The Third Annual Conference of SWAN (South Asia Women’s Network), which was dedicated to the theme of “Women of South Asia and the Green Economy” took place in Dhaka, Bangladesh on July 2 and 3, 2011 with participants from nine South Asian countries : Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
At the end of the Conference, a DHAKA DECLARATION: SWAN (South Asia Women's Network)’s Positions on an emerging Green Economy was released. In relation to Green economy, this Declaration notes among others that:
A Green Economy should be an economic system that ensures social justice and equity, protects the ecological balance and creates economic sufficiency. Such a Green Economy should replace the current economic order, which is based on inequity, environmental destruction and greed, which has resulted in keeping nearly half the world’s population in poverty, and has brought the planet to the point of a severe environmental catastrophe through climate change. The core idea of a Green Economy must be poverty alleviation, environmental sustainability through maintaining biodiversity, and the well-being of all the people.
As SWANs, we embrace such a Green Economy. We commit ourselves to raising our collective voices for it. We will transcend the fragmenting boundaries that attempt to divide us, and will unify our energies to create a better world for all.
Our local economies have always been in harmony with nature. We have used resources prudently, and shared them equitably. SWAN believes that agriculturists and craftspeople around the world have always worked in tandem with the seasons and in harmony with nature. A craftswoman carries with her the wisdom of generations that did not pillage the planet for profit. She has a deep commitment towards nurturing the natural world for sustaining livelihoods. The only raw materials needed to keep
millions employed is a thriving green environment with rich forests, wild grasses, clean waters, and unravaged hillsides. The dignity and creativity of hand-work greatly contributes towards sound rural economies. This work of women across the South Asian region must be acknowledged by all those who wish to build an inclusive and truly integrated, ecologically balanced world.
Today, those who have created the ecological crisis talk of the Green Economy. For them, the Green Economy means appropriating the remaining resources of the planet for profit — from seed and biodiversity to land and water as well as our skills, such as the environmental services we provide.
For us, the privatization and commodification of nature, her species, her ecosystems, and her ecosystem services cannot be part of a Green Economy, for such an approach cannot take into account our traditions. The resources of the Earth are for the welfare of all, not the profits of a few.
Sharing our vital resources equitably and using them sustainably for livelihoods and basic needs is at the heart of our concept of a Green Economy. Our rich knowledge of biodiversity, our ecologically sustainable agriculture, and our crafts techniques are free of fossil fuels and toxics. They generate creative and dignified livelihoods and they provide the basis for poverty alleviation.
We stand committed to strengthening these life-giving traditions. It is of vital importance to spread awareness about these issues through the media and through the educational process, which reaches out to youth and children. Awareness about the Green Economy and the significance of its diverse impacts is essential in order to enable all segments of society to make informed choices. Recognizing the changing face of the media, SWAN encourages the use of new media, including social networking tools, to reach out and support the women of South Asia in their struggle to
meet the challenges of ensuring the Green Economy for sustainable development.
Our Green Economies are diverse and decentralized and therefore are a path of empowerment for all. Women are the storehouse of knowledge and provide the cultural base to create and build economies that increase wellbeing and happiness, joy and beauty, sustainability and equity. It is from our region of South Asia that the concept of Gross National Happiness has spread worldwide. We will deepen this
concept and make it the basis of the Green Economy.
We stand committed to peace in our region and to strengthening these life-giving traditions. We commit ourselves to defending the ecological integrity of our region — our mountains and rivers, our land and oceans, our natural forests, biodiversity and seeds. We commit ourselves to creating prosperity and peace through the Green Economy that protects and enriches our natural and cultural heritage. We commit ourselves to resisting those irresponsible policies and armed conflicts that directly harm women
and children. We commit ourselves to equity and to defending vital resources, like forests, seed and biodiversity, rivers and water, as a commons. We recognize that the Green Economy we envisage will greatly facilitate and strengthen women’s empowerment in South Asia and in other parts of the world.
We commit ourselves to working together to show that a better world is possible. We commit ourselves to making our voices heard at all important regional and multilateral forums where these issues are being discussed.
Read the full DHAKA DECLARATION: SWAN (South Asia Women's Network)’s Positions on an emerging Green Economy, here
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Rio+20 Briefing #2: Forests and the green economy (by ICTSD, July 2011)
Forests naturally embody the ideal characteristics of a green economy: low carbon, resource efficient, and socially inclusive. They also offer exceptional opportunities for green employment with jobs that can reduce consumption of energy and raw materials, avoid greenhouse gas emissions, and minimise waste and pollution while protecting and restoring ecosystems. In order to be brought to fruition, these natural characteristics of forests require proper governance.
The UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) will have the opportunity to draft a framework of forest governance schemes with the context of the global initiative to transition to a green economy. Products and services from forests not only constitute a significant portion of the global economy but they are also tools that can instigate sustainable development within the context of a green economy. Forest management, meanwhile, adds to production and services by bolstering the green job market. Reports produced by UNEP, UNECE - in cooperation with the FAO, and the Pardee Center all make the case that forests must play a major role in transitioning to a more sustainable economic system.
