INF2001 sustainable development and globaliatIon _wiki

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Sus-dev

From Sustainable

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT - HISTORY & CORE CONCEPTS

There are two words about development that have mobilised governments and institutions all over the world;one is sustainable development and the other is globalisation. Both words pretend to define and imposenew and possible ways of social and economic structures at the international level and within a globaleconomic coexistence. The history of these words allow to understand the governmental and institutionalmotivations and intentions from that period as everything that could be deduce from the present and futurecontext of those moments.

In the next pages, are described these two development tendencies, as theoretical and political formsestablished under the influence of different interests and approaches about development. In one hand,sustainable development, supported mainly for the European Union and seeking for some changes in the

traditional economical development. In the other hand, globalisation, defended basically by US and themultinational centres of economical and financial power, whose projects and interests look for internationalmarkets and free trade. In that way, they expect to have a hierarchic and global economical regulation thatallows the continuity of a stable growing.

Its important to highlight that the phrase sustainable development could sound ambiguous and that there arenot parameters to establish what will be the aims of the sustainability processes. In consequence, manyinfluent actors supporting globalization say that sustainable development is, in fact, an integrated part of theglobalization process.

Contents

1 The Club of Rome and The limits of growth2 UN Conference on Human Environment3 The Brundtland Report4 Agenda 21 and the administrative measures of UN5 Sustainable Development Earth Summit - Johannesburg 20026 What is Sustainable Development?7 Sources

The Club of Rome and The limits of growth

At the end of the 60s, the population growth in the peripheries and the environmental problems over manyindustrialised areas in the western countries were a reason for influent actors to discuss about them and theways to find stability and a continuous economical development.

The Club of Rome, in August of 1970, interested to the Technological Institute of Massachusetts to start astudy about the tendencies and interactions of a limited number of factors that threat the global society.

After many months of researching there was a world model ready to analyse a big number of conditions andscenarios by an international group of experts. Therefore, in 1972 the Club of Rome published the first reportcalled The limits of growth. This said that the main problem that our societies were facing was:

the Earth capacity to sustain the needs and ways of living of an always growing population, beyond 1985,considering than the industrialised nations consumed most of the world natural resources in benefit of a very


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-The protection and improvement of the human environment is a fundamental issue, in the national and in theglobal level, and its supposed that the economic development in the entire world will take that issue inaccount, at the level of population and governments.

-The human being transforms what surround him; this transforming capacity can give to all groups of peoplethe benefits of development or cause immeasurable damages to the human kind and its environment.

-Most of the environmental problems in the developing countries are motivated because of underdevelopment.For this, these countries should address their efforts towards development, keeping in mind their priorities andthe need of guard and protect the environment. With this aim also, the industrialised countries should reducethe distance between them and the developing countries. In the industrialised countries, the environmentalproblems are in relationship with industrialisation.

-The natural growing of population sets continuously problems in relation with the environment preservation,and there should be adopted norms and accurate measures to face these problems. At the same time, thehuman beings are the ones that promote social progress, create social richness, develop science andtechnology and with their work, transform continuously the human environment. With the social progress andthe advancements in production, science and technology, the man capacity to improve his environment isincreased.

-Its been reached the moment in history when we all should guide our acts everywhere towards the defenceand making better the human environment for the present and future generations, established within peace andsocial and economic development all over the world.

-To achieve this goal, itll be necessary to mobilise citizens and communities, enterprises and institutions, inall matters, within the responsibilities that concern them and where all participate equitably in the commonlabour.

Between the ecological recommendations, the most relevant are:

-Preservation of natural ecosystems representative samples in the called genetic banks.

-Protection of endangered species, especially the big oceanic cetaceous.

-Maintaining and making better the Earth capacity to produce vital renewable resources.

-Planning of the places where the human being settles, applying urban principles that respect theenvironment.

-Avoid the pollution in all levels, establishing the lists of the most hazardous polluters, as the ones whoseinfluence could be irreversible in the long-term.

-Give place to create a World Programme on Environment, sponsored by United Nations and destined toensure at the international level, the environment protection.

Despite of the opposed criterias for controlling population growth, all the Conference participants subscribedthat the natural growing of population sets continuously problems in relation with the environmentpreservation, and there should be adopted norms and accurate measures to face these problems.

With the world character recognition of the consequences about the ecological system, it is insisted in theneed of a wide collaboration between nations and the adoption of measures by the internationalorganisations, in benefit of all.

