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This edition of Outreach is produced by the Sustainable Development Issues Network (SDIN) Group and Stakeholder Forum at the 17th Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD). In particular, this issue focuses on Rural development in a changing climate, water and food security, topics need to be disscused in Earth Summit in 2012.
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Blind Spots on Africa?
Outreach Issues
In discussions during the intergovernmental pre-
paratory meeting (IPM) of February 2009, several
delegates spoke of what their countries/regions
had done for Africa but very little was said about
what had done to Africa. This historical blind spot
has largely clouded discussions about the problems
that plague the continent.
Convergence of global crises
In the negotiations that will be happening at this
session, a moment should be taken to review the
deep and deepening convergence of crises that has
recently gripped the world. This is vital, because
they have tossed up a wide deficit of public
confidence in global governance with regard to the
handling of the crises. Whereas some countries
appear to be moving in a changed direction, when
it comes to discussions on the climate crisis, food
crisis and the economic crisis there appears to be
more continuity than discontinuity.
The way in which the resolution is achieved will
mark the path of future relationships between and
even within regions. With this in mind, Africa
should legitimately expect that the challenges of
the continent should be viewed through the filter
of history with all its baggage of inequity in
exploitative relationships including the rapacious
appropriation of global commons.
Continued on page 2
Inside this Issue:
Blind Spots on Africa 1
Two Weeks, Six Themes And
One Challenge
3
Rural development in a
changing climate
4
Water Water Water... 5
Earth Summit 2012 7
CSD 17: Anything New in
Terms of Actions for the
People of Drylands?
8
Public Food and the
Challenge of Sustainable
Development
9
A Note from the Editor 9
Food for Thought… 10
A daily publication of Sustainable Development Issues Network (SDIN) and Stakeholder Forum (SF)
MONDAY May 4, 2009
1
Outreach Issues is the civil society
newsletter produced by the SDIN
Group and Stakeholder Forum.
Outreach Issues aims to report
with attitude, from the global
scene of sustainability.
By: Nnimmo Bassey, Friends of the Earth International
Africa will be in the spotlight throughout the negotiations at this policy session of
CSD-17. This is to be expected because the continent has been set as a subtheme
besides others like agriculture, rural development, land, desertification, drought,
water and sanitation. When the sum of all these parts is taken together, all fingers
point to Africa as a continent that has been left behind in the global scheme of
things.
2
The financial crises
The financial crisis has helped reveal the
underbelly of the economic systems built on
neo-liberal dogma, fuelled by the structural
adjustment programmes of the international
financial institutions such as the World Bank
and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
While these institutions preached that states
should stay out of productive enterprises and
aided the distribution of public goods to the
private sector, they also ensured the disman-
tling of other public nets that provide the
base for development in the captive nations.
When talks of failing or failed states arise,
fingers quickly point at Africa, and the same
institutions that brought about the collapse
step forward to prescribe the way forward.
The threat of state failure
Today, the financial and economic crises
have confirmed the fear of opponents of
neo-liberalism that, even by the sheer size of
the bailouts needed, the failure of the mar-
ket is far worse than the failure of a state.
Market failure can be compared to a
pandemic whereas state failure could be,
and often is discrete. The ripples of state
failure may not reach far beyond its
immediate neighbours. We note that the
threat of state failure was used to force
weaker states into line. It has also been seen
that the market paradigm is not scientific
and that markets do not have self-correcting
mechanisms and this is why they needed
massive stimulus packages to prop up
collapsing scaffolds. The emperor has been
naked all along. Someone has to point and
shout it!!
Farms, not arms
It has been reported that in 2006 alone the
world spent $1,200 billion dollars on arms.
While these arms kill and destroy, some of
these expenditures are even classified as
overseas development assistance! Imagine
what impact a more focused investment in
agriculture would have on global food
production. Nevertheless, African food
production has doubled between 1990 and
today. It is time to end the playing of politics
with hunger and food aid and support small
holder farmers providing them with
appropriate technologies and cutting off
toxic technologies that lead to biodiversity
erosion.