Mounting pressures on forests
World forest cover continues to shrink by 13 million hectares a year. With the world’s population expected to hit 9 billion by 2050 and consumption per capita on the rise, the pressure to tear down forests for urban construction and agricultural use will undoubtedly intensify. The competition in developing countries over use of agricultural land for food production or for biofuel cultivation will put forests at even greater risk. Coupled with the destructive effects of climate change on land, such as desertification in Africa and land erosion in costal nations, forests worldwide are increasingly under threat. The global economic downturn, multiple financial crises, and competition over use of dwindling natural resources are also major factors accelerating deforestation.
The fact that forests are influenced by everything from population and development to climate change and economics, is evidence of how interweaved forests are into the web of global society. Therefore, if forests can be impacted by various factors occurring in the world today, one can imply that the reverse is also true.
UNEP, in their Green Economy Report, advocate for the international community to take on a role that strengthens forest-related governance by creating, implementing, and supporting transparency mechanisms. According the report, the best opportunity the international community has to both address poor forest management and to raise funds to protect forests is by passing the enhanced UN Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) scheme. The REDD+ scheme would offer monetary and competitiveness incentives for actors in the forestry sector to embrace a paradigm shift to a more sustainable forest value chain, the UNEP report finds.
But some critics argue that a “greening” of the forestry sector is inherently impossible because products produced from forests automatically represent ecological damage to the forest itself. This argument hinges on the concept that standing forests could never be properly assessed for their value to society. But stakeholder consultations have already led to a better realisation of the private and social benefits of forests, according to UNEP.
Read this full article from The International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development
The UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) will have the opportunity to draft a framework of forest governance schemes with the context of the global initiative to transition to a green economy. Products and services from forests not only constitute a significant portion of the global economy but they are also tools that can instigate sustainable development within the context of a green economy. Forest management, meanwhile, adds to production and services by bolstering the green job market. Reports produced by UNEP, UNECE - in cooperation with the FAO, and the Pardee Center all make the case that forests must play a major role in transitioning to a more sustainable economic system.
Mounting pressures on forests
World forest cover continues to shrink by 13 million hectares a year. With the world’s population expected to hit 9 billion by 2050 and consumption per capita on the rise, the pressure to tear down forests for urban construction and agricultural use will undoubtedly intensify. The competition in developing countries over use of agricultural land for food production or for biofuel cultivation will put forests at even greater risk. Coupled with the destructive effects of climate change on land, such as desertification in Africa and land erosion in costal nations, forests worldwide are increasingly under threat. The global economic downturn, multiple financial crises, and competition over use of dwindling natural resources are also major factors accelerating deforestation.
The fact that forests are influenced by everything from population and development to climate change and economics, is evidence of how interweaved forests are into the web of global society. Therefore, if forests can be impacted by various factors occurring in the world today, one can imply that the reverse is also true.
UNEP, in their Green Economy Report, advocate for the international community to take on a role that strengthens forest-related governance by creating, implementing, and supporting transparency mechanisms. According the report, the best opportunity the international community has to both address poor forest management and to raise funds to protect forests is by passing the enhanced UN Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) scheme. The REDD+ scheme would offer monetary and competitiveness incentives for actors in the forestry sector to embrace a paradigm shift to a more sustainable forest value chain, the UNEP report finds.
But some critics argue that a “greening” of the forestry sector is inherently impossible because products produced from forests automatically represent ecological damage to the forest itself. This argument hinges on the concept that standing forests could never be properly assessed for their value to society. But stakeholder consultations have already led to a better realisation of the private and social benefits of forests, according to UNEP.
Read this full article from The International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Guyana: Jagdeo upset about non-release of Norway Climate funds
President Bharrat Jagdeo continues to fret about the non-release of the Norway climate funds, and has decided to push ahead with the project to give Amerindians electricity using funds from the treasury.
The solar panel project, which President Jagdeo yesterday said would cost US$2.5 million, was expected to be financed through the five-year forest-saving deal with Norway.
Under the agreement with Norway, the funds are channeled through a World Bank account, with the Inter-American Development Bank being a partner entity. So far, US$70M has been deposited into the account, but not a cent has reached Guyana.
The head of state said that it has been a “nightmare” to unlock the funds from the World Bank. The “tools” being used by the banks do not allow for easy disbursement, he added.
According to Jagdeo, a committee has been set up to see how the World Bank is managing the so-called Guyana REDD Investment Fund.
The World Bank and the IDB are treating the money as grant financing, and “grants come in dribbles” and a lot of the money goes back to pay consultants, etc, President Jagdeo said.
“This is our money that we earned,” he declared. “It’s not the World Bank’s money; it is not the IDB’s money,” he added.
Jagdeo jumped ahead of suggestions that trying to change the way the World Bank has decided to manage the Norway funds is intended to compromise on accountability or environmental and social safeguards.
He said that the Guyana Government wants the highest standards of accountability.
But while that is so, he said that the money is still Guyana’s money at the end of the day.
