Temperatures are rising. The water table is falling. Deserts are expanding into vast territories. Toxic chemicals are encroaching on human cells. The air is turning brown. Coral reefs are colored white.

The achievement of the Millennium Development Goals taken one by one all depend to some degree on vibrant ecosystems that can sustain livelihoods. In other words, implementation of MDG7 on environment, apart from its intrinsic value, will facilitate the achievement of all MDGs.

MDG7 has been one of the most neglected goals up to now. This is a matter of particular concern because of the multitude of inter-linkages between achieving MDG7 and making simultaneous progress on other MDGs, such as poverty eradication, public health, gender equality, maternal and child mortality. Allow me to make six concrete proposals:

First, a time bound target for integrating issues of environmental sustainability, including water and sanitation, the linkages between urban and rural development, low carbon technique development and adaptation to climate change, should be incorporated into poverty reduction strategies (PRSPs) and/or sustainable development strategies.

Secondly, and along the same line of thinking, the poverty reduction approach in the United Nations Development Group, UNDG, should be updated. Economic, social and environmental perspectives should be given equal importance in the quest for sustainable development. UNEP has a key role to play in this endeavor and I welcome the Executive Directors stated ambition to enhance UNEPs role in the UNDG.

Third, I propose that all the targets and objectives adopted by the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg those on integrated water resource management and sanitation, chemicals, biodiversity, fish stocks, renewable energy and changing unsustainable patterns of production and consumption should be taken on board by the Millennium Summit review as complementary to the MDGs. Indicators need to be strengthened and further developed to help all countries with monitoring and follow-up of progress.

Fourth, the time has come to reassess our management of risks. Climate change and toxic chemicals are two cases in point.

Climate change must be limited. We should not allow global average temperature to increase by more than 2 degrees Centigrade. This will require mitigation action by the whole world community, with developed countries in the lead. A new generation of clean and lean energy and transportation technologies should be given a level playing field, a fair chance.

Technology transfer and capacity building should be strengthened. Still adaptation to climate change is a reality for all countries. We must tackle mitigation and adaptation as a whole being aware however that adaptation has its limitations.

Toxic chemicals pose a very real threat to human health. Poor people are contaminated at work and in their homes, they are poisoned by what they eat and drink. The Johannesburg target of minimizing adverse effects on health and the environment from chemicals by 2020 is critical. We rejoice at the speedy development of conventions in this field, and ask you to seriously consider the need to regulate also dangerous heavy metals such as mercury, lead and cadmium.

Fifth, I would consider it most valuable if UNEP, in collaboration with relevant and competent partners, were to develop an analysis of the negative development impacts of environmentally unsustainable activities in a few selected sectors. The analysis would help us understand the costs in poverty terms if action is not taken. Such an assessment could help policy makers make investments in urgent poverty reduction with long term economic and environmental returns.

My sixth and final proposal is to launch a major international effort that would promote employment for youth through national natural resources restoration programs. We live with a paradoxical situation. On Saturday, I visited Kisumu here in Kenya. It is but one of the millions of places throughout the world where a majority of youth cannot find a job, while there is a desperate need for environmental protection and restoration.

Let us give them a sense of meaning and pride, an income to live on, and a natural resource base for development.

The Millennium Review Summit offers a critical opportunity to approach the paramount human challenge of eradicating poverty in a holistic manner. The focus of the High Level Panel is clearly geared towards security and institutional reform, while the Millennium Project Report looks at development strategies. Sweden looks forward with great expectation to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment as a third comprehensively elaborated international input to the Summit.

We will all and not least the poorest among us be better off if heads of government decide to draw political conclusions from the new knowledge about the value produced and the services provided by ecosystems.

Thank you