Support small farmers
Emphasis on chemical based industrial
agriculture has overlooked the fact that
much of the world is fed by small-holder
family farmers whose productivity continue
to rise despite all odds. The smallholder
farmers need to be strategically supported if
the world is to escape another and perhaps
more vicious crisis. Africa should insist on the
utilization of the vital outcomes of the Inter-
national Assessment of Agricultural Science
and Technology for Development (IAASTD)
review as key policy resources. It is time for
Africa to recover her place as net food
producers and not chronic food importers
and food aid dependents.
Bretton Woods not in charge
As farmers groups in Africa declared in their
memo to the G8 meeting on Agriculture, the
Bretton Woods institutions whose SAPS
crippled much of developing world agricul-
ture should not be placed in charge of man-
aging funds meant to stimulate agriculture
development. They also cautioned that there
is no need for ad hoc structures, when there
are sufficient spaces already in place within
the UN system that should be used for this
purpose. In the same vein one could add that
the World Bank should not turn itself into
the Climate Bank when it is guilty of
supporting projects that have massively
impacted the climate.
NGOs point to gaps in the text
On the chair’s negotiation text delegates
should pay attention to the gaps and
omissions pointed out by NGOs at the close
of the IPM. They said: ‘We are concerned
about the largely technology solution-slant
of the document, thus missing the social and
economic dimensions of such farmer-
centred alternatives as ecological agriculture
and organic agriculture. A stronger presen-
tation of the rights-based approach, to food,
land, water and productive resources is
needed. Proposal on biofuels failed to cap-
ture the seriousness of the threats posed by
biofuels to local and global food security as
shown in last year’s food price crises.
The reference to further research and devel-
opment on 2nd and 3rd generation biofuels
must properly reflect this caution. Livestock
references should include humane treat-
ment of animals, which is directly linked to
health and environment. There must be
recognition of the role of structural
adjustments programs in damaging Africa’s
agriculture as a starting point of discussing
the problems in African agriculture.’
In the past it has not been uncommon to
see delegates from other regions, especially
Latin America, forcefully demand actions
that would aid African progress. It will be
interesting to see what positions the African
group will bring to this very important
session.
. “There must be recognition
of the role of structural
adjustments programs in
damaging Africa’s agriculture
as a starting point of
discussing the problems
in African agriculture.”
Outreach Issues
3
when it is guilty of
should pay attention to the gaps and
shown in last year’s food price crises.
recognition of the role of structural
group will bring to this very important
Outreach Issues
At the CSD-16 the alarm clock buzzed at
5:30, just another day in the life of a Youth
Caucus Coordinator at the UN Commission
on Sustainable Development (CSD). A daily
meeting to chair, drafting groups to
organize, pledges to collect and state-
ments to be delivered, among many other
things. It may seem like an easy thing to
do, except for an average of 12 hours of
work a day, networks and credibility to be
established, perceptions to be challenged
and reshaped.
Achievements
All that hard work certainly bore its fruits:
last year the Youth Caucus made a name
for itself and was readily identifiable by
most people, thanks to some exciting
features never before implemented:
• A brand-new logo and Youth Caucus
website in five different languages,
updated daily
• A stand with pictures, documents, and
pledges to ask governments to commit to
young people
• A guide for governments to select and
include official youth delegates in their
delegations
• The statements we delivered were also
well received and few of them even got
special commendations by the Chairman.
Now the opportunity presents itself yet
again, with the CSD-17 starting today.
While as young people we battle the
scourges of global poverty, climate change
and deadly pandemics, we also strive
to build our collective future, and this is
definitely an opportunity not to be missed.
With a less-than-perfect Draft Negotiating
text circulating at the IPM, the Major
Group on Children and Youth will make
sure that children and young people’s
voice be heard and included as much as
possible, working as hard as ever, to
guarantee that our future will be the
future of our choice. The choices being
made here will directly effect not just the
youth of today but the youth of tomorrow.
Global campaign
A Youth Blast prep meeting took place at
Columbia University the weekend before
the CSD kicked off, and videos were also
shown thanks to a cooperation with
Human Rights Watch. A global campaign –
the first of its kind in the history of the
Youth Caucus – has galvanised opinions,
gathered momentum and collected inputs,
ideas and suggestions from young people
the world over to be included in our state-
ments, complemented by an online group
opened to any child or young person
willing to contribute to the negotiating text
over the two weeks of CSD. Planned for
later this year, a forum for Indigenous
Young People will become a permanent
feature of our website www.youen.org.
