The Cost of Inaction 1

DAVID KORTEN:

Reframing the Question:

From Growth to Reallocation

3

Environment and Labour 5

FARO Demands 7

Rio+20 – Heralding the Age

of Sustainability

9

CSD-17: An African Youth

Perspective

10

Live from the CSD 11

Food for Thought... 12

The Cost of Wasting CSD

Outreach Issues

Inside this Issue:

A daily publication of Sustainable Development Issues Network (SDIN) and Stakeholder Forum (SF)

THURSDAY May 14, 2009

1

Outreach Issues is the civil

society newsletter produced by

the SDIN Group (ANPED, TWN

and ELCI) and Stakeholder Forum.

Outreach Issues aims to report

with attitude, from the global

scene of sustainability.

The organizations publishing

Outreach Issues are not responsi-

ble for the content of signed

articles. Opinions expressed in

articles are those of the authors.

As the current CSD cycle is closing in on the finishing line being no closer to an agreed text than they

were before the weekend, we cannot help but ask, “is this worth all the cost of coming to New York

three times in two years?”. In tough economic and financial times like now, the question of cost

becomes unavoidable. With more than 100 million people joining the ranks of the world’s hungry and

malnourished in 2008, cost is a legimate ethical issue.

By: Neth Dano and Juan Hoffmaister, Third World Network

Continues on page 2

one, consider this:, CSD 17 could have

helped more people by simply not meet-

ing. The more than US$900.000 (at least)

in airfares could have been used to feed

600.000 children for a week: the esti-

mated US$1.800.000 (at least) from per

diems could have been used to guarantee

access to learning materials for 400,000

children in Zimbabwe through UNICEF, or

the $900,000 in airfares could have been

used to to bring 180,000 goats to support

rural development in semi-arid areas or

the same $900,000 could have bought

30,000 drum seeders for rice farmers to

reduce the burden in sowing seeds. Dele-

gates of inconclusive outcomes, is it perti-

nent to ask you: What are we all doing

here?

No more inconclusive outcomes!

As the UN Secretary-General Ban-Ki

Moon said at yesterday’s Opening Session

of the High Level Ministerial Segment,

2

Indefensible costs

If we judge the worth of this cycle by the

pages upon pages of brackets and bold

lines in the draft Negotiating Text as of

Wednesday, we should all be hiding in

shame. The cost of holding two sessions

and an intersessional meeting over the

past two years are quite high. Without a

decent outcome in the form of concrete,

time-bound and sustainable development-

oriented policy priorities and actions, the

costs of holding this cycle is indefensible.

Move beyond the expectations from Rio

Today, as you pick up a copy of the negoti-

ating text, look carefully at it, read it line

by line, and ask:. Will the outcomes em-

bedded in this document deliver anything

new? Will it help secure the right to food?

Will the text help feed a hungry mouth?

Will it help to improve the life of millions

in the rural world? Will it help us fight de-

sertification and drought? If you can not

answer these questions in a positive way,

perhaps something has gone wrong with

the process this time. Perhaps we have

lost the spirit that brought the world to-

gether in Rio? Perhaps it is time for honest

conversations to help bring the CSD up to

the expectations set in 1992 and even

move beyond?

Nothing less than immoral!

It is nothing less than immoral to be

spending public money, emitting tons of

CO2, spending hundreds of hours debat-

ing, and ending up with nothing but a

document full of brackets. An agreed out-

come that is nothing but a basket of wish

lists without concrete means of imple-

mentation and time-bound targets could

not justify the cost of this session. Will

delegates be able to face farmers in their

respective countries if the outcome lies

buried in incomprehensible language and

impenetrable brackets? Committing to

such an outcome would be an unforgive-

able sin.

A weak outcome – unforgiveable!

With an inconclusive outcome or a weak

‘CSD-17 must succeed and inspire the

world. This CSD cannot afford another

failure at this time when the world is

looking for answers on how to get out of

the deep mud that humanity has fallen in’

With an impending double whammy,

(CSD 15 on climate and energy was also

inconclusive! Shame on those dele-

gates!!), it is perhaps high time to rethink

the positition you, delegates, have played

in putting CSD in a role where it fails to

lead the world on a sustainable path.

