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Events convened on Wednesday, 5 June 2002 |
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Communities
make the difference
 Listen
to Umaña's presentation
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| Princess Basma Bint Talal of Jordan suggests that mechanisms to address sustainable development require stronger involvement of local communities in decision-making processes and the integration of sustainable development concepts into government and private sector institutional arrangements. |
Listen
to Basma's presentation Prema Gopalan, Swayam Shikshan Prayog, described an innovative programme that works with women's self-help groups in India to mobilize communities in water and sanitation planning and management. She said the approach of strengthening local infrastructure rather than operating on a regional level yields tremendous benefits to the community, and noted that the programme can be scaled up throughout India.
Listen
to Gopalan's presentationSusan McDade, UNDP, emphasized that energy service provision is not a new challenge, noting that the current reality of two billion people today closely resembles daily life without electricity in many developed countries two generations ago. She outlined UNDP energy projects and the costs of energy poverty, and called for new financing mechanisms to support energy objectives.
Listen
to McDade's presentationEdward Owango, Kenyan Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, presented the Promoting Farmer Innovation initiative undertaken by UNDP and other partners in eastern Africa. He said the programme's strengths lie in empowering local farmers, especially women, to test their own innovative ideas for improved soil, water and environmental management, harnessing community enthusiasm and peer-led knowledge diffusion.
Listen
to Owango's presentationVictoria Tauli-Corpuz, Tebtebba Foundation, described the efforts of her indigenous community in the Philippines to protect its ecosystem and biodiversity while confronted with attempts to introduce mining activities. She called for recognition of indigenous communities' decision-making power, and for the protection of traditional knowledge and cultural and biological diversity.
Listen
to Tauli-Corpuz's presentationDiscussion: Participants discussed, inter alia: difficulties in accessing UNDP programme information at the national level and in aligning project needs to funding cycles; problems with the introduction of non-native seeds; means of promoting the Earth Charter; and "community-to-community" information exchange.
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information: http://www.eurocom.org/eurocom/jordan/jett/cat/johud.htm http://www.sspindia.org http://www.undp.org/seed/unso/concepts.htm http://www.tebtebba.org |
Contact: Alvaro Umaña <alvaro.umana@undp.org> Princess Basma Bint Talal <pbo@nic.net.jo> Prema Gopalan <ssp2000@vsnl.com> Susan McDade <susan.mcdade@undp.org> Edward Owango <tedowango@yahoo.com> Victoria Tauli-Corpuz <vco@skyinet.net> |
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Integrated coastal zone management: Issues, technologies and partnerships Presented by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and UNESCO
Godwin Obasi, WMO, outlined WMO's key role in coordinating international activities and assisting national agencies in the fields of meteorology, oceanography, climatology, and hydrology. He highlighted WMO's activities and cooperation with other institutions to improve atmospheric research, weather forecasting and warning capabilities, and enhance coastal areas' capabilities for the observation of oceanographic data and services. Walter Erdelen, UNESCO, highlighted cooperation between UNESCO and IAEA on the development of isotopic methodologies to enable member States to better understand ecological problems such as harmful algal blooms and to improve resource management. William Padolina, International Rice Research Institute, discussed the application of nuclear techniques to address harmful algal blooms. He stressed the need for: long-term monitoring at the regional and local levels; improved understanding of temporal patterns at local and regional scales; regional collaborative research on sediment and cyst behavior; and management of interventions to handle harmful algal blooms, including early warning systems. V. Selvam, M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, presented a case study of the Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve in India, where biodiversity and bio-resources have been severely degraded due to pollution from a coal-based thermal power station. He stressed that clean and appropriate atomic energy-based technologies should be an integral part of coastal zone management, in order to minimize adverse effects of development and ensure the ecological and livelihood security of local communities.
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Virtual Exhibition: Showcasing sustainable development initiatives around the world Presented by Business Action for Sustainable Development (BASD)
Erik Davies, UNDP, said that the Virtual Exhibition's online discussion forum helped to identify the drivers and challenges of engaging stakeholders in partnerships, inter alia: the need for adequate capacities to engage; access to information; enabling institutional frameworks; understanding of and commitment to the benefits of partnerships; and global telecommunications for networking. He noted that an e-conference in July will follow up on these issues, and that the discussion on the website will continue after the WSSD. Gerry Morvell, on behalf of Nitin Desai, Secretary-General of the WSSD, said that the Virtual Exhibition would not only bring the world to the Summit, but it would also bring the Summit to the world. He said Desai fully supports this interaction, and called on all UN agencies and other organizations facilitating work on sustainable development on the ground to contribute to the Virtual Exhibition. Kalman Mizsei, UNDP, stressed that the Virtual Exhibition should reach beyond the WSSD and create a capacity-building platform for communications between all development professionals and actors striving to implement Agenda 21. Ando Takayuki, Japan International Cooperation Agency, gave a concrete example of a partnership on capacity building and sustainable development in Indonesia, where the private sector actively provides technical and financial assistance, including on cleaner production, as well as education for sustainable development.