Web 2.0!
Owing to the fact that I will not be able to
partake personally this year, moreover,
the Youth Caucus will make full use of
Web 2.0 technologies to help me coordi-
nate everything virtually, and help other
young people have a say in matters affect-
ing us all from the comfort of their living
rooms. Just another innovation brought
forward by the most creative, dynamic
and energetic group at the CSD!!!
Two Weeks, Six Themes And One Challenge Being a Youth Activist is no easy task, much less so here at the CSD: countless meetings, statements, briefings and
rules of procedure to observe, attend and possibly contribute to.
By: Selene Biffi, Youth Caucus Coordinator
. “Two weeks, several energetic young
people, six themes and one challenge:
Empower young people to speak up
for themselves and their communities.”
“While as young people we battle the
scourges of global poverty, climate
change and deadly pandemics, we also
strive to build our collective future,
and this definitely an opportunity
not to be missed ”
The Youth Caucus at the CSD (Courtesy Lisa Develtere)
4 4
Outreach Issues
Rural development in a changing climate
Decisive Action
Agriculture will still play a key role in rural
development but it is time to work more
decisively with the interconnectivity it has
with a number of other key sectors such as
transport, energy, water management and
of course trade but not only focused on
trade for export. For rural women who
constitute most of small-scale farmers with
a major role in agriculture and significant
interest in rural development the time has
come to become key actors in this debate.
In the past their needs, interests and
capacities went largely unrecognized and
treated in a rather generic way. In reality
their key role as essential managers of
natural resources and their close inter-
action with the environment, its biodiver-
sity and its ecosystem services make the
voices of poor women essential to build up
the crucial adaptive capacities that rural
communities require to address the
challenges of climate change. It is
acknowledged that the poor and their
livelihoods are directly dependent on
biodiversity and ecosystem services. Yet
the environmental degradation of fragile,
marginal lands directly threatens the
livelihoods of 250 million people, while a
further 1 billion people are at risk.
This acknowledgement also requires a
critical look at the scale of interventions
that will be favoured for the reinvigoration
of rural development. Traditional policies
and investments on rural infrastructure
have favoured centralised schemes that
often have not addressed the basic needs
of the poor and that often have been
environmentally damaging.
While traditional infrastructure and
services programmes will still have a role
to play in the development of poor
countries, it is important to complement
this approach with clear support for
decentralised and alternative infrastruc-
ture systems that make the most of the
existing natural resources and benefit the
poor directly at location. For instance
locally managed decentralised energy
systems could provide for the basic energy
needs of dispersed rural communities in a
more direct and cost effective way than
extending the grid; while support for
appropriate types of transport including
waterways, animals, gravity ropeways can
be as important as building roads.
Likewise the potential for creating income
generating activities that decentralised
systems offer is not negligible when
reflecting on existing experiences of
energy and small roads maintenance
micro-enterprises.
Rural economies are still based on a
combination of subsistence and productive
activities complemented by short- and
medium-term strategies such as migration
and paid labour. It is normal that it is the
most vulnerable who are forced into these
exclusionary cycles, those who have no
access and control to land, water and/
or genetic resources.
Equality
Gender imbalances in all those remain
unresolved and unchallenged. It is
therefore of great importance that to
begin with issues of land tenure, reform,
restitution and redistribution are
addressed in these discussions in spite of
its complexity. Small farmers’ and
producers’ control of land and water
resources should be ensured.
A fundamental Right to Food
Food production should have the right to
food –as agreed internationally- as its
main priority. In spite of growing demand
for raw materials and increased attention
to access to export markets, policies in
this regard should reflect critically on the
reduction of resilience of food producers
that may impact food security in the long
term due to their specialisation in a
limited number of export crops. In that
sense Governments should take the
opportunity to promote the diversification
of livelihoods, prioritise national manu-
facturing capacities and its ability to
protect local and regional markets from
unfair and stronger competition.
Rural development that contributes to
poverty eradication will be demand-
driven and consider for instance the
existing knowledge of small scale farmers
and producers to reorient the provision of
extension services. Impact studies of the
privatization of agricultural extension
services, particularly veterinary services,
indicate that the smallest and neediest
farmers, mainly women, cannot access
and do not benefit from these services.
