report from the delegation to the un conference on
TRANSCRIPT
REPORT FROM THE DELEGATION TO THE UN CONFERENCE ON SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT (RIO+20) 18 -22 JUNE 2012
The view and opinions expressed in this Report are the sole responsibility of the authors. The report is not intended to reflect views of ELSA.
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TABLE OF CONTENT 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 2
2. The delegation ....................................................................................................................... 3
3. The Opening and Closing of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development....... 4
4. The plenary sessions ............................................................................................................. 5
a. Summary of the country statement of Bolivia ............................................................. 5
b. Summary of the country statement of Nepal............................................................... 6
c. Summary of the statement made by NGO’s ................................................................ 7
d. Summary of the statement made by Business & Industry ........................................ 7
5. The side events organized by Major Groups .................................................................... 8
a. Assessing Sustainable Transport in the Context of Green Economy. ..................... 8
b. Proposed Debates: Women and sustainability. ........................................................... 9
c. Latin American Climate Platform. ................................................................................. 9
d. Environmental Fiscal Reforms .................................................................................... 10
e. Mobile Technologies to Improve Health ................................................................... 11
f. Disarmament for Development.................................................................................... 11
6. Side events organized by countries and international organizations ........................... 12
a. UN-System: Together for The Future We WantFejl! Bogmærke er ikke defineret.
b. Renewable energy use in rural isolated communities, Bolivia ................................. 14
c. The way forward to a sustainable future, Germany .................................................. 15
d. Dynamics of Rio: Population, Women and Rights, IPPF and Denmark .............. 15
e. Resilient People, Resilient Planet, UNSG ................................................................... 16
f. Multilateral Co-operation towards Sustainable Development, WTO & UNEP ... 17
7. Tips & Advice ..................................................................................................................... 18
8. Contact Information .......................................................................................................... 19
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1. INTRODUCTION Dear fellow ELSA members and future delegates.
The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, also referred to as the Rio+20 Conference, took place in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil at the end of June 2012 to mark the 20th anniversary of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), in Rio de Janeiro, and the 10th anniversary of the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg.
At the Rio+20 Conference, world leaders, along with thousands of participants from governments, the private sector, NGOs and other groups, came together to shape how we can reduce poverty, advance social equity and ensure environmental protection on an ever more crowded planet to get to the future we want.
It was envisaged as a Conference at the highest possible level, including Heads of State and Government or other representatives and has resulted in a focused political document. The Conference focused on two themes: (a) a green economy in the context of sustainable development poverty eradication; and (b) the institutional framework for sustainable development. During the week of plenary meetings and side events organized by major groups, international organizations and various countries, the delegation consisting of 4 persons from different European countries gained valuable insight in current environmental issues and high-level international diplomacy.
On behalf of the ELSA delegation, I would like to thank the International Board for giving us this opportunity to experience diplomacy and promotion of sustainable development on an international level and also thank the Director for Delegations and Academic Coordinators for Delegation to UN ECOSOC of ELSA International for being available and helpful with preparing the delegation for the Conference. Last but not least, I would like to thank the delegation for their hard work and some amazing days.
This report is meant to give an overview of some of the topics discussed during the Conference and provide future ELSA delegations with additional information which they can use during their preparations and time in Rio de Janeiro. I hope that future delegates will find this information useful and that you enjoy your time in Brazil!
Best regards,
Tahira Sheikh
Head of Delegation
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2. THE DELEGATION Tahira Sheikh, Head of Delegation ([email protected]) I am a 24 year-old law student from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark where I'm specializing in human rights, international humanitarian law and environmental law. Currently I'm doing a semester of Erasmus exchange program in Leiden, The Netherlands. I started my activities in ELSA Copenhagen in 2009, having worked in the fields of S&C and AA. Furthermore, I participated in an ELSA delegation in 2010 where I acted as Head of Delegation at the Human Rights Council in Geneva. And I am very grateful for getting the opportunity to do it again in Rio de Janeiro.
Caroline Strunk ([email protected]) I am a 22 year-old law student from Heidelberg, Germany, where I started my studies in 2009. The last two semesters I spent at the University Paris Panthéon-Sorbonne with the Erasmus-program. I have been an ELSA member since my first week of university and have participated in a lot of ELSA activities during my first two semesters, taking part in a national meeting, helping out at ELSA parties and assisting the AA-team in organizing events and different institutional study visits such as Brussels and Frankfurt. Development and environment protection have been my concerns for a long time so I am very thankful for the opportunity to participate in the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development as part of the ELSA Delegation. Maria Colom Gago ([email protected]) My name is Maria Colom Gago. I am a 20 years old student of Barcelona Authonomus' University. I am studying Law and Business Administration. I started in ELSA in 2010 and currently I am the President of ELSA Barcelona. I joined ELSA because I am an open-minded person and I think that I could improve as jurist and as a person working with students from all over Europe. I felt attracted by the STEP programme and the possibility to become a member of a delegation, because of that I didn't hesitate to become a member of the world biggest Law Students' Association. Nicola Cosentino ([email protected]) I'm 27, have been in ELSA for 5 years now and represented ELSA at the Copenhagen COP15 negotiations for the UNFCCC in 2009. I have a degree from the University of Roma Tre, and an LLM (International Environmental Law) from the University of Nottingham. In Rome currently I work for the firm Watson Farley & Williams in the Rome Office in the administrative law and regulatory sector, advising mainly foreign clients on renewable energy plants project finance, regulatory issues, and of course environmental law matters. It was an amazing experience to be at COP15, and hope to replicate it at the best with all of you.
