Sustainable development Economic development/activities must not take place - at the expense of our natural environment - at the expense of other people(s) - at the expense of future generations (e.g. at the expense of people in ELDCs) no total exploitation of natural resources functions of nature must be secured Some definitions also include: - the provision of labour - the provision of adequate food and housing - equal rights for women © DS

History: 18th century:sustainable forestry yield from a forest should be in balance with re-forestation (prescribed by law) North-South Commision 1980 (chairman: Willy Brandt): Report: "North-South: A Program for Survival" Brundtland Commission UN commission: "World Commission on Environment and Development" Report: "Our Common Future" laid the groundwork for the Earth Summit 1992 in Rio and the adoption of Agenda 21 recommends a massive increase in aid to developing countries and also proposes improved environmental development © DS

United Nations Conference on Environment and Development 1992 (Earth Summit) Rio de Janeiro Participants:172 governments + 2,400 representatives of NGOs Results: Rio Declaration on Environment and Development Agenda 21 Convention on Biological Diversity Forest Principles Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC or FCCC) 27 principles intended to guide future sustainable development concrete action plan for governments and communities (globally, nationally, locally) main goals:- conservation of biological diversity - sustainable use of its components makes several recommendations for forestry aim:reduction of emissions of greenhouse gases in order to combat global warming. shortcoming: set no mandatory limits on greenhouse gas emissions for individual nations and contained no enforcement provisions legally non-binding but: it contained provisions for updates (called "protocols") that would set mandatory emission limits principal update:Kyoto Protocol © DS

Principle 1 Human beings are at the centre of concerns for sustainable development. They are entitled to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature. Principle 3 The right to development must be fulfilled so as to equitably meet developmental and environmental needs of present and future generations Principle 5 All States and all people shall cooperate in the essential task of eradicating poverty as an indispensable requirement for sustainable development, in order to decrease the disparities in standards of living and better meet the needs of the majority of the people of the world. Rio Declaration on Environment and Development... … … … … © DS

There are 40 chapters in Agenda 21, divided into four sections. All together the document has over 900 pages: Section I: Social and Economic Dimensions including combating poverty, changing consumption patterns, population and demographic dynamics, promoting health, promoting sustainable settlement patterns and integrating environment and development into decision-making. Section II: Conservation and Management of Resources for Development including atmospheric protection, combating deforestation, protecting fragile environments, conservation of biological diversity, and control of pollution. Section III: Strengthening the Role of Major Groups including the roles of children and youth, women, NGOs, local authorities, business and workers. Section IV: Means of Implementation including science, technology transfer, education, international institutions and mechanisms and financial mechanisms. Local Agenda 21:Some national and state governments have legislated or advised that local authorities take steps to implement the plan locally, as recommended in Chapter 28 of the document. Such programmes are often known as 'Local Agenda 21' or 'LA21'. Agenda 21 © DS

On June 12, 1992, 154 nations signed the UNFCCC, that committed governments to a voluntary "non-binding aim" to reduce atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases with the goal of "preventing dangerous anthropogenic interference with Earth's climate system." Climate Change Convention These actions were aimed primarily at industrialized countries, with the intention of stabilizing their emissions of greenhouse gases at 1990 levels by the year Annex I and Annex II Countries, and Developing Countries Signatories to the UNFCCC are split into three groups: - Annex I countries (industrialized countries) - Annex II countries (developed countries which pay for costs of developing countries) - Developing countries Annex I countries agree to reduce their emissions (particularly carbon dioxide) to target levels below their 1990 emissions levels. If they cannot do so, they must buy emission credits or invest in conservation. Developing countries have no immediate restrictions under the UNFCCC, - this avoids restrictions on growth because pollution is strongly linked to industrial growth because: - they get money and technologies from the developed countries in Annex II © DS