Sustainable development has been the overarching goal of the
international community ever since the United Nations Conference on Environment
and Development (UNCED) in Rio in 1992. However, two decades on, the world is
far from realizing the bold vision set forth in Rio. Today, we continue to struggle
with the grave challenges of climate change, food and energy security for a growing
population, high levels of poverty and deprivation in the developing countries,
and rising global inequalities.
So, what are the underlying factors behind our less than
satisfactory progress on sustainable development? And what steps can we take
now to make truly sustainable development a reality?
The Obstacles
Extreme poverty and
inequality have stalled progress: Despite the vast
amounts of wealth currently being produced, about 22.4% of the world’s population lives on less than
$1.25 a day.Out
of 84 countries with available data on Millennium Development Goals, 40
countries are not on track to meet the poverty reduction target (World Bank,
2009). On the remaining targets as well, sub-Saharan Africa shows very little
progress. According to the Report on the World Social Situation 2010, 963
million people or about 14.6% of the estimated world population of 6.6 billion
are undernourished. This extreme poverty and inequality is a key factor in the
failure of sustainable development because poverty eradication, food security,
universal access to modern energy services, public health and employment
generation are the overriding concerns of developing countries. Therefore, for future
success, poverty alleviation and equity should be placed at the centre of sustainable
development efforts at Rio+20.
International discussions
on sustainable development have failed: The
international discussions on sustainable development are beset by a lack of
trust between developed and developing countries. This lack of trust reflects a
lack of appreciation of the domestic political commitments and constraints on
both sides and makes implementation of global commitments on sustainable
development impossible. The problem of trust stems from the huge gap in finance
and technology between the developed and developing worlds. Agenda 21, an
outcome of the UNCED in Rio in 1992, argued that financing for sustainable
development and technology transfer are the two key means of implementing sustainable
development, along with education, training, public awareness, science and informed
decision making. Official development assistance can be a vital source of
external finance for many developing countries for implementing renewable
energy projects and providing energy access to the poor people.
However, inadequate financing remains the biggest obstacle to
sustainable development in poor countries. Without financing from developed
nations, developing countries will not be able to mobilize the resources for
the additional investment needed to promote sustainable development. In
addition, most developing countries have poorly developed markets for long-term
domestic financing for development projects and a weak fiscal basis, which
further limits the scope for substantial increases in domestic funding. So, provision
by the wealthy nations of new, stable, predictable financial resources to
support implementation activities in developing countries is essential for the
achievement of tangible outcomes. Unfortunately the developed countries have
failed to meet their commitments to help developing countries meet the sustainable
development goals set forth in Rio. Most of the developed countries have not allocated
0.7 per cent of GDP to aid for developing countries which was first pledged in
a United Nations General Assembly Resolution in 1970. Since then the target has
been affirmed in many international agreements including the March 2002
International Conference on Financing for Development in Monterrey, Mexico and
at the World Summit on Sustainable Development held in Johannesburg.
Moreover, a huge technological gap exists between
developed and developing countries. Although a few large developing countries
such as China, Brazil and India possess the ability to undertake technological
efforts on their own, the majority of the developing countries are not in the
same situation. Therefore, for the world to move onto a path of sustainable
development, developing countries would require access to technology at
affordable prices. However, there has been little technology transfer from
developed to developing countries. The focus of implementation has generally
been on creating conditions in developing countries conducive to foreign
investment and building capabilities to absorb and utilize imported
technologies. Currently a large body of technological information is held by the
private sector which is in turn, dependent on intellectual property income.
Therefore, the intellectual property regime is a decisive determinant of
technology diffusion. Available evidence points to a centre-periphery character
in technological evolution where firms from developed countries are the main
holders of intellectual property rights and developing countries are technology
followers. Existing IPR laws are not able to distinguish between countries at
different stages of development in ways that might help IPRs to fully
contribute to development objectives.
We reward the wrong
activity – Another major cause of concern is that governments
all over the world continue to spend huge amounts of resources to subsidize
environmentally unsound practices in agriculture, energy, water and
transportation. The subsidy system is now deeply entrenched in political
systems worldwide. According to IEA (2011), fossil fuel consumption subsidies
amounted to $409 billion in 2010. However, only 8% of the $409 billion spent on
fossil-fuel subsidies was distributed to the poorest 20% of the population. A
major shift in subsidies is needed in which governments work to reduce the
initial costs and risks associated with implementation of sustainable practices
such as solar and wind energy.