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3. THE OPENING AND CLOSING OF THE UN
CONFERENCE ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Seventeen-year-old Brittany Trilford, a student from Wellington, New Zealand, addressed Heads of State gathered in Rio de Janeiro at the opening of the Conference UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has called “one of the most important conferences in the history of the United Nations and a once-in-a-generation opportunity to gear the world on sustainable development path.”
During the opening of her three minute speech Brittany started by addressing the leaders, “I stand here with fire in my heart. I’m confused and angry at the state of the world. We are here to solve the problems that we have caused as a collective, to ensure that we have a future.”
In the hope that the high level Conference will make more ambitious commitments than the negotiated text calls for, Brittany said, “We, the next generation, demand change. We demand action so that we have a future and have it guaranteed. We trust that you will, in the next 72 hours, put our interests ahead of all other interests and boldly do the right thing. Please, lead. I want leaders who lead.”
She noted that the Conference marked the 20 year anniversary of the 1992 Earth Summit, in which world leaders made promises that have become, however, not broken but empty: ‘You and your governments have promised to reduce poverty and sustain our environment. You have already promised to combat climate change, ensure clean water and food security. Multi-national corporations have already pledged to respect the environment, green their production, compensate for their pollution. These promises have been made and yet, still, our future is in danger.’
Brittany challenged leaders to strive for solutions that will inspire hope around the world just like Severn Suzuki, known as ‘the girl who silenced the world’ in the 1992. “I am here to fight for my future. That is why I’m here. I would like to end by asking you to consider why you are here and what you can do here. I would like you to ask yourselves: Are you here to save face? Or are you here to save us?”
To emphasize how pressing the matter is and how little time we have left to change the ways of the world, she affirmed, ‘We are all aware that time is ticking and is quickly running out. You have 72 hours to decide the fate of your children, my children, my children’s children. And I start the clock now… tck tck tck.’
In his opening remarks the Secretary General of the UN, Ban Ki Moon said that Rio +20 has given us a unique opportunity to create a new model why we have a common responsibility to act and rise above narrow national interests. He was full of hope and commended those who had come to Rio de Janeiro with a commitment for change which have them the power to transform lives across the Globe. He enthusiastically ended the opening ceremony by saying, ’Let’s make Rio our legacy that our children and future generations can build on!’
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This dramatic start was the beginning of 3 hectic days with jam-packed schedules of workshops, side events and plenary meetings organized by Major Groups, states and international organizations that took place in the Rio Centro in Rio de Janeiro, which was spread out to 5 different venues. The three days ended with the adoption of the political document, the Outcome document whose content there were mixed feelings about.
Nevertheless the closing ceremony of the Conference imbued the participants with a sense of success and hope. The Secretary General proclaimed that the speeches are now over and now the work begin after having renewed the commitment to sustainable development. He believes that the Outcome document provides a firm foundation for social, economic and environmental well-being and it is now our responsibility to build on it. The member states have affirmed the importance of gender empowerment, the right to water and food and the need to address poverty by adopting a 10-year framework on sustainable consumption and production and acknowledged the potential for greening economies. By reaching out to civil society and the private sector nearly 700 commitments worth hundreds of billions of dollars have been publicly announced in Rio de Janeiro by governments, multilateral development banks, the private sector and civil society. They, he said, are part of a growing global movement for change. Keeping the many poor people who remain poor, hungry and vulnerable to easily preventable disease in mind he emphasized that ‘No longer can we afford to recklessly consume scarce resources. No longer can we carelessly pollute fragile ecosystems. No longer can we mortgage our future for our short-term needs.’
He ended the Conference with these words, ‘Earlier this week a youth representative, Ms. Brittany Trilford, reminded us that the clock is ticking, and the future lies in your hands.Rio+20 has given us a solid platform to build on. And it has given us the tools to build with. The work starts now.’
4. THE PLENARY SESSIONS
A. SUMMARY OF THE COUNTRY STATEMENT OF BOLIVIA
The President of the Plurinational state of Bolivia, Evo Morales, strongly criticized green economy. He even claimed the model to be the “new colonialism to subordinate our people”. He does not want the natural sources of life to be merchandised as commodities, “privatizing richness and socializing poverty” as he calls it. In his opinion the model would make the countries of the south pay for the destruction of the environment caused by the capitalism of the north.
One of the central elements in the cosmovisión (world-view) of the indigenous is the Vivir bien (good living), meaning to live in harmony with the Pachamama (Mother Earth) that has a sacred character in the Andean cultures. Evo Morales has organized the World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth in April of 2010 in Cochabamba, and Bolivia was the only country to oppose the outcome of the summit COP 16 in Cancun, Mexico, at the end of that year.
On the other hand, environmental policy is contradictory in the country itself. Morales is recently trying to put forward the
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construction of a highway through the national park and indigenous territory Tipnis in the north-east of the country, but a number of indigenous peoples oppose and agricultural and hydrocarbon exploitation of the until-now forested area is feared.
