World Summit:
Strategies For the Future
-By Joachim Wille, Germany
As so often in the past, Nelson Mandela found
just the right words. During his first appearance at the World Summit on Sustainable
Development, the former South African president declared that "global
apartheid"' had to be brought to an end. He said the increasingly deeper division of
the world into rich and poor was a scandal the magnitude of which could only be compared
with the inhuman segregation of races that had existed in his own country until 1994. And
where better, asked Mandela, could be impetus for ending this form of apartheid come than
from South Africa?
People had extremely high expectations of the
World Summit on Sustainable Development, which met in Jo'burg, South Africa's gold
metropolis, between August 26 and September 4, 2002. Ten years after the conference in
Rio, the now legendary United Nations Earth Summit, participants at the immense follow-up
meeting gathered to take stock and agree on a fresh start. After all, it had become clear
to everyone, not only the 60,000 summit participants from 190 countries, that the promises
about solving the globe's economic and ecological problems, made in the euphoric
atmosphere following the end of the Cold war, had not been kept.
The end of climate change? No chance.
Emissions of greenhouses gases have risen by 10% despite the Convention on Climate Change
agreed at Rio. Has there been a slowdown in species loss and deforestation?/ No way. Life
supporting systems are being burdened to their critical limits, and some of these are
already being exceeded. A third of the World's population live in countries that suffer to
some extent from serious water shortages: large numbers of people have no access to clean
drinking water. And these figures are increasing. Disputes about the distribution of water
resources could even become possible grounds for wars in the future. Bad news is also
arriving about the oceans. They are not only being detrimentally affected by the discharge
of effluent: all the world's 17 major fishing grounds are now considered overfished.
"Nature's capital is disappearing fast", declared Klaus Topfer, executive
director of the UNEP. And former German environment minister.
Yet while many people in the industrialized
countries viewed Rio and Jo'burg as "environmental summits, the majority of
participating countries were primarily concerned with economic development, with their
equitable participation in the wealth created in an increasingly networked economy.
"People in the developing countries are fed up with broken promises", said
Topfer. As a tireless negotiator he played a major role in the breakthrough at the Earth
Summit ten years ago, but he has had to observe the rollback that has occurred as a result
of an almost uncontrolled globalization process in the decade since. He explained that we
can no longer afford to "just make beautiful speeches". This was also the
position taken by the German federal government in the negotiations. Federal environment
minister Jurgen Trittin stated: "Countries must agree on firm targets and timetables
for achieving them. Voluntary projects alone are not enough.
At the beginning of the Jo'burg summit, the
situation appeared to be totally deadlocked. Three important groups of nations with
different interests confronted one another: the EU, which is relatively progressive on
environmental issues; the more conservative countries grouped around the United States,
Australia and Canada; and the developing countries in the G77 and China group, which are
primarily concerned about reducing poverty and gaining access to world markets. Washington
in particular increased the strain on the negotiations in Jo'burg because it proposed
increases in US agricultural subsidies to record levels in a new Farm Bill—against
the spirit of the recent WTO meeting in Doha, Qatar. Ministers in Doha had agreed to
seriously examine and reduce these subsidies, which damage the environment and distort
trade relations.
The "Countries of the South"
criticize the fact that subsidies enable agricultural produce from the North to be sold
cheaply on world markets because these products not only destroy their agricultural
exports to gain access to the industrialized nations' markets. The scale of indignation
was shown in Jo'burg by the demonstration of South African sugar-cane farmers. They
empties hundreds of packets of sugar onto the road near the luxurious Sandton Conference
center. They argue that sugar produced from European sugar beet is sold so cheaply that
their domestic product can no longer be profitably grown. As a result, the trade issue
dominated—and partially blocked—at least the first half of the World Summit. For
days, the United States, and also a number of European countries, resisted the attempts of
the G77 to have a firm commitment on subsidy reductions written into Jo'burg documents.
Within the EU, countries with large
agricultural sectors prevented the adoption of a more progressive position, like that
favored by Germany. Eventually, however, the ministers and other delegation heads in
Jo'burg managed to achieve a compromise that facilitated advances in other areas. The
World Summit reaffirmed the agreement reached in Doha, which, according to Federal
environment minister Trittin in an interview on the outcome of the summit, "satisfied
the developing countries". The Doha Declaration envisages the solution of the subsidy
issue by mutual agreement by the year 2006.
