Unfinished business in Bali<\/p>\n
Two weeks of talks ended in Bali with no agreement on an
\naction plan for sustainable development. The fourth and last leg
\nof the preparatory meetings before the Johannesburg Summit next
\nAugust ended inconclusively as regards how to align economic
\ndevelopment with social and environmental interests.<\/p>\n
The Bali meeting was supposed to produce a 10-year action plan
\nto be known as the Bali Commitment. This started out as an
\noriginal 10-page Chairman's Text prepared by Prof. Emil Salim,
\nand was then expanded into a 39-page document summarizing the
\noutcomes of the three previous preparatory meetings in New York.
\nIn Bali, the document grew further into a 78-page draft plan,
\nthat was in the end watered down and weakened by political
\nrhetoric.<\/p>\n
It was supposed to contain definite time and action targets.
\nMany substantial issues, however, were not agreed upon. The
\nunfinished document, full of unclear commitments, will now be
\nheld over to the Johannesburg Summit.<\/p>\n
It is hard to pinpoint exactly what went wrong in Bali. The
\nmeeting was supposed to substantiate the principle that the whole
\nplanet cannot sustain economic development based on previous
\npractices that disregard environmental and social constraints.
\nThe Rio Earth Summit 1992 concluded that economic, social and
\nenvironmental concerns are inescapably interlinked in world
\ndevelopment. Thus, sustainable development, integrating economic,
\nsocial and environmental interests, should be established as the
\ncentral organizing principle for societies around the world.<\/p>\n
Years have gone by, but unsustainable approaches to economic
\nprogress remain pervasive. The global response to environmental
\ndegradation is sluggish, at the expense of future generations of
\nhuman beings living on a planet whose ecosystems and resources
\ncan no longer provide for their needs. It seems that formulating
\nglobal policies based on the principle of sustainable
\ndevelopment, as envisioned by the Rio Summit, is not only
\ndifficult to achieve, but even more difficult to implement.<\/p>\n
One obvious example is the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on climate
\nchange. There is broad scientific consensus that human-induced
\nclimate change is underway and accelerating, with some of the
\npredicted consequences of global warming already taking place.
\nBut the international community cannot bring the Kyoto Protocol
\ninto force, because the United States, the largest contributor to
\nhuman-induced climate change, has arrogantly decided to ignore
\nthe consensus, and refused to endorse the Protocol.<\/p>\n
There is a general feeling that during the Bali meeting, the
\nUnited States again led a systematic effort to water down the
\nBali Commitment, skillfully engineering delegates into a division
\nbetween North and South over the issue of finance and trade.<\/p>\n
The failure of the Bali meeting, however, cannot be blamed
\nsolely on the United States. Indonesia, as the host country, must
\nalso accept its share of the responsibility. The Indonesian
\ndelegation to the Fourth Preparatory Committee for the World
\nSummit failed to put in a concerted effort and lacked the skills
\nneeded to rally the international community to focus its efforts
\non the action plan. The last decade has shown that Rio's
\npolitical and conceptual commitments have not been decisive
\nenough. There is a huge gap between the goals and promises set
\nout in Rio and what is actually happening on the ground in both
\nrich and poor countries. The Indonesian delegation obviously
\nfailed to bring about a focused and conclusive meeting.<\/p>\n
In addition, the Indonesia People's Forum, which is supposed
\nto represent various non-governmental organizations as
\nstakeholders in sustainable development, failed even to
\nconsolidate its own disparate interests into one clear and common
\nplatform. Its demand for a boycott of the Fourth Preparatory
\nCommittee will not bring any nearer the putting into effect of
\nthe common principle of sustainable development.<\/p>\n
We still have about 80 days left before the Johannesburg
\nSummit takes place. There is still a chance to make that summit
\nworth something more than the Rio Earth Summit. But the
\nJohannesburg Summit will also possibly fail if the international
\ncommunity lets itself be divided between North and South. The
\ninternational community has to act together to build the
\npolitical will implement what was promised in Rio, with or
\nwithout the United States.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, local and international non-governmental
\norganizations should consolidate their ranks and come up with
\nclear and common goals. They must not fail again. Given that most
\nagree that human beings are at the center of the concerns for
\nsustainable development, it is clear that the stakes are just too
\nhigh.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/unfinished-business-in-bali-1447899208",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}