NGO "ANOTHER WAY" (STICHTING BAKENS VERZET), NETHERLANDS, SUSTAINABLE INTEGRATED SELF-FINANCING DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS AND ADVANCED DEVELOPMENT TECHNOLOGIES

Millennium goal 7 is about the integration of sustainable development principles in national policies and the inversion of the current tendency to waste environmental resources (target 09), to reduce the percentage of the world population without clean drinking water and basic sanitation services by half by 2015 (target 10) , and to improve the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers by 2020.

Before continuing your studies, reflect on the choice of words used in the formulation of goal 7. For instance, in target 09, isn’t sustainable development already integrated in most national policies ? In any case, ongoing «loss of environmental resources » is admitted. But which «resources » are being referred to ? Target 10 mentions reduction of the percentage of people without clean drinking water and basic sanitation services by half. Why 50% ? Which implications does this percentage have for the various national policies ? What are «basic sanitation services » ? Why just 100 million slum dwellers (target 11) ? Why not all of them ? Why not 50.000.000 ? On the basis of which logic has the number 100.000.000 slum dwellers been formulated ?.What do the words «significantly improve » mean?

According to R. Cummins, in World Food Day : Cook Organic, Not the Planet (commondreams.org, Portland (Maine), 16 October, 2013) “If we’re going to cool the earth, we must:

Phase out factory farms, junk food and industrial-scale, genetically engineered agriculture, and replace them with non-chemical organic farming, and non-factory-farm carbon ranching, where free-range animals are rotationally grazed on deep-rooted, carbon-sequestering perennial grasses. Not caged or intensively confined and fed genetically engineered grains.
Prepare more organic whole foods at home, and reject fast-food outlets.
Replace our lawns with urban gardens.
Reduce excess consumption and recycle our wastes—all our wastes, rural and urban, including food, crop, and yard wastes - to make compost and eliminate the hazardous use of sewage sludge and nitrous oxide-polluting chemical fertilizers.
Halt the deforestation and slash-and-burn agriculture, especially in tropical and sub-tropical areas, and rapidly scale up the production of biochar, a special type of charcoal that sequesters carbon and increases soil fertility and moisture retention.
Educate ourselves and mobilize a grassroots army to transform marketplace practices and public policy.
Create a globally coordinated Works Project Administration to train and employ a massive “Johnny Appleseed” green corps of students and the unemployed to plant a trillion trees on public and private land, restore desertified areas, and create the green infrastructure of a post-carbon economy.
Start incorporating the science of biochar into our agriculture and climate-stabilizing practices.”

1. Opinion.

On one page write three paragraphs, one for target 09, one for target 10, and one for target 11 expressing your preliminary views on the questions put in the previous paragraph.

The following part of this section 07 Target 09 : Ensure environmental sustainability covers only target 09. Targets 10 (water and sanitation) and 11 (slum dwellers) are be covered in section 07A Targets 10 and 11 : Water, sanitation and slums.

The UNDP Report on Human Development for 2007/2008 provides the following tables for target 09 : Loss of environmental resources

Indicator 25 : Forested land as a percentage of land area. (FAO) [Report on Human Development for 2007/2008 table 22]

Indicator 26 : Ratio of protected area to maintain biological diversity to surface area. (UNEP) [Convention on Biological Diversity, Rio de Janeiro, June 1992].

Indicator 27 : Energy supply (apparent consumption : kg oil equivalent) per 1000 dollar (PPP) gross domestic product (GDP). (World Bank) [World Report on Human Development 2007/2008 table 22].>

Indicator 28 : Carbon dioxide emissions (per capita) and consumption of ozone depleting CFCs ( ODP tons [Report on Human Development for 2007/2008 table 24]

Indicator 29 : Proportion of population using solid fuels (UNEP) [World Report on Human Development 2007/2008 table 23].

