Political influence

The curious thing about the resolutions on a "green economy" is that they should "respect each country's national sovereignty over their natural resources, taking into account its national circumstances, objectives, responsibilities, priorities and policy space."

In cases where natural resources cross borders, like the River Nile (Uganda, Sudan, Egypt and Kenya), or the River Omo (Kenya and Ethiopia) or even the rain forests that lie astride Congo and Uganda, it will mean politics influence development issues.

There's no incentive for businessmen and other entrepreneurs to reduce their profiteering from exploiting natural resources. The resolutions from Rio+20 "invite" them to "contribute" as they deem fit, as long as they do it within the law.

But one thing that Sha, Rima and President Kibaki agree on, and one which all the delegates from Rio+20 take note of, is that sustainable development would be futile if it does not lift people out of poverty, and ensure that most of them have food on the table.

"To run our industries, to increase production and to grow our economy, we need power. We may have no option but to use fossil fuels. But we can also complement that with renewable energy sources like wind, solar and geothermal. Biofuels are also a valid option," said Rima.

She told ChinAfrica, "Not all of us should drive to work. Investment in mass transit systems in our cities will greatly reduce the amount of pollution that cars release to the atmosphere every minute".

According to a report of the Global Network of Science Academies, released on June 14, just days before the beginning of the Rio+20, there are about 1.3 billion people worldwide stuck in "absolute poverty unable to meet even their basic needs."

That same report said that within the next 40 years, there will be 1 billiion-4 billion more people on earth. The bulk of these new mouths to feed will be in the "low-income countries" and 70 percent of these will be found in urban areas.

"While urbanization and migration may present opportunities for economic and social development and resource efficiencies, if unexpected and unplanned, they can be economically and politically disruptive and have serious environmental impacts," the report said.

Just talk?

Ultimately the politics and debate about the environment and sustainable development are a little bit hackneyed. Rio+20 was a 20-year follow-up to the historic 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in the same city. Two decades later, conversation is still not accompanied by action - local action, on local problems, to tackle deforestation, ocean acidification, overpopulation, joblessness and hunger.

For example, if policymakers can be made to understand that maintaining the hydrological cycle, while also relying on hydro-power generation for energy needs, has a direct relation with the availability of rain for crops and livestock, and therefore is an answer to the persistent droughts that have hit different parts of the world, especially Africa, then that will be a step forward.

The conversation with governments has been on-going, but there are fresh challenges in the form of financial crisis, terrorism and debt management. Political commitment needs to work in tandem with individuals rolling up their sleeves to save the environment, or we may end up with a future we don't want.

Sustainable Development Timeline

>1962 Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson,

>1967 Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) formed

>1968 Paul Ehrlich publishes The Population Bomb,

>1969 Friends of the Earth formed 

>1970 First Earth Day

>1971 Greenpeace launched

>1972 UN Conference on the Human Environment and UNEP

>1975 Worldwatch Institute established

>1976 Habitat launched

>1977 Green Belt Movement starts in Kenya

>1980 Global 2000 report released.

>1984 Drought in Ethiopia

>1985 Climate Change Meeting in Austria

>1987 Our Common Future (Brundtland Report)

>1990 International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) established

>1990 UN Summit for Children

>1992 Earth Summit Rio 

>1993 UN Commission on Sustainable Development established

>1994 China's Agenda 21

>1995 WTO established

>1995 World Summit for Social Development Copenhagen

>1999 Third WTO Ministerial Conference

>2000 UN Millennium Development Goals

>2001 Fourth Ministerial Conference of the WTO  

>2001 China joins the WTO

>2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development Johannesburg

>2004 Wangari Muta Maathai awarded Nobel Peace Prize

>2005 Kyoto Protocol

>2005 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment  

>2007 Al Gore documentary An Inconvenient Truth

>2008 World food, fuel and financial crises converge

>2008 Green economy ideas enter mainstream

>2009 Copenhagen climate negotiations

>2010 The rise of wind power

>2011 Arab Spring 

>2011 World population 7 billion

>2011 Climate Change negotiations in Durban

>2012 Rio+20

Source: International Institute for Sustainable Development

www.iisd.org © 2012 The International Institute for Sustainable Development