The Environment & Forest Minister Suresh Prabhu has asked the SAARC nations to adopt a common position on major global environment issues, so that the region’s, voice carries greater weight. Mr. Prabhu was speaking at the 4th SAARC Environment Ministers’ meeting in Colombo on November 1, 1998.

In his address Mr. Prabhu said the review of the implementation of the agreements at the Earth Summit in Rio was undertaken in 1997. One of the main conclusions was that there had been no meaningful progress with respect to transfer of new and additional financial resources and environmentally sound technology on concessional terms to developing nations. The Minister said that the developed world has increasingly used environment as a protectionist non-tariff barriers to prevent access to their markets for products from developing countries.