“They (the World Bank and the IDB) want to treat it as though it is their money; this is our money.”
Last weekend, the government announced that Cabinet – the council of ministers chaired by the President – had approved the procurement of up to 11,000 Solar Home Systems under the under the Hinterland Electrification Programme. These are to be 65W systems.
The project falls under the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), which formed the basis of the five-year agreement between Guyana and Norway.
Jagdeo first announced the solar panel project at the launch of Amerindian Heritage Month celebrations last September.
He said the first tranche of the Norway funds – US$30 million – will go towards demarcating Amerindian lands and fitting every Amerindian home with solar panels over a two-year period.
While Government has announced the procurement of the solar panels, it did not say how it was being funded, given that the Norway funds are yet to trickle down to Guyana.
The confirmation came from Jagdeo that funds from the treasury will be used to finance the project and when the Norway funds come, it would be treated in a “retroactive” way.
An estimated 135 Amerindian communities that remain without electricity are expected to benefit from the project.
The programme, it was previously announced, would cover installation costs, transportation, wiring, light fittings, maintenance and management training. The households who would benefit from the project would have to pay a monthly maintenance fee.
Under a previous Unserved Areas Electrification Project (UAEP), selected villages with less than 1,000 residents were fitted with solar panels.
The government said that at present the majority of hinterland households, including some 80 percent of Guyana’s Amerindian population, are without electricity.
“The programme will rectify this long-pervading inequity by providing access to clean and renewable energy throughout hinterland communities and significantly contribute to Guyana’s overall Low Carbon Development Strategy,” the government stated.
According to the government, the solar home systems will provide each home with power for lighting, small household appliances – such as a sewing machine to generate income – and radios, enhancing the communication capacity of these communities.
The programme is being executed by the Hinterland Electrification Unit within the Office of the Prime Minister, serving as overall project Coordinator in collaboration with the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs.
The Cabinet decision to approve the procurement of the panels followed the conclusion of an international bidding process that resulted in over 40 expressions of interest. The bids were closed on May 31, last.
The government accepted the bid of a Danish company to supply the solar panels.
Source
The solar panel project, which President Jagdeo yesterday said would cost US$2.5 million, was expected to be financed through the five-year forest-saving deal with Norway.
Under the agreement with Norway, the funds are channeled through a World Bank account, with the Inter-American Development Bank being a partner entity. So far, US$70M has been deposited into the account, but not a cent has reached Guyana.
The head of state said that it has been a “nightmare” to unlock the funds from the World Bank. The “tools” being used by the banks do not allow for easy disbursement, he added.
According to Jagdeo, a committee has been set up to see how the World Bank is managing the so-called Guyana REDD Investment Fund.
The World Bank and the IDB are treating the money as grant financing, and “grants come in dribbles” and a lot of the money goes back to pay consultants, etc, President Jagdeo said.
“This is our money that we earned,” he declared. “It’s not the World Bank’s money; it is not the IDB’s money,” he added.
Jagdeo jumped ahead of suggestions that trying to change the way the World Bank has decided to manage the Norway funds is intended to compromise on accountability or environmental and social safeguards.
He said that the Guyana Government wants the highest standards of accountability.
But while that is so, he said that the money is still Guyana’s money at the end of the day.
“They (the World Bank and the IDB) want to treat it as though it is their money; this is our money.”
Last weekend, the government announced that Cabinet – the council of ministers chaired by the President – had approved the procurement of up to 11,000 Solar Home Systems under the under the Hinterland Electrification Programme. These are to be 65W systems.
The project falls under the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), which formed the basis of the five-year agreement between Guyana and Norway.
Jagdeo first announced the solar panel project at the launch of Amerindian Heritage Month celebrations last September.
He said the first tranche of the Norway funds – US$30 million – will go towards demarcating Amerindian lands and fitting every Amerindian home with solar panels over a two-year period.
While Government has announced the procurement of the solar panels, it did not say how it was being funded, given that the Norway funds are yet to trickle down to Guyana.
The confirmation came from Jagdeo that funds from the treasury will be used to finance the project and when the Norway funds come, it would be treated in a “retroactive” way.
An estimated 135 Amerindian communities that remain without electricity are expected to benefit from the project.
The programme, it was previously announced, would cover installation costs, transportation, wiring, light fittings, maintenance and management training. The households who would benefit from the project would have to pay a monthly maintenance fee.
Under a previous Unserved Areas Electrification Project (UAEP), selected villages with less than 1,000 residents were fitted with solar panels.
The government said that at present the majority of hinterland households, including some 80 percent of Guyana’s Amerindian population, are without electricity.
“The programme will rectify this long-pervading inequity by providing access to clean and renewable energy throughout hinterland communities and significantly contribute to Guyana’s overall Low Carbon Development Strategy,” the government stated.
According to the government, the solar home systems will provide each home with power for lighting, small household appliances – such as a sewing machine to generate income – and radios, enhancing the communication capacity of these communities.
The programme is being executed by the Hinterland Electrification Unit within the Office of the Prime Minister, serving as overall project Coordinator in collaboration with the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs.