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Partnerships and outcomes for the WSSD Presented by the US Government
Paula Dobriansky, US Under-Secretary of State for Global Affairs, noted that the US is engaged in discussions on the Draft Plan of Implementation for the WSSD and has embraced the Millenium Development Goals, which lay the foundation for ongoing work. She emphasized the importance of trade liberalization and open markets as agreed at the WTO Ministerial meeting in Doha, and of good governance, economic freedom, and domestic measures as affirmed in the Monterrey Consensus on Financing for Development. She stressed the need to focus on action, and highlighted the significant contributions of public-private partnerships with the active involvement of NGOs and the private sector to this end. Discussion: In the ensuing discussion, participants highlighted, inter alia: concerns regarding the lack of clarity on the relationship between Type I and Type II outcomes; the need for coordination among Type II initiatives; the importance of partnership arrangements other than public-private partnerships; and the need for a process of multi-stakeholder consultation on developing partnerships between PrepCom IV and the WSSD.
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Mining, indigenous peoples, land rights and sustainable development Presented by the Tebtebba Foundation
Alberto Saldamando, International Indian Treaty Council, addressed the legal dimensions of indigenous peoples' rights, stressing the need to distinguish between the rights of minorities and those of indigenous peoples, who have the collective right to maintain their spiritual, cultural and historic connection to their land. Three representatives of Indonesian indigenous peoples described the destruction of their communities' livelihoods and spiritual and cultural lives by transnational corporations (TNCs), and raised issues of: land ownership rights; prior informed consent for mining operations; TNCs' responsibilities for rehabilitation and sharing of benefits from mining operations; disposal of mining waste; militarization and violence; and marginalization of local communities associated with mining operations. Lucy Mulenke, African Indigenous Women's Organization, outlined the effects of mining on nomad and hunting communities in Africa, including land destruction, pollution, militarization, and forced relocation. She expressed disappointment with the agreed text on mining, minerals and metals in the Draft Plan of Implementation for the WSSD, and stressed the need for local communities to understand how to defend their rights. Alfredo Vitery,
CONAIE Ecuador, described the economic, cultural and environmental
degradation in Ecuador resulting from oil and gas exploration by TNCs. He
highlighted how TNCs and corrupt governments abuse the concepts of
partnerships and consultation with local communities. He said sustainable
mining will remain an illusion unless means are developed to monitor and
assess the cultural, social and health impacts of the activities of mining
companies, and called for an international corporate accountability
mechanism.
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Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: strengthening capacity to manage ecosystems sustainably for human well-being Presented by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA), World Resources Institute, Meridian Institute, the World Fish Center (ICLARM), and the United Nations University
Nicolas Lucas, MA, outlined the status of the MA as it completes its first year of operation. Peter Johan Schei, Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management, described a pilot assessment carried out at the national level in Norway through the MA framework entitled Nature's Values and Services: An Assessment of Norwegian Nature at the Millennium. He described how the pilot assessment, completed on a low budget in a short timeframe, serves as a framework to, inter alia: foster inter-sectoral dialogue and cooperation; identify trade-offs between uses for natural resources; forge commitment for a full-scale study; establish the need for new methodologies to evaluate the uses and services of natural resources for inclusion in the national economy; and develop ideas on how to effectively use the global MA. Delmar Blasco, Secretary-General of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, expressed hope that the MA would: provide a global overview of the wetlands situation, particularly with regard to the integration of natural and social science components; generate greater awareness of human dependency on wetlands and how human activities will affect our future; and clarify the strong linkages between biodiversity, wetlands and desertification, bringing the three conventions on these issues into closer collaboration. Esther Camac, Asociación Ixacavaa de Desarollo e Información Indigena (Ixacavaa Association for Indigenous Development and Information), explained the role of indigenous communities in the MA in sharing traditional knowledge about the identification and maintenance of resources and values. She identified a challenge in establishing traditional and scientific knowledge on equal footings in the MA. Discussion: In the ensuing discussion, participants addressed, inter alia: complementarities between the MA and the biodiversity assessments being completed for the CBD; the added value of incorporating socioeconomic principles into the MA; the balance between assessment and policy prescription that is struck through scenario development; and the importance of local action in effecting change.
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The Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) on the side is a special publication of the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The Editor of ENB on the side is Kira Schmidt kira@iisd.org.This issue has been written by Tamilla Held tamilla@iisd.org, Jenny Mandel jenny@iisd.org and Kira Schmidt kira@iisd.org. The Digital Editors are Andrei Henry andrei@iisd.org, Leila Mead leila@iisd.org, and Diego Noguera diego@iisd.org. Funding for publication of ENB on the Side at PC-IV is provided by UNDP. The opinions expressed in ENB on the Side are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of IISD and funders. Excerpts from ENB on the Side may be used in non-commercial publications only and only with appropriate academic citation. For permission to use this material in commercial publications, contact the Managing Editor at kimo@iisd.org. Electronic versions of issues of ENB on the Side from WSSD PC-IV can be found on the Linkages website at http://enb.iisd.org/2002/pc4/enbots/. |
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| © 2002, IISD. All rights reserved. |
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