Some of the tables refer only indirectly to some aspects:

22 Energy and environment : Forested area.

24 Carbon dioxide emissions and reserves: Carbons reserves in forest biomass.

25 Situation with regard to international treaties on the environment.

The sense of the indicators for target 09 «Loss of environmental resources » is not clear. In any case the texts of the Plan of Implementation of the Millennium Goals refer to them indirectly only. The environmental issue seems to be more a problem of rich countries than poor ones, although it is the poor countries that suffer from the consequences of the exaggerated consumption of the rich ones. For example, the average annual energy consumption of the OECD countries in 2004 was 8795 KW hours per person [Report on Human Development for 2007/2008 table 22] while that of the least developed countries was 199 KW. hours per person, a ratio of 1 : 74. In 2004, average annual carbon dioxide emissions in OECD countries amounted to 11.5 tons per inhabitant [Report on Human Development for 2007/2008 table 24] while the figure for the least developed countries was 0,2 tons per inhabitant, a ratio of 1 : 57.

2. Opinion.

On one page, comment on the difference in energy consumption 1 : 74, and the difference in carbon dioxide emissions 1 : 57 cited by the World Report on Human Development 2007/2008

The following sections of the Plan of Implementation of the Millennium Goals mention target 09 : Loss of environmental resources :

The title of Section III (Articles 14-23) of the Plan of Implementation of the Millennium Goals is : «Changing unsustainable patterns of consumption and production ».

Let’s start with article 14, which reads :

“14. Fundamental changes in the way societies produce and consume are indispensable for achieving global sustainable development. All countries should promote sustainable consumption and production patterns, with the developed countries taking the lead and with all countries benefiting from the process …...”

It is therefore the developed countries who show the way, and the others who will follow.

Look at the Global Footprint Net website. Choose statistics for the countries which interest you.

3. Research.

On one page make a list of 10 industrialised countries and 10 of the poorest countries, plus Cuba. Next to the countries note information on the ecological footprint. What are your conclusions?

At the website of the Conference Board of Canada, section « Environment – water consumption you will find water consumption figures in 2000 of 16 industrialised countries. The lowest consumption (United Kingdom, Denmark) is about 550 litres per person per day.

Check your analysis of water needs in section 2 (Drinking water) of Block 1 of the course.

4. Opinion.

On one page, compare the consumption of water in the industrialised countries with that in your chosen area.

Let’s pass on to article 15 of Section III of the Plan of Implementation of the Millennium Goals, which reads :

“15. Encourage and promote the development of a 10-year framework of programmes in support of regional and national initiatives to accelerate the shift towards sustainable consumption and production to promote social and economic development ……. with developed countries taking the lead, taking into account the development needs and capabilities of developing countries, through mobilization, from all sources, of financial and technical assistance and capacity-building for developing countries….”

and article 18, which says:

“18. Enhance corporate environmental and social responsibility and accountability. This would include actions at all levels to:

(a) …..taking into account such initiatives as the International Organization for Standardization standards and Global Reporting Initiative guidelines on sustainability reporting ….”

5. Opinion.

Write one page on which form of responsibility you think is being referred to in article 18. Who controls the organisations cited in 18 (a) ? What is the purpose of the standards ? Are the standards relevant to the development of poor countries ? Why ?

Article 19 reads :

“19. Encourage relevant authorities at all levels to take sustainable development considerations into account…..to:

(b) Continue to promote the internalization of environmental costs and the use of economic instruments, taking into account the approach that the polluter should, in principle, bear the costs of pollution, with due regard to the public interest and without distorting international trade and investment; ”

The issue of the evaluation and internalisation of the social costs of economic instruments was first raised by Prof. Olav Hohmeyer in his study «The Social Costs of Energy Consumption », Springer-Verlag, Berlin-Heidelberg, 1988. (The study is not available in the internet.) The cost of traditional energy consumption, taking the social costs relating to production, distribution, and use of energy into account, would be much higher, today and, according to Hohmeyer was already higher in 1988, than that of wind energy.

Article 20, which is very long and very detailed, refers to energy. It reads :

“20. Call upon Governments as well as relevant regional and international organizations and other relevant stakeholders to implement, taking into account national and regional specificities and circumstances, the recommendations and conclusions adopted by the Commission on Sustainable Development concerning energy for sustainable development ……..to :

“……..

