Meeting our own responsibilities
Integrating environmental sustainability into development planning
Working with the private sector
International co-operation on the environment
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The UK Government will: · Work to reduce the contribution made by developed countries to global environmental degradation. · Work with developing
countries to ensure that their poverty reduction strategies reflect the need to
manage environmental resources sustainably, and strengthen their capacity to
participate in international negotiations. |
257. Globalisation is creating new challenges for the management of the global environment. Existing patterns of production and consumption are placing enormous strains on the global eco-system, and rapid population growth is adding to these pressures. Well-managed, globalisation can help to address these challenges - by promoting greater development, increasing the resources and information available for improved environmental management, and by helping to spread cleaner technology.
258. The sustainable management of the planet is a clear example of a global public good (see box 13). The survival of the species depends upon a healthy global environment. The ozone layer screens out ultraviolet rays. Eco-systems help purify air and water resources, and convert waste. And the earth's biodiversity provides a store of medicines and food products, maintaining genetic variety that reduces vulnerability to diseases. But we are degrading the global environment that provides these life-sustaining services for us.
259. Developed and developing countries have a common interest therefore in specific policies and competent institutions to help ensure that the management of globalisation is environmentally sustainable and that it does not produce irrevocable damage to fragile environmental resources. Our shared goal must be to meet the economic needs of the present without compromising the ability of the planet to provide for the needs of future generations.
260. That requires a new focus on equity. The poor contribute least to environmental problems, yet are the most vulnerable to their ill effects. They are forced to live in the most degraded and ecologically fragile areas. And they are least able to cope with harmful impacts that affect their health and livelihoods, such as water scarcity, indoor air pollution, lack of sanitation, eroded land and the loss of living species. Environmental degradation also leaves the poor more vulnerable to natural disasters. In its 1998 annual report, the Red Cross estimated that for the first time the number of refugees from natural disasters exceeded those displaced as a result of war.
261. It is the consumption patterns of people in developed countries that currently make the major contribution to global environmental degradation - although the economic growth of major developing countries is increasing their own contribution. Industrialised countries, including the UK, have a particular responsibility therefore to minimise their environmentally damaging behaviour.
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FIGURE 6.1 Energy efficiency tends to improve as income rises... ...but overall consumption is much higher in richer countries Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators 2000 |
263. There has been important progress in some areas, including reductions in domestic greenhouse gas emissions. We will meet our Kyoto target of a 12.5 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, and move beyond it towards our goal of reducing the UK's CO2 emissions by 20 per cent by 2010.16 The outcome of the UN Climate Conference in The Hague in November 2000 was disappointing, but progress was made on all issues, including those of particular relevance to developing countries. We hope that agreement will be reached when talks resume in 2001.
16 Under the Kyoto Protocol, adopted in December 1997, developed countries agreed to reduce their emissions of six greenhouse gases by an average of 5.2 per cent against 1990 levels. Reductions are to be achieved by the period 2008-2012.
264. Developing countries are already experiencing problems of environmental degradation and exhaustion of environmental resources which are vital to their long-term development. As their economies grow, these problems will increase unless there is a greater focus on the sustainability of their development. Eastern Europe and central Asian countries have an enormously costly environmental legacy. Economic decline and deteriorating government capacity have meant that environmental problems in general, and industrial pollution in particular, have not been addressed.
265. Developing countries need strengthened capacity to manage their natural resources and negotiate in international forums. Chapter 7 underlines the central role of country-owned poverty reduction strategies. It is important that these strategies are sustainable and integrate environmental concerns. The World Bank needs to strengthen its capacity to take account of sustainable development in supporting poverty reduction strategies. And the IMF must be aware of these linkages in designing their programmes.
266. Development agencies should provide technical assistance to developing country governments to put in place the institutional framework necessary to promote consistent approaches to the environment across different government ministries, and to implement and enforce environmental laws and regulations. This includes helping to ensure that companies pay the true cost of their pollution to the environment.
267. Effective regulatory mechanisms are particularly important for those countries whose comparative advantage lies in natural resource exports, in environmentally sensitive sectors such as agriculture, minerals, forestry, fisheries and tourism.
268. Sustainable management of these resources can bring real benefits to poor people. In Ghana, for example, the UK Government is helping to promote sustainable timber production. The programme is leading to changes in forest concession rules and royalties, so that local communities get greater control over logging on their land and a greater share of the financial benefits.
BOX 11
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GLOBALISATION AND WATER RESOURCES17 17 For more detail of UK policy in this area see the DFID strategy paper on ‘Addressing the Water Crisis’. www.dfid.gov.uk.Freshwater is a limited and precious resource. With an increasing global population and the risks associated with climate change, the challenge of managing water resources grows. Many poor people do not have access to sufficient quantities for consumption and production. With climate change, the risks and uncertainties will be greater. Water is already a contested resource: in many regions of the world the lack of freshwater has reached crisis proportions and can be a cause of outright conflict. World map showing countries vulnerability to water stress projected for the year 2025 Based on data produced for the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (Raskin et al 1997) “Water Futures: Assessment of long range patterns and problems” Stockholm Environment Institute Increased awareness of these issues has prompted a greater focus on achieving environmental and financial sustainability, more sustainable access for the poor, and better water management. The key challenge is how to mobilise governments to share and provide water whilst ensuring that its management at a local level is effective and equitable. The UK Government supports closer regional and international
co-operation, for example the Global Water Partnership which promotes the
sustainable management of water through improved dialogue and knowledge
dissemination. |
269. The role of the private sector in promoting better environmental management is vital. It has a responsibility to improve the efficiency of its resource use, to manage its environmental impacts, to promote the spread of clean technologies and to help disseminate international best practice.