“locally managed
decentralised energy
systems could provide for
the basic energy needs of
dispersed rural communities
in a more direct and cost
effective way than extending
the grid”
By: Maria Arce Moreira, Policy Adviser, Practical Action
The current context of diverse crises should force us to perceive development and its actors in a rather different
light. For those seventy-five per cent of poor women and men who live in rural areas and who depend directly or
indirectly on agriculture for their livelihoods this juncture could translate into an important opportunity as long as
decision makers move away from business as usual approaches and decide to do things differently.
7 5
Outreach Issues
unresolved and unchallenged. It is
restitution and redistribution are
its complexity. Small farmers’ and
sense Governments should take the
Water Water Water…….. Why The Discussions at CSD17 Must Address Water as a Cross-Cutting Issue.
2009 will go down as a year during which
some make-or-break decisions were made
with regard to the global environment. The
keenly anticipated deal on cutting global
greenhouse gas emissions that will emerge
from COP-15 in Copenhagen at the end of
this year will represent a critical juncture
for the well-being of the planet and future
generations. Yet whilst the world’s most
powerful decision-makers, lobbyists and
mainstream media join the debate on
percentage cuts, baseline emissions and
‘common but differentiated responsibility’,
there is significant work to be done behind
the scenes to ensure that an enabling
environment is created to both mitigate
and respond to climate change impacts.
The way in which countries manage
their resources for economic, social
and environmental wellbeing must be
addressed, and the principles of
sustainable development adopted as the
lens through which decisions are made.
The thematic focus of the Commission on
Sustainable Development on Agriculture,
Rural Development, Drought, Desertifica-
tion and Africa therefore offers an ideal
opportunity for progressive thinking on
how to achieve rising living standards in
the context of sustainable natural resource
management.
As such, water must be addressed as a
cross-cutting issue during the negotiations,
recognizing that effective and sustainable
management of water resources underpins
progress in all these areas. The Global
Public Policy Network on Water Manage-
ment, a joint initiative of Stakeholder
Forum and Stockholm International Water
Institute, has been working with
stakeholders in the run-up to CSD17 to
ensure that water is a key consideration.
Below are outlined just a few of the issues
that have been raised.
Agriculture
Agriculture uses approximately 70% of
freshwater resources. With growing
demand for food driven by an expanding
and increasingly affluent global popula-
tion, there is intense pressure for
enhanced agricultural production. Whilst
this expansion provides significant eco-
nomic opportunities for developing coun-
tries, there is a risk that short-term eco-
nomic incentives will outweigh a long-term
and sustainable approach to agricultural
development, accounting for integrated
land and water management policies and
the incorporation of approaches that build
ecosystem resilience to maintain healthy
freshwater resources.
Continued on page 6
By: Hannah Stoddart, Stakeholder Forum
Community-based extension that revalor-
izes and supports traditional knowledge
systems and networks, with training for
local farmer-to-farmer extension agents, is
an alternative solution for the most vulner-
able and needs to be reflected in policies.
Decision makers have the opportunity to
ensure that rural development promotes
increased adaptive capacities, reduces
vulnerabilities and increases the resilience
of rural communities. For that to happen,
clear spaces need to be open for the small
scale farmers, forest dwellers, livestock
keepers, fishermen and pastoralists to
bring their agendas and expertise forward
and for us for at least once, to listen and
learn.
“Clear spaces need to be open for the small scale farmers,
forest dwellers, livestock keepers, fishermen and pastoralists
to bring their agendas and expertise forward and for us
for at least once, to listen and learn”
6
Outreach Issues
Continued from page 5
Throw into this the potential impacts of
climate change on water availability in
many parts of the world, and the
consequences could be disastrous. All too
often the knee-jerk response to increased
demand for agri-cultural products is the
intensification of irrigation to meet those
demands, taking little account of the
impact of freshwater diversion on broader
ecosystem stability, which in turn provides
the services upon which agriculture and
livelihoods depends.