In Jo'burg, Federal Chancellor Schroder's
clear and explicit commitment to reducing these billion euro figures was seen as a signal
to the world community. " Free, unhindered access for the developing countries to the
global markets is at least as important as financial aid"'. This also implies the
dismantling of market-distorting agricultural subsidies," said the federal chancellor
in his September 2 address, which attracted a great deal of attention.
Even during the sometimes-dramatic disputes
on trade questions it began to become clear that another blockade, although threatened,
would not come about. The US applied a principle that it insisted was inviolable at
Jo'burg preparatory conferences: namely, that it would not accept any new state targets.
It was thus something of a sensation when the summit agreed to restore the ocean's fish
stocks by 2015 by, for example, establishing protection zones and setting fishing quotas.
Nevertheless, Washington was able to push through the restrictive additional phrase
"If possible". Although this diminishes the actual success, it still opened the
door for further official "state targets". Thus, for example, consensus was
reached on significantly reducing the decline in biological diversity by 2010 and stopping
the loss of natural resources "as soon as possible". A target year was also
defined for chemical safety, which is to be increased to such an extent that chemicals are
to have practically no health and environmental impacts by 2020.
Yet these battles were only
"'preliminary skirmishes"'. As expected, the two main areas of the summit, water
and energy, turned out to be much more difficult nuts to crack. Following arduous
negotiations, a compromise was reached on each point, although, from the EU perspective,
only the agreement on water can be considered acceptable. The proportion of the world's
population that has no access to clean drinking water—today a total of approximately
1.2 billion people—and to waste water disposal—2.5 billion people--is to be
halved by 20015. A concrete action program was agreed in this regard that aims to prevent
roughly 6,000 people a day dying because they have to drink contaminated or polluted
water. Enormous investments are required to achieve this ambitious target. Germany's
federal ministry for Economic Cooperation and development estimates that such investment
will have a total value of approximately 180 billion euros a year. The US also supported
efforts in this area.
However, the US stood firm when it came to a
concrete timetable for increased use of renewable energy, as demanded especially by the EU
and a number of developing and threshold countries, led by Brazil. There is no timetable
for the Jo'burg action plan: it only contains the nebulous formulation that renewable
energy sources should be "substantially" increased with a sense of urgency. The
EU had called for a 2% increase in the share of renewable energy sources in the
industrialized countries by 2010 and a 1% increase worldwide. Brazil had demanded a global
increase of 10%.
However, the EU and particularly Germany,
which is playing a pioneering role in the use of wind and solar power, did not wish to
simply accept this setback as a result of the "'dinosaur thinking"—as
Germany's Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul described it—of the US and
the OPEC. Within a few days, the EU managed to convince some 100 countries from almost all
continents to participate in a pioneering group. These countries—including among
others, Norway, Brazil, Poland, the Czeck Republic, South Africa, Morocco and New
Zealand—have agreed to lay down ambitious national and, if possible, regional targets
for renewable energy use from which a global target could be developed in the longer term.
Germany also defined two key areas to develop
its pioneering role in climate protection and alternative energy: Schroeder announced two
cooperative projects with developing countries to promote energy efficiency and renewable
energies. They will receive total funding of one billion euros. Additionally, in 2003 the
federal government will be organizing a major international conference on alternative
energies that aim to develop strategies for increasing their use. This initiative follows
on from the much praised Bonn water conference of 2001, which drew up a kind of global
blueprint for sustainable water supply.
A pioneering strategy is the only meaningful
strategy. It has proven its worth in the case of the Kyoto climate protection protocol,
the internationally binding treaty to reduce greenhouse gases. By setting ambitious
national climate protection targets and proving that these are economically viable,
countries like Germany and other EU member states have moved the difficult international
negotiations forward. An appeal goes out from Jo'burg for those countries that have not
yet ratified the protocol to do so. This is also not being resisted by the US, which
declared its non-acceptance of the Kyoto Protocol in spring 2001.
The prospects of Kyoto coming into effect by
the end of 2003 are now good. The world summit in Jo'burg has provided new impetus in this
area. Russia announced that it would rapidly complete ratification. China and Canada also
held out the prospect of their accession to the Convention—a major advance. If the
ingenious mechanisms of the climate protection treaty function as planned, they will also
boost development in the countries of the South. Northern nations can meet part of their
reduction commitments through technical assistance in the South. And many anticipate that
even the "dinosaurs" will then begin to stir.
