Topic 4

PROTOCOLS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: A BACKGROUND

Critique of traditional development

– Contributing to health problems, ecological degradation, poverty and social injustice

– Undermining ecological, social and economic capital of communities

Sustainable Development as remedy.

CHERNOBYL DISASTER

The Chernobyl disaster was a catastrophic nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine (then officially the Ukrainian SSR), which was under the direct jurisdiction of the central authorities of the Soviet Union. An explosion and fire released large quantities of radioactive particles into the atmosphere, which spread over much of the western USSR and Europe.

The Chernobyl disaster was the worst nuclear power plant accident in history in terms of cost and casualties and is one of only two classified as a level 7 event (the maximum classification) on the International Nuclear Event Scale (the other being the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in 2011).

The battle to contain the contamination and avert a greater catastrophe ultimately involved over 500,000 workers and cost an estimated 18 billion rubles (18 billion $USD) .During the accident itself, 31 people died, and long-term effects such as cancers and deformities are still being accounted for.

THE LEGACY

POS DIPANG TRAGEDY

Kampung Pos Dipang in Kampar, Perak was one of the first Orang Asli villages to be destroyed by a disaster in Malaysia. A mudslide due to a heavy rain gushed away the whole village on August 29 1996 about 6pm. The Orang Asli village was situated next to Sungai Dipang. A nearby Chinese village also got affected by the mudslide. The incident snatched away 44 lives but only 39 remains were found, the other 5 are still missing. The disaster is believed to be contributed by the logging activities nearby. True enough, when i went there, a huge area of the jungle were cleared. A lot of trees were chopped and ready to be transport out.

Each year the world's taxpayers provide an estimated $700 billion of subsidies for environmentally destructive

activities, such as fossil fuel burning, overpumping aquifers, clearcutting forests, and overfishing.

1972 Stockholm Conference (Eco-development)

1987 Brundtland Commission (our Common Future)

1992 (June) UN Conference on Environment & Development (Agenda 21)

1992 (Dec.) UN Commission on Sustainable Development

1992 + National Sustainable Development Action Plans

1997 UNCSD Reviews Progress on Agenda 21

1997 (Dec.) Kyoto Protocol to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change

WHAT IS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT?

“Development that meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of

future generations to develop.”

(Our Common Future published by the UN World Commission on Environment and Development).

STOCKHOLM CONFERENCE (ECO-DEVELOPMENT) 1972

• The first United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (UNCHE) was held in Stockholm, Sweden from June 5 to June 16, 1972.

• Representatives from 113 countries were present, as well as representatives from many international non-governmental organizations, intergovernmental organizations, and many other specialized agencies.

• This was the first United Nations conference on the environment as well as the first major international gathering focused on human activities in relationship to the environment, and it laid the foundation for environmental action at an international level.

• The conference acknowledged that the goal of reducing human impact on the environment would require extensive international cooperation, as many of the problems affecting the environment are global in nature.

• The UNCHE emphasized that defending and improving the environment must become a goal to be pursued by all countries.

• The Stockholm Declaration and Action Plan defined principles for the preservation and enhancement of the natural environment, and highlighted the need to support people in this process.

• The Conference indicated that “industrialized” environmental problems, such as habitat degradation, toxicity and acid rain , were not necessarily relevant issues for all countries.

• In particular, development strategies were not meeting the needs of the poorest countries and communities.

• Some of the specific issues addressed was the role which industrialized countries should have in the process of protecting the environment, stating that industrial countries should help to close the gap between them and underdeveloped countries while keeping their own priorities and the protection and improvement of the environment in mind.

• The conference developed a long set of recommendations to act as goals to pursue its mission.

• Recommendations included that governments communicate about environmental issues that have international implications (such as air pollution), that governments give attention to the training of those who plan, develop, and manage settlement areas, and that agencies work together to address many issues, such as access to clean water and population growth.

• However, it was the pending environmental problems that dominated the meeting and led to wider public environmental awareness.

BRUNDTLAND COMMISION (OUR COMMON FUTURE) 1987

• In 1987, the World Commission on Environment and Development (chaired by G.Harlem Brundtland) released its report The Brundtland Report, also known as Our Common Future. A Global Agenda For Change.

• The Report alerted the world to the urgency of making progress toward economic development that could be sustained without depleting natural resources or harming the environment.

• The Report provided a key statement on sustainable development, defining it as ….development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

• The Brundtland Report marks a point in our history when awareness was growing around both the concept of environment and the concept of development. But even today – 20 years later, tensions, controversies, and gridlocks between development and environment still exist. They will continue unless we really respect the notion of sustainability.

• The challenge of meeting the needs of present generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs was moulded by the Commission into the concept of sustainable development. 20 years ago, this was totally new.

UN Conference on Environment & Development (Agenda 21)

• Twenty years after the Stockholm Conference, the UN Conference on Environment and Development was held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992.

• The Rio Summit, as it is known, adopted Agenda 21 - an action programme for the 21st century.

• The Summit also gave international recognition to the principle that all development has to be sustainable, which means that economic, social and environmental factors have to be taken into account when decisions are made.

• Agenda 21 is a 300-page document divided into 40 chapters that have been grouped into 4 sections:

– Section I: Social and Economic Dimensions is directed toward combating poverty, especially in developing countries, changing consumption patterns, promoting health, achieving a more sustainable population, and sustainable settlement in decision making.

– Section II: Conservation and Management of Resources for Development Includes atmospheric protection, combating deforestation, protecting fragile environments, conservation of biological diversity (biodiversity), control of pollution and the management of biotechnology, and radioactive wastes.

– Section III: Strengthening the Role of Major Groups includes the roles of children and youth, women, NGOs, local authorities, business and industry, and workers; and strengthening the role of indigenous peoples, their communities, and farmers.

– Section IV: Means of Implementation: implementation includes science, technology transfer, education, international institutions and financial mechanisms.

• The implementation of Agenda 21 was intended to involve action at international, national, regional and local levels.

• Some national and state governments have legislated or advised that local authorities take steps to implement the plan locally, as recommended in Chapter 28 of the document.

• These programs are often known as "Local Agenda 21" or "LA21". For example, in the Philippines, the plan is "Philippines Agenda 21" (PA21).

• The group, ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability, formed in 1990; today its members come from over 1,000 cities, towns, and counties in 88 countries and is widely regarded as a paragon of Agenda 21 implementation.

• In other countries, opposition to Agenda 21's ideas has surfaced to varied extents. In some cases, opposition has been legislated into several States limiting or forbidding the participation and/or funding of local government activities that support Agenda 21.

• Europe turned out to be the continent where LA21 was best accepted and most implemented.

• In Sweden, for example, all local governments have implemented a Local Agenda 21 initiative.