The Cabinet decision to approve the procurement of the panels followed the conclusion of an international bidding process that resulted in over 40 expressions of interest. The bids were closed on May 31, last.
The government accepted the bid of a Danish company to supply the solar panels.
Source
Monday, July 18, 2011
Kenya, Western Province: Lifestraw’s “Carbon for Water” program is “bogus” says Kevin Starr
A project to use carbon credits to finance the free delivery of water filters to 4.5 million people has been sharply criticised by a US expert. Mulago Foundation director Kevin Starr calls Verstergaard Frandsen’s Carbon for Water initiative a “loopy funding scheme paired with a lousy public health solution”. The company maintains it is providing a sustainable solution by guaranteeing free service and repair for the next 10 years.
The Verstergaard Frandsen company, in partnership with the Kenyan Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation, has delivered 900,000 of their LifeStraw Family water filters free-of-charge to households in the Western Province of Kenya through their Carbon for Water programme.
Using filters instead of boiling water with firewood will lead to significant reduction in carbon emissions the company says. This earns them carbon credits that they can sell to companies in countries that have carbon caps and exchanges. Vertergaard Frandsen is investing US$ 30 million (Euros 20.7 million) in the project. It expects to generate a CO2 emission reduction of two to 2.5 million tonnes per year which it will sell on the voluntary carbon credit market. The company says it has already made an advance deal worth 1.8 million tonnes of carbon emissions with the US bank JP Morgan Chase, adding that the current market value oscillates between six and 10 euros per tonne.
Mulago Foundation director Kevin Starr wrote that this was a “bogus application of carbon credits” because “people in western Kenya, by and large, don’t boil their water”. Starr based this on a Poverty Action Lab study that found
only 25% of householders said they boiled their water, and the research team found
that many samples of water claimed as boiled were still contaminated with high
levels of e. coli, leading to the conclusion that real boiling rates are probably
much lower.
A survey cited by Vestgard Fransden gives found a 29% boiling rate, but the company reportedly used the “suppressed demand” concept to inflate this to 71% for its carbon emission calculations. This percentage is the number of people whose future “demand” for wood to boil water is “suppressed” by getting a LifeStraw Family filter. In Starr’s view
it is absurd to project an imaginary future where prospering Kenyans buy more
firewood so they can start boiling their water.
and
the notion that you’re going to prevent lots of carbon going into the atmosphere
by distributing water filters is ridiculous, and anyone involved in this charade
should be ashamed of themselves—especially the Gold Standard Foundation, which
certified it.
A second objection that Kevin Starr raises is that no studies have proven that a positive health impact of the Lifestraw in a real life situation. The only rigorous study on the LifeStraw Family water filter carried out in Congo by Boisson in 2010 was inconclusive but it did find that after 12 months, 24 percent of households didn’t use them at all, and only 56 percent understood how to use them properly.
In one of the comments to Starr’s post, Nick Moon described the Lifestraw Family filter as being “complicated, fidgety, and frustrating”, especially given the fact that there were simple, locally-made ceramic water filters already available.
The third objection Starr gives is that
the LifeStraw Family water filter is just too damn expensive, and it has to be
replaced every three years. There are only two ways that a product like this can
get to real scale: the market or free government distribution. The wholesale cost
of the device from VF is about $25; the real cost to a customer, if you include
distribution and marketing, would be more like $50 to $70.
In a response, Vestgard Fransden CEO Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen counters arguments that the Carbon for Water programme is not sustainable by stressing his company’s long-term commitment to the Kenyan initiative:
we will, over the coming two months, build 34 service centers, more than one in
each district, where users of LifeStraw can come for free service and repair for
the next 10 years. What is also noteworthy about this approach is that a majority
of potential revenue that comes in as a result of carbon offset is directly
re-invested in on-going community education, communication and monitoring.
Actually, the campaign provided employment for more than 8,000 Kenyans across the
31 Western Province districts. Moving forward, another 2,000 Kenyans will be
involved in the monitoring, community education and social mobilization annually.
Starr remains unconvinced
projects like Carbon for Water make a mockery of the effort to prevent carbon
emissions, and as a physician, it’s especially depressing to see a loopy funding
scheme paired with a lousy public health solution. The social sector has got to
escape this pattern of bogus idea, hyperventilating media, and eventual, invisible
failure.
Source
The Verstergaard Frandsen company, in partnership with the Kenyan Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation, has delivered 900,000 of their LifeStraw Family water filters free-of-charge to households in the Western Province of Kenya through their Carbon for Water programme.
Using filters instead of boiling water with firewood will lead to significant reduction in carbon emissions the company says. This earns them carbon credits that they can sell to companies in countries that have carbon caps and exchanges. Vertergaard Frandsen is investing US$ 30 million (Euros 20.7 million) in the project. It expects to generate a CO2 emission reduction of two to 2.5 million tonnes per year which it will sell on the voluntary carbon credit market. The company says it has already made an advance deal worth 1.8 million tonnes of carbon emissions with the US bank JP Morgan Chase, adding that the current market value oscillates between six and 10 euros per tonne.
