Stand up for sustainability
SUSTAINABLE development is a 21st-century buzzword that even crafty politicians, without batting an eyelash, have learned to utter. What does it mean and what does it require from us, stakeholders of this ailing planet?
It is development that “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” This popular definition is coined by the World Commission on Environment and Development, known as the Brundtland Commission, named after Gro Harlem Brundtland. She is the former – the first and only woman – Prime Minister of Norway, and now a Special Envoy on Climate Change for the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
How can we ensure that we do not compromise the needs of future generations when we do not even consider the needs of the present? We are fast losing biodiversity, forests and marine resources, contaminated our environment and food, not to mention our persistent unsustainable throw-away consumption habits. Our runaway population growth and carbon-emitting lifestyle and practices have put a heavy strain on the natural resources and the elements of life – water, air and land.
“Do not live beyond your means.” These are words of wisdom instilled to us by our parents and their parents’ parents that need to be integrated in our day-to-day choices and to inculcate in our youth. We are living in an era of extreme unpredictability and vulnerability, sadly coupled by our continuing stoic refusal to acknowledge the troubling signs of the times.
Climate change is staring us in the face to remind us that we are living beyond what the ecosystem can absorb. The perilous road ahead as a result of the climate crisis is still not enough reason for us and the leaders to accept that we are living far beyond the capacity of our resources to generate for humanity’s unlimited needs. Our culture of instant food, services and gratification have made us live in a world of pretense and detachment to nature. We pretend that nature is just there for the picking, that it is inexhaustible and that by itself, it will continue to nourish and sustain us, without us lifting a finger to do our share. When will we ever learn – as the song goes?
Despite the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change, the urgent call for action by scientists and economists, attested by the severe weather aberrations reported almost daily in various parts of the globe, there is no sense of urgency at all – it is still business as usual. What would make us swing from the state of paralysis that we are in, to embrace sustainability as a philosophy and a way of life – aside from the smell of money or its impending loss?
This lackadaisical attitude to the climate crisis is a big contrast to the swift response of the federal government of the United States in the current financial meltdown testing the stability of the political and financial institutions all over the world. This also happened in the Philippines in the 1990s.
In the words of Tony Lopez: “Then Central Bank of the Philippines, under Gov. Jose Cuisia, engineered what possibly is the largest bailout in Philippine history – the P400-billion rescue of foreign banks and private companies reeling from huge losses by betting wrong on the peso. The Philippine currency nosedived from P7 to $1 to P14, then P18 and then P27 and later to P56. The Philippine CB bailout was so astronomical it forced the closure of the CB and the formation of a new one, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), which came into being in July 1993.” (Tony Lopez, “Bailouts don’t work,” Manila Times, October 2, 2008)
Is the bailout ethical? Who are held accountable? Why should taxpayers’ money be used for the “sins” of the financial institutions? In international environmental law, offending polluters are penalized under the “polluters must pay” principle. However, as in human rights, this principle must be asserted and claimed in the proper judicial forum. No action, no recourse.
It is time to change the current “profits-above-anything-else” philosophy. It is crucial to integrate sustainability and environmental impact in the product design, operations and policies of the corporations. Sustainability means “resolving the conflict between the various competing goals, and involves the simultaneous pursuit of economic prosperity, environmental quality and social equity” (wikipedia.org). Is this doable? Yes – very much so, if we truly understand it and our indispensable role in its realization.
In 2000, the United Nations Global Compact was launched that brought together the private sector, the UN, labor and civil society to push for sustainable development by advancing universal social and environmental principles. The member corporations commit to be guided by the ten principles that focus on human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption based on existing international conventions. Business leaders now realize that responsible business practices that consider long-term effects to the environment are beneficial not just to the stockholders, customers and suppliers but to the survival of the corporation itself in this maddening era we are in.
In 2001, 189 countries, including the Philippines, adopted the United Nations Millennium Declaration and committed to attain eight international development goals by 2015. These goals, now known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), aim to spur development by improving the social and economic conditions and the environment especially in the weaker states. Among the goals are reducing poverty, achieve universal education, reduce child mortality, and promoting environmental sustainability. In achieving MDG No. 7 on environmental sustainability, a target is “to integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programs and reverse the loss of environmental resources.” Mining, oil drilling and coal power plants are anachronistic to sustainable development. Yet, the GMA administration is adamant in continuing this obsession.
How then are we faring in attaining environmental sustainability? Zeroing in on the country assessment on Millennium Development Goal No. 7 makes one shiver. The website of the National Statistical Coordination Board (http://www.nscb.gov.ph/stats/mdg/).
assessment.asp) basically confirms that the environment is not a topnotch priority of the Executive Branch. We are bereft of data on carbon emission and energy use. How can we effectively address the issue of climate change when we do not have baseline figures to guide us in crafting the much needed measures to mitigate the effects of climate change?
Government’s marginalization of the issue and policy of double-speak on sustainability should awaken the citizenry to work double time, jointly with the enlightened members of the business community, to be part of the climate solutions and stand up for a more ecologically sustainable way of life. Anyway, elections are around the corner – the people must learn to choose leaders who prioritize health, sanitation, education and environment. In other words, it cannot be “business as usual” in 2010. Stakes are way too high.
Author: Gloria Ramos
Published in Cebu Daily News
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