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Book Review: "Earth Summit 2002: A New Deal (Revised Edition)"
Felix Dodds with Toby Middleton (ed.)
Project Publisher: Earthscan Publications Ltd. 2001, 364 pp.
ISBN: 1-85383-867-5
Reviewer: Lisa Hiwasaki
Earth Summit 2002: A New Deal (Revised Edition) is a comprehensive book that gives its readers an overview of the progress made and the new challenges that have arisen since the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, commonly referred to as the Rio Summit. First published in 2000, it was revised and updated in 2001, with two new chapters on freshwater and energy. This accessible pre-summit reader is an auspicious publication that represents a considerable endeavour to engage a wide audience around the world to invigorate the sustainable development agenda towards the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), or Rio+10. The book should be of interest to anyone concerned with the preparations for Rio+10 and wanting to read up on the ideas, experiences, and expectations that will be brought together in Johannesburg, South Africa later this year.
The book brings together a delightful collection of chapters served up by experienced practitioners in the field, representatives from organisations in the United Nations (UN) system, other international organisations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), politicians, and other well-known researchers and experts. Together, they tackle the sustainable development agenda from wide-ranging perspectives. Almost all the major groups mentioned in Section 3 of Agenda 21 (the action plan that was adopted at the Rio Summit) are included-although the fact that no youth, indigenous peoples, or farmers are represented renders the book's scope a little short.
Earth Summit 2002 opens with a forward by Klaus Topfer, Executive-Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), who points out that one issue that deserves the utmost attention at the WSSD is financing for sustainable development. Topfer also calls for setting of realistic targets and dates to make meaningful changes for realizing sustainable development.
Divided into five parts, the book continues in Part I with an outline of the roadblocks to the implementation of Agenda 21 and how to overcome these problems. An introduction of the Earth Charter in Part II is followed in Part III by reviews of overriding concerns that continue to face us, such as poverty, trade, and financial resources. Emerging issues that we must deal with, such as environmental security, corporate responsibility, and tourism are discussed in Part IV. The book concludes in Part V with the editor's proposals on reforming international institutions for the advancement of the sustainable development agenda.
The focus of Part I of this book is on Agenda 21 and the various obstacles that have surrounded its effective implementation since 1992. Bringing together a variety of perspectives from national government, the UN, NGOs, local government, and trade unions, the chapters identify roadblocks that all point to deficiencies: in financial and institutional capacities, peace and security, resources, public involvement and access to information-and ultimately, lack of fundamental change in making and implementing decisions. To counter these shortcomings, the authors call for awareness-raising and capacity-building; participatory and transparent decision-making processes involving all stakeholders; the strengthening of institutional capacity; the creation of an integrated package of policy instruments at national levels; critical assessment of progress (and lack thereof); and investment in research. Cooperation is the key, with many authors demanding increased international cooperation, such as an increase in development assistance, exchange of experiences, and debt relief; building, and improving on networking amongst institutions; building strong links and bridges amongst all stakeholder groups and organisations; and improved communications. A genuine political will to bring about change was another factor stressed by many of the contributors.
Part II, devoted to the Earth Charter (included in its entirety), is written by the late Maximo Kalaw. The endorsement of this Charter-which "sets forth fundamental ethical principles for a sustainable way of life"-by the UN General Assembly this year should renew the commitment made at the Rio Summit to "build a global partnership for sustainable development" (p. 88).
Parts III and IV deal with wide-ranging topics, from natural resource issues such as forestry and freshwater, to socio-economic issues such as poverty, finance, health, and consumption and production patterns. Many of the contributors in this section are members of NGOs, thus providing varied perspectives on policy recommendations. Although the broad range of issues the two sections cover reflect the complexity of sustainable development, the enthusiastic reader is unfortunately left desiring more on most topics. With seventeen chapters covering fifteen issues in a little over 200 pages, the fact that the chapters seem to only scratch the surface of all the important issues is perhaps inevitable.
Most of the chapters are not papers based on research, but rather statements arising from, in most cases, numerous years of invaluable experience in the field. For example, the two chapters that address tourism in the context of sustainable development provide NGO perspectives from the "North" and "South." The "southern" perspective criticizes the business of tourism as the heir to colonialism and the fact that many tourists demand holidays and the accompanying luxuries as a right while the rest of the population remain without their basic subsistence needs being fulfilled. Attacking the mass consumption of resources by the tourists from the North, the author suggests using the ecological footprint (EFP) analysis as a planning tool to determine the sustainability of tourism. The "northern" perspective criticizes tourism and related economic activities as founded on romanticism, which is of little benefit to those other than the tourists themselves. While acknowledging the complexity of tourism as a sector, and thus the difficulties it entails, the author stresses the importance of the NGO Tourism Caucus and the multi-stakeholder participation vital to offer sustainable solutions to tourism. While providing meaningful critiques and outlining important issues facing sustainable tourism, neither of the chapters leave room for the voice of those directly involved with tourism, nor provide an overview of some of the efforts made by the tourism industry to bring about sustainable and positive changes to tourism. Although the chapters together are convincing in their critique of tourism as it currently exists, they do not offer a clear vision of what sustainable tourism should be nor provide concrete ideas on what can be done to achieve this goal.
In Part V, Felix Dodds, the editor, provides an overview on ways to reform the international institutions. While stressing the important roles that UNEP, the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD), and the Inter-Agency Committee on Sustainable Development have played in the implementation, monitoring, and development of Agenda 21, Dodds calls for streamlining and inter-institutional coordination. He then puts forth some proposals, such as making changes to the UN Charter, realigning the Bretton Woods Institutions, and creating a World Environment Organisation in order to "move forward the international machinery" (p. 342). Dodds concludes the chapter and the book by calling for a "new realistic deal" between developed and developing countries and stressing the vision and trust that are necessary for all countries to adhere to the new deal.
As is well illustrated by this final chapter, one of the most valuable attributes of this book is its forward-looking nature. While looking back at the achievements made and the energy generated at Rio ten years ago, the writers of the book do not forget that the long path to sustainable development is far from over. Reviews of the past ten years are followed by clear and concrete actions that organisations and others involved should take to bring about sustainable development. The chapters in the book are brought together to seize the momentum for the "big push forward" of the sustainable development agenda in Johannesburg, and as a result, high hopes abound. Anyone involved in any remote way in the preparations for WSSD should take this opportunity, while not getting too carried away in the hopes for the future. As Dodds writes, "Earth Summit 2002 needs not only to rekindle the fire of the Rio accord but to address the very serious challenges we are now facing and to create the international machinery that will do this appropriately" (p. 32. The mission of Earth Summit 2002 is to do precisely that, as well as to serve as a torch to lead the way beyond Rio+10.
Earth Summit 2002: A New Deal (Revised Edition) will be of interest to all those concerned with sustainable development, whether directly involved with the preparations for WSSD or not. The fact that most of the chapters offer policy options should be of particular interest to policymakers, but the factors mentioned above also make the book suitable for all members of the interested public, ranging from students and other laypersons to researchers and experts in the field.
Remarks:
http://pub.iges.or.jp/modules/envirolib/view.php?docid=412
Full text is available on EBSCOhost database: http://www.ebscohost.com/
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