“They will deprive us of the right to vote”

The world’s leading academics, political leaders, and businesspeople are gathering tomorrow in Rio de Janeiro to attend the Earth Summit (Rio+20), the most high-profile international eco-conference. This forum, which usually raises various acute environmental issues, has singled out seven items to be discussed this year, including the problems of undernourishment, water resources, and sources of energy. The mainstream of this year’s ecological forum is the green economy. Environmentalists think it is high time to curb “appetites.”

As The Day was told at the Ministry for Ecology and Nature Management, Ukraine can serve as a model in some questions of the green economy. Instead, as far as the environmental law is concerned, we are not only lagging behind the others but can even be the first “to take the rap.” Things are as follows.

On the eve of the Earth Summit, our newspaper has received two exclusive materials from the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the EU Commissioner for the Environment, Janez Potocnik (read on page 4). Each of them described his attitude to the key points of this year’s summit. Therefore, The Day requested the abovementioned ministry, whose head will lead the official delegation to Rio+20, to tell our readers what Ukraine will present at the environmental forum, what points will be focused on, and what negotiations are supposed to be held. However, we were told that all information would be only given after the return from Rio+20 – on the basis of facts, so to speak. But, maybe, the silence of officials is caused by the fact that Ukraine’s environmental reputation is likely to be tarnished?

By Janez POTOCNIK

In just over a week, world leaders will gather in Brazil for the Rio+20 Summit to decide what kind of future we want. Twenty years after the original earth summit, the theme is the green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication.

Why is the conference important and why the aspirations for a “green economy”? A green economy is one that results in improved human well-being and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities. Growth in a green economy is driven by investments that reduce pressures on the environment and the services it provides us, while enhancing energy and resource efficiency.

Or put simpler, to quote an African diplomat: it is our own survival strategy. The green economy is a means to sustainable development; a strategy to get prosperity for people and the planet, today and tomorrow. There can be no sustainable development without social equity; no growth without proper management of our natural resources that our economies depend on. We need sustainable development to achieve prosperity for many instead of misery for all.

We have made quite some progress since 1992, but clearly not enough. Millions are still hungry every day. If we carry on using resources at the current rate, by 2050 we will need the equivalent of more than two planets to sustain us, and the aspirations of many for a better quality of life will not be reached.

The poorest in our societies will suffer most if we use our resources unsustainably as their lives and livelihoods depend very directly on water, land, seas, forests and soil. There are new and emerging challenges that pose a serious threat to sustainable development – from climate change and increasing water scarcity to low resilience to natural disasters and biodiversity and ecosystem loss.

However, we have the tools to tackle these challenges and turn them into opportunities. Many countries can leapfrog to efficient technologies and systems that will permit them to exploit their resources, from forests and biodiversity to land and minerals, in ways that are sustainable and capable of supporting increases in consumption. Between 70 and 85 percent of opportunities to boost resource productivity are estimated to be in developing countries. Countries that learn to use their natural capital in a smart and sustainable way will be the winners of tomorrow. The transformation to a greener economy could generate 15 to 60 million additional jobs globally over the next two decades and lift tens of millions of workers out of poverty, according to a report by the International Labour Organisation.

This is why the European Union will continue to fight for Rio 20+ to result in a focused and ambitious outcome. We want to start something irreversible; something that has real impact on people’s lives. At the end of The Day, this is a conference about people; about us, about our future. We have suggested goals and targets for key natural resources which underpin a green economy: water, the oceans, land and ecosystems, forests, sustainable energy, and resource efficiency including waste. These goals are essential for sustainable growth and inextricably linked to the issues of food security, poverty reduction and social development. These goals would drive the private sector to invest, spur technological innovation and create employment. One of the desired outcomes of Rio is that all listed and large private companies should include sustainability in their annual reporting, or else explain why they don’t. The World Bank has already launched an interesting initiative where companies would use natural accounting mechanisms in their statistics. This could be the start of a new reality, where natural capital counts and sustainability has a value. But it is clear change will not happen without everyone on board. Not only politicians will need to be convinced – we also need businesses, civil society and individuals involved.

While many countries are in better shape today compared to twenty years ago, the world’s poorest will still need help getting access to education, the right infrastructure and skills. This is why the EU remains the biggest donor of aid in the world. In 2011 we gave 53€ billion in development aid – more than half of the aid in the entire world. And this is why we will stick to our promises. Despite the current financial crisis, the EU countries recently reaffirmed this commitment, which would translate into an important additional development aid by 2015, including for projects related to the Rio outcome.

