Rio+20 and the developing world

RIO+20 is the next focus point for the world and as President Mahinda Rajapaksa takes Sri Lanka’s concerns to this international forum, it is perhaps time for a larger discussion on its importance to a developing country as well as the world at large.

Twenty years ago, it was mostly people who were displaced by dams, mines and other projects who complained about development not being sustainable or humane. The United Nations’ Earth Summit, at Rio de Janerio in 1992, forever changed this.

Since then ‘sustainable development’ has been a globally touted goal for governments, corporations and non-profit organisations, according to international reports. The Rio Earth Summit of 1992 became a watershed point for acknowledging that our present model of industrialisation and development is not ecologically viable.

Now thousands of government officials, technical experts and activists are gearing up to review, and quarrel over, how far we still are from the goal of sustainable development. The UN’s once-in-a-decade mega-summit on the environment will take place at Rio, Brazil, from 20 to 22 June. The conference is called Rio+20.

So what does it really mean for countries like Sri Lanka? Undoubtedly, concerns about the environment have come to the centre-stage of public life in the last two decades. In a few areas, damage to the environment has also been addressed. For example, there have been reports that the damage to the ozone layer in the atmosphere has been reduced, partly due to ban of chlorofluorocarbons.

However, the bad news about the environment far outweighs small advances that have been made. Destruction of marine life, loss of agricultural land, reduction of biodiversity and depletion of critical natural resources continues unabated. At the same time it is estimated that one billion of the earth’s people are going hungry – mostly from developing countries.

Above all, climate change due to emissions caused by human activity is still accelerating. Shortly after the 1992 Rio Summit an international panel of scientists had called for measures to reduce emissions, particularly of carbon dioxide. Since then emissions have increased and there is no viable international agreement in sight which could check the accelerating climate crisis.

‘Green Economy,’ the buzz term of Rio+20, has evoked enthusiasm from many business people. ‘Towards a Green Economy: Pathways to Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication,’ a 700 page report by the United Nations Environment Program, is considered to be the base document for the summit. This report has the backing of the World Bank and the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

But many environmental and social activists are sceptical both about this report and the Green Economy approach because of its focus on growth, techno fixes and marketisation of nature. Many activists argue that the key need of our times is a new economic science that respects the limits of the planet and is geared more towards actual human welfare rather than just growth of material consumption.

The challenge before policymakers is how to stop environmental damage while also generating jobs and improving basic nutrition for more than three billion people. Sri Lanka is no stranger to this challenge as post-war development demand puts more pressure to see fast growth with little consideration for its sustainability.

Mega development projects, ad hoc policy measures and inadequate policing and a loopholed legal structure all need immediate attention if the Government is to really take the Rio+20 message seriously.