Considering the disparity of criteria between the delegates, the Final Statement had to include measuresapplicable to the underdeveloped countries, where:

-It is condemn racial segregation and colonial oppression,

-Its recommended better stability of prime resources prices,

-Its recognised the sovereign right to exploit the natural resources,


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-Its recommended the accelerated development in those regions and the necessary financial and technologicaltransferences to solve the environmental problems borned from the own underdevelopment.

Despite of its limitations, The Stockholm Declaration is an important document of reference about the humandevelopment problem. It recommends simultaneously measures to reduce pollution and the accelerateddevelopment of industries in the Third World countries. However, it doesnt define or go deeper in the factthat industrialisation, precisely, was and is the cause of pollution and of the natural resources exhaustion.

And these issues didnt invalidate the thesis sustained by the poorest countries representatives: the worstpollution is poverty and environmental protection demands to make participants to all members of the humanfamily within the so called quality of life principle.

The Stockholm declaration plus other publications in the next years were getting a better influence on thepublic opinion in the industrialised countries. The consequence was to judge the viability of the continuouseconomical and industrial growing as main target.

In the UN is created the Environmental Programme (UNEP) in Nairobi (Kenya), to basically motivate andinspire the increase of the action level in favour of the environment, arise conscious in all society levels andco-ordinate the governmental and non-governmental organisations work with the UN agencies in all related tothe environment.

In 1982, UNEP called the attention about the environment progressive detriment and the third world situation.Then, in 1983 is created The World Commission for the Environment and Development, under the directionof Gro Harlen Brundtland, chief of the opposite party in Norway.

The Brundtland Report

In 1987 is published the report Our Common Future, known as The Brundtland Report also. Here are putin evidence the environmental problems derived from the industrial and economic development, as the

greenhouse effect and the extinction of species, as other problems of social character like the ones in the thirdworld. The report advised that humanity had two choices: change its life style and the commercial interactionor face an era with unbearable human suffering and ecological degradation.

These new ideas confronted the group of people directing the world economy and their ideal of continuousgrowing; therefore, it was impossible that the renewal intentions in favour of sustainability could obtain anyreal purpose without the support of that influent group. Its within this discussions that appeared a conciliateproposal, which combined the production increase with the respect to the environment. This means, join twoelements incompatibles at first sight, sustainability and development, and then set rules for something thatwill be define as sustainable development.

The Brundtland Commission declared that sustainable development was possible and that should be applied

for a better management of the economy, technology and natural resources, which required some changes inthe goals of the societies.

According to this report, sustainable development means meeting the needs of the present withoutcompromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

In this report also, it is indicated that developed countries, with the 26% of the world population, consume the80% of energy, steel, other world metals and materials, and around 40% of all the food.

The Brundtland Report, revealed by the press to the world, was the beginning for the debate that happenedbetween June 3rd and 15th in 1992, in the UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio deJaneiro, more known as The Earth Summit. This Conference gathered representatives from 179 countries andgave as result The Rio Declaration and the Programme 21 or Agenda 21.

Agenda 21 and the administrative measures of UN


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Agenda 21 should start to run from the moment that the conference documents were signed and be applied bythe governments, development organisms, UN organisations and groups of the independent sector in all theareas where human economical activity has effects on the environment.

The Agendas fundamental worry indicating that humanity was in a decisive moment of its history- was in:

-The present policies, that perpetuate the economical differences between and within the countries,

-Increase poverty, hunger, illnesses and illiteracy in all the world,

-Because the continuous detriment of the ecosystems we depend on to sustain life in the planet.

The fundamental goals of Agenda 21 looked for:

achieve a fair balance between the economical, social and environmental needs of present and futuregenerations, and set the basis for a world association among the developed and developing countries, asamong the governments and the civil society sectors, on the base of the common needs and interestscomprehension.

Within this wide action plan, are analysed different measures to be applied to reach a sustainable balance,which try to harmonise the social, economical and environmental dimensions.

After the Earth Summit it was created the Sustainable Development World Commission, with the purpose ofsupport, encourage and supervise to the governments, the UN organisms and the principal groups about themeasures to be adopted to apply the agreements achieved. This Commission meets annually in New York,presents reports to ECOSOC (Economic and Social Council) and elaborate recommendations to the UNGeneral Assembly. Its work consists in examine the application of the achieved agreements in Rio, givenormative orientation to the Governments and to the representative groups, creating new strategies when isnecessary.

