Environment
The Road to Johannesburg
We have experienced environment, economic and social summits, but rarely are these three pillars of sustainable development considered together. This year's World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg, South Africa, has been set up to do just this. Every few years there are political events that can significantly change attitudes and behaviour towards the environment. This year's summit might, just might, help us make this essential change. But why the cautious optimism?
Well, this gathering of world leaders, international organisations, NGOs, and lobby groups, that will bring an estimated 65,000 people together from August 26 - September 4, aims to first review, and then chart a course to help save our global environment, but also one that will help address the basic needs of people that are so critical to sustainable development. No small challenge and one is still tempted to ask what will stop it becoming another talk show? And my answer to this is a mixture of history, human imperative and recent signals.
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We must remember that behind this mammoth undertaking, is some thirty years of history that began at the first Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm in 1972, then a decade ago at a similar gathering in Rio de Janeiro. In 1992 the United Nations Conference on Environ-ment and Development, or Earth Summit as it came to be known, saw 179 countries try to reconcile the impact human activity had made on the environment - development and environment were brought closer together. A sense of optimism and hope that the Earth Summit would pave the way for a cleaner and greener world was almost tangible. Moving now to this second year of the new millennium and we can definitely see an "implementation gap". The expectation generated in Rio has not been met. Official Development Assistance (ODA) has declined over the last decade and in the 1999 United Nations 22nd Special Session found the same trend was true for islands. Combined with the slow implementation of global conventions and the steadily increasing number of the poor, there is much to be concerned about.
We are therefore coming to a critical point in this 30-year history where a significant change is not only called for but also required. This is the human imperative - if we don't act, we're in trouble.
So, what of the signals? Well, one critical piece in this puzzle will be the outcomes of the Conference on Financing for Development. As I write this article there is some cause for cautious optimism as both the United States and European Union have indicated an interest in increasing levels of ODA. This is the first sign of a turn around from the last decade. There is also discussion of a global compact that might link increased resources to good governance.
The other signals come from efforts made here in our home - our Pacific islands region. As a region, our own summit preparations are now in full swing. The Council of Regional Organisations of the Pacific (CROP) has established a working group co-chaired by the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat and SPREP. Through consultations governments and stakeholders have come up with a regional submission to the Summit that has focused on eight key areas: Climate Change, Variability and Sea Rise; Island Vulnerability; Energy; Oceans; Natural Resources, the People, Capacity Building and Finance.
These priorities have been taken through a series of preparatory meetings in Cambodia, Singapore and New York and the results have been good. In fact Pacific delegations and the Alliance of Small Islands States have secured very significant recognition of the sustainable development needs for our countries and territories. These achievements have come through collective effort and this is an important development, one that needs to be further strengthened.
SPREP was set up to promote cooperation and to provide assistance in order to protect and improve the Pacific islands environment and to ensure sustainable development for present and future generations.
At the heart of sustainable development is this cooperative effort across sectors and mandates, between governments and civil society. And increasingly others are recognising the importance of bringing sectoral issues together, of mainstreaming environmental concerns and of better addressing the economic, environmental and social goals in an integrated way.
We are on a new path, one that will benefit from a successful summit. We all know that the World Summit is just an event, but the timing of events is critical. I am increasingly hopeful that the timing is right.
Tamari'i Tutangata is the Director of the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) based in Apia.