Mulago Foundation director Kevin Starr wrote that this was a “bogus application of carbon credits” because “people in western Kenya, by and large, don’t boil their water”. Starr based this on a Poverty Action Lab study that found
only 25% of householders said they boiled their water, and the research team found
that many samples of water claimed as boiled were still contaminated with high
levels of e. coli, leading to the conclusion that real boiling rates are probably
much lower.
A survey cited by Vestgard Fransden gives found a 29% boiling rate, but the company reportedly used the “suppressed demand” concept to inflate this to 71% for its carbon emission calculations. This percentage is the number of people whose future “demand” for wood to boil water is “suppressed” by getting a LifeStraw Family filter. In Starr’s view
it is absurd to project an imaginary future where prospering Kenyans buy more
firewood so they can start boiling their water.
and
the notion that you’re going to prevent lots of carbon going into the atmosphere
by distributing water filters is ridiculous, and anyone involved in this charade
should be ashamed of themselves—especially the Gold Standard Foundation, which
certified it.
A second objection that Kevin Starr raises is that no studies have proven that a positive health impact of the Lifestraw in a real life situation. The only rigorous study on the LifeStraw Family water filter carried out in Congo by Boisson in 2010 was inconclusive but it did find that after 12 months, 24 percent of households didn’t use them at all, and only 56 percent understood how to use them properly.
In one of the comments to Starr’s post, Nick Moon described the Lifestraw Family filter as being “complicated, fidgety, and frustrating”, especially given the fact that there were simple, locally-made ceramic water filters already available.
The third objection Starr gives is that
the LifeStraw Family water filter is just too damn expensive, and it has to be
replaced every three years. There are only two ways that a product like this can
get to real scale: the market or free government distribution. The wholesale cost
of the device from VF is about $25; the real cost to a customer, if you include
distribution and marketing, would be more like $50 to $70.
In a response, Vestgard Fransden CEO Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen counters arguments that the Carbon for Water programme is not sustainable by stressing his company’s long-term commitment to the Kenyan initiative:
we will, over the coming two months, build 34 service centers, more than one in
each district, where users of LifeStraw can come for free service and repair for
the next 10 years. What is also noteworthy about this approach is that a majority
of potential revenue that comes in as a result of carbon offset is directly
re-invested in on-going community education, communication and monitoring.
Actually, the campaign provided employment for more than 8,000 Kenyans across the
31 Western Province districts. Moving forward, another 2,000 Kenyans will be
involved in the monitoring, community education and social mobilization annually.
Starr remains unconvinced
projects like Carbon for Water make a mockery of the effort to prevent carbon
emissions, and as a physician, it’s especially depressing to see a loopy funding
scheme paired with a lousy public health solution. The social sector has got to
escape this pattern of bogus idea, hyperventilating media, and eventual, invisible
failure.
Source
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Sustainable Development, Not 'Green Economy'
By By Emilio Godoy, IPS
With less than a year to go for the Rio+20 Summit, civil society in Latin America and the Caribbean is mustering its strength to defend the principles of sustainable development, as opposed to the model of a "green economy", which it views as only benefiting the business interests of big companies.
"The green economy is the new international environmental vogue, but it has lost all vestiges of the concept of sustainable development and has taken another direction," Maureen Santos, an expert on international issues at the Brazilian Federation of Agencies for Social and Educational Assistance (FASE), told IPS.
"It's an attempt to shore up the present system that is in crisis," she said.
The Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development will be held Jun. 4-6, 2012 in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro, marking the 20th anniversary of the first Earth Summit which took place in Rio in 1992.
The goals of the Rio+20 conference are to secure renewed political commitment for sustainable development, assess the progress to date in the implementation of the outcomes of the major summits on sustainable development, and address new and emerging challenges.
The conference will focus on building a green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication, and an institutional framework for sustainable development.
"Putting a price on nature is no solution, because it isn't a commodity," Katu Arkonada, a researcher at Bolivia's Centre for Applied Studies on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CEADESC), told IPS. "The green economy must not distort or divert the basic principles of sustainable development. It is a mistake to say that people will only look after goods if they have a price-tag and an owner and generate profits."
The first Earth Summit led to a series of international treaties, like the conventions on climate change and biological diversity, the Sustainable Development Commission, and what is known as Agenda 21, an action plan for U.N. agencies, governments, companies and non-governmental organisations in every area in which people have an impact on the environment.
However, two decades later, progress towards sustainable development is still slow: greenhouse gas emissions, species loss and environmental degradation have increased, and the planet's natural resources are being exhausted.
Debate should focus on "the greening of growth, equity in a world of limits, and building resilience to shocks and stresses," says a study titled "Making Rio 2012 Work: Setting the stage for global economic, social and ecological renewal" by Alex Evans and David Steven.
The authors are academics with the Centre on International Cooperation (CIC) at New York University, which published the document in June.
