Minister Knapen calls for greening of development cooperation

News item | 18-01-2012

In development cooperation, we need to take account of people, profit and – not least – the planet. This was international cooperation minister Ben Knapen's message on Wednesday to representatives of Wetlands International, the Institute for Environmental Security, and the Dutch Committee of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

‘It is always necessary, including for human wellbeing and economic development, to take account of natural resources and the environment,’ said Mr Knapen. ‘The Rio+20 summit will soon be upon us. There, the Netherlands will press for embedding sustainability more firmly in the global development strategy.’

Mr Knapen is focusing the Dutch commitment in developing countries on four themes: security and the legal order, water management, food security, and sexual and reproductive health and rights. The environment is especially relevant to programmes concerned with water management and food security.

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