While Evo Morales was in the plenary, a group of Bolivian farmers in traditional clothing tried to join him to show solidarity, but were stopped by the security.
B. SUMMARY OF THE COUNTRY STATEMENT OF NEPAL
Nepal started out by proclaiming that the world we live in today is more unjust compared to the one we have inherited. Contrary to the much-hyped belief, the profusion in knowledge, revolution in science and technology and mobility in ideas and global capital, though often termed as characteristic features of modern world, have not made significant contributions to making our planet safer and more just than before. It is marked by uneven and unequal access to productive resources that includes natural as well as man-made. A world that is characterized by entrenched inequalities and discrimination, one that continues to defy the universal values of justice, equality and humanity is not sustainable, and it must unequivocally be changed, the Prime Minister of Nepal stated.
When talking about sustainability of the way we live today we must remember the well-known saying that “there is sufficient means to meet all our needs but not enough to fulfill our greed”.
LDCs are naturally a key stakeholder of the Conference. Their concerns and aspirations in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication should get a due priority. More than any other countries, they face the challenges of sustainable development disproportionately. Therefore, the states need to express their commitments based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and their respective capabilities. Those countries which are fortunate enough to have more resources, technological capability and stronger capacity must be at the forefront, assume greater responsibility and take the lead in this process. Equity and inclusive global progress demand that commitment.
The Nepalese Prime Minister emphasized that the outcome of the Rio+20 Conference should provide for additional and predictable financial resources to support the sustainable development efforts of LDCs. The green economy should promote green jobs and enhance their capacity without constraining policy space to pursue a development path in accordance with their own national priorities.
With many mountain peaks including eight of the world’s highest mountains and rich bio-cultural heritage, Nepal is a place with perfect blending of nature and culture. But for the past few years, Nepal has been on the frontline of climate change effects and ranked by some studies as the world’s fourth most climate-vulnerable country. The glacial lake outbursts and recurrent floods are major threats to lives, livelihoods, and infrastructure. As the fate of the billions of people is dependent on mountain ecosystems for water, clean energy, food security, biodiversity and culture, Nepal called for making a global political commitment at Rio to promote sustainable mountain agenda and strengthen institutional and funding mechanisms, and international support and cooperation.
The Prime Minister ended his statement by saying: ‘Let this conference unite us all for saving the Mother Earth and eradicating poverty everywhere. Let us make them mutually reinforcing. Let Rio+20 be a historic conference to initiate a new development paradigm for us all. Let the conference come up with a bold vision and strong framework of action supported by strong means of implementation. Let us not allow this opportunity to slip away because of our short term outlooks and interests.’
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C. SUMMARY OF THE STATEMENT MADE BY NGO’S
The NGO-representative highlighted the importance and influence of the politicians gathered in Rio and expressed his disappointment of the negotiations led so far. NGO’s have created a petition called “The Future We Don’t Want”. They do not support the final document of the Conference because it does not mention planetary boundaries, tipping points, or the Earth’s carrying capacity and lacks concrete goals. NGO’s demand the elimination of harmful subsidies, especially fossil fuel, and e.g. want women’s reproduction health and references to armed conflicts to be part of the document. Therefore the representative demanded the words “in full participation with civil society” to be removed from the final document.
D. SUMMARY OF THE STATEMENT MADE BY BUSINESS & INDUSTRY
At every entry point during these eighteen months of consultation and negotiation, business made the case that the Rio outcome needed to provide key deliverables that would drive the transition to sustainable development. But regardless of the outcomes at Rio, Business will continue innovating, and bringing solutions to market that support inclusive and green growth. Regardless of company size or location, corporate leaders understand how sustainability issues affect the bottom-line. Companies view sustainability issues from both, a risk management perspective, and the increasingly evident benefits and opportunities – particularly associated with green growth and poverty alleviation. In short, the business case for sustainability has strengthened as a response to the deep interdependencies in today‘s globalized world.
Throughout the negotiations, Business and Industry made the case that Governments should promote enabling policy frameworks for inclusive and green growth, with special attention to research, innovation, technology, and investment. Such frameworks will support sustainable economic growth in developed and developing counties. At the global level, business must be included in policy action beyond Rio and looks to the UN to develop substantive and clear channels for engaging with business on sustainable development issues.
Business is a critical player in the introduction, commercialization and dissemination of technology and will form partnerships with governments, academic and civil society organizations to leverage resources
and benefits. Governments should encourage more public‐private partnerships, particularly at the local and city level, to address the critical challenge of sustainable development. The transition towards a green economy is a shared responsibility by all actors in society. No one stakeholder group, whether business and industry, governments or society, can do this on their own.
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5. THE SIDE EVENTS ORGANIZED BY MAJOR GROUPS
A. ASSESSING SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT IN THE CONTEXT OF GREEN ECONOMY
The event was organized to contribute to an increased awareness among the participants in the topic of assessing sustainable transport in the context of green economy as well as a contribution to the formulation and implementation of a monitoring strategy for sustainable transport as called for in the Zero Draft Outcome Document of the Rio+20 Conference.
