THE BACKGROND
From the 26th
August to 4thSeptember 2002 South Africa will host the World Summit
on Sustainable Development (WSSD). The
overall objective of the WSSD is to review the progress made in implementing
agreements initiated at the “Earth Summit” in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and to
agree on new commitments to speed up the implementation of sustainable
development practices.
The first world
conference on the environment was the United Nations Conference on the Human
Environment held in Stockholm in 1972.
This conference resulted in a number of important decisions including
the Stockholm Declaration on the Human Environment and the creation of
the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP).
In the 1980’s the
United Nations set up the World Commission on Environment and Development and
in 1987 the Commission produced a publication entitled Our Common Future
(the “Brundtland Report”). This report,
which served as the basis for the United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992, also introduced the phrase
“sustainable development” which is defined as “development that meets the needs
of the present without compromising the ability of the future generations to
meet their own needs.”
The United
Nations Conference on Environment and Development, also known as the Rio “Earth
Summit”, was the largest gathering of heads of state, senior government
officials and stakeholder representatives from the nine “major groups” that include
environmental GMOs, business and industry, women’s groups, youth, trade unions,
farmers, local authorities, indigenous people and the scientific and
technological community.
The Rio Summit
raised the global awareness of the concept of sustainable development and
underlined the need to integrate environmental and developmental issues. The
Rio Summit resulted in:
a.
three
general documents
·
The Rio
Declaration on Environment & Development – this consists of 27 principles
for guiding action on environment and development. It reaffirms and builds on the Stockholm Declaration and is
important in contributing to the development of general principles of
international law. The Declaration is significant in highlighting the concepts
of sustainable development, the precautionary principles and the polluter pays
principle.
·
Agenda 21 –
a comprehensive, non-binding action plan for sustainable development. The document outlines actions to address the
social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainable development,
identifies the role of major groups and outlines the means for implementing the
various actions. Many of the
recommendations have not been fully implemented and that the sources of funding
have been inadequate.
·
The Forest
Principles – a non-binding set of principles to encourage consensus on the
protection and conservation of forests.
b. new institution – the UN Commission on
Sustainable Development whose aim is to promote the implementation of Agenda 21
and foster dialogue and partnerships between governments, the international
community and the nine “major groups”. The Commission has been criticized for
being little more than an ineffective talk-shop. Its work has been hampered its
low status within the UN and by its practice of reverting to previously agreed
negotiating text.
c. two new environmental conventions
·
The UN
Framework Convention on Climate Change – although not formally part of the Rio
Summit, this event provided the political impetus for completing the
negotiations on the Framework. The commitments
of the Framework Convention include developing national inventories of
emissions, formulating programmes to mitigate climate change and promoting
education, training and research and development. The Convention includes no target dates or emission reduction
limits. These were later included in the Kyoto Protocol, a treaty that many
hope with be ratified at the WSSD.
·
The
Convention on Biological Diversity - as
with the Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Convention on Biological
Diversity was part of the formal Rio Summit, but an important parallel outcome.
The aim of the Convention on Biodiversity is to promote the conservation and
sustainable use of biodiversity through commitments to the promotion of
scientific and technological co-operation, the establishment of protected
areas, the eradication of alien plant species, respecting and maintaining
traditional knowledge and practices, and providing financial resources. In January 2000 the Cartagena Biosafety
Protocol was adopted to regulate potential risks associated with cross-border
trade and accidental release of living modified organisms. It is hoped that the
Protocol will be ratified at the WSSD.
One of the most
prolonged debates of the Rio Summit was the question of finance. The developing
countries of the southern hemisphere requested that the developed countries in
the North should provide new and additional funding for a wide range of
developmental activities. This request
was not successful and the initial proposal to set 2000 as the date by which
developed countries should reach the UN target of 0.7% of GNP for official
development assistance was reworded as a general undertaking to achieve the
target “as soon as possible.” The fact
that the level of financial assistance by the North has been declining is seen
by many developing countries as an indication that the developed countries have
not honoured their financial commitments.
Thus the issue of finance is likely to be a major area of debate at the
WSSD.