How will the proposed ‘Green Revolution’
in agriculture take into account the natural
limits of ecosystems, and the need to
balance the increased demand for water
for agricultural purposes with the demand
from other sectors and users? If the
importance of land rights and security of
tenure in the agricultural context is rightly
recognized, why are we not also talking
with more urgency about the rights of the
environment and of ecosystems? WWF
points out in its valuable work on water
management that building ecosystem
resilience for sustainable livelihoods may
require ‘prior allocation’ of water for
environmental flows, redefining water
rights systems so that the basic
requirements to maintain healthy eco-
systems are met. This is not at odds with a
people-centred approach, rather it is
integral to it.
Land and Rural Development
It is welcome to see reference in the
Chair’s negotiating text to the importance
of managing land and water resources in
an integrated manner. Integrated land and
water resources management holds the
key to avoiding land degradation and also
to adapting to the
impacts of climate
change – this has been
the subject of the Danish
Dialogue on Land and
Water Management,
which has comprised a
series of intergovern-
mental and multi-
stakeholder round-
tables, and has resulted
in a set of principles and
options for going
forward that should be
vital reading for dele-
gates at the CSD.
Capacity must be built at
every level to ensure
that patterns of land use
are considered in the
context of integrated
water resources man-
agement, and that
incentives are provided
for preserving freshwa-
ter ecosystem services
to avoid land degradation. It is at this
point that the inter-related nature of the
thematic discussions at CSD17 becomes
more evident, as Payment for Ecosystem
Services schemes can be a highly effective
way of both building ecosystem resilience
and also enhancing rural development, as
rural communities are rewarded for
managing land and water resources in
such a way that avoids ecosystem
degradation. Providing rural communities
with the training, tools, technologies and
incentives for managing water and land
resources in an integrated manner offers
enormous opportunity for long-term and
also climate resilient development.
Drought and Desertification
One might say that drought and desertifi-
cation are sadly the inevitable outcomes
of the wrong kinds of natural resource
management policies in the areas of land,
agriculture, and rural development
touched on above. Natural fluctuations in
weather patterns are not something that
can necessarily be controlled, though
human-induced climate change is pro-
jected to increase the quantity and sever-
ity of droughts.
Whether climate change-induced or not,
managing drought and building resilience
depends on the sensible management of
land and water, and the practice of sound
agricultural policies that use water pro-
ductively and efficiently, and do not
degrade ecosystems and deplete fresh-
water resources so that there is little
‘buffer’ in the case of drought conditions.
It is critical once again in this context to
consider the importance of the ecosystem
approach, and the recognition that
environmental flows must be secured as a
priority alongside basic social needs,
especially in times of water shortage and
scarcity. Depriving ecosystems of the
water that they need in times of
decreased water availability is tanta-
mount to cutting off the hand that feeds
you – at the heart of any policies on
drought and desertification should be the
recognition that water for development
means water for environment.
“Capacity must be built at every
level to ensure that patterns of
land use are considered in the
context of integrated water re-
sources management”
7
Outreach Issues
rural communities are rewarded for
such a way that avoids ecosystem
approach, and the recognition that
water that they need in times of
“We can't solve problems by using the
same kind of thinking we used when we
created them.” - Albert Einstein.
In February the CSD IPM was opened by
the G77 Chair, the Sudanese Ambassador
Abdalmahood Abdalhaleem Mohamed
telling the meeting:
“In 2012, the international community will
reach the twenty year mark from the Earth
Summit held in 1992 and the ten-year
anniversary of WSSD held in Johannesburg
in 2002. It will be 40 years after the
Stockholm Conference of 1972. The time
will be opportune for the international
community to thoroughly review and
assess the progress achieved since these
momentous summits. Guided by the ‘Rio
Spirit’, a Rio+20 Summit should provide
the necessary political impetus for the
range and level of action to bridge the
implementation gap. In this context the
G77 and China welcomes the offer of the
Government of Brazil to host such a
Summit in 2012.”
In the spirit of Rio during the IPM, the
Stakeholder Forum hosted an informal
dinner for 17 governments to discuss the
idea of Summit and what that Summit
might address.
It gave an opportunity for SF to present
the outcomes from the San Sebastian
workshop held the previous November.
The summary of the discussion there
highlighted a number of possible out-
comes for a Summit in 2012.
