Poul Nielson
Vice-chairperson of the GEF Assembly and minister for development cooperation, Denmark
"Developed countries should pay more towards environment protection"
• We think that the world needs more progressive policies in the rich countries. The kind of conflicts that are threatening world stability and regional stability in the world today are social conflicts - conflicts over natural resources, water, to put it mildly, besides problems connected with desertifi-cation... These types of threats are as serious as any other (like weapons, for example), and the remedy lies in providing more money to meet them than is available to tackle other problems.
• What I'm really criticising is the trend to say "trade, not aid". I think this is a false slogan. I think it is a pitiful (attempt to) escape from the responsibility of solidarity. So in my view the real slogan should be "trade and aid".
• If we look at the advocacy role of ngo s globally, nationally and locally in the field of environmental policy, they stand out as a real ally of what we need to do.