There were five main presentations during the side event. It started with an introduction to sustainable transport and the green economy followed by a presentation on definitions, indicators and targets of sustainable transport in the context of the Green Economy. Hereafter the audience was presented with two case studies. The first one was from Rio de Janeiro and about measuring the impact of recycling, whereas the other case study was from the Asian Development Bank and on economic analysis of sustainable transport projects. The side event ended with a presentation on institutional structures in support of sustainable urban transport.
The transport sector is of particular relevance to the green economy theme of Rio+20 because of its potential for wide-ranging environmental, economic and social development benefits.
Application of green economy in the transport sector generally involves technological change, including efficiency enhancements, demand management and changes in consumer behavior. In the case of the transport sector, changes in consumer behavior can mean abandoning the use of private cars in favor of public transport or non-motorized transport. Demand management can involve a wide range of options including mobility based urban planning, intelligent transport systems, car sharing and limiting access to private cars through auction or lottery-based vehicle quotas.
The Zero Draft Outcome Document for the Rio+20 speaks about the importance of measuring progress in the implementation of the Green Economy. During the side event a roadmap was proposed that contains indicative goals and timeline for 2012-2015; 2015-2030 and 2030.
The objectives of the side event were as follows:
a. Strengthen the understanding of participants on the contribution of sustainable transport to the Green Economy;
b. Equip participants with better appreciation of indicators that can be used to measure progress in implementation of sustainable transport at the national and local (city) level;
c. Demonstrate the impact of sustainable transport on traditional economic evaluation methodologies of transport policies, programs and projects.
d. Enhance understanding of participants on required institutional strengthening to facilitate and catalyze the implementation of sustainable transport in developing countries.
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B. PROPOSED DEBATES: WOMEN AND SUSTAINABILITY
The side event was to contribute to the wider discussion on gender equality and sustainable development, and call on the Rio+20 outcome document to make strong reference to population dynamics, women and reproductive health. The Side event examined the following debates and how they relate to the The Future We Want Rio+20 Zero draft:
Equitable Development
In order to achieve sustainable and equitable development, women and men must have the same right to decide freely and responsibly the number and spacing of their children. The barriers that have prevented women from being full participants in the economy must be removed to unlock their potential as drivers of sustainable development. It is crucial to agree on prioritizing gender equality, including education, employment, ownership of resources, access to justice, political representation, institutional decision-making, caregiving and household and community management.
Poverty Eradication
Maternal health promotion is essential to breaking the cycle of poverty. Sustainable development is linked to and depends on women’s economic contributions, both formal and informal. We must address the social and economic inequities that continue to affect women and children, who make up the majority of those living in poverty.
Health
Health quality directly affects the ability of individuals in positively influencing sustainable development, and the green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication. A green economy, in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication, should contribute to meeting key goals, in particular the priorities of poverty eradication, food security, sound water management, universal access to modern energy services, sustainable cities, management of oceans and improving resilience and disaster preparedness, as well as public health, human resource development and sustained, inclusive and equitable growth that generates employment, especially for youth. It should be based on the Rio principles, in particular the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, and should be people-centered and inclusive, providing opportunities and benefits for all citizens and all countries.
C. LATIN AMERICAN CLIMATE PLATFORM
This side event was held in Spanish and organized by the Fondacion Futuro Latinoamericano (Latin-American Future Foundation) who has one central goal: To bring attention to the climate change and its effects. The strategy is dialogue and knowledge to create public policies.
National panels on climate change have been created to take positions in international forums, for example the COP meetings. There are biannual studies in ten Latin American countries about the state and quality of public policies about climate change and development. The principal focus is on agriculture. Because this is a multiplicator, it is important in national economies. Furthermore in 2014 there will be a new study, especially on this sector. The results display the most important challenges. Daniel Ryan, a professor in international and environmental law and technical coordinator of the studies, gave a presentation of the results.
There exist ten national reports and one general report. The principal actions of governments in climate change and development are observed. In each country an organization (e.g. foundation) is responsible for the study, but they have a common conceptual frame: To survey the governmental decisions made on climate change, formalized by juridical norms with expressed climate object or relevant effect on
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climate change. There is a big difficulty of accessing the information; there exist no indicators for all countries. Nevertheless the organizations share one common methodology: a series of questions.
An important aspect of the studies is the implementation level, e.g. capital is missing to implement the National Action Plan 2008-2012 in Chile, and there is often a lack of capacity to implement on a sub-national level and contradictions between national and sub-national policy exist. In terms of political support, the climate change in general has a marginalized role, except for in Brazil. Climate policy is reactive instead of active. In some countries, the political importance of climate change altered with a coalition change, as in Salvador and Bolivia. In other cases, such as Chile, the political coalition changed, but climate change policy continued. Political elites do not have defined positions of climate change, and climate policy tends to cross parties and coalitions where positions respond to conjuncture or regional or sector interests.
The strength of institutions, the existence of certain bureaucratic structures allows to keep climate topics and generate capacities. There are initiatives that pretend to position climate agenda in the center but the connection between climate policies and other sector and macroeconomic policies is difficult.
In the example of Bolivia, there are tensions between the agrarian vision and forestall legislation. As a conclusion, there is a strong progress in policies and institutional development but a lack of implementation.
It was criticized that important countries as Mexico and Venezuela and Costa Rica with an interesting climate policy are not part of the studies.