Preliminary work on the agendas for the official and alternative conferences is advancing apace, on the part of both governments and civil society organisations. Preparatory meetings for the summit were held May 2010 and March this year at U.N. headquarters in New York.
In January and February 2012, further meetings will take place there to discuss the draft declaration to be adopted in Brazil.
Meanwhile, an international seminar was held Jun. 30- Jul. 2 in Rio de Janeiro to organise the parallel meeting, convened by the Civil Society Facilitating Committee for Rio+20.
Civil society organisations prefer to talk about greening the economy, rather than promoting a green economy. In fact, these definitions are already a cause of dissension between industrialised countries and developing nations.
"The debate on the green economy is very diverse. Latin American positions are very fragmented," said FASE's Santos, who is also a member of the Brazilian Network for Peoples' Integration (REBRIP).
Governments and social organisations from the region will plan for the Rio+20 Summit at the Regional Preparatory Meeting for Latin America and the Caribbean, to be held Sept. 7-9 at the headquarters of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in Santiago, Chile.
The session's tentative agenda includes a report on preparations for Rio+20 and debates on progress to date and the remaining gaps in the implementation of the outcomes of the major summits on sustainable development, and the key topics of the summit, as well as analysis and approval of the regional declaration.
"The two key challenges of sustainable development are, on the one hand, to overcome poverty and inequality, and on the other, to restore the balance of the Earth. Both goals are intrinsically linked, and one cannot be achieved without the other. Human beings and nature are at the centre of concerns for sustainable development," Arkonada said.
The World Economic and Social Survey 2011: The Great Green Technological Transformation, by the U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs, recommends investing 1.9 trillion dollars a year in green technologies over the next 40 years, to combat the effects of climate change.
"But the current green economy agenda lacks much real substance. To give it a harder edge, it should be focused more specifically on the issue of growth - above all, the growth path of emerging economies," Evans and Steven's study says.
It argues that "emerging economies will account for the majority of additional demand between now and 2030; they are laboratories of the future; they are the model that other developing countries want to follow; and they have the potential to force rich countries to make belated efforts to upgrade their economies."
Source
With less than a year to go for the Rio+20 Summit, civil society in Latin America and the Caribbean is mustering its strength to defend the principles of sustainable development, as opposed to the model of a "green economy", which it views as only benefiting the business interests of big companies.
"The green economy is the new international environmental vogue, but it has lost all vestiges of the concept of sustainable development and has taken another direction," Maureen Santos, an expert on international issues at the Brazilian Federation of Agencies for Social and Educational Assistance (FASE), told IPS.
"It's an attempt to shore up the present system that is in crisis," she said.
The Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development will be held Jun. 4-6, 2012 in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro, marking the 20th anniversary of the first Earth Summit which took place in Rio in 1992.
The goals of the Rio+20 conference are to secure renewed political commitment for sustainable development, assess the progress to date in the implementation of the outcomes of the major summits on sustainable development, and address new and emerging challenges.
The conference will focus on building a green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication, and an institutional framework for sustainable development.
"Putting a price on nature is no solution, because it isn't a commodity," Katu Arkonada, a researcher at Bolivia's Centre for Applied Studies on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CEADESC), told IPS. "The green economy must not distort or divert the basic principles of sustainable development. It is a mistake to say that people will only look after goods if they have a price-tag and an owner and generate profits."
The first Earth Summit led to a series of international treaties, like the conventions on climate change and biological diversity, the Sustainable Development Commission, and what is known as Agenda 21, an action plan for U.N. agencies, governments, companies and non-governmental organisations in every area in which people have an impact on the environment.
However, two decades later, progress towards sustainable development is still slow: greenhouse gas emissions, species loss and environmental degradation have increased, and the planet's natural resources are being exhausted.
Debate should focus on "the greening of growth, equity in a world of limits, and building resilience to shocks and stresses," says a study titled "Making Rio 2012 Work: Setting the stage for global economic, social and ecological renewal" by Alex Evans and David Steven.
The authors are academics with the Centre on International Cooperation (CIC) at New York University, which published the document in June.
Preliminary work on the agendas for the official and alternative conferences is advancing apace, on the part of both governments and civil society organisations. Preparatory meetings for the summit were held May 2010 and March this year at U.N. headquarters in New York.
In January and February 2012, further meetings will take place there to discuss the draft declaration to be adopted in Brazil.
Meanwhile, an international seminar was held Jun. 30- Jul. 2 in Rio de Janeiro to organise the parallel meeting, convened by the Civil Society Facilitating Committee for Rio+20.
Civil society organisations prefer to talk about greening the economy, rather than promoting a green economy. In fact, these definitions are already a cause of dissension between industrialised countries and developing nations.
"The debate on the green economy is very diverse. Latin American positions are very fragmented," said FASE's Santos, who is also a member of the Brazilian Network for Peoples' Integration (REBRIP).
Governments and social organisations from the region will plan for the Rio+20 Summit at the Regional Preparatory Meeting for Latin America and the Caribbean, to be held Sept. 7-9 at the headquarters of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in Santiago, Chile.
