequivocal definition, and that there are still divergent views on the influence of green economy policies on sustainable development and poverty eradication. ‘Kuwait sees that it is necessary to reach agreement at first on a clear-cut concept of green economy before using it as a key development tool,” she added.

Sheikha Amthal went on to say that developing and least-developed countries should be given full freedom to chart out their respective policies and strategies matching their potential and capabilities for the purpose of achieving sustainable development.

She voiced her country’s satisfaction with the contents of the final communiquÈ of the conference, which includes developing countries’ fears on implementing a green economy.