Leadership – not waste!

With almost one billion hungry people -

no one, not even the UN, can justify such

a WASTE as this might be... Get a grip

delegates, get a sustainable grip on your-

self and produce an outcome that gives

us a sustainable hope for a sustainable

future! Give us leadership not waste!

Outreach Issues

This article has been edited for print by the editor.

Photo by Kelly McCann

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Outreach Issues

What’s an Economy For?

Change starts with another basic

question. Is the purpose of the economy

to expand the power and privilege of a

ruling elite? Or is it to secure and enhance the well-being of all the people

who depend on it for their livelihood?

Our institutional design choices follow

logically from the answer to this

question.

Empire Economy: If the goal is to

expand elite power and privilege, then

concentrate economic power in a few globe spanning transnational

corporations that value only money and

acknowledge allegiance only to the

financial interests of their managers and

richest owners. Free the corporations from rules, borders, taxes, and public

oversight that constrain their ability to

monopolize control of money, natural

resources, markets, and technology for

purely private ends. Call this the Empire

Economy.

The rules of the competitive Empire

Economy give the rich and powerful free reign to expropriate the resources

of the less powerful. The winners enjoy

lavish lifestyles. The losers experience

increasing desperation. It is, however, a

pact with Satan, because this choice ultimately brings environmental and

social collapse.

Earth Community Economy: If the goal is to secure and enhance the well-being of

all, distribute economic power equitably

and root it in place-based communities

of people who care for the future of

their children, communities, and the natural systems that sustain them.

REFRAMING THE QUESTION:

From Growth to Reallocation By: David Korten

We have spent too long searching

without success for an answer to the

question, “How do we make develop-

ment sustainable?” I have come to

suspect it is the wrong question. It too

easily translates to “How do we make

economic growth sustainable?”—a

question for which there is no answer,

because sustained economic growth is

impossible on a finite planet. Let us ask

instead, “How can we create sustainable

human societies free from want and vio-

lence?” a question to which this simple

assessment of the problem provides

ready answers:

1. Excess Consumption: Current collec-tive levels of human consumption

exceed what critical environmental

systems can sustain.

2. Inequality: Extreme and growing inequality divides the world between

the profligate and the desperate. This

intensifies resource competition,

undermines physical and mental

health, erodes the social fabric, and

fuels random violence.

3. Dysfunctional Institutions: The institu-

tions of the global economy are

dedicated to growing aggregate consumption and increasing financial

returns to money, thus accelerating

environmental collapse and increasing

the gap between rich and poor.

We humans are on a path to mutual

self-destruction that technological

innovation and marginal policy

adjustments cannot resolve. To become

sustainable, we must reduce aggregate

material consumption, redistribute resources from rich to poor and from

destructive or non-essential to essential

uses, stabilize population, and invest in

rebuilding community and regenerating

Earth’s living capital. Reallocation, not aggregate growth, is the key to sustain-

able prosperity for all.

For example, we can and must end war and convert to peace economies.

Reconfigure built infrastructure and

transportation systems to eliminate

automobile-dependence. Redirect crea-

tive and media resources from advertis-ing to education. End financial specula-

tion and redirect investment resources

to productive sustainable enterprises

devoted to meeting community needs.

David Korten

Encourage local self-reliance in meeting needs for food, energy, and other basic

needs and give local communities the

tools they need to control and manage

their own resources in ways that bring

their consumption into balance with their environmental resources. Share

information and technology freely, but

limit the movement of material goods

and resources to what is necessary

to compensate for imbalances in resource endowments. Call this the

Earth Community economy.

The rules of the Earth Community Economy limit the concentration of

wealth and power and favor those who

cooperate to moderate consumption

and sustain and improve the health of

Earth’s natural systems. Everyone enjoys a full, creative, and meaningful life

without lavish material luxuries and

future generations will enjoy the same.

Equality and Cooperation as Defining

Goals

According to the report of the recent

WHO Commission on Social Determi-nants of Health, economic equality is not

only just. It is also essential to our

mental and physical health.