D. ENVIRONMENTAL FISCAL REFORMS
This side event organized by Green Budget Europe highlighted the influence of taxes on consumption patterns and thus on a sustainable lifestyle and presented the previous process in environmental fiscal reforms in Europe. Jaqueline McGlade, from the European Environment Agency pointed out in her speech that material use in Europe is not sustainable because market prices have provided misleading signals for consumption, investment and innovation. Taxes on labor are distortionary, while environmentally-related taxes are not distortionary. Environmental fiscal reforms in Europe are necessary to remove environmentally harmful subsidies, broadening the tax base with an environment-related-base. The problem is that subsidies support excess demand and water use e.g. increases the GDP. The environmental taxes are even lower in 2009 than in 2008.
Aldo Ravazzi Douvan, Vice-President of Green Budget Europe talked about the legislative windows of opportunities in the current situation in Italy. Principles to follow are growth, fiscal consolidation and social fairness. The economic opportunity is the heavy public debt, the political opportunity of the technical government that does not need to be reelected. Knowledge could be provided by the OECD, the UNEP and the Environmental Agency etc.
Tancrède Voituriez, a professor at Science Po, Paris gave a speech on Environmental Fiscal Reforms, A Chinese Perspective. Environmental objectives are on the rise in China, in the 5-year-plan 2011-15 one can find eleven binding environmental or energy targets. One of the difficulties is central or local taxation; there exists no nation-wide law enabling the implementation of an environmental tax.
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Necessary conditions in China are an explicit and stable commitment for environmental protection, non-governmental players in upstream support of the agenda like academics, NGOs and extra foreign funding in the pilot phase and profitability of the sectors after taxation. Foreign fiscal revenues need to be compensated (fiscal neutrality) and revenue shifts across ministries avoided.
Mikael Karlsson from Stockholm summarized that the theoretical basis is clear for the fiscal reform, motives are becoming stronger for taking measures, empirical experience and evidence is growing, but there is a downward trend in the use of environmental taxes. According to Mr. Karlsson the main reasons for this trend is the cost argument and the competitiveness which according to him is not true, though a fiscal reform would mean a loss of subsidies.
E. MOBILE TECHNOLOGIES TO IMPROVE HEALTH
This side event had interesting presentations by following people:
1) Alain B. Labrique: Director Johns Hopkins Global mHealth Initiative & Assistant Professor of International Health / Epidemiology Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Baltimore, Maryland, USA / Department of Community-Public Health Johns Hopkins School of Nursing / Director, Johns Hopkins Bangladesh, Ltd Visiting Professor, Xiamen University, Fujian, China.
2) Madhura Bhat: Deputy Director, .Health Alliance
3) Dayle Kern: Communications Officer, mHealth Alliance, United Nations Foundation.
Mounting interest in the field of mHealth - the provision of health-related services via mobile communications - can be traced to the evolution of several interrelated trends. In many parts of the world, epidemics and a shortage of healthcare workers continue to present grave challenges for governments and health providers. Yet in these same places, the explosive growth of mobile communications over the past decade offers a new hope for the promotion of quality healthcare.
Among those who had previously been left behind by the ‘digital divide’, billions now have access to reliable technology. There is a growing body of evidence that demonstrates the potential of mobile communications to radically improve healthcare services even in some of the most remote and resource-poor environments.
Installing this new method could reduce mortality in countries like Uganda. It has already improved health and clean conditions in some India where poor people have a better access to medicine, health and doctors.
F. DISARMAMENT FOR DEVELOPMENT
This side event was held by the International Peace Bureau and the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute who stated that the topic was not on the agenda of the official Conference.
‘The choice is simple… for the cost of one battle tank, treatment for about 26.000 people suffering from malaria could be provided. For the cost of one aircraft carrier, an area of rainforest about 3 times the size of Costa Rica could be re-planted in the Amazon.’
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Disarmament is a condition for development. The two principal tasks of the UN are international security and promotion of development which means disarmament and development. Military spending has been increasing; in fact there has been a 50 % increase, 1738 billion dollars, in military spending from 2001 to 2010 which is against the working and purpose of Agenda 21 from 1992. The biggest military spenders are US (41 %), China (8 %), Russia (4 %) who should seriously be reconsidering their funding priorities. Especially when taking into consideration that 5 % of the global military spending per year is enough to reach MDGs by 2015.
A representative from Germany stated that there will be no peace, development and prosperity on earth unless we combat the current asymmetrical developments leading to a grossly bipolar world. He stated that it is the increase in the number of conflicts that leads to more food emergencies and not because our Earth cannot sustain us. The entire south Sahara from Senegal to Somalia is on food alert and this is because of armed conflicts and political violence e.g. in Somalia, Uganda and DRC etc. We see a clear link between food prices, social unrest and political instability.
During the side event it was declared that in our bipolar world we see the symptoms in Africa (armed conflicts and famine etc.) but the causes (capitalism and military focus etc.) are in the North. The countries with the biggest military budgets are the ones with the biggest arms trade and are indirectly funding the armed conflicts in e.g. Africa. The panel stated that there was a fallacy in the negotiations on environmental issues because you cannot negotiate with nature. Nature dictates.
