United NationsDepartamento de Asuntos Económicos y Sociales Desarrollo Sostenible


1 . The question of the provision of environmentally sensitive energy, its
role in spurring industrial development and accelerating the pace of
sustainable development, and how all of the above affects individual
countries' abilities to achieve the internationally agreed development
goals (including the MDGs) , must all be taken and understood as one
interconnected unit.
2 . By maintaining a broader panoramic and holistic view, this would
assist in placing African countries and examining their plight within
the wider framework of the international environment . We must take
into account the socio-economic and internal situations of individual
countries, such as the complex set of challenges facing some
countries, particularly those emerging from internal conflict and
engaged in the process of reconstruction and development, and also
the pressures of the dis-enabling international environment .
3 . When examining the case of Africa, one can not escape mention of
the external debt, which can greatly hamper individual countries
capabilities to achieve the internationally agreed upon goals of
sustainable development. Some countries who have demonstrated
sound economic policies and who are implementing IMF and World
bank endorsed-poverty reduction strategies, and who are committed to
environmentally sound development policies, must be offered debt