Including the idea that to underpin a
successful Summit a new deal on funding
sustainable development needs to be
agreed. To help this the UN Secretary
General could set up a High Level Commis-
sion or Panel to identify key elements for a
Global Green New Deal which would feed
into the Summit process in 2011.
Critical Issues
The world has changed a lot since 1992
and even since the 2002 Summit. The sug-
gestion was that Summit might address
key critical issues under the banner of
Human, Economic and Environmental
‘In-Security’ – that is, global insecurity over
a range of issues, such as increased
consumption patterns, urban growth,
food, water, energy, health, migration,
climate, resource availability and
economics which are going to impact
countries with increasing frequency.
This would enable a review of Agenda 21
and the JPOI could be undertaken through
this new lens of Human, Economic and
Environmental ‘In-security’.
Global Governance
At the UNEP Governing Council also in
February a Ministerial Working Group on
International Environmental Governance
(IEG) was set up with a 2012 horizon. The
South African Minister called for the UNEP
GMEF in 2010 to adopt a Ministerial
Declaration on IEG Principles and Goals.
But it isn’t just environmental governance
that needs to be addressed but sustainable
development governance as well. Maurice
Strong in Rio and since has called for
sustainable development to be addressed
at the highest level. In the past ideas
included transforming the trusteeship
Council, or the formation of a Sustainable
Development Council of the General
Assembly to look at critical and emerging
issues. It’s clear that the CSD over the past
few years has lost credibility among
governments, and civil society alike. A
strengthening of both the environmental
and sustainable development architecture
would enable the UN to address growing
“In Securities”.
Continued on page 9
Earth Summit 2012
By: Felix Dodds, Stakeholder Forum
Throughout the two weeks of CSD-17, Outreach Issues will be publishing a number of articles from different
stakeholders on what they feel a Rio+20 Summit might address. Beginning with Felix Dodds Executive Director of
Stakeholder Forum.
The Earth Summit in 1992. Rio+20 will rejuvenate the spirit of the 1992 summit.
8
Outreach Issues
The long term silent crisis of drylands
Increasing land degradation leads to
increasing food insecurity, poverty, loss of
natural capital and also to increasing
migration. The implementation of sustain-
able development policies and practices
are for the 1.5 billion people affected by
desertification the condition for their
survival in the long term. More recently
three global crises have taken place
between CSD16 and CSD17: the food crisis,
the energy crisis and the financial crisis.
Many questions discussed during CSD16
have been put under the spotlights of the
media and became much more pressing to
the general public but also for the decision
makers. Nevertheless, one can wonder if
the decisions taken at CSD 17, the policies
agreed on by the parties to the CSD, will
have any concrete positive impact for the
people living in drylands. Is this question
offensive or simply honest at the beginning
of this session?
The UNCCD has recently celebrated its
tenth birthday and as a its Parties offered
it a 10 year strategy for its implementation
without clear commitments on the means
– is this a strategy for failure or late aware-
ness? A lot of hope is put into this new
strategy and the same could be said about
the policies agreed on in terms of agricul-
CSD 17: Anything New in Terms of Actions for
the People of Drylands? Drought and desertification occurring in drylands, and the poverty and marginalization of their inhabitants have
for a long time been neglected in the priorities of the decision makers despite the efforts of the United Nations
Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
ture, land management, rural develop-
ment, drought and desertification at CSD
17. In which perspective and to what
degree will these new policies make the
lives of people in drylands any less chal-
lenging?
A reality that one must accept to face
Drylands are characterized by low and
irregular rainfall which limits agricultural
production and which might be worsened
by climate change. Droughts and desertifi-
cation are just two problems which affect
dryland areas which are vulnerable to sev-
eral threats. People living in drylands are
often marginalized in terms of local devel-
opment projects and policies, and their
lifestyle, such as pastoralism for example,
can be seen as backward. Infrastructure
development in terms of roads, health
services, communication, etc. is often
limited in these areas, which in turn limits
local development. Dryland areas are
often perceived as areas with low value in
terms of economic production and as
areas which are ‘difficult’ to work in and
which face security problems. This leads
to a lack of focus on and inward invest-
ments in these areas, which increases
their marginalization socially, economi-
cally and politically.
And who asks questions that should pre-
vent us from sleeping peacefully?
