North, South divide sharpens as deadline approaches to finalise draft of Rio+20
RIO DE JANEIRO: As the deadline is less than 24 hours away to finalise the zero draft outcome document for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development going to be held in Rio de Jenario from June...
June 19, 2012
The developing countries have still not been able to convince developed countries on the issue of equity and technology transfer. The developed countries are also trying to dilute the principle of ‘common but differentiated responsibilities’ which was main focus of 1992 Rio summit. So far, the only thing which has been agreed is sustainable development framework.
According to sources engaged in preparation of final outcome draft of Rio+20, developed countries have not yet agreed to mention provision of funds to developing countries and transfer of technology. “So far only 100 out of 287 paragraphs have been agreed. Developed countries have agreed to mention technology transfer on mutually agreed terms which actually means on commercial basis”, they said.
It is interesting to see that developed countries do not want to mention even the promises it made in 1992. “In all past conferences on sustainable development and environment issues, they agreed on financing the developing countries to cope with climate change issues and technology transfer. But now, they are saying that what had already been agreed should not be mentioned in the outcome draft while the developing countries are making a point that whatever was agreed in the past was not necessarily implemented”, they said.
More than 100 heads of states and governments adopted the 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development with its 27 principles, after long, difficult and often heated debate.
Ten years later, the Rio+10 summit adopted the Johannesburg Plan of Action that opens with the following sentence in paragraph 1:
“The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, provided the fundamental principles and the programme of action for achieving sustainable development. We strongly reaffirm our commitment to the Rio principles, the full implementation of Agenda 21 and the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21 …” (emphasis added).
A cornerstone of the global partnership forged in 1992 to meet the ecological crisis recognised even back then, and to integrate the three pillars (environment, social and economic) of sustainable development is Principle 7 of the Rio Declaration:
“States shall cooperate in a spirit of global partnership to conserve, protect and restore the health and integrity of the Earth's ecosystem. In view of the different contributions to global environmental degradation, States have common but differentiated responsibilities. The developed countries acknowledge the responsibility that they bear in the international pursuit of sustainable development in view of the pressures their societies place on the global environment and of the technologies and financial resources they command.”
But it seemed developed countries now have backed out from their promises which would have grave consequences for climate change mitigations for developing countries.
Experts from developing countries believe that so far Rio+20 is a disappointment for them. “For me this is summit of equality because the issue which countries would have to solve is equity. Put this thing in Green Economy-whether this will work or not it depends on equity”, Dr Tariq Banuri, the former Director of Division for Sustainable Development at United Nations (UN) and active participant at Rio+20 conference told The News. He advised Pakistani delegation to focus on cost. “Even if you want to talk about technology transfer talk in cost context”, he said.
Dr Banuri said humankind faces daunting challenges in the decades ahead: how to ensure sustainability, development, peace, democracy, human rights in the world of tomorrow is a big question mark. “Since 1992, we have been engaged in a process to establish the grounds for collective action to address these challenges. But, we haven’t been able to make progress is in large part because of the retreat from equity after 1992. This is why we have seen failure after failure” he said that solving climate change is the only solution. “On technical level all governments agreed on it but politically it is not agreed yet”.
For him the real issue is energy. “Fossil fuels are becoming expensive and more expensive and so as the prices of electricity. It is true that renewable energy sources except hydro are still more expensive but with greater installed capacity of them prices would come down. In 10 years we (developing countries) can make cost come down but you (developed world) need to support us”, he said.
UN spokesperson of Rio+20 conference Pragati Pascale during a press briefing on June 17 said in an exchange of views on the latest draft of the political outcome document, positions reflected the same agreements and disagreements of the past few weeks. The fact that the document had become shorter did not mean that it had become weaker, she added, noting that a significant outcome was still expected, particularly on oceans and other important areas. “They’re trying to find consensus”, she said.