There is a need to redefine security since most people link armament with security and it should be the opposite. A scientist from Germany at the end alleged that we need to develop a new economic system to make the countries invest in development rather than armament since our present one is obviously crashing
6. THE SIDE EVENTS ORGANIZED BY COUNTRIES AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
A. UN-SYSTEM: TOGETHER FOR THE FUTURE WE WANT
The side event organized by the UN itself brought together all UN leaders with the aim of demonstrating “the UN system’s capacity to advance greater integration and coherence of the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development in order to redress current imbalances and promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, social justice and environmental protection as mutually supportive goals”.
The moderator commented that during Rio+20 the leaders had shown strong political leadership and a skill to put all opportunities together, that the member states have been optimistic and in good spirit, addressing common challenges. The Rio-document was called a solid foundation to put “all of us” to greater sustainability but also that the conference was not the end but only the beginning of a long
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journey. The extraordinary sense of commitment and the contribution of the civil society with 15000 civil society members present at the summit were praised.
Achim Steiner, head of the United Nations Environmental Program, welcomed the outcome of the Rio Conference which had put the economic part in the center rather than just being the theoretical part. He gave positive examples such as China with growing renewable energy, Costa Rica and Brazil who reduced their CO2 emissions, fossil fuel subsidies that decreased in Ruanda-Urundi. He said there was a need for national policy initiatives and the task of the UN system could only be for countries to learn from one another.
Irina Bokova, director-general of the UNESCO, pointed out the two aspects of sustainable development for her organization: On one side the bridge between the need to move forward to the Millennium Development Goals with a focus on education, especially the quality of education and inclusive education. On the other side an education for sustainable development which could create green jobs.
The World Tourism Organization’s representative explained that with 1 billion travelers per year this business can have devastating effects, that tourism makes an amount of 9% of GDP and is largest transfer of voluntary funds. It is an essential job market with one twelfth of all jobs in tourism, 100 beds leading to 270 jobs and mainly producing women's jobs, entry market jobs and local jobs. He also noted that jobs in that sector were not well-paid and there were a lot of challenges.
Dr. Joan Clos, executive director of UN habitat spoke about the meaning of territory and the challenge of creating good urbanization serving the people because to him “to admire a city means to admire humanity”. Political will and technical capacity in this area were missing, and he demanded national urban policies and on the local level an increase of capacity to plan urban designs.
For Michelle Bachelet, executive director of UN Women the most important aspect was the social protection floor to protect and support peoples. She gave positive examples such as the “bolsa familia” in Brazil that showed that a small amount of GNP can help and examples in Africa with health systems free of charge. She demanded investments in women for gender equity and said that in the discussion of sustainable development inclusiveness in the context of women was missing.
The main task of the World Food Program agency is to supply food in emergencies, but it also tries to build resiliencies to assure that crisis do not occur with every shock. The support is especially given to girls, supplying them with food, so the parents allow them to go to school and thereby preventing girls from having children in an early age.
The Regional Commission Middle East questioned if sustainable development was important for young people. Surveys amongst youths showed that freedom, dignity and social justice are demanded by youths but that there exist differences between Egypt, where the focus is on political freedom, and Liberia and Syria where the youths focus on freedom from suppression and freedom from foreign occupation. The aim of the commission was to change their actions and develop a program to deliver on new demands and to empower youths themselves.
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Dr. Margaret Chan from the World Health Organization emphasized that sustainable development requires healthy population, especially healthy women and access to health for all.
The refugee agency’s commissioner António Guterres made it clear that climate change accelerates other reasons of displacement like natural catastrophes. International law provides no clear protection for refugees, so a legal instrument is missing. He also criticized that although food production increases, 1/7 of the world population is hungry, while 30-40% of the production is lost. An improvement of sustainable production is thus necessary, but also changes on the consumption side must be made, as 1/7 of the world population is overweight.
In his final remarks, Achim Steiner said that the most important and most difficult tasks of the Conference would be to explain to people what happened in Rio.
Mr Sha Zukang, Secretary General of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable development, showed humor during his comment on the Outcome Document to be adopted the afternoon of the same day: “Nobody is happy. No one likes it completely. But we must produce a paper everyone is equally unhappy with.”
The concluding remarks were that the follow up and implementation will be important for the outcome of the conference. The text was called a political commitment to sustainable development and a strong proof of commitment. The engagement of the private sector was enhanced, a 10-years-framework adopted, and a large amount of voluntary commitments made. But for the Conference to be a success the UN system has to implement the paper: ‘Business as usual will not get us to The Future We Want.’
B. RENEWABLE ENERGY USE IN RURAL ISOLATED COMMUNITIES, BOLIVIA
Although the Bolivian representatives never arrived to their own event due to transport problems, this side event allowed an interesting insight in renewable energy use in developing countries. Peter Adelmann, a German professor from Ulm, gave a presentation on photovoltaic energy use.
In the current situation, 1.6 billion people are without access to electric energy and related services. This has a negative influence on education, health care and income, the percentage of people without access is especially low in Africa and India. Kerosene lamps, candles and wood fires are used and radios are run on dry cell batteries. People walk for long distances to charge a cell phone, 3-15 $ per month are spent on access to electricity. Photovoltaic systems are three to four times less expensive, LEDs 15% more efficient and there exist good sustainable batteries nowadays. Small solar systems with costs of 20-100 $ can operate light radios and cell phones. Photovoltaic systems are modular and can be extended, and are affordable and economic.