Greater equality facilitates greater

cooperation and sharing of resources

with little need to divert precious

resources to maintain armies, prisons,

material status symbols, propaganda machinery, and other requirements of a

system of elite privilege. Instead of

forcing people everywhere to compete

against one another for too few jobs in

a world of massive unmet need, it facilitates cooperation in common cause

to assure every person a secure and

meaningful source of livelihood.

The global financial collapse has exposed

the depth of the corruption of an

imperial global financial system devoted

to creating unearned financial claims

to the real wealth of society through speculation, the inflation of financial

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bubbles, usury, asset stripping, loan pyramids, accounting fraud, bogus

securities ratings, and extortion. This

exposure creates the needed opening

for conversations at all levels of society

from the local to the global about the purpose we expect our economies to

serve and the implications for the design

of our economic institutions.

Will we choose financial indicators or

health indicators as the basis for

evaluating economic performance? Will

market rules favor global corporations or

human scale community centered local businesses? Will money creation be a

public or a private function? Will tax

and wage policies favor economic

concentration or equitable distribution?

These are all key questions.

To find useful answers, we must first

find the right questions. I urge the

Commission on Sustainable Develop-ment to rethink the questions that

frame its work. Let us hope we still have

time to navigate a transition from the

Empire Economy we have to the Earth

Community Economy we must now

create.

David Korten is co-founder and board chair of YES! magazine and author of

Agenda for a New Economy, When

Corporations Rule the World, and The

Great Turning: From Empire to Earth

Community.

“To find useful answers,

we must first find the right

questions. I urge the

Commission on Sustainable

Development to rethink the

questions that frame its work.”

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human scale community centered local

Unions face the challenge of sustainability

Today the term “green jobs” is

everywhere, President Obama has a

Special Advisor on Green Jobs, Van Jones.

Across the world voices are raised calling

for recovery investments, that will fight

the profound crisis we are all experiencing

and also address fundamental environ-

mental challenges, namely people are

calling for investments in sectors that help

us to turn towards a low carbon economy

and to overcome the economic and the

extreme job crisis we are suffering.

Trade unions organizations worldwide,

represented by their International Trade

Union Confederation demand urgent and

drastic actions, a shift in paradigm towards

social equity, redistribution of wealth,

multilateralism, but also with decided and

strong insistence on environmental

sustainability.

Today it is finally clear that Unions have

something to say, and much to offer, in the

transition to a sustainable model. Unions

also show, that the world of organized

work must integrate environmental limits

in its proposals towards a change of

model.

Bringing the world of labour and the

environment closer has been the objective

of Sustainlabour Foundation. It is also an

objective of a program that has been

implemented together with the United

Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) to

strengthen the participation of workers

and their organizations in environmental

processes, the Environment and Labour

programme.

The First Trade Union Assembly on

Labour and Environment

The Environment and Labour programme

was the result of a follow up of an original

joint proposal, which started in January of

2006, when both organisations organized

in Nairobi, the First Trade Union Assembly

on Labour and Environment. UNEP

through hosting the event in its

headquarters showed surprising courage,

allowing numerous groups of unionists to

debate freely: 104 representatives of

union organizations from all the corners of

Environment and Labour

the planet took part. Trade Unions

demonstrated courage by commiting to

an environmentally ambitious agenda for

the future, neither then nor now is this

an easy position, and is not free of

contradictions and difficulties. Its final

declaration continues to be a relevant

document.

After the surprises and success of this

meeting. We decided to follow up and

built a program that deepened and

reflected some of the results, joining

forces with the International Trade Union

Confederation (ITUC) and the Internatio-

nal Labour Organisation (ILO), through

funding of the government of Spain.

From global to local, a wide variety of

activities: first results

At the First Assembly Trade Unions had

demanded training on climate change and

“Strengthening the Trade Union participation in the environmental processes” is a three year program that has managed to bring

environmental information, training and policy tools to unions around the world, particularly in the developing world. It was initiated in

April 2007, and continues till June 2010. At the end of this 2009, Unions from around 100 countries will already have participated in the

program. Almost 300 different experiences of concrete Union actions have been compiled. Training and policy sessions have been

organized in Asia Pacific and Latin America and the Caribbean regions. Eastern Europe and Central Asia and Africa will follow shortly.

