Brussels, 20/06/2011 (Agence Europe) - In one year's time, in June 2012, world heads of state and government will be in Rio de Janeiro for the UN sustainable development conference Rio+20, devoted to the green economy in the context of poverty eradication and global governance of sustainable development. These two sides of the same coin, which is global sustainable development, are central to the communication adopted by the European Commission on Monday 20 June to inform the debate on the position the EU will uphold at the international conference, the fourth of its kind, in Rio, organised as the world is beginning to recover from major economic and financial crisis, and only three years before the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are supposed to be realised (2015). For the moment, MDG 1 is far from being reached as 1.4 billion people still live in extreme poverty and one sixth of the world's population suffers from malnutrition.
“We are convinced that the green economy can bring new sources of growth and employment and reduce poverty. However, we have to make it happen. Rio has to be seen as a starting point not as an end. The Rio+20 communication lays the foundations for specific action to inform the debate between the Commission, the Parliament, business and third countries,” said Environment Commissioner Janez Potoènik as he presented the document to the press. He called for “a global sustainable green economy which takes account of social and environmental consequences and allows everyone to live with limited resources” and it is to that objective that the EU should contribute.
The text, prepared jointly by the staffs of Potoènik and of his colleague at Development Andris Piebalgs, sets out areas for action and the means to implement them internationally, nationally and regionally to enable the transition to a green economy.
The Commission advocates investing in key resources and natural capital: water, renewable energy, marine resources, biodiversity and ecosystem services, sustainable agriculture, forests, waste and recycling. These areas underpin millions of livelihoods and can help alleviate poverty. They “could become areas for future economic growth and global markets”, the commissioner says. In a press release, Piebalgs adds that “developing countries are the first affected by climate change and degradation of the environment” which “put at risk the economic and social development we strive to trigger through our assistance”. The Commission suggests combining market and regulatory instruments: eco-taxes, removing environmentally harmful subsidies, mobilising public and private financial resources, investing in skills and green jobs. Indicators that reflect a wider sense of progress (both environmental and social), and that can work alongside GDP, need to be developed.
Improving governance and encouraging private sector involvement is the third area for action suggested, reinforcing and streamlining the existing international governance structures - for example, by upgrading the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). “This is an option favoured by the EU”, Potoènik said. He is sure that “informal discussions with as many developing countries as possible and honesty as how to help developing countries” will be the keys to success of the Fourth Planet Earth Summit in Rio. “According to the UNEP, 2% of GDP will have to be allocated to these countries until 2020. This will mean that citizens, the private sector and no doubt other sources of funding will have to be involved. Business as usual will not do”, he warned. He stressed the importance of changing behaviour and also methods of production and consumption, so that developing countries do not make the same errors as the developed world. (A.N./transl.rt)