Mr. Adelmann explained the problems in previous projects of establishing photovoltaic energy systems: Subsidizes are a big problem, when systems for reducing cost are offered. Companies which want to sell such systems cannot survive against such projects. Also there is no infrastructure for maintenance and repair, so subsidized projects are not sustainable. One example of this is a GTZ-project in the 90's: the market grew, but in 1995 the Dutch government gave money for thousands of systems to half the price, so producers went bankrupt. Mr. Adelmann demands not to use public money to fight the private sector. The second problem is the short term projects. A positive example in Bangladesh was given. In a currently planned Bolivian project, training sessions are offered, because there is a lack of private sector. The success key elements are: no subsidies but free market, several suppliers to create
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competition, network of dealers for maintenance and repair, so local capacity, competence and innovation can be developed.
He also talked about Minimum-Electricity-Access: The key elements are Education, Entrepreneurship and Electrification. It is necessary to motivate people to become solar entrepreneurs and build infrastructure. In Bolivia 150-250 entrepreneurs would be needed. Concerning education, a train-of-trainer program with local university is long term stable, but technical and commercial training, micro credits, warehouses and mentorship are needed. Min-E-Access-Projects need organization to host trainings e.g. universities, NGO’s, micro banks for working capital, and manufacturers or importers must be competitive. Donor money is needed to create and fertilize this private sector.
C. THE WAY FORWARD TO A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE, GERMANY
In this side event, the Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety Peter Altmeier explained the success of the German “Energiewende”. The main aspect of the so-called “energy turning point” in Germany was a clear cut decision supported by 80% of the Germans to close all nuclear power by 2020 and not to replace them by traditional fossil energy alone but to transform to renewable energy (wind, water, solar, bio-energy) by 2050. The decision was a basic, decisive moment, and now Germany needs safe energy at low prices. Followig are some of the decisions taken in Germany on sustainability: Renewables have to be subsidized to become competitive, 5 billion € for offshore wind, 44 Gigawatt in the Northern Sea which is half of the energy supply. The capacity of solar energy is about 24 Gigawatt, but it is a fast growing business, so 70 Gigawatt are expected. Investments in electricity highways also have to be made.
The Federal Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development Dirk Niebel said in his speech that development countries can count on the German technology and highlighted the importance of water and food security besides energy as well as the connection between the three aspects. Solutions are for example the reuse of waste water and the ending of subsidies. 2% of GDP is lost because of energy lack. Niebel named three goals:
The first goal is universal access to energy by 2040. There are two million deaths each year, of which 80% are women and children, because of in-house air pollution. The second goal is to double the energy efficiency by 2040. The last goal is to double the share of renewable.
D. DYNAMICS OF RIO: POPULATION, WOMEN AND RIGHTS, IPPF AND DENMARK
IPPF and the Government of Denmark convened a high level discussion to secure political recognition of the importance of the links between population dynamics, human rights and the sustainable development agenda. The side event was to encourage greater collaboration between the BRICS, the G20 and other like-minded partners to ensure the central tenets of the ICPD are included in the next development framework. Recognizing civil society organizations’ critical role in influencing and implementing sustainable development at both the national and global level, collaboration with civil society to advance gender equality and women's rights is envisaged.
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The side event was presented by high level speakers. They were: Mr. Christian Friis Bach, Minister Development Cooperation, Government of Denmark; Ms. Eleonora Menicucci de Oliveria, Minister of Policies for Women Government of Brazil; Ministerial level speaker from the Government of South Africa; Aspen Institute; Tewodros Melesse, Director General IPPF; Chair - Karen Newman, Population and Climate Change Alliance.
In this event the main focus was on the differences in the rights between women and men and how we can achieve a world with equality and the same opportunities for everybody. Despite the major improvements during the last 60 years in this field there are still huge differences in the rights of women in developed and non-developed countries.
The Rio+20 Conference wanted to influence on the post-2015 development framework. Governments and civil society must work together to ensure that Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) are a central component of sustainable development.
Women, men and young people must have the ability to realize their SRHR, access appropriate services and avoid unwanted births. As a result, individuals have more opportunities to break the poverty-cycle and take positive steps towards securing a healthier, more educated, economically productive and sustainable present which will not just benefit current generations, but impact those in the future. This is critical to the Rio+20 themes of the green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication, and the institutional framework for sustainable development.
Protecting and realizing the rights of the most vulnerable and promoting the SRHR of poor and marginalized groups must be a cornerstone of efforts to support adaptation to change and seize development opportunities. Intensified efforts to improve sexual and reproductive rights, including rights-based voluntary family planning, should in helping reduce vulnerability be a vital component in supporting countries and communities adapt and respond to climate change. The ability of women to control their own fertility and realize their sexual and reproductive health and rights are fundamental to and inseparable from efforts to promote better health, gender equity, economic and political opportunity and sustainable growth, all of which will better equip countries and communities to cope with and respond to the challenges posed by climate change and contribute to sustainable development.
E. RESILIENT PEOPLE, RESILIENT PLANET, UNSG:
This high-level panel was set up by the Secretary General of the United Nations and a lot of input, 56 recommendations, from the panel is reflected in the final Outcome document.
