For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Congressional Sales Office WILLIAM H. NATCHER, Kentucky SIDNEY R. YATES, Illinois LINDY (MRS. HALE) BOGGS, Louisiana W. G. (BILL) HEFNER, North Carolina LES AUCOIN, Oregon DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii WILLIAM H. GRAY III, Pennsylvania BOB CARR, Michigan ROBERT J. MRAZEK, New York RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois RONALD D. COLEMAN, Texas ALAN B. MOLLOHAN, West Virginia LINDSAY THOMAS, Georgia CHESTER G. ATKINS, Massachusetts JIM CHAPMAN, Texas SILVIO O. CONTE, Massachusetts DEAN A. GALLO, New Jersey FREDERICK G. MOHRMAN, Clerk and Staff Director FOREIGN OPERATIONS, EXPORT FINANCING, AND RELATED PROGRAMS APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 1990 TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1989. BACKGROUND PRESENTATION WITNESS DR. MOSTAFA K. TOLBA, UNDERSECRETARY GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME CHAIRMAN'S OPENING STATEMENT Mr. OBEY. Good morning. Before we begin, the focus of the Committee's hearing this morning will simply be on the problem of global environmental change. This Committee does not deal with domestic environmental policy, much as we might like to. And we certainly recognize the importance of domestic policy changes of our own if global climate or environmental problems are to be affected in a constructive way. But the jurisdiction of this Committee requires that we concentrate on the nature of development and the role of development in contributing to both the problem and the mitigation of the problem of worldwide environmental degradation. The consequences of a major global warming could be significant and, in fact, disastrous in terms of agriculture, environment, our own trading posture, forestry, fisheries, and the livability of large sections of our own country, not to mention other countries. This Committee and its Senate counterpart have recognized for some time the importance of environmental considerations in shaping economic development policy in the Third World. It has insisted on policy, organizational, and staffing changes in the IFIs, especially in the World Bank, to elevate their sensibility to the environmental consequences in their development activities. We have pushed AID to develop an early warning system to flag the development projects with potential to do environmental damage. We have pushed AID and the banks to increase their attention to renewable energy projects and reforestation. I agree with Secretary Baker, who said, when he led off the recent meeting of the International Response Strategies Working Group of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change, that |