So what kind of future do we want? Here’s the answer from 17-year-old Brittany Trilford from New Zealand, winner of the Future We Want competition and who will address leaders in Rio: “Frankly, I’d be happy to just have a future. To have that guaranteed. It’s not right now.” It’s not only about the future of Brittany’s generation and generations to come. It is already about us, it is our own future we put at stake if we fail to tackle the problems of finite resources, unsustainable development and mass poverty. Let’s not waste our chance to choose the kind of future we want – while we still can.

Janez Potocnik is the EU Environment Commissioner

By Ban KI-MOON

This week, world leaders gather for a momentous occasion – the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro. Will it be a success? In my opinion, yes. To be sure, the negotiations have been lengthy. Even now there is more disagreement than agreement on the details of the so-called “outcome document” that will emerge. Yet that will not be the defining measure. Far more important is what the Rio conference has already accomplished. And that is to build a global movement for change.

Rio+20 is a milestone on a long road. The famous 1992 Earth Summit put sustainable development on the global agenda. Today, we have come to a broader and more nuanced understanding of this age-old imperative: how to better balance the development needs of a growing world population – so that all may enjoy the fruits of prosperity and robust economic growth – with the necessity of conserving our planet’s most precious resources: land, air and water. At Rio, more than 100 heads of state and government will join an estimated 25,000 participants to map our way ahead. For too long we have sought to burn and consume our way to prosperity. That model is dead. At Rio, we must begin to create a new one – a model for a 21st-century economy that rejects the myth that there must be a zero-sum trade-off between growth and the environment. Increasingly, we understand that, with smart public policies, governments can grow their economies, alleviate poverty, create decent jobs and accelerate social progress in a way that respects the earth’s finite natural resources.

In this larger sense, I believe that momentum for change is already irreversible. The evidence is all around, hiding in plain sight in countries large and small, rich and poor. Barbados, Cambodia, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea and South Africa, among many others, are already adopting “green growth” strategies that use limited natural resources more efficiently, create jobs and promote low-carbon development. Armenia, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Kenya, Jordan, Malaysia, Mexico, Nepal, Senegal and Ukraine are applying new green-growth technologies in a variety of industries, from agriculture to tourism. China has committed to supply 16 percent of its energy needs from renewable sources by 2020 and plans to invest more than 450 billion dollars in waste recycling and clean technologies under its current five-year plan.

In Brazil, waste management and recycling employs more than 500,000 people, most of whom live on society’s margins. Under its new National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, India has begun paying people to better manage natural resources, such as forests and fresh water. Wherever you look, national and local authorities are adopting principles and practices that, taken together, could help move us from a prospect of environmental ruin and growing social inequality toward a new era of inclusive and balanced sustainable growth.

Governments and nation-states are not alone in driving this transformation. At Rio, more than 1,000 corporate leaders from all continents will deliver a common message: business as usual no longer works. Many are members of the United Nations Global Compact – volunteers in a growing private-sector movement that understands that 21st-century corporate responsibility means corporate sustainability. Thus Nike (a champion of so-called “closed loop” manufacturing that minimizes industrial pollution) has initiated a new program called Mata no Peito – a Portuguese colloquialism for “taking on a challenge” by helping protect Brazilian forest ecosystems. Unilever has pledged to source all its raw materials from sustainable sources by 2020. Kenya’s Safaricom has integrated gender equality into its internal policies to create a mother-friendly environment.

Meanwhile, Microsoft has announced it will soon go carbon-neutral. China’s Broad Group produces non-electric air conditioning units that are 200 percent more energy efficient; it is now diversifying into other energy-saving products and sustainable buildings. ToughStuff from Mauritius seeks to bring affordable and reliable solar energy to 33 million people in Africa by 2016, and the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company is working to provide rural electrification in Afghanistan and the South Pacific island nation of Tonga.

Energy will be a major focus at Rio. I call it the “golden thread” that connects the dots to a sustainable future – the key driver for development, social inclusion and environmental protection, including climate change. That is why, in 2011, I established a new initiative called Sustainable Energy for All. Our aim: to ensure universal access to modern energy services for the one in five people worldwide who lack them; to reduce energy waste by doubling energy efficiency; and to double the share of renewables in the global energy mix. In Rio, leaders from government, business and civil society will announce a galaxy of actions to advance these goals, from promoting cleaner, more efficient cook-stoves to helping governments scale up their geothermal and other renewable energy potential.

Sustainable Energy for All is the partnership model of the future. The principle is simple but powerful: the United Nations uses its unrivalled convening power to bring all relevant actors to the table so they can work in common cause for the common good. At bottom, this is what Rio+20 is all about. Yes, the negotiations themselves are very important. Agreements that can be committed to paper today will shape the debates of tomorrow. But Rio+20 goes beyond that. It is the expression of a dynamic global movement for change – and a big step forward toward the future we want.

Ban Ki-moon is Secretary-General of the United Nations