In 1993, at the UN, is created a High Level Consultative Board on Sustainable Development, byrecommendation of the Earth Summit, and in 1995 the Intergovernmental Group on Forests, for thesustainable order of the forests and the application of the agreements on this topic adopted in Rio.

In June of 1997, the Sustainable Development Commission met in New York to examine the accomplishmentof the commitments adopted in Rio, after five years (Rio+5). The results summarised what had happened inthe last five years in a report. This one wasnt encouraging. The conclusions made clear than the situation waspretty similar or even worst to the ones studied as reference for the Rio agreements. This lead to a highpessimism in the International Community, which was accentuated after US didnt want to ratify the KyotoProtocol2.

The activities meant to integrate the environment in the development plans and in the decisions adoptionprocesses at the national level didnt go too far in the next years. Many environmental problems became

worst, as the ozone depletion, the climate change, the increase of waste without recycling, the distributionand existence of drinking water and the degradation of forests. This situation was justified by theindustrialised countries governments, that indicate are in an economical recession, which doesnt allow themto implement the alternative models for development.

The patent pessimism within the International Community has been increased because of US reactions, afterSeptember 11th, 2001, as from that moment this country justifies the use of direct violence through wars andconflicts to end the world terrorism anywhere in the planet.

Sustainable Development Earth Summit -Johannesburg 2002

The result of this summit August 24th to September 4th, 2002- can be summarised in its political declaration


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and its suggested plan to apply it. These documents just re-affirm the commitment in pro of sustainabledevelopment and the will to:

-Build a humanitarian, equal and generous world society,

-Promote at the local, national, regional and world level the economic and social development and theenvironmental protection, interdependent and synergic pillars of sustainable development.

As the major problems to be solved are mentioned:

-The unsustainable standards of production and consume.

-The deep gap that divide human society between poor and rich people.

-The constant detriment of the world environment.

-The economy globalisation.

-The risk that the disparities above become chronic.

Its recommended the Plan of application for the Decisions at Earth Summit to the UN General Assembly.This Plan looks for:

-Poverty eradication.

-Modification of the unsustainable ways of consume and production.

-Protection and management of natural resources.

-Protection and management of the social and economical development.

-Sustainable development in a world towards globalisation.

-Health in sustainable development.

-Promote regional initiatives in: Africa, Latin America and Caribe, Asia and the Pacific, Western Asia and theEuropean Economic Commission.

With no more relevant differences concerning to the ones already set by Agenda 21, in Rio in 1992, is broadthe opinion that the Earth Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg just gave a poor politicaldeclaration and the recommendation of a plan that urge to all developed countries to put in practice thestipulated in Agenda 21.

What is Sustainable Development?The idea of sustainable development has been defined in many ways, but the most familiar definition remainsthat given in the Brundtland report (see above). Another definition, from the Real World member Forum forthe Future, sees sustainable development in this way:

Sustainable development is a dynamic process which enables all people to realise their potential and improvetheir quality of life in ways that simultaneously protect and enhance the Earths life-support system.

The core concepts behind the term that now have wide acceptance say that:

-the environment, globally and locally, must be protected so that the critical life support services it providesare maintained for present and future generations;

-environmental policy and economic policy must be integrated if this is to happen;

-the main goal of economic development should be to create conditions for people to enjoy a better quality oflife, not simply the pursuit of quantitative growth in the economy;


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-the pursuit of sustainable development must include policies to eliminate poverty, in the industrialised anddeveloping worlds alike;

-all parts of society must be involved in decision-making about the measures that will bring about thetransition to sustainable economic and social systems over the coming decades.

Sustainable development is a political process. It requires judgements and trade-offs about what counts as

essential environmental capital and what does not, and how much of the Earth we are prepared to share withother species. Thus, it is full of contested ideas and ethical dilemmas, as well as being concerned withtechniques for assessing our environmental impact and evaluating risks and choices in as objective a way aspossible.

Sustainable Development is about seeing the planet and its people holistically, with a view to the future andeven considering all we have in the present as a legacy we have borrowed from the future generations.

Sources

What is Development? Sectional Development & Integral Development. RODRIGUEZ, Julio Alberto. 3rdversion: 20/05/04 University of Gotemburgo, Sweden

The Real World Coalition. From here to sustainability: Politics in the real world. London, Earthscan, 2001

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INF2001 sustainable development and globaliatIon _wiki