This post marks the official
countdown to the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD),
also known as the Rio+ 20 Conference on this blog. Hence, for my SM4CC series, I’m
going to be writing, over the next couple of weeks, on the Conference and what
it means for Nigeria, and by extension, how it directly or indirectly affects
the Yaba area of Lagos State. To achieve this, I’m going to be drawing
information from the websites of the Rio+ 20 Conference, and that of the
Heinrich Boell Foundation too – the Foundation has compiled a “Green Deal
Nigeria” report in preparation for the Conference.
At the Rio+20 Conference, world
leaders, along with thousands of participants from governments, the private
sector, NGOs and other groups, will come together to shape how we can reduce
poverty, advance social equity and ensure environmental protection on an ever
more crowded planet to get to the future we want. The United Nations Conference
on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) is being organized in pursuance of General
Assembly Resolution 64/236, and will take place in Brazil on 20-22 June 2012 to
mark the 20th anniversary of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment
and Development (UNCED), in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I’d start off the countdown
by contributing my two cents based on the introductory chapter of the Green
Deal Nigeria report.
“…a new approach to overcoming
the ever deepening ecological and ongoing development crisis has been put
forward. UNEP defines this so called “green economy” as one that results in improved
human well-being and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental
risks and ecological scarcities. A green economy is low carbon, resource
efficient and socially inclusive including by creating new jobs. Three economic
sectors are key to this effort: agriculture, energy and infrastructure. Most
economists agree that over the past decade we have seen a misallocation of
financial and human capital and an ongoing depletion of natural wealth…”
While a part of the above paragraph aptly
describes the situation around the world - a
misallocation of financial and human capital and an ongoing depletion of
natural wealth, it shows a further weakness suffered by Nigeria - three economic sectors are key to this
effort: agriculture, energy and infrastructure. Take a look around the
country called Nigeria and its apparent it lacks what it takes to achieve a
green economy. Hence, the first step for us as a nation really, is the
development of all these sectors and more. It is only then can we proceed on
having a green economy.
The author states further,
“…their inside-the-box prescriptions to cure our ailing planet range from
'market incentives' to 'removal of perverse subsidies' to 'green investment';
what is lacking is a social and normative framework. When one reads the policy
prescriptions for Rio+20 everything goes, a grab bag of ideas, old policies,
some regulation, good governance, promises... but there is surprisingly little
on values…” Now we are back to another worldwide problem, and it makes perfect
sense that we fix our backyard problems first, before deciding if the solution
as prescribed by the Conference is really a complete one as the author
portends, we move on from there.
“…While by 1990 most people
were ready to accept the fact that resource depletion, inefficiency and
pollution can result from market failures, what can be done to correct them was
less clear. At the root of the problem lie traditional measures of wealth and
economic progress such as the Gross Domestic Product…economists like Herman
Daly and Roefie Hueting showed how traditional GDP measurements 'rewarded' the
destruction and waste of resources as both the creation of pollution and the
cleanup of it were considered 'productive' economic activity. The national
accounts also did not show the value and depletion of natural capital and the
goods and services society, often the poorest people, derive from them...”
This, to me is the story of the
Niger Delta in Nigeria; a country largely dependent on oil. It’s no news that
while Africa may not be causing much damage to the environment when compared
with other continents of the world, Nigeria definitely brings something to the
table in terms of oil spills, gas flaring etc. It would be a digression to
comment on the carbon emission from vehicles not road worthy that daily ply our
expressways across the nation. Now, I totally disagree with the author on a
little point in the next paragraph – in Nigeria, there is no longer a risk from
misappropriating from the poor their natural capital, and stating the most
obvious of examples, the people of the Niger Delta have no farms and streams
for basic sustenance, speak less of commercial purposes.
“…While investing in natural
capital is much needed, by opening up to the vagaries of the market the scarce
capital held in trust by communities, one risks a further enclosure of the
commons, like communal lands and water resources. These commons are essential
to the survival of the poor and their privatization can only marginalize them
further. There is a risk of misappropriating from the poor and communities
'their' natural capital. At the same time, there are examples where private
ownership, in particular securing land tenure, has protected smallholders and
the environment from misappropriation by elites…”
“…Is the green economy concept
fiddling around the margins or real change? Clearly a transformation is not
about investing 2% into green initiatives as proposed by UNEP but rather about
reshaping the entire economy by steering 100% of investment onto a different
pathway. This is where the Rio+20 preparations fall short...” I hope the
Nigerian delegation and other bodies take note of this, as while the Conference
would be attended by nations from all over the world, only a few possess
circumstances such as ours. Hence, like I said earlier, whilst attempting to
implement the proffered solutions of the Conference, with their limitations
(because of our peculiarity) in mind, we need to be more proactive.
The truth is change is not easy,
in fact, it is very, very hard. But, it is something we must do. “…the
experience is that real economic change can hurt. Whether it is the abolition
of fossil fuel subsidies or prioritizing spending for renewable energy over
other projects, vested interests are affected. As a general rule, if it doesn't
hurt it's not a transformation. This is where the importance of social
transition measures must be emphasized. The politics will simply not support
some necessary measures if those impacted by the policy change are seen to be
disproportionally disadvantaged and do not have the means to support themselves
in the transition…The labor movement has an important role to play here...”
In conclusion, “…Let’s look at
the basics. Nothing grows forever, so why would real-world economies? We have
shown that GDP is a convenient but not an adequate measure of well-being as it
fails to assess social exclusion, pollution and waste of resources. A false
dilemma is being presented that says: despite the flawed nature of the GDP
measure, a lack of growth results in a downward spiral towards poverty. But how
to deal with the fact that unbridled growth results in a downward spiral
towards depleted resources and social strife?...Clearly it is time for a more
inclusive and inspiring vision…In our view, business-as-usual is not an option,
a Green Deal Nigeria is not a luxury but rather a necessity!...”
Sources
1. http://www.uncsd2012.org/rio20
2. http://ng.boell.org
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