In the face of all these challenges, how
can the decisions taken at CSD 17 to
combat drought and desertification and
promote sustainable development in
drylands become a reality? How can these
promising decisions lead to concrete
actions and changes for the people of
drylands? And especially, what should be
the role of civil society organizations
(CSOs) in creating an enabling environ-
ment for the implementation of these
policies at the national and local level?
CSOs clearly have an important role to
play, as they always have in sustainable
development projects. The UNCCD
dedicates an important role to CSOs in
reaching its objectives and the Chairman’s
report, to be discussed during this
session, mentions the importance of
bottom-up implementation strategies. It is
thus crucial that the role of CSOs in
bringing these policies to life is discussed
and taken into account in the final report
of CSD 17. In that aim, a side-event will be
organized in the evening of May 11th to
address exactly this topic.
“Dryland areas are often
perceived as areas with low
value in terms of economic
production and as areas which
are ‘difficult’ to work in and
which face security problems.
This leads to a lack of focus on
and inward investments in
these areas, which increases
their marginalization socially,
economically and politically.”
By: Written by: Lauren Naville Gisnås (Drylands
Coordination Group) and Patrice Burger (Centre
d’Actions et de Réalisations Internationales, CARI)
and the networks: European networking initiative on
Desertification (eniD) and Drynet.
9
Outreach Issues
report, to be discussed during this
session, mentions the importance of
thus crucial that the role of CSOs in
Continued from page 7
Potential products of the summit could
include two conventions -- one on access
to information, participation and environ-
mental justice (Principle 10 of the Rio Dec-
laration), and one on corporate account-
ability. The last year has shown us that
voluntary agreements among bankers do
not work so, why should we believe that
they work in the environmental arena. The
time is surely here for a proper regulatory
framework for companies in the area of
environment. Between Prep Com 2 and 3
for Johannesburg, SF organised a private
meeting of 6 multinational companies, key
NGOs and the Trade Unions. As the
meeting was under the Chatham House
rules, I can’t say which companies but I can
say they all supported international
regulation and were fed up with their
competitors hiding behind voluntary
agreements and not getting any
recognition for the positive work they
were doing. In the end we couldn’t move
forward because it was felt that the politi-
cal landscape wasn’t positive. That has
changed and a corporate accountability
convention would give the general public
more confidence that the environment
was being looked after both now and for
future generations.
Finally a Rio+20, Johannesburg +10 should
utilise web 2.0’ learning from the Barrack
Obama presidential campaign in the U.S. –
it could be used to engage the motivated
individuals and in the delivery of its
outcome. Millions of people becoming part
of delivering a global solutions agenda!
Doesn’t that sound like a good Summit!!
Food has a crucial role to play in advancing the sustainable development agenda. Food production and consumption affect our individual and communal health, the integrity of our eco-systems, our quality of life. Hence, political intervention on the various stages of the food chain means addressing multiple forms of deprivation.
Throughout the world, governments are beginning to discover the development potential of PUBLIC FOOD systems, especially in relation to school food, which is increasingly seen as a strategy that can contribute to food security, childhood education and market access for farmers. Both the Curry and Obesity Reports in the United Kingdom highlighted the potential role of public pro-procurement for re-localizing the agri-food sector and addressing health issues.
Public Food and the Challenge of
Sustainable Development
Development strategies that emphasize the inter-dependence of economy, society and nature, have the offer diverse bene-fits over a range of issues. It is hoped that
the delegates this year recognize this, especially in relation to school food systems and offer concrete support to such programmes both in the developing and developed world.
Kevin Morgan and Roberta Sonnino, Uni-
versity of Cardiff, focus on food as a cru-
cial planning and development tool, to be
discussed on the opening day of the CSD
from 3-6 in CR 6.
By: By: Linda Elswick, International Partnership for
Sustainable Agriculture (IPSA)
How School Lunches Can Help Sustain the Whole Planet
A Note from the Editor
Good morning everyone and welcome to
the first day of CSD-17. As the daily editor
of Outreach Issues this year, I thought
I would introduce myself. So here goes,
I am Stephen Mooney, and I work for the
Stakeholder Forum, and this is my first
year as daily editor and also at the
Commission on Sustainable Development.