In June 1997,
senior government representatives, including a number of heads of state
gathered at the United Nations in New York for a special session of the UN
General Assembly to review the progress made since the Rio Summit. The meeting, known as “Rio +5” failed to
generate any significant momentum for sustainable development. This failure is ascribed to their being no
thorough preparatory process to ensure the active involvement of all
stakeholders.
Following the
failure of Rio+5, a major effort is now being made to ensure that the next
review of the Rio commitments will result in meaningful action and a renewed
commitment to sustainable development. The preparatory process is currently
being undertaken at the national, regional and global level.
·
National
level – the objective of the national preparations is to mobilize the general
awareness and involvement of citizens and major groups in the process and to
co-ordinate national input into the regional and global preparatory
activities. An important component of
meeting these objectives is the development by government if national Agenda 21
Review reports for the Commission on Sustainable Development.
In addition to compiling these Agenda 21 Review Reports, the UN Secretariat has also invited countries to undertake the following four activities:
□ implement a broad-based consultation process to identify
three or four sustainable development progress targets
achievable within the next 5 – 10 years.
□ identify the most successful
sustainable development
activity
in the country since Rio.
□ organize a national competition
for the major groups to
prepare essays outlining their vision of sustainable
development challenges, concerns and opportunities.
□ organize a national competition
for school children to draw
posters capturing their sustainable development
aspirations and concerns.
·
Regional
level – an important component of the WSSD process is the series of regional
meetings held in 2001. The overall aim of these meetings is to assess progress
in implementing Agenda 21 and to identify prospective activities within each
region.
·
Global level
– the national and regional preparatory meetings all feed into the global
preparations. These are being undertaken by the 10th Session of the
UN Commission on Sustainable Development in a series of preparatory committee
meetings (PrepComs).
□ PrepCom 1 – 30 April to 2 May 2001 (New York)
□ PrepCom 2 - 28 January to 8 February 2002
(New York)
□ PrepCom 3 - 25 March to 5 April 2002 (New
York)
□ PrepCom 4 - 27 May to 7 June 2002 (Indonesia)
Although the
exact agenda and major themes have not yet been determined, it has been agreed
that Agenda 21 and the Rio declaration will not be renegotiated. The
principal aim of the WSSD is to identify a set of action-orientated measures
for the further implementation of Agenda 21. These issues include:
·
increasing
globalization.
·
the
revolution in biotechnology and information technology.
·
the stalling
of a new round of trade negotiations.
·
the collapse
of the multilateral Agreement on Investment.
·
the steady
decline in official development assistance.
·
the impact
of resource depletion and climate change.
From the national
and regional preparatory meetings it is possible to identify a number of
emerging themes and issues for consideration at the WSSD. These include:
·
poverty
alleviation
·
financing
for sustainable development
·
globalization
and trade
·
international
governance
·
global
compact between governments, the private sector and civil society
·
special
initiatives such as bio-diversity, climate change, fresh water, energy, rural
and urban development, technology transfer and capacity building.
·
ratification
of international agreements such as the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change, the
Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, the Cartegena Protocol
on Biosafety and the UN Convention on Migratory and Straddling Fish Stocks
One of the most
significant developments since the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 is the development
of the Internet. Linked to this
development has been the increasing demand from non-governmental and major
stakeholder groups for greater participation in negotiations and
decision-making on issues such as the environment and sustainable
development. The following is a brief
list of some of the more useful websites that provide updated details on the
Summit and on the positions of different stakeholders.
UN Website for WSSD www.johannesburgsummit.org/
SA Government www.environment.gov.za/earthsummit2002
Johannesburg Summit Company www.joburgsummit2002.com/
UN Environment Programme www.unep.org
UN Comm. Sustainable Development www.un.org/esa/sustdev/csd
Int. Inst. For Sustainable Development www.iisd.ca/wssd/portal.html
Business Action for Sustainable Development www.basd-action.net
Industrial Environmental Forum www.ief.co.za
International Chamber of Commerce www.iccwbo.org
World Business Council for Sustainable Development www.wbesd.org
New Partnership for Africa’s Development www.dfa.gov.za/events/nepad