The blogger, Douglas F. Williamson |
So, where is it? Well, clearly, the multi-lateral process did not yield many results, no concrete strategy moving forwards, and no commitments. There were many platitudes and empty words. However, some words, some ideas, did bubble to the top and these must be seen as encouraging, even though they do not represent the strong leadership we'd like from our governments, nor the urgency many of us feel is necessary.
So, what are some of the positives we can take away from this conference?
The outcome document was strong on education and education for sustainable development. The recognition of ESD's importance to achieving sustainable development is also a recognition and affirmation of Earth Charter International's work and should provide a solid push as ECI rolls out its ESD program at the new Earth Charter Center for ESD.
The document also acknowledges the need to move beyond GDP and develop more sophisticated metrics to gauge the well-being of societies. This speaks very much to the Earth Charter and its position on material sufficiency. The EC preamble states, "We must realize that when basic needs have been met, human development is primarily about being more, not having more." The being more is much harder to measure, but that quality of being encompasses all the important factors that cannot be measured by a statistic as limited and narrow as GDP.
Alicia Jimenez and Rick Clugston, ECI |
Sustainable Development Goals are also on the table in the document, and while also not a panacea, the goals approach as a voluntary initiative seems to hold more hope than the commitment route. The MDGs have not been totally successful, but the general consensus is that they have helped in closing the gap on many of our global societal challenges. A new version called SDGs might also have a similar impact.
So, while the nation states have not been able to provide the leadership many expected, the outcome document is not a loss, simply not a very large gain.
I barely paid attention to the official negotiations while I was at Rio. I had no expectations of anything very positive coming out of the negotiations as CSD-19 was always fresh in mind. If these same governments couldn't agree on chemicals, how ever would they be able to agree substantially on topics as massively complex as the Green Economy and the Institutional Framework for Sustainable Development? Exactly. But, there was plenty of other progress being made at Rio.
Mirian Vilela, ECI Director accepts award |
Nora Mahmoud, ECI Youth Coordinator |
Our goal has been to inject the ethical side of the debate into the discourse and I think we have succeeded. We will continue to show up, make our perspective heard, and at the same time, we will push forwards with our educational efforts, and we will succeed.