Everyone involved in producing Outreach
Issues would like to have the contribution
of all the major groups, and to give every-
one the opportunity to submit articles on
the daily proceedings. While I can’t
promise to publish everything, I think with
the input of all the major groups we can
produce a good publication. While not
every stakeholder will agree with what
others have said it is important that
everyone has the opportunity to express
their views.
This year , then I would like to implement
a “write to reply” column, where
stakeholders could write a short response
to issues that have been discussed.
So please do submit your articles and
comment (in a constructive and jovial
manner) please do get in contact.
Stephen Mooney
Food for Thought… Felix Dodds, Stakeholder Forum
after eight years of President Bush and the
denial around climate change and the block-
ing of many environmental suggestions, so
many things that didn’t seem possible now
seem probable.
The first green roots can seen in the sugges-
tions around the second recovery package
followed by the support by the US for a con-
vention on Mercury. In Bonn at the climate
preparatory meeting Todd Stern, the US
Climate Change envoy said: “President
Obama is proposing to reduce U.S.
emissions by something in the order of
about 16-17 percent from where we are
right now; about 15 percent from 2005
levels, and about 80 plus percent by 2050.
That is a significant reduction. I am well
aware that there is a historical affection for
the year 1990; and that in 1990 terms, the
President has proposed to be at that level,
the 1990 level, by 2020. But it is a 16 or 17
percent reduction from where we are right
now.”
This is a huge movement from the previous
administration but as yet not enough to
ensure we keep within the 2 degree
scenario that most climate experts think we
should not exceed.
We have also seen in response into the U.S.
Supreme Court, the US Environmental
Protection Agency has determined that:
“carbon dioxide and other tailpipe
emissions are harmful to the health and
wellbeing of the American people.” And
finally on Earth Day President Obama said
that we need: "global coalition" to solve the
problems of climate change.
"Our climate knows no boundaries; the
decisions of any nation will affect every
nation,"
All this within the first 100 days. Is this
enough? This will be the first Commission
on Sustainable Development under a
President Obama administration...perhaps
we will have a clearer idea this time next
year when Copenhagen has happened. But
we should remember that climate is not
everything the US has not ratified the UN
Convention on Biological Diversity nor the
Basel Convention or the Law of the Sea
Convention so lots for President Obama to
do in the second 100 days.
“100 days of Obama”
Senior Editor: Jan-Gustav Strandenaes, ANPED
Co-Editor: Felix Dodds, Stakeholder Forum
Daily Editor: Stephen Mooney, Stakeholder Forum
Journalists:
Nnimmo Bassey, Friends of the Earth
Linda Elswick, IPSA
Maria Arce Moreira, Practical Action
Selene Biffi, Youth Caucus Co-Ordinator
Lauren Naville Gisnås, Drylands Group
Patrice Burger, Cari
Editorial Team
Previous and today’s
issues are easily
available online, go to:
www.sdin-ngo.net
www.stakeholderforum.org
Outreach Issues
10
It always worried me that in that in the
United States, the environment had become
something of a Left v Right issue which in
Europe it had not. After all Margaret
Thatcher was one of the key leaders in
galvanising support for the Montreal Proto-
col, President Chirac led the call for a
stronger organisation to protect the
environment, and a UN Environment
Organisation and Chancellor Merkel who the
Spiegel calls: ‘Germans Green Chancellor’.
So I decided to look up in the Webster defi-
nition of conservatism and found that it
said: “preferring gradual development to
abrupt change,” or to “preserve what is
established.” Until Senator McCain’s bid for
the White House this view did not seem to
percolate the Republican Party. A party that
has had green Presidents in the past, after
all Theodore Roosevelt is well remembered
for creating Central Park, saying: “Let me
add that the health and vitality of our
people are at least as well worth conserving
as their forests, waters, lands, and minerals,
and in this great work the national
government must bear most important
part."
But what a difference a President makes,
Hannah Stoddart, Stakeholder Forum
Design and Layout: Erol Hofmans, ANPED
Pictures published under Creative Commons Licenses.
Outreach Issues is made possible
through the generous support of:
The Italian Ministry of the Environment,
Land and Sea
and
Belgian Sustainable Development Federal
Public Planning Service