270. Change has come from a business recognition that improved environmental practices can lead to lower costs and thus enhance competitiveness; and from growing consumer demand for goods and services produced in environmentally sustainable ways. This is stimulating action to improve environmental standards throughout the supply chain. Increasing numbers of companies are also incorporating a commitment to sustainable development into their business principles and activities.
271. This includes the introduction of environmental management systems, setting clear targets for reduced pollution and waste, and the publication of environmental audits, which help the public hold companies to account for their environmental performance. The most significant shift so far has come from larger companies, including the transnationals. This in turn is having some positive knock-on effect on enterprises in developing countries. We will continue to encourage the development of sustainable and growing markets for affordable, cleaner and more resource-efficient technologies, particularly to tackle those environmental problems which most affect the poor. We will also continue to promote mechanisms which increase incentives for the private sector to be more environmentally responsible.
272. But voluntary action is not enough. Without effective regulation in developing countries, many companies, not least many national and state-owned enterprises, continue to degrade the environment. Much more needs to be done to ensure that true environmental costs are reflected in prices.
273. Action on global environmental problems also requires greater international co-operation. In recent years, an increasing range of international agreements has been developed, such as the conventions on climate change, biodiversity and ozone depletion.
274. But developing countries - those who suffer most from the effects of these environmental problems - need to have a more effective voice in international environmental negotiations. And they need more support in assessing the implications of environmental degradation for their people.
275. Developing country governments are increasingly concerned that industrialised countries wish to impose environmental conditions that will prevent their development. Further international agreements on the environment will become more difficult if developing countries do not believe such agreements are in their interests. The ten-year follow-up to the Conference on Environment and Development (Rio + 10) will be held in 2002. This presents a real opportunity to make further progress on integrating the environment and development agendas.
276. Developed countries have already agreed to meet emissions targets under the Kyoto Protocol, but much bigger cuts will be needed if atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases are to be stabilised. Many of the effects of climate change are uncertain and could vary greatly between regions. But the effects on poor countries are likely to be very damaging. Rising sea levels, changes in rainfall, loss of subsistence crops and increased disease are likely to hit poor people hardest.
277. Measures have to be taken to reduce future emissions in all countries. The private sector has a crucial role to play here. The Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol encourages companies to invest in emission-reducing projects in developing countries by giving the investing country credit against targets for the reductions achieved. But we must also support developing countries in assessing the likely impacts of climate change and to build capacity to minimise the threat to their territory and people.
278. We should look critically at how global institutions deal with environmental issues. There is a clear need for better co-ordination among the Multilateral Environmental Agreements. Actions should be geared towards strengthening existing institutions and delivering practical solutions which address real problems on the ground. It is essential that the policies and programmes of the main multilateral agencies reflect the need to manage environmental resources sustainably.
BOX 12
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RENEWABLE ENERGY INITIATIVE The G8 Renewable Energy Task Force was established at the Okinawa Summit in July 2000 to identify ways of improving the supply, distribution and use of renewable energy in developing countries. Its aims are: firstly, to tackle the lack of access to commercial energy in developing countries; and, secondly, to prevent the future air quality and climate change problems which would arise if all these new consumers were supplied with energy from fossil fuels. The Task Force will identify barriers to the development of
sustainable markets for renewable energy in developing countries, and ways of
reducing or removing these obstacles. Increasing the supply of renewable energy
will improve the lives of the 2 billion people who do not have access to
commercial energy by reducing pollution, supporting new jobs and giving new
opportunities for education - including through the use of information
technology. |
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THE UK GOVERNMENT WILL: · Use Rio + 10 to endorse the International Development Targets and reinforce progress towards sustainable development. · Deliver its Kyoto target and move beyond it towards our goal of reducing the UK's CO2 emissions by 20 per cent by 2010. · Work with developing countries and the IMF and World Bank to better integrate environmental sustainability into poverty reduction strategies. · Help least developed countries to benefit from the Clean Development Mechanism, and consider further ways of improving developing countries' access to clean and sustainable energy sources in light of the report of the G8 task force on Renewable Energy. · Work with business to increase their opportunities to be environmentally responsible. · Increase our assistance to least developed countries to help them participate more effectively in the negotiation of multilateral environmental agreements, and benefit from their implementation. · Press for a 50 per cent
increase in resources for the third replenishment of the Global Environment
Facility from 2002 to 2006. |
A more detailed account of the UK's policy on environment and sustainable development is set out in the DFID strategy paper: 'Achieving sustainability: poverty elimination and the environment' and 'Addressing the Water Crisis'.