The author is editor of the technology
section of Frankfurter Rundschau. Text courtesy: Deutschland E4 N5/2002.October. Embassy
of Germany in Kathmandu.
Commentary:
Ethics, A highly rated value
Raphaelle Lucas, French Journalist
Consumers and shareholders in France seem
increasingly aware of the notion of ethics. While some, the majority, are turning to
alternative fair trade systems or joint financing, others are trying to persuade companies
to adopt responsible practices in social and environmental matters—a recent, but
promising, new awareness.
"Citizenship is less and less seen as a
political activity in the strict sense, but as directed towards the economic and social
sphere in order to exercise influence over these new centers of power. Today, to be a
citizen (at least in the industrialized countries) is to be a consumer and/or a
shareholder (99almost..) as much as a voter" considers Anne-Christine Habbard,
Assistant General Secretary of the FIDH—the International Federation of Human Rights'
Leagues. In fact, the French are, with increasing frequency, starting to turn responsible
consumption. Thus, according to a survey by the polling organization, Ipos, in 2000, nine
out of ten people declared themselves prepared tp favor fair trade products and 96% of
them to pay more for the assurance of good social conditions. Another indicator is that at
the time only 9% of the French were aware of fair trade; in 2001, 15% of them were.
Born of the wish to offer the small producers
of the Third World a sustainable means of selling their products at a price that enables
them to support themselves, especially by eliminating the middle-man, fair trade is based
on a system of specialist shops and brands. The producers, working in a co-operative, are
guaranteed minimum prices well above the world rates and the funds are reinvested in
community services—schools, health centers, etc.
Thus in France, though more than ninety
shops, the pioneer association Artisans du Monde sells high quality craft and food
products produced in decent and environmentally friendly working conditions. This scheme
runs alongside an educational program directed at consumers, who are persuaded to may 15%
more for what they buy. While this alternative trade is still marginal in France,
nonetheless its share is growing, especially with the distribution of fair trade products
in the supermarkets, such as the coffees under the Max Havelaar label.
Creating a socially responsible label:;
Anxious to operate within the traditional distribution system, Artisans du Monde, in 1995,
launched the idea of a collective: De Fethique sur l'etiquette—ethics on the
label—which now has fifty-three member associations and syndicates. Its objective?
The creation of a quality label guaranteeing that the products comply with the agreed
standards of the ILO (prohibiting the exploitation of children and forced labor, respect
for the freedom to belong to a trade union, decent conditions of pay, non-discrimination,
etc) at every link in the production and distribution chain. This would then be validated
by independent inspections.
Six campaigns designed to inform consumers
about the manufacturing methods and procedures of a great many items have already been
organized and the idea of a social mark is gaining ground. While in 1995 no store group
targeted by the collective had, according to it, made the slightest commitment, today
fourteen have launched initiatives. The big stores Carrefour, Auchan and Monoprix have
started talks and are experimenting in particular with methods of evaluating working
conditions at some of their suppliers. Similarly, one hundred and thirty-six French
communes are committed to favoring ethical public purchases.
Cleaner finances: In turn, shareholders
recently seem to be increasingly sensitive to ethics and anxious to carry some weight in
the matter; witness the flood of ethical investments, through which funds are invested in
companies quoted on the stock exchange which meet environmental and ethical standards.
Although the amounts of such managed funds remain low in France, the popularity of these
ethical funds is growing: there are now almost fifty of them, which call for more
transparent businesses.
Alongside this, the concept of joint
financing is developing. This, for the investor, is a way of helping the unlisted
companies whose products are also in the general interest. Thus support is given to
projects aimed at the reintegration of people in difficulty or the development of
marginalized areas, the creation of services of benefit to the community, sustainable
development, etc. Brought together within the Finansol community, those involved in this
alternative financing seek to bring together savers and entrepreneurs, workin toghether on
equal terms. "Savers money is channeled to entrepreneurs through joint financial
products", explained Henri Rouille d'Orfeuil, its president, at a symposium organized
by the Center d' Etudes et de Recherches Internationales and the French Ministry of
Foreign Affairs. Thus twenty-seven of them have now been granted the Finansol label.
Thirty thousand savers also have an interest in it; which, in 2000, led to the creation of
six thousand jobs. |