Practical projects on climate change and sustainable management of chemicals are being implemented with local and national

organizations in these regions.

By: Laura Martin, Sustainlabour

“Trade Unions … demand urgent

and drastic actions, a shift in

paradigm towards social equity,

redistribution of wealth,

multilateralism, but also with

decided and strong insistence on

environmental sustainability. ”

decisions. But these decisions need to be

made!

Democracy is not easy either, but no

change is possible without the participa-

tion of the people affected. The enormous

democratic deficits of our present society

cause shameful inequalities and environ-

mental disasters. Workers of the world

must participate in the building of a

sustainable future.

This current program tries to advance

exactly from there, from the recognition

of the difficulty, of the complexity. Of the

need to unite for present and future

generations.

Strengthening trade union participation in

environmental processes. A joint UNEP –

Sustainlabour program funded by the Go-

vernment of Spain.

For more information

www.sustainlabour.org

www.unep.org/labour_environment

These are concrete examples of the Trade

Unions ability to create new green jobs or

to transform the existing ones into more

sustainable practices

Aiming for coherence in a complex reality

Working on labour and environment

means also addressing intelinkages,

whether it be food security for an Africa

that is already facing climate change, or

gender and green jobs. We are and we will

find difficulties and contradictions,

problems with great gravity and urgency,

but we are also finding solutions and

proposals, are are activley engaged in

discussions and exchanges of information

with organizations of very different

traditions, sectors and cultures.

Sustainability is not an easy area of work,

the interrelation of the problems and of

the solutions are all difficult concepts

added to this is the complexity of our

system, socially, economically and environ-

mentally. We will not find univocal

solutions, easy answers, short cuts the

move to sustainability will require difficult

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the sustainable management of chemicals,

the program has evolved since to offer

these key skills. Training manuals that have

been widely spread and are used by

numerous Unions. Unionists also

demanded spaces to debate policies for

sustainability, which has lead to organised

regional conferences where they can get

information on regional tendencies and

make their policy proposals, for example

last November in Yakarta, this coming May

in Buenos Aires, September in Baku,

November in Lomé will all have regional

conferences. 75 differing countries and

regions across the world partcipate, it is

truly a global program.

The current Environment and Labour

program also provides support to

developing country Unionist to attend

environmental negotiations and provide

training session in their regions. In Pozan, a

two day training was run around the

themes of climate change accountability,

implications for development and the

labour markets and the state of

negotiations. During the upcoming COP 15,

in Copenhagen the Trade Union delegation

could rise to 150 people.

But in addition to all these worthwhile

activities, the Environment and Labour

program seeks to advance solutions at a

local level. When, in the first assembly,

Unions presented their environmental

activities and programs, it was decided to

choose the best, the most adaptable ones,

and start to implement them in other

places of the world. Almost 300 different

experiences have been compiled and the

figures increase everyday.

Thanks to the inspiration relating to these

experiences, cotton agricultural workers

are being trained in Mali, Senegal, Burkina

Faso and Benin on the risks of pesticides,

construction workers of Cajamarca, Peru,

can receive occupational training to work

in the installation and maintenance of

solar panels and hotel workers in Malaysia

are going to be able to understand the

concept environmental management of

these facilities and to participate in it,

where the employers allow.

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Outreach Issues

issues. In this way they were able to know

the daily situation of millions of people.

Finally, the visitors were able to commit

to a common message and become

involved in guaranteeing water

sustainability by adding their signatures to

the following statement:

“Because having access to safe water and

sanitation for all people is a right and

the protection of aquatic ecosystems, a

priority. Act now!”

Today on the 14th of May, a delegation of

Faro’s organising partners present to

United Nations, the 108.601 signatures

FARO Demands

By: Marisa Fernandez, Ecología y Desarrollo

A number of Civil Society Organisations

participated in the International Exposition

2008 celebrated in Zaragoza (Spain)

around the themes of water and

sustainable development. The FARO

turned out to be one of the most emblem-

atic pavilions of Expo 2008, supported by

the participation of 347 NGOs.

