In the same year, 1972, the Club of Rome published its report on The Limits to Growth, pleading for
proactive, societal innovation through technological, cultural and
institutional change in order to avoid an increase in the ecological footprint
of humanity beyond the planet’s carrying capacity.
In my view, the most profound pronouncement of the 1972 Stockholm Conference
was the principle that; “The natural
resources for the earth, including the air, water, land, flora and fauna and especially
representative samples of natural ecosystems, must be safeguarded for the
benefit of the future generations through careful planning, as appropriate”.
This principle inspired Our
Common Future, also known as the Bruntland Report of 1987 and the oft-quoted
definition of sustainable development – “development that meets the needs of
the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet
their own needs.”
The Bruntland Report laid the framework for the 1992 Earth Summit in
Rio de Janeiro. The World Summit on Sustainable Development held in
Johannesburg in 2002 recognized that eradicating poverty, protecting and
managing natural resources for economic and social development are requirements
for sustainable development.
On June 21 2012, the world will converge in Brazil at the Rio + 20
Summit on Sustainable Development. The goal of the Summit is to seek renewed
political commitment to sustainable development and address new and emerging challenges.
National delegations and
technical experts are already poring over and negotiating the text of the
document that will be produced at end of the three-day Summit. This unwieldy
document covers everything from sustainable food strategies to codes of
corporate responsibility to technology transfers to a green economy and poverty
eradication.
But the Rio+20 Summit could be mired in the rhetorical sprawl of
innocuous and non-binding commitments. The Summit is in danger of being
eclipsed by the dark financial clouds over Europe, economic stagnation in the
US and the stalling of China’s economy. This is not the time to talk about new
financial commitments and technology transfers to the so-called poor countries
to achieve sustainable development.
In Africa we must not think of sustainable development as a
destination. Sustainable development must be a path we seek through a dynamic
process of adaptation, learning and action. Sustainable development must be
about understanding and acting on interconnections between the economy, society
and natural capital. Natural capital
includes resources such as minerals and energy, timber, agricultural land, fisheries,
and water.
The vital services arising from Africa’s natural capital are imperceptible,
especially policy makers. Moreover, the value of nature’s goods and services
are not readily captured in markets, so their contribution to Africa’s economy
and livelihoods remains largely unaccounted for. Consequently, governments do
not know what it would cost the economy if these services were lost. Imagine how
much a bee would invoice for pollination services or a wetland for water
filtration or upland forests for urban water supplies?
It is important to change the way GDP is used to measure economic
progress. We must put a value on currently “free natural assets” like clean
water and standing forests, soils, insects and the benefits they provide. Africa
needs tools for taking natural capital into account for
improved economic decision-making.
Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Prize-winning
economist and Columbia professor, believes
that GDP is outdated and misleading. Stiglitz argues that GDP must take into
account the depletion of natural capital and that “Net” National Product (NNP) be
adjusted for the depreciation of natural capital.
Africa’s natural capital is threatened by powerful drivers of
change, including, rapid population growth, growing inequality, urbanization,
climate change, land degradation and climate change. The problem for a majority
of poor smallholder farmers is not unsustainable choices, but lack
of choices in the first place. Real and sustainable choices are feasible once
the basic needs and stable livelihoods are guaranteed.
African leaders must stop wringing their hands and looking to the
West and China for massive cash and technology transfers. African governments,
business and civil society leaders must scale up efforts to empower people to
make sustainable choices. These efforts must be achieved through:
·
Adopting “natural capital
accounting” and assigning a value on the functions of protected forests,
including their role in curbing erosion, providing clean water to cities,
supporting wildlife and regulating the rain cycle to ensure enough rainfall for
crops;
·
E Enabling a twenty-first century green revolution that accounts explicitly for Africa’s women led smallholder farming systems and vulnerability to the impacts of climate change.
E Enabling a twenty-first century green revolution that accounts explicitly for Africa’s women led smallholder farming systems and vulnerability to the impacts of climate change.
·
Scaling-up access to quality
post-primary and secondary education, emphasizing knowledge and skills to
ensure that the youth can contribute to solutions that address today’s
challenges and capitalize on emerging opportunities.
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