The Daily Nation (Kenya), January 30, 2012
By Peter Bosshard
Milestone birthdays are opportunities to take stock of our family,
health and financial situation. So how is Planet Earth doing 20 years
after the Earth Summit, the historic UN Conference on Environment and
Development in Rio de Janeiro? The planet's economic output has more
than doubled since 1992. Some members of the global family are doing
extremely well, but the number of hungry people is increasing. And the
planet's health is steadily deteriorating, with vital ecosystems nearing
the point of collapse.
We can celebrate milestone birthdays with empty rhetoric, or we can use
them to change course. Twenty years ago, governments adopted resolutions
that aimed to bring the global community into social, environmental and
economic balance. They resolved to follow basic rules of global
housekeeping such as the precautionary principle, the internalization of
environmental costs, and the polluter-pays principle. They prepared a
specific roadmap of global change in the Agenda 21. And most of them
made binding commitments by signing the conventions on biodiversity and
climate change.
Looking back, we have failed to live up to our resolutions and
commitments as a global community. We can't relive the past, but as we
prepare for the Rio+20 summit in June, we have another chance to take
stock and change course. Unfortunately world leaders have so far not
risen to the challenge. The draft document for the Rio+20 summit, which
governments discussed last week in New York, is devoid of substance and
ambition. Entitled, The Future We Want, it contains no honest analysis,
few specific recommendations, and no binding commitments. Instead, it
tries to hide its lack of ambition with vague concepts such as a new
Green Economy.
In the water sector – the area I know best – there are indeed measures
that could improve the planet's economic and ecological health at the
same time. We could start by dramatically improving the water efficiency
of our existing infrastructure and agriculture. We could safeguard vital
ecosystems and the services that they provide by protecting free-flowing
rivers and restoring environmental flows. We could phase out public
funding for unsustainable agricultural practices, polluting industries
and destructive dams. And we could redirect development aid towards the
decentralized, small-scale technologies that strengthen the food, water
and energy security of the poorest without destroying the environment.
Unfortunately, the language of the Rio+20 draft document is so vague
that it can easily be abused by the money lenders, consultants and
contractors that benefit from the current course of action. Under the
motto of the Green Economy, the World Bank proposes to build more large
multipurpose dams that would clog the arteries of the planet while
bypassing the poor. As the World Commission on Dams found ten years ago,
these complex projects have the worst track record among all dams in
terms of economic viability, poverty reduction and environmental
protection – the main pillars of sustainable development.
Milestone birthdays rarely come at a convenient time. When economic
strife and political drama dominate large parts of the world, it
requires a lot of courage to take a long-term view. Yet we are living
beyond our means and drawing down the natural capital on which the
poorest people and future generations depend for their livelihoods. As a
recent UN report found, "natural systems that support economies, lives
and livelihoods across the planet are at risk of rapid degradation and
collapse." Once these ecosystems have reached their tipping point, no
other planet will bail us out. Will we find the courage for an honest
assessment and change of course at the Rio+20 summit?
Peter Bosshard is the Policy Director of International Rivers, an
international environmental and human rights organization.
________________________________________________
You received this message as a subscriber on the list: africa@list.internationalrivers.org
To be removed from the list, please visit:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2486/unsubscribe.jsp
No comments:
Post a Comment