The Way forward
We must redefine the
concept of development. The priority given by
political leaders to GDP growth tends to crowd out sustainable development
concerns. The predominant economic growth agenda has increased material wealth
of a small section of society at the expense of growing ecological scarcities
and social disparities. For instance, a major weakness in India’s growth story
is that it has not been sufficiently inclusive and has come at the cost of
overexploitation of the country’s resources. India’s performance in poverty
eradication is very disappointing. According to UNDP’s Multidimensional Poverty
Index (MPI) 53.7% of India’s population is poor (UNDP, 2011). Nations all over
the world need to intensify their efforts to improve the lives of the poor and
provide for basic needs such as education, nutrition, health care services,
adequate shelter and a clean environment. Thus, the political goal must shift
from maximizing growth rates to improving the lives of the people. This shift
necessitates alternative indicators of development, such as the UNDP’s Human
Development Index (HDI), the UN system of Integrated Environmental-Economic
Accounting (SEEA) and the OECD’s initiative on Measuring the Progress of
Societies, which complement GDP and integrate economic, social and environmental
dimensions of well-being.
The examples of Sri Lanka, Cuba, Costa Rica and the Indian state of
Kerala show that high human development is possible without fast growth. Moreover,
countries such as Nepal and Tunisia have also been successful in improving the
human development index by following different pathways. Despite modest
economic growth, Nepal and Tunisia have made impressive progress in health and
education with the help of massive public policy efforts (UNDP, 2010). India’s Mahatma
Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 (MGNREGA), a wage employment
programme that guarantees hundred days of wage employment in a financial year
to a rural household, is also an important step towards sustainability and
equity in India. It promotes inclusive growth and empowers the poor and
marginalized groups by financing rural works that address causes of drought,
deforestation and soil erosion restores the natural capital base on which rural
livelihoods depend.
We must bridge the trust
gap. To build trust between developed and
developing countries, we need more effective dialogue and co-operation that is
not reflected in today’s multilateral regimes. Given that the overall required investment
for sustainable development is very high and that the greatest need is in
developing nations, stronger commitments and concrete actions from developed
countries are the need of the hour along with innovative sources of financing. A
currency transaction tax could be an innovative new source to meet the
financing gap. The tax can be a simple proportional levy on individual foreign
exchange transactions assessed on foreign exchange dealers and collected
through existing financial clearing systems. Moreover, developed countries
should also stimulate private sector innovation with a combination of tax and
regulatory policies. Innovative financing schemes canbridge the financing gaps
in some sectors like water and sanitation in developing countries which are
regarded as high risk, low-return investment. For instance, in Niger the
Coca-Cola Companyand the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
sponsoredthe installation of locally made rope pumps.
The issue of technology in poor nations needs to be addressed at
various stages in terms of facilitation, development, deployment and technology
transfer. In the context of developing countries, lack of awareness about clean
technologies is a key barrier for small scale units. Thus, collaborative
research with the necessary arrangements for building capacity in developing
countries will go a long way in reducing the technology gap.For instance, with
the support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operation (SDC), The
Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) has helped the Firozabad Glass industry
cluster switch over to energy-efficient and environment friendly technologies
based on natural gas. The energy efficiency of coal-fired muffle furnace was
very low and a major source of pollution in Firozabad, India. The higher
pollution from these coal-fired systems affected the health of the workers and
the local population in Firozabad. Joint efforts of TERI and SDC improved the
lives of the workers and reduced the level of environmental pollution in
Firozabad at the grass roots level in addition to lowering the fuel cost of
glass units on account of reduced energy consumption. Thus, fostering
partnerships between developing country institutes, which have a better
understanding of local problems, and international organisations which have the
requisite resources and technologies, is the key to finding solutions to the
environmental problems and to contribute to the improvement of the lives of the
poor people in developing countries.
There are
high expectations on the Rio+20 summit for renewed momentum for global
sustainable development. Therefore at Rio+20, world leaders must build upon and
scale up theachievements, best practices and lessons of theMDGs, and lay strong
foundations for the post2015 development agenda.In order to make significant
progress towards sustainable development, the summit should come up with a
concrete roadmap for future and define aspirational goals for the international
community in the areas of food security, sound water
management, universal access to modern energy services etc.