The FARO´s exhibition and programme

were organized along eight thematic

areas. These themes were the messages

presented to the one million Faro Pavilion

visitors:

Water and Sanitation Right

Water ecosystems Degradation

Water and climate change

Big dams and infrastructures

Water uses and abuses

Public management of Water

Water Emergency risks management

Water and conflicts

The objectives of the Faro pavilion were to

show alternative forms of building

techniques used all over the world. In

addition to this, visitors were able to

experience the differing situations

experienced by people around water

108,601 signatures demanding the priority of the access to safe water and sanitation for all people, as a right.

and the twelve petitions which summarize

the proposals of change to sustainability in

water issues.

Expressly recognise and guarantee the

human right to safe drinking water and

sanitation for all human beings as a

fundamental human right and as such

a politically, economically and socially

inalienable right.

Rethink the social dynamics in the North,

where pockets of poverty still endure and

where access to safe drinking water and

sanitation is not a reality for all people.

Guarantee the necessary investments in

education as well as infrastructure that

ensure the delivery of basic drinking water

and sanitation services to all people as

these are issues of health and human

dignity with a special emphasis on the

needs of women.

Consider educational activities as a

strategy to achieve social transformation:

reform educational philosophies and

policies so that they incorporate compul-

sory continuing education for teachers in

the culture of sustainability and specifically

in terms of water reforming the contents

of educational curriculum.

Launch conservation (ecosystem sustain-

ability) and demand management (savings

and efficiency) strategies in lieu of

traditional supply side policies that focus

exclusively on the construction of large

dams and other water infrastructures, and

ensure the compliance with the basic

rights of native peoples to their land and

culture through an active participation in

the decision-making process.

Institutionally recognise the creation of

social platforms that foster dialogue and

social participation as valid mechanisms

for the prevention and resolution of

conflicts.

Recognise water as a public good that

cannot be treated as a commodity. Water

management must be realised through the

public sphere and be governed by a new

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culture of water that includes social

participation and oversight. Therefore, we

ask for a change in the direction of water

policies and that they be excluded from

any and all WTC agreements.

Condition the existence of new urban,

agricultural and industrial developments

to the availability of water and the new

scenarios brought about due to global

climate change and ensure that these

aspects are considered in the environ-

mental impact assessments.

Recognise that disasters are not always

“natural”. They are often the direct

consequence of specific unsustainable

development models that increase our

vulnerability to and the risks of disasters.

In the framework of the management

of these risks, prevention must be

prioritised through a solid institutional

foundation that allows for implementa-

tion at the local and national level

guaranteeing the participation of civil

society groups.

Introduce savings and efficiency

mechanisms in all aspects, beginning with

the installation within a span of ten years

of water metres for all end users.

Establish by the year 2012 a worldwide

network of representative natural water

areas, that include indigenous and

traditional communities, by environmen-

tally restoring these areas and their

fishing, natural resources and biodiversity

and ensuring that these areas, where

appropriate, utilise organic and sustain-

able agricultural methods.

Promote a personal, cultural and social

change which brings about a decrease in

consumption, including the unsustain-

able consumption of water and energy.

We must revise the implicit assumptions

in out current model of consumption

through a process of listening and fair

dialogue with those who hold other world

views.

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savings and efficiency

sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our

cars and run our factories. And we will

transform our schools and colleges and

universities to meet the demands of a new

age. All this we can do. All this we will

do." (Inaugural Address, 20th January 2009)

All around us we see the green shoots of

‘tomorrow’s green economy’ – new ways of

living and working; new forms of energy,

transport, infrastructure, and city designs.

For us to rise to this challenge, we need not

only to harness our capacity for innovation

as never before, but also return and renew

humanity’s capacity for wisdom. And we

need a radically new and generative relation-

ship between civil society, government and

business, to create the enabling conditions

for the new economic and social order to

come into being – which comes to terms

with the realisation that business has an

essential role to play as a force for good.

The twenty first century, as CS Kiang argues

in Tomorrow’s Global Talent, our recent re-

port, must be an era of eco and ego, or yin

and yang, of development and equity.

