Editor's Note

Pleasant weather and beautiful scenery refresh us, polluted air and water cause us concern about ecosystems and human health, and global environmental disasters threaten us on a larger scale. Yet it seems difficult for people in industrialized countries to realize how much they owe to the environment, while people in developing countries are often more vulnerable to the effects of environmental degradation. The year 2001 brought us several significant events to begin the twenty-first century, such as the agreement reached on the Kyoto Protocol at COP-7 in Marrakech, the terrorist events of September 11th, and China’s joining the World Trade Organization.

Although humanity has realized some achievements, some of which are reported in this issue of the International Review for Environmental Strategies, in terms of awareness of environmental issues, knowledge about the environment, policies and agreements, inspired in part by the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm and the landmark 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, the condition of the global environment is continuing to worsen. The World Summit on Sustainable Development (the WSSD, also referred to as Earth Summit 2002) presents humanity with the first major opportunity in this century, and possibly the last significant opportunity ever, to make steps toward assuring a sustainable future for ourselves and future generations.

For this Winter 2001 issue of IRES, we invited seven influential figures who are promoting sustainable development during this new century. In order to contribute to the success of the WSSD, we asked that their essays present broad perspectives for consideration in the lead-up to that important meeting. The first essay by Prof. Qu Geping, Chairman of the Environmental Protection and Resources Conservation Committee of the National People’s Congress of China, emphasizes the importance of establishing a partnership system for global sustainable development, considering disparities between countries in their capability to protect the environment and in their stages of economic development. Mr. Ian Johnson, World Bank Vice President for Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development, shows the Bank’s strong commitment to work on environmental issues and calls for collective efforts to make the WSSD successful. Mr. Martin Khor, Director of the Third World Network, points out problems in the industrialized countries’ commitments to sustainable development after the Rio Summit, as seen in the intellectual property rights regime, and also reinforces the need to change the current tendency to give higher priority to the paradigm of globalization than to sustainable development. Prof. Emil Salim, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Indonesian Biodiversity Foundation, maintains that sustainable development should embrace the dimensions of economy, society, and the environment. Mr. Bjӧrn Stigson, President of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), shows progress and trends towards sustainable development in the business sector and presents an agenda for change. Mr. Maurice F. Strong, Chairman of the Earth Council (also the Secretary General of the past Stockholm and Rio conferences), asserts that the WSSD needs a clear theme or goal together with concrete measures and firm commitments to achieve specific targets, and reveals his proposals to make the WSSD a successful milestone. Prof. A. H. Zakri, Director of the United Nations University, Institute of Advanced Studies and other authors from the same Institute present an interesting analysis of urban ecosystems.

This issue of IRES also includes five original and policy-oriented papers submitted from specialists in different areas of research. The article by Hiroyuki Taguchi provides a concise and comprehensive review as well as solid fact-finding on the environmental Kuznets curve and latecomers’ advantages, with important policy implications. K.S. Kavi Kumar and Jyoti Parikh assess the socio-economic impacts of climate change on Indian culture and introduce meaningful conclusions for the Indian government and global society. Piyush Tiwari contributes an article about the urban environment and city governance in India. Sven Graehl, Wolf Fichtner, Martin Wietschel, and Otto Rentz discuss baseline issues in their research note, a very important topic for the implementation of the Clean Development Mechanism under the Kyoto Protocol. Masanobu Yamane and Wenming Lu provide unique findings in their research note about the Russia-China timber trade.

In the book review section, Axel Michaelowa reviews three different publications on climate policy: Climate Change – Science, Strategies, and Solutions, Negotiating the Kyoto Protocol, and The Fuel Tax Protests in Europe 2000-2001. Lisa Hiwasaki reviews the book Earth Summit 2002: A New Deal, which gives its readers an overview of progress made after the Rio Summit and contains useful information for all concerned with sustainable development. Bishnu B. Bhandari reviews Environment, Education and Society in the Asia-Pacific: Local Traditions and Global Discourses, which provides the results of an empirical study on the knowledge, attitude and behavior of young people in regard to nature and sustainability and which the reviewer believes is the first such attempt in the Asia-Pacific region.