(d) Combine, as appropriate, the increased use of renewable energy resources, more efficient use of energy, greater reliance on advanced energy technologies, including advanced and cleaner fossil fuel technologies, and the sustainable use of traditional energy resources, which could meet the growing need for energy services in the longer term to achieve sustainable development;

…….

(p) Policies to reduce market distortions ……………including restructuring taxation and phasing out harmful subsidies……

…….

(t) Countries are urged to develop and implement actions ……. including through public-private partnerships…… in the field of access to energy, …………. including advanced and cleaner fossil fuel technologies;”

On this subject, refer also to the Political Declaration signed 4th June 2004, during the International conference for renewable energies, held in Bonn. Article 4 provides that governments:

“support the development of thriving markets for renewable energy technologies and recognise the important role of the private sector. This includes removing barriers and allowing for fair competition in energy markets and taking into account the concept of internalising external costs for all energy sources. ”

Compare this with the following comment by the UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) :

“Energy subsidies vary greatly in their focus, size, scope, duration, and geographical distribution. In non-OECD countries, subsidies are most prominently used to promote consumption, whereas in OECD countries, they largely take the form of tax breaks or direct payments to producers for stimulating production or research and development. World annual energy subsidies are on the order of $250 to $300 billion, with fossil fuel subsidies accounting for almost $200 billion.” (Resource : Brochure UNEP United Nations Environment Programme. )

Of the US$ 250-300 billion mentioned, US$ 33 billion was reserved for «low fossil carbon » fuel, of which 16 billion for nuclear energy, US$ 11 billion for all of the renewable energies together, and US$ 6 billion for bio-fuels.

These subsidies are two and a half times the total of development aid of all OECD countries together in 2006, including debt relief. ( Development Aid from OECD countries fell 5.1% in 2006”, Paris, 3 April 2007.)

It has proved difficult to get accurate information, often to get any useful information at all, on government subsidies to the fossil fuel (gas, coal, oil) industries. (Ask Your Government Survey, Global Subsidies Initiative, Geneva, April, 2011). However, the International Energy Agency (IEA) of Paris provides a figure of US $ 312 billion for consumption subsidies alone (excluding producer subsidies promoting domestic exploration, extraction or refining) in its report World Energy Outlook 2010 (Executive summary).

For a detailed item by item analysis of subsidies applied to the nuclear power industry see Appendix A to the report by Koplow D., Nuclear Power : Still not Viable without Subsidies, Union of Concerned Scientists, Cambridge (Massachusetts), February, 2011, pp. 129-132. “And once again, [ as in the past] these subsidies to new reactors—whether publicly or privately owned—could end up exceeding the value of the power produced (4.2 to 11.4 ¢/kWh, or 70 to 200 percent of the projected value of the power).” (p. 3)

6. Opinion.

On one page, give your evaluation of articles 19 and 20 of the Plan of Implementation of the Millennium Goals,.

Article 22 Plan of Implementation of the Millennium Goals is about waste recycling. It provides :

“22. Prevent and minimize waste and maximize reuse, recycling and use of environmentally friendly alternative materials……..to:

(a) Develop waste management systems, with the highest priority placed on waste prevention and minimization, reuse and recycling, and environmentally sound disposal facilities……..

(b) Promote waste prevention and minimization by encouraging production of reusable consumer goods and biodegradable products and developing the infrastructure required.”

Table 2a, on page 11 of the OECD environmental data: Compendium 2006-2008 shows statistics on municipal and household waste in the 30 OECD countries. The average is +/- 1200 kg per person per year, more than 3 kg per person per day. These waste products are only a small part of the total waste created by man, which also includes agricultural, industrial, ferrous and non-ferrous, plastic, chemical, fibrous, mining, nuclear and toxic wastes. Country by country statistics on the total waste production divided by group and by kilograms per person are not yet available.

7. Opinion.

On one page list at least five well-known examples of export of pollution by industrialised countries to your zone (if applicable, to your country). Did the polluter support the costs? What are your conclusions ?

◄ ►

◄ Second block : Problems to be solved.

◄ Index : Diploma in Integrated Development (Dip. Int. Dev)

◄ List of key words.

◄ List of references.

◄ Course chart.

◄ Technical aspects.

◄ Courses available.

◄ Homepage Bakens Verzet.

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