The session's tentative agenda includes a report on preparations for Rio+20 and debates on progress to date and the remaining gaps in the implementation of the outcomes of the major summits on sustainable development, and the key topics of the summit, as well as analysis and approval of the regional declaration.
"The two key challenges of sustainable development are, on the one hand, to overcome poverty and inequality, and on the other, to restore the balance of the Earth. Both goals are intrinsically linked, and one cannot be achieved without the other. Human beings and nature are at the centre of concerns for sustainable development," Arkonada said.
The World Economic and Social Survey 2011: The Great Green Technological Transformation, by the U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs, recommends investing 1.9 trillion dollars a year in green technologies over the next 40 years, to combat the effects of climate change.
"But the current green economy agenda lacks much real substance. To give it a harder edge, it should be focused more specifically on the issue of growth - above all, the growth path of emerging economies," Evans and Steven's study says.
It argues that "emerging economies will account for the majority of additional demand between now and 2030; they are laboratories of the future; they are the model that other developing countries want to follow; and they have the potential to force rich countries to make belated efforts to upgrade their economies."
Source
Friday, July 15, 2011
Renewable Energy for Accelerating Africa’s Development: Abu Dhabi Communiqué on Adopted at IRENA-Africa High -Level Consultation
The International Renewable Energy Agency held a High – Level Africa Consultation (IRENA-Africa High-Level Consultations) on Partnership on Accelerating Renewable Energy Uptake for Africa’s Sustainable Development, 08-09 July 2011
According to the Communique released after the Consultations, Ministers of Energy and heads of delegations of African countries and the African Union Commission and the Conference of Energy Ministers of Africa (CEMA), the significant potential of renewable energy to accelerate African low carbon development and address climate change mitigation and adaptation was recognized. But achieving these outcomes will require:
- Assessment of existing conditions and needs and building regional cooperation in order to address those needs and opportunities
- Strengthening national, regional and continental policy frameworks to stimulate investment in and ensure sustainable deployment of renewable energy
- Supporting research and development on RE technology and innovation within the continent and through South-South cooperation.
The African continent sees great promise in working with IRENA, whose Assembly has given it a strong mandate regionally and globally to support member states in accelerating the adoption of renewable energy.
The Meeting agreed among others on, agreed the following:
• Launching a concerted effort among all participating governments, agencies, non-governmental bodies and the private sector to promote intensified utilization of Africa’s vast renewable energy resources for accelerating Africa’s development, considering the need to ensure that IRENA's policy for Africa responds to the priority concerns of the continent, and to develop a concrete and practical approach to supporting the knowledge, technology, capacity and policy needs of African countries.
• A crucial first step will be to better understand the opportunities and constraints in our countries and regions by mapping “Renewable Energy Readiness”, a collaborative process that will provide a rapid, objective assessment of the status of renewable energy opportunities, and identify pathways to address gaps.
• Further engage with IRENA, as the key inter-governmental forum on renewable energy, in providing a platform for charting collaborative action strategies for accelerating implementation of African policies, and initiatives on renewable energy, focusing in particular on:
a. Improving policy frameworks to ensure investment grade public/private financing,while taking into account special measures needed to ensure social inclusion
b. Brokering services in capacity building including for entrepreneurs in renewable energy
c. Cooperation on technology and innovation to enhance endogenous human and physical capacity to accommodate expanded renewables deployment
d. Fostering regional and local level renewable energy technology production and
service industries
e. Supporting communication campaigns to promote uptake of renewable energy
• Participants urged IRENA, in its messages to the international community at CoP-17, Rio+20 and other major events, to build on this communiqué and emphasize the following:
a. Providing strategic support for renewable energy in the context of the Green
Economy, including assessment of the impact of market distorting subsidies that
inhibit the deployment of renewable energy; targeted studies on employment
implications of expanded renewables deployment, policies for employment creation
through renewable energy and related themes,
b. advocating increased international support to Africa on technical capacity
building, policy advisory services, investment financing tools and industrial
strategies for accelerating renewable energy up-take, while ensuring adequate
provision of domestic resources
c. Using the 2012 International Year of Sustainable Energy for All to carry forward
Africa’s renewable energy strategies.
• We agree to work towards formalizing IRENA’s strategic presence in Africa and concretizing institutional arrangements for cooperation with African regional bodies and strategic partners in the sector; furthermore, we urge all African states who have not done so to become full members of IRENA.
• We shall extend full cooperation and support to IRENA to ensure it fulfils its critical mandate to accelerate the adoption of renewable energy globally, and to work together to make Africa a lead region in the transition to renewable energy.
Source:
According to the Communique released after the Consultations, Ministers of Energy and heads of delegations of African countries and the African Union Commission and the Conference of Energy Ministers of Africa (CEMA), the significant potential of renewable energy to accelerate African low carbon development and address climate change mitigation and adaptation was recognized. But achieving these outcomes will require:
- Assessment of existing conditions and needs and building regional cooperation in order to address those needs and opportunities
- Strengthening national, regional and continental policy frameworks to stimulate investment in and ensure sustainable deployment of renewable energy
- Supporting research and development on RE technology and innovation within the continent and through South-South cooperation.