Tarja Halonen, The President of Finland started out by saying that the inclusion of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in their report was a success since the reduction of poverty and environmental issues go hand in hand. A Senior Advisor to the President of Nigeria supplemented that SDGs are interconnected with the Millineum Development Goals (MDGs) and need to be implemented in a way that takes both in account.
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Jim Garsili from the business sector emphasized the role of the private sector that needs to see the benefits of a new more collaborative paradigm for growth. When there is financial instability in states, the focus on SDGs are omitted why the financial sectors needs to be mobilized e.g. via microcredits and the focus on countries’ GDP must be challenged in a way that measurements on environmental sustainability are incorporated.
Gro Harlem Brundtland, who was the leader of the Brundtland Commission and developed the broad political concept of sustainable development in 1987, emphasized the role of women and youth. She believes that population growth can be dealt with through the
empowerment of women. Thus, there needs to be a stronger focus on the access to education, income and reproductive services and access to family planning to change the patterns of human consumption. Even though she acknowledges that the Outcome document refers to the importance of women in economy from a sustainable development perspective she admits that it is a backlash that reproductive rights are not mentioned in precise words.
Jacob Zuma, the President of South Africa said that the panel had a daunting task, to formulate a new vision and possibilities for realizing it. To eradicate poverty and reduce inequalities and to make sustainable choices by strengthening institutional structures will improve livelihoods. He stated that developing countries needs to be assisted in their quest to develop in a sustainable manner.
Freundel Stuart, the Prime Minister of Barbados focused on oceans governance and blue economy issues. He declared that global sustainability cannot be achieved without having productive oceans i.e. blue economy. Existing commitments already capture what needs to be gone so focus should be on implementation which will only succeed if measures are enabled on an international level and a multi-stakeholder initiative.
Sir Richard Branson who was not part of the panel was given an opportunity to speak. He acknowledged that business had not played a its part in sustaining the environment the past 20 years why he urged the government to get rid of fossil fuel industries and welcome the green revolution which in the end would save money and better the lives of the citizens.
F. MULTILATERAL CO-OPERATION TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, WTO
& UNEP
What is the role of the multi-lateral system in empowering green economy? What can the multilateral organizations do to redefine and create new systems modeled after green economy? Can green growth lead to increased jobs and what is the role of trade in this regard? These were some of the questions discussed during the side event organized by WTO.
The food crisis was the first time the whole of the UN system came together to deal with it since many turned to the multilateral system for help but it is developed and designed for a different time and a different era. The panel agreed that we need to find new paradigms, green growth being one of them. Director of ILO said that the ILO has been in the forefront of pushing the idea of green economy. Green investment is a good idea in terms of job creation and an opportunity for decent work and social inclusion. Since 1 of 3 persons in the world is a farmer the efforts should be concentrated around the
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poor class and so-called small holder farming investment. Furthermore, buffering and stabilizing the national economy and strengthen the social protection systems will make poor people advance in life.
Driving the trade agenda in an eco-friendly manner is possible by facilitating access to medicine through a proper regulatory IP environment. Bu there is a lack of political energy which can only be dealt with through the pressure from civil society. Achim Steiner, the Executive Director of UNEP said, ‘Push your governments. They are accountable to you more than they are accountable to each other.’ He said that we are at a point where the economic paradigm is at an end which is clear from the unemployment crisis, the food crisis and the climate change crisis. Furthermore the global governance has shown ill-equipped to handle the financial crisis after the collapse of the Lehmann Brothers.
Alternative solutions from the audience were suggested, such as internalizing our pricing and trading system so we do not go bankrupt as a planet and natural financing/accounting and making it an international crime against peace to destroy the nature. Furthermore it was suggested to give students press status to involve us more in the discussions and to remove the tariffs on coffee, tea etc. to make trade more sustainable and invest in small holder farming. The need for democratic legitimacy in the global governance arena was also touched upon as well as the role of speculation in disturbing price market.
The panel discussion ended by an emphasis that governments must reflect social choices, put them into a regulatory framework and not rely on the free market. Local governance is more efficient than global governance because it is more legitimatized.
7. TIPS AND ADVICE TO FUTURE DELEGATIONS
The delegation has following tips and advice to future delegations who may participate in Conferences about sustainable development and environmental protection.
- Take as many notes as you can since it will ease your work when making the Report. - Pay attention during the meetings and avoid surfing on the web unless it is related with the
theme of the meeting. - Approach the panel participants and ask for further information if needed. Have your business
card ready. - Follow updates and news on official and other websites. - Meet your delegation before the start of the conference and plan out the days.
Furthermore we would suggest future delegates to choose their side events carefully in advance. There is so much going on at the Conferences that you can easily miss something important. If ELSA International is not providing you with a theme that you should focus on, it might be helpful to choose a certain topic for yourself you want to learn about and then choose side events.
Furthermore, here is some advice in regards to the non-academic part of your travel.
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- Get inform about the customs and traditions in the country you are going to travel. - Prior and post travelling you should get a health revision. - Take a couple of extra days to experience the vibrant city and socialize with the other delegates. - Use your ELSA contacts to find a cheap place to stay
We wish you a safe trip and a fantastic experience!
8. CONTACT INFORMATION
Below you can find the contact information for the delegation as a whole:
Group Email: [email protected]
Also see ‘The delegation’ for individual email addresses.