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Mercy Global Concern - 2002
The World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD)
Johannesburg, South Africa ~ 26 August - 4 September 2002
Introduction
Six (6) Sisters of Mercy will participate in this important international
Summit, scheduled to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the
so-called 'Earth Summit' of 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. As
mentioned in an earlier MGC announcement, the Rio conference generated
a comprehensive programme, known as Agenda 21, to address what
were perceived to be the critical issues at that time for'sustainable
development'. The concept of development points to the goal of
a decent quality of life - social and economic - for all in the
global community, and sustainability to the intrinsic relationship
of environmental concerns to this goal.
From this perspective, participation in the Summit reflects the
ongoing challenge to those committed to a better world for all
to find the essential convergence between promotion of ecological
concerns and engagement in social justice. As a representative
of Friends of the Earth admitted recently, 'For the past 10 years
we've been involving ourselves more in the bigger economic debate...
Talking about rainforests led us into talking about third world
debt. Talking about climate change led us to talk about transnational
corporations.' (The Guardian Weekly, August 1-7 2002 p.21)
The Sisters of Mercy who will be among the more than 50,000 participants expected
at the Summit and various parallel events will be Mary Tinney (Australia), Angela
Hartigan (Kenya), Julieta Hayrosa (Philippines), Mary Bilderback and Jackie
Moreau (USA), and Wendy Flannery (MGC). These briefing notes, as well as providing
background information about the overall WSSD process and pointers to other
good sources, are intended as a framework and focus for those who wish to participate
in the Summit experience and its follow-up in other ways.
What on Earth is the situation?
A July 22 UN Press Release speaks of 'an alarming deterioration
in the earth's vital life-supporting ecosystems'. It goes on to
say that the Summit 'offers and historic opportunity to confront
serious and growing threats to human well-being: a third of the
world's people live on an income of less than two dollars a day,
use of fossil fuels is rising rapidly, patterns of production
and consumption continue to eat up natural resources faster than
they can be replenished, three-quarters of the world's fisheries
are fished to their sustainable limits or beyond, mountain glaciers
are slowly melting away and the world's forests have shrunk in
the last decade by an area larger than Venezuela. These trends
can be reversed, but decisive action is needed. While action is
expensive, the cost of doing nothing is even higher.'
Launched during the final Preparatory Committee meeting (PrepCom)
for the WSSD, the UN Environment Programme's (UNEP's) Global Environmental
Outlook (GEO) 3, charts the environmental degradation during the
30 years since the first world environment conference in Stockholm
in 1972, and envisages how the world might look by 2032. If the
present rate of environmental abuse continues, the likely scenario
is destruction of 70% of the natural world, mass extinction of
species, and the collapse of human society in many countries.
Land degradation, freshwater shortage, loss of biodiversity and
marine pollution are already at a critical stage.
The possibility of a more positive scenario is linked, according
to the report, to change in two very dangerous current trends.
One is the huge emphasis in rich 'Western' countries on an economic
model based on 'market forces' with predominant underlying values
of short-term gain and greed. The other is the increasing dominance
of security considerations, with prospects of a world even more
starkly split into rich and poor, and those in rich enclaves barricading
themselves from those seeking escape from desperate circumstances.
(For more about GEO 3 see www.unep.org
See also UNEP's Millennium Ecosystem Assessment project [Doc1])
The Summit process
Since Rio, the UN Commission on Sustainable Development has been
responsible for promoting systematic and systemic follow-up of
Agenda 21. During each of its annual meetings and in the preparatory
meetings (PrepComs) for the WSSD, It has worked according to a
unique participatory process which took shape during the Rio Earth
Summit. Key to the process was the recognition that, in addition
to governments, many other'stakeholders' were key to the promotion
of sustainable development and the implementation of Agenda 21.
Nine other so-called Major Groups of'stakeholders' have had the
opportunity for a formal voice in the official process: youth,
women, local authorities, Indigenous people, NGOs, business &
industry, workers & trade unions, farmers, and the scientific
& technological communities.
The aim of the process has been to assess the progress made since
Rio and the obstacles towards the implementation of the commitments
made ten years ago. While some advances have been made, the situation
in others has become more critical. Many commitments made at Rio
remain unfulfilled, even as new responses are needed to address
the new challenges. From the start, the negotiating process about
the Summit outcomes has reflected differences and competing interests
regarding the use and sharing of resources. The so-called G77
(now 134) group of developing countries have insisted that poverty
eradication is their major concern. They point out that very little
has been forthcoming since Rio in terms of the financial and technological
resources promised by the developed countries to help the developing
countries integrate environmental concerns into their development
policies and programmes.
Some rich country governments have gained a reputation in the negotiating process
for blocking any agreements perceived to impinge unduly upon 'lifestyle'
or corporate interests, challenge the current model of corporate-driven,
economic globalisation, or set implementation targets and timetables.
The economic interests of the OPEC group have also been a significant
factor, and a particular cause of frustration on the part of Small
Island Developing States. By the end of the final PrepCom, participants
from several of the major groups - NGOs, women, youth, Indigenous
people and workers - had begun to use the term 'Rio minus10',
indicating their concern that advances made in Rio might even
be turned backwards. (See SDIN NGO Press Release [Doc 2] and We
the People Campaign [Doc 3]).
The Johannesburg event and outcomes
Part of the official process will involve dialogues around five
key areas of focus identified a few months ago by the UN Secretary
General, Kofi Annan, as requiring strong commitments and agreement
on practical implementation strategies at the Summit. Referred
to under the acronym WEHAB, they are: Water (and sanitation),
energy, health, agriculture and biodiversity/ecosystem protection.
More than 100 Heads of State or Government are expected for the
high-level segment in the second week.
Two documents will emerge: an 'implementation document', detailing
consensus agreements on the priorities and actions that countries
and the international community will pursue after the Summit;
and a short Political Declaration, to be agreed by world leaders,
which will provide the vision and political impetus for action.
Still to be resolved in the former are a number of contentious
issues concerning trade and finance, globalization, setting targets
and timetables, and differences over the interpretation of principles
adopted at the Earth Summit, especially the principles of 'common
but differentiated responsibilities' and 'polluter pays'.
The Summit will also serve as a platform for the launch of new
partnership initiatives, by and between governments, non-governmental
organisations, other civil society groups and businesses, to tackle
specific problems and achieve measurable results. One concern
of some'stakeholder' groups - and some governments - is that
the emphasis on showcasing such partnerships, especially where
business and industry are involved, will distract from the essential
responsibility of governments to come up with a substantive implementation
plan. What is needed above all, they claim, is commitment to a
new partnership at the political level between countries of the
global North and global South. The credibility of all other partnerships
revolves around this.
All the Major Groups of'stakeholders' will be present in large
numbers at the Summit and many will stage or be involved in parallel
events such as the Global People's Forum. As well as seeking to
influence the final stages of the official negotiating process,
many groups will be using the opportunity for stronger networking
around effective civil society initiatives already underway to
address the issues of the Summit. (For a sample parallel process
see Women's Action Tent program [Doc 4])
During the period of the Summit, there will be a special Treaty
Event at the UN headquarters in New York. It's purpose is to provide
a special opportunity for States to reaffirm their commitment
to the international legal framework, particularly by signing
or ratifying multilateral treaties related to sustainable development.
Information about the relevant treaties and their current status
is available at www.untreaty.un.org
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