Jack Hurd, Asia-Pacific Deputy Director for the Nature Conservancy (TNC), discusses their work in the region as Asian government and business faces the challenges of growth and development. Hurd argues that by applying principles of Development by Design sustainable development is possible in the fastest growing region on the planet.
While it is easy to understand why so many environmentally concerned people are fearful and pessimistic, these attitudes detract from the goal of improving our environment. Fear is well warranted, we are on the verge of a widespread ecosystem collapse and we have reached 400 ppm of atmospheric C02 in the arctic. However, rather than just ask how bad things are, we should be asking how we can best address the calamities we face within the time we have available.
Fear mongering does not move us forward, if anything, it alienates people who most need to be brought into the discussion. The reaction to Rio+20 is a great illustration of the point. The summit in Rio has been justifiably described as “weak,” ”remarkably listless,” and a ”disappointment.” Sometimes the zeal of some environmentalists makes it hard for them to recognize progress. The business community’s commitments were the one bright spot at Rio, nonetheless they too were subjected to a barrage of harsh criticisms. One article suggests that progress at Rio was derailed by big business. Some even dismissed the entire process, claiming that the summit was hijacked by powerful corporations.
Peter Bakker is head of the World Business Council on Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and he flatly rejects the criticism that the 1,000 businesses that attended Rio were not serious about creating change. As Bakker points out, there are good businesses that work to be more sustainable and there are bad businesses that work to undermine progress. “The 20 percent of really bad guys we need to regulate out of existence…You can go home from Rio totally frustrated and create absolutely nothing, but if you see the result as half full, despite the disappointment, you will see hooks for processes, dialogues and for agreements around targets,” Bakker said.
Factoring natural capital into the bottom line is about bringing the real wealth of the planet from the invisible into the visible spectrum in order to tip the balance from degradation towards sustainable management for communities, businesses, and countries.
-Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Director
A group representing thirty-nine banks, insurers, and investors have joined with the governments of more than 50 countries and corporations including Unilever, Puma, and Mars International at the Rio+20 Earth Summit calling for the valuation and accounting of natural capital as the only viable means of achieving sustainable development. The Natural Capital Declaration is a statement of commitment and leadership from the financial sector calling for integration of natural capital considerations in its practices and for governments to develop a regulatory framework to guide these institutions toward an understanding of natural capital as the basis of all human economic activity.
“Are you here to save face, or are you here to save us?”
Seventeen-year-old Brittany Trilford from New Zealand was TckTckTck’s winner of the “Date With History” contest earlier this year giving an opportunity for young people from across the globe the chance to voice their concern at the Rio +20 Earth Summit. Hoping to inspire leaders to act boldly, urgently and courageously, Brittany gave a keynote address at a plenary session on Wednesday, June 20.
As the world faces enormous challenges, Rio+20 is an opportunity to change course and move toward a more sustainable future. The Rio+20 summit is a two-day United Nations Conference that seeks to build consensus on a more sustainable course for our world. Rio+20 will convene in Brazil on June 20, 2012, marking the 20th anniversary of the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), in Rio de Janeiro, and the 10th anniversary of the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg.
We are in dire need of a better environmental, economic and social future for all. With most of the world’s ecosystems in decline, the need for an international agreement on a sustainable future is more urgent than ever. Today, over one billion people lack access to food, electricity or safe drinking water. Climate change and global population growth will only exacerbate these challenges.
As reviewed in a Business Green article, UK environment secretary Caroline Spelman is highly optimistic that an ambitious agreement can be reached, she feels that low expectations improve the prospects of a favorable outcome. She has indicated that there is significant support for a deal amongst environment ministers. She cites evidence of broad support for an ambitious agreement including natural capital accounting, and sustainable development goals that include action on food water and energy management.
Spelman’s optimism is in part driven by her conviction that green growth is not an oxymoron. She makes the point emphatically when she says:
“The world needs this [green growth]; it needs it now; the time is right and my impression of other environment ministers is that there is a determination to nail the myth that you can’t be green and growing. Actually, the opposite is true – it is in your interests to be both green and growing.”
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