Business as usual won’t do, and neither will

old models of distribution, development and

sustainability.

We need a Rio +20 fit for purpose for the

Age of Sustainability.

Tony Manwaring is Chief Executive of

Tomorrow’s Company, the think and do tank,

working with leading businesses and business

leaders, to understand what business success

means, how it is changing and how it needs

to be achieved in the triple context of eco-

nomic, social and environmental opportunity

and impact in which we now live. For more

information: www.forceforgood.com.

But such doubts would surely be evident of a

species in denial and crisis, when we come to

terms with the fact that we are entering a

new economic era, one in which the policy

tools of the post-war period can offer only

partial guidance and will provide limited

traction – it is as if we are relying on the

levers of a steam engine whilst seeking to

reprogram a super-computer.

Other studies have concluded that civilisa-

tions – which their members presume will be

enduring, and will last for generations –

collapse, sometimes quickly, if they lack the

critical self awareness to understand their

own basis for survival and renewal: not to

hold Rio+20 would be a ‘canary in the coal-

mine’ for humanity’s future.

Sure, there is a recession, it would be too

expensive, lets just get few the next few

months, and then see if we can survive the

next year – the last thing we need is an

expensive, high profile, carbon guzzling

junket of world leaders, all talk and no ac-

tion. The critique is as obvious, as it is just

plain wrong.

Why? Because, whatever their faults and

frustration, Rio and the events that have

followed, have drawn a line in the sand

in creating a common conviction that

sustainability matters, and is a bedrock of

policy action to tackle the most pressing

issues facing our planet and in particular the

poorest and most vulnerable.

But more than that, there is a fundamental

duty to recognise that the conditions facing

millions are rapidly degrading. We talk a lot

about runaway climate change these days,

but we are witnessing the conditions for run

away poverty and loss of life. In our recent

Ubuntu Declaration, drafted by Right &

Humanity together with the South African

Human Rights Commission, we draw

attention to chilling facts: with every 1%

Rio+20 – Heralding the Age of Sustainability Imagine, if you will, the verdict of historians judging the leadership and understanding of humanity in the early

21st

century. Faced with multiple and cumulative challenges – peak oil, financial crisis, food riots, climate change,

species loss – it seems odd to even contemplate that we don’t need to hold Rio+ 20.

decline in the growth rates of developing

countries, 20 million more people will be

pushed into poverty; it is estimated that 46

million more people will have to live on less

than $1.25 per day, and that by the end of

2010 there could be 90 million more people

living in extreme poverty.

All of these reasons should be compelling

enough, but there is arguably a more

fundamental reason still.

We argue that a new economic era has

begun – the Age of Sustainability – disguised

by recession, and false hopes built on a

confusion of cyclical and structural change.

The hope is that business as usual will lead to

things getting better, and they may for a

while, but this should not disguise the more

profound underlying conditions for crisis that

we face in years to come, evidence of which

we can already see in for example species

loss, the loss of summer ice in the arctic,

food riots, water shortages.

What is changing is so simple and stark that

we can barely contemplate its reality. That

the basic conditions of life, on which we

all depend, are being fundamentally

compromised. It is the human equivalent of

the proverbial meteor shower hitting when

dinosaurs walked the earth – only this

problem is ‘man made’.

So there is urgency and there is danger but

this is also an era of unparalleled opportu-

nity, captured powerfully by President

Obama - "The state of our economy calls for

action: bold and swift ... We will harness the

By: Tony Manwaring, Chief Executive,

Tomorrow’s Company “We need a radically new and

generative relationship between

civil society, government and

business, to create the enabling

conditions for the new economic

and social order to come

into being.”

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At the opening session of this meeting, the

Youth Statement was delivered by Esther

Agbarakwe, a youth representative from

Nigeria whose participation is funded by

the German Federal Ministry for Economic

Cooperation and Development.

The Majority of Africa Women delegates

have shown support to the entire youth

representative from Africa, an indication

of the strong bond between African moth-

ers and their children. So these should be

stepping stones the government and other

stake holders should follow.

