×

Our award-winning reporting has moved

Context provides news and analysis on three of the world’s most critical issues:

climate change, the impact of technology on society, and inclusive economies.

Still Awaiting a Roadmap for Sustainable Development

by Inter Press Service | Inter Press Service
Wednesday, 18 May 2011 09:31 GMT

* Any views expressed in this article are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.

By Portia Crowe UNITED NATIONS, May 18 (IPS) - The road to the crucial Rio+20 conference on greening the world economy next year has hit a setback with the breakdown of the 19th session of the U.N. Commission on Sustainable Development after 10 days of intense negotiations.No decisions were adopted at the session, also known as CSD-19, which ran from May 2-13 in New York and examined consumption and production, transport, chemicals, waste management and mining. It was the last time the commission meets before the June 2012 Rio+20 Conference, which will mark the 20th anniversary of the landmark 1992 Earth Summit in Brazil. Negotiations came to a stalemate when the Arab Group and the Group of 77 developing countries and China rejected the draft outcome document submitted by the session's chair, László Borbély of Romania, in lieu of a negotiated text. The G77-China bloc was concerned about the draft's reference to people living under foreign occupation. They called for the language agreed upon at CSD-17, while Western countries preferred terms agreed upon more recently by the U.N. General Assembly. Another primary concern was the lack of funding available for the new policies under consideration. Despite the stalemate, a recurrent theme throughout the meetings was the urgent need to create an institutional framework for sustainable development. "It is our collective responsibility to ensure that the results of our work here in New York are meaningful on the ground," Borbély said at the opening of the high-level segment. This sentiment was shared by many of the Commission's 53 members. "What we need now is not more speeches, not more text, but more will to commit to the changes that are needed," said Grenada's representative, on behalf of small island nations. India's secretary of environment and forests, Tishya Chatterjee, lamented the CSD's lack of a concrete roadmap for the future. "Rio+20 does not mean Rio 1992 plus 20 years. No, what it means is Rio in June 2012 plus 20 years," he told IPS. Chatterjee had hoped for the adoption of a Ten Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production, or 10YFP, which would be "the only permanent outcome of CSD-19". The 10YFP was initially proposed in Johannesburg in 2002, and was to be negotiated during the 18th and 19th rounds of the Commission. It would provide guidelines for policy implementation and help both consumers and corporate stakeholders move toward sustainability. Switzerland's ambassador for the environment, Franz Perrez, had hoped that a 10YFP would provide some depth to the meetings, which often had "too great a reach to focus on any specific issues". He recalled that when the 10YFP was proposed, some countries were eager to adopt it while others feared it. "They were afraid of a machinery coming in and limiting their freedom to maneuver," he told IPS. Perrez speculated that the concerns put forth by the G77 at this year's conference "may not have been the real reason" for the group's opposition to the document. "The G77 requested several amendments," he said, "but was still not willing to continue to negotiate" when concessions were made. This is not the first time that the G77 has gone head-to-head with developed countries during climate talks. Negotiations were temporarily suspended during the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen when G77 members walked out in protest. At that time, G77-China spokesman Lumumba Di-Aping said the board was "advancing the interests of the developed countries at the expense of the balance of obligations between developing and developed countries." United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Executive Director Achim Steiner had hoped that a 10YFP could lead to a new understanding between developing and developed countries. To him, a 10YFP would be "a step in trying to build trust among nations". "You cannot ask one part of the world... because it is the one that has come to the party later, to pay a higher price in making that transition," he said. "It cannot be that the rich part of the world continues to insist that somehow our boat will sink if you do the same thing as we do, so please find another boat." India's Chatterjee agreed that the 10YFP would help "ride over humps" between the developing and developed world. "Over the 10-year period, it becomes easier to work out any kind of present differences we may have- North-South, et cetera," he told IPS. But he had hoped that the developed nations would take the lead with regard to the 10YFP and avoid imposing new constraints on developing countries. With increasingly frequent impasses at the international level, some are advocating for individual, bottom-up approaches to sustainable development. On Thursday, a panel of experts discussed such opportunities. "When things are agreed at a U.N. level, countries have to take them back and actually implement them, and that doesn't always happen," Sue Riddlestone, executive director of the environmental charity BioRegional, told IPS. She called for the empowerment of individual stakeholders. "Every country needs to have a plan to enable its citizens," she said, "so that's what we'll be calling for at Rio." According to another panelist, Mohan Munasinghe, "We do not need to wait for new technologies, laws or infrastructure." Munasinghe's initiative, the Millennium Consumption Goals, is directed at individuals rather than government bodies, and seeks to address the unsustainable lifestyles of the richest 20th percentile of the world's population. "There are a number of things that we know how to do. We just need to find a framework for all countries to support these actions," said Tariq Bunari, director of the U.N. Division on Sustainable Development. For now, no such framework exists, but Swiss Ambassador Perrez told IPS that internal discussions continue. Some Commission members are exploring the possibility of establishing a 10YFP just with a coalition of willing partners and UNEP. "It is in our power to pursue a development path that takes a more balanced and sustainable approach to the world's resources," said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, looking ahead to Rio+20. "The choice is ours," he said, adding, "We do not have a moment to lose." Find out more about the forces behind climate change - but also about the growing citizen awareness and new climate policies towards sustainable development http://ipsnews.net/climate_change/
-->