The African continent sees great promise in working with IRENA, whose Assembly has given it a strong mandate regionally and globally to support member states in accelerating the adoption of renewable energy.
The Meeting agreed among others on, agreed the following:
• Launching a concerted effort among all participating governments, agencies, non-governmental bodies and the private sector to promote intensified utilization of Africa’s vast renewable energy resources for accelerating Africa’s development, considering the need to ensure that IRENA's policy for Africa responds to the priority concerns of the continent, and to develop a concrete and practical approach to supporting the knowledge, technology, capacity and policy needs of African countries.
• A crucial first step will be to better understand the opportunities and constraints in our countries and regions by mapping “Renewable Energy Readiness”, a collaborative process that will provide a rapid, objective assessment of the status of renewable energy opportunities, and identify pathways to address gaps.
• Further engage with IRENA, as the key inter-governmental forum on renewable energy, in providing a platform for charting collaborative action strategies for accelerating implementation of African policies, and initiatives on renewable energy, focusing in particular on:
a. Improving policy frameworks to ensure investment grade public/private financing,while taking into account special measures needed to ensure social inclusion
b. Brokering services in capacity building including for entrepreneurs in renewable energy
c. Cooperation on technology and innovation to enhance endogenous human and physical capacity to accommodate expanded renewables deployment
d. Fostering regional and local level renewable energy technology production and
service industries
e. Supporting communication campaigns to promote uptake of renewable energy
• Participants urged IRENA, in its messages to the international community at CoP-17, Rio+20 and other major events, to build on this communiqué and emphasize the following:
a. Providing strategic support for renewable energy in the context of the Green
Economy, including assessment of the impact of market distorting subsidies that
inhibit the deployment of renewable energy; targeted studies on employment
implications of expanded renewables deployment, policies for employment creation
through renewable energy and related themes,
b. advocating increased international support to Africa on technical capacity
building, policy advisory services, investment financing tools and industrial
strategies for accelerating renewable energy up-take, while ensuring adequate
provision of domestic resources
c. Using the 2012 International Year of Sustainable Energy for All to carry forward
Africa’s renewable energy strategies.
• We agree to work towards formalizing IRENA’s strategic presence in Africa and concretizing institutional arrangements for cooperation with African regional bodies and strategic partners in the sector; furthermore, we urge all African states who have not done so to become full members of IRENA.
• We shall extend full cooperation and support to IRENA to ensure it fulfils its critical mandate to accelerate the adoption of renewable energy globally, and to work together to make Africa a lead region in the transition to renewable energy.
Source:
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Rio + 20: New and Emerging Challenges by Secretary-General, Mr. Sha Zukang
Recently the Rio+20 Secretary-General, Mr. Sha Zukang elaborated on new and emerging challenges, as well as the two main themes of Rio+20 for the first time. He underscored the following challenges that UN Member States, Civil Society and other stakeholders had highlighted for priority attention. They include:
* green jobs and social inclusion;
* energy access, efficiency and sustainability;
* food security and sustainable agriculture;
* sound water management;
* sustainable cities;
* management of the oceans; and
* improved resilience and disaster preparedness.
Climate change cuts across all of these areas, as well as being a high priority in its own right, as is the means of implementation, including technology, financing and capacity building especially for developing countries. Read the full contribution here
I like the focus on sound water management; food security and sustainable agriculture and energy poverty. This must be the core concern for the South. At the moment in East Africa for example, food prices have skyrocketed due to high fuel prices which has made it unaffordable for many poor people. In addition extended droughts and sporadic rains make it impossible to access safe and clean water, while over 80% of East Africans use traditional biomass burnt in open three-stone stoves that continue to contribute to rapid deforestation.
But Secretary General Sha Zukang needs to 'balance' this by prominently highlighting the need to address sustainable production and consumption in case of the rich North, so that we work towards a more equitable distribution of resources (using energy and water conservation technology promotion, policies, incentives and penalties etc)
* green jobs and social inclusion;
* energy access, efficiency and sustainability;
* food security and sustainable agriculture;
* sound water management;
* sustainable cities;
* management of the oceans; and
* improved resilience and disaster preparedness.
Climate change cuts across all of these areas, as well as being a high priority in its own right, as is the means of implementation, including technology, financing and capacity building especially for developing countries. Read the full contribution here
I like the focus on sound water management; food security and sustainable agriculture and energy poverty. This must be the core concern for the South. At the moment in East Africa for example, food prices have skyrocketed due to high fuel prices which has made it unaffordable for many poor people. In addition extended droughts and sporadic rains make it impossible to access safe and clean water, while over 80% of East Africans use traditional biomass burnt in open three-stone stoves that continue to contribute to rapid deforestation.
But Secretary General Sha Zukang needs to 'balance' this by prominently highlighting the need to address sustainable production and consumption in case of the rich North, so that we work towards a more equitable distribution of resources (using energy and water conservation technology promotion, policies, incentives and penalties etc)
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