Sustainable development cannot be

achieved in Africa without the establish-

ment of an effective intergeneration part-

nership for sustainability among the young

people and the other generations. If Africa

has challenges today, these are mere prel-

udes to the looming threats of tomorrow.

The youth have deep stakes in the future

and we are eager to contribute our quota.

The future belongs to us. The youths are

full of ideas and we are waiting to share

them. Give us the space, give us the

knowledge, give us a sustainable future!

It is very instructive that Africa is one of

the themes of the 17th session of the

Commission on Sustainable Development.

Africa is faced with the worst global chal-

lenges in achieving sustainable develop-

ment. She has a lot of resources, but the

question is: how are the youths from Af-

rica involved in the process of tackling the

problems of the continent? It is very im-

portant that we contribute at the UN CSD.

Our marginalization in decision-making

poses a threat to good governance and

sustainable development, especially as

most of Africa’s development challenges

impact on both the youth of today and

tomorrow.

Young people, who constitute the majority

of Africa's population, are an important

force and partner in the field of global in-

terdependence. It follows, therefore, that

youths are social actors who should be

recognized as having a role to play in de-

velopment and who are capable of carry-

ing out projects and programmes in the

field of sustainable development.

It is a fact that no African Government has

a youth on their official delegation or even

a youth representative at the youth Cau-

cus except those funded by the German

and Swedish governments or NGOs. Why

do we not involve the young people from

Africa? An environment where elders be-

lieved that they have the monopoly of

knowledge cannot lead into a sustainable

future!

“Provide all, especially children and youth,

with educational opportunities that em-

power them to contribute actively to Sus-

tainable development.” (Earth Charter

2000)

African Youths have a lot to contribute in

the decision-making processes but they

are not supported by the adults except

when making statements at conferences

such as the CSD.

Barriers relating to demography – age re-

strictions, gender barriers, cultural factors

and sometimes “extreme politics” exclude

youth from decision-making. African

Youths have limited time to develop skills

and knowledge for decision-making com-

pared to their peers from other regions.

Therefore African youths should be given

greater opportunities to participate in

these decision-making because our opin-

ion matters a great deal to our country

and the world at large.

CSD-17: An African Youth Perspective By: Esther Agbarakwe and Anna-Maria Abaagu,

Youth Caucus

“Young people, who constitute

the majority of Africa's

population, are an important

force and partner in the field of

global interdependence. ”

Photo by Lisa Develtere

7 11

Outreach Issues

In our Earth Talk in Spainish, Armando

Canchanya chats with André Odenbreit of

Brazil, who talks about his goals and

concerns at CSD-17

On Pioneers of the Planet, Madhyama

Subramanian sits down in the studios with

Dr. Ahmed Djorglof, the Executive Secretary

of the Convention of Biological Diversity, to

talk about his work to save biodiversity.

Dr. Djorglof is a former director and coordi-

nator of the UNEP's Division of the Global

Environmental Facility with projects in over

155 countries. He has held a variety of

positions on the Algerian Ministry of Foreign

Affairs and has worked tirelessly in the name

and winners of the 2009 SEED award. Will

there be an earth summit in 2012? Merim

asks Jan-Gustav Strandenaes, an attendee of

CSD Stockholm 1972, and Youth delegate

Bernice Ang, a first-year CSD attendee, what

they hope the future holds.

Water, consumption, international law and

human rights were the subjects of today’s

Greentable, where Hannah Stoddart was

joined by environmental lawyer Randy

Christensen from Canadian NGO Ecojustice;

Danish Sustainable Development Ambassa-

dor Aagaard Andersen, and Olcay Ünver,

Coordinator of the United Nations World

Water Assessment Programme. Discussions

focussed on the importance of water for

sustainable development, how we can best

respond to increasing pressures on water

resources, and the role of the human right

to water and how this interacts with the

right of the environment and ecosystems to

water, as well as being balanced with water

as an economic good.

Live from the CSD http://media.stakeholderforum.org

By: Sharon Shattuck, Hannah Stoddart

and Brett Israel, Stakeholder Forum

of biodiversity.

On today at the CSD host Merim Tenev asks

CSD chair Gerda Verburg why a prominent

report on agriculture isn't impacting the

content of negotiations here at the

commission. Armando Canchanya explores

the history and inner workings of the CSD,

and Merim talks to two green entrepreneurs

“Here in New York, there is

so much paper, there are so many

reports. But we have to take into

account that poor people cannot

eat, cannot live, on paper.”

(Gerda Verburg)

…or that is what seems to be the most

important outcome from the Climate Change

negotiations. The first preparatory meeting

for the Copenhagen Climate Conference of

the Parties took place a few weeks ago in

Bonn. All countries, except the United States,

laid out their stalls. As we understand, the US

will come to the second preparatory meeting

in June ready to negotiate.

The present global emissions of the key

countries are China at 24%, the US at 22%,

the European Union at 12%, India at 8% and

Russia at 6%. The US deputy chief climate

change negotiator Jonathan Pershing did say:

“As a wealthy and large country, we have to

defiantly help those less fortunate.” In a

private briefing for NGOs he did accept the

need to deal with “historical responsibility for

the present state of affairs”, that the concept

of equity is an important value to underpin

any agreement, and a respect for future

generations.

Where that will place the US position on ne-

gotiations in June will be interesting. Clearly,

a differentiated approach to countries’ needs

will be part of the US position. With nearly a

third of emissions coming from China and

India now, it will be difficult for the US to

get congressional approval without some

movement on climate change by these two

countries, in particular.

Food for Thought… Felix Dodds, Stakeholder Forum

One could imagine the US and Europe taking

a view that least developed countries,

particularly those impacted by climate

change, should be supported in their

adaptation strategies. They are not great at

admitting that countries such as China, India

and other more developed countries will get

some technology transfer, but will need to

start setting their own targets; and that a

rather large third group would be looked at

on a country-by-country basis.

So it was with interest that I read in the

Guardian that the Chinese government is

considering setting targets for carbon dioxide

emissions. Sui Wei, a leading figure within

the Chinese climate change negotiating team,

is reported as saying that this will be done

within its next five-year plan, starting in 2011.

Again according to the Guardian, a second

government adviser, Hu Angang, has said that

China should start cutting overall emissions

from 2020. He said: "If we can't succeed in

reducing energy consumption, then no one

can. I tell the government that a 1% failure in

China is a 100% failure for the world."

Will China formally announce a target for the

UNFCCC and break with the G77 and China

position? Probably not. If they don’t, but

have set an internal target, could the US and

Europe accept this?

What has always been a mystery to me is

why there isn’t more work being done to

support sub-national governments, e.g.

California, Scotland and Gauteng, to set

targets. They are closer to the people and

could be mobilised through the Network for

Regional Governments for Sustainable

Development and their climate group to play

a really important role in the coming years.

Perhaps an outcome from Copenhagen

might be an informal COP of sub-national or

regional government to support keeping us

under a rise of 2 degrees.

“Targets, Targets, Targets”

Senior Editor: Jan-Gustav Strandenaes, ANPED

Co-Editor: Felix Dodds, Stakeholder Forum

Daily Editor: Stephen Mooney, Stakeholder Forum

Design and Layout: Erol Hofmans, ANPED

Contributing writers:

Neth Dano and Juan Hoffmaister, Third World Network

David Korten

Laura Martin, Sustainlabour

Marisa Fernandez, Ecología y Desarrollo

Tony Manwaring, Chief Executive, Tomorrow’s Company

Esther Agbarakwe and Anna-Maria Abaagu, Youth Caucus

Sharon Shattuck, Hannah Stoddart and Brett Israel,

Stakeholder Forum

EDITORIAL TEAM

Previous and today’s issues are easily available online, go to:

www.sdin-ngo.net

media.stakeholderforum.org

Please send your contributions to:

smooney@stakeholderforum.org

erol.hofmans@anped.org

Outreach Issues

12

Outreach Issues is made

possible through the

generous support of: .

THE ITALIAN MINISTRY OF THE

ENVIRONMENT, LAND AND SEA

AND

THE BELGIUM FEDERAL

ADMINISTRATION ON SUSTAINABLE

DEVELOPMENT (PODDO)

(Edited by Aleksandra Radyuk)