The Johannesburg Conference

The World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), held in Johannesburg during 26 August and 4 September 2002, was the biggest event of its kind organised by the United Nations to date. A major objective of the WSSD was to set out strategies for greater and more effective implementation of Agenda 21, negotiated in Rio ten years ago, than hitherto. An overview of the WSSD is presented in this chapter, including a scrutiny of its major outcomes.Discussion begins with a detailed account of major UN environmental conferences and related events, such as Doha and Monterrey conferences, that led to the WSSD, followed by a brief discussion of the deliberations that took place at the preparatory meetings (PrepComs) of the WSSD. A detailed account and scrutiny of the following, that are the main outcomes of the WSSD, is then given.The "Johannesburg Declaration on Sustainable Development", which is a political declaration mirroring the will of the international community to move towards sustainable development.The "Johannesburg Plan of Implementation", which is the core document of the WSSD containing an impressive list of recommendations for accelerating the implementation of Agenda 21."Type II partnerships", which are projects that allow civil society to contribute to the implementation of sustainable development.The increasingly important post-Rio issue of globalisation, which has serious implications for a number of issues directly or indirectly impinging on global sustainability, was an important element in the contextual background to the WSSD. Reference is made to some of these implications.Type II partnerships are an innovation of the WSSD. Although a good deal of confusion persists over their precise nature and modus operandi, they were nevertheless presented at the WSSD as powerful and more democratic instruments for the realisation of Agenda 21 objectives.The analysis shows that the Summit contributed at defining sustainable development more precisely. The Plan of Implementation is most instrumental in showing how to make resource use and the generation of pollution less unsustainable. In this way implementing the recommendations of the Johannesburg Summit offers an important defeat, worldwide.     

Is Multilateralism the Future? Sustainable Development or Globalisation as ‘A Comprehensive Vision of the Future of Humanity’

This paper provides an overall evaluation of the outcomes of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), which took place in Johannesburg from 26 August to 4 September 2002, in a historical perspective, against the background of earlier major United Nations conferences and General Assembly resolutions on environment and development. It focuses on the political and institutional context of the WSSD and its preparatory process and explores its policy implications for future international cooperation on sustainable development in a globalizing world. Both the results of the formal intergovernmental negotiations and the new phenomenon of partnerships for sustainable development between governments, international organizations, the private sector and other major groups are analysed. The Johannesburg Declaration and the WSSD Plan of Implementation are shown to contain little in the way of political vision, credible new commitments and innovative approaches, likely to reinvigorate the implementation of the objectives of sustainable development as formulated in Rio. Though ostensibly designed to give a new political impetus to multilateralism, the WSSD rather revealed the inadequacy of intergovernmental political governance structures to address the social and environmental consequences of economic globalization.     

全球可持续发展面临的挑战与对策

全球可持续发展涉及可持续经济、可持续环境和可持续社会三方面的协调统一,要求人类在发展中讲究经济效率、关注环境和谐与追求社会公平,最终达到人的全面发展。自1992年联合国环境与发展大会以来,国际社会积极推动实施《关于环境与发展的里约宣言》、《21世纪议程》和《可持续发展首脑会议执行计划》,各种形式的国际和区域环发合作深入开展,各个国家为促进可持续发展付出了巨大努力,在消除贫困和实现千年发展目标方面取得一些成绩。但是,全球在经济、环境和社会发展方面正在面临着越来越复杂的形势,全球可持续发展事业依然面临严峻的挑战。本文从经济、环境与社会三个方面,系统分析了全球可持续发展面临的挑战。分析表明:全球经济发展依然不平衡,不稳定性在加大,而且世界贫富差距明显,发达国家对发展中国家的官方援助不足;全球能源结构没有根本性改变,CO2排放不断增加,气候变化问题突出,而且一些国家生态环境问题较为严重;世界总人口数不断增加,各国就业水平难以提高,各国教育水平非常不均衡,而且欠发达国家人均医疗卫生支出水平低,居民健康状况堪忧。针对全球可持续发展面临的挑战,本文提出了相应的对策:①坚持"共同但有区别的责任"原则。可持续发展没有统一的模式,各国的发展阶段、条件和能力的不同必须予以正视;要区别发达国家和发展中国家的不同国情,要充分尊重发展中国家的发展权利;要为发展中国家向可持续发展转型提供技术、资金和能力建设方面的强有力支持。②加强各国政府在环境领域的交流与合作。不仅要重视全球性环境问题,而且更要优先考虑区域性环境问题,特别是发展中国家和最不发达国家面临的生态环境问题。③积极推动全球社会朝向均衡、普惠和共赢的方向发展。世界上所有国家都应有权以平等的身份参与全球治理过程以及不断改进和优化治理机制,而且全球治理结构应该向发展中国家倾斜;要积极消除贫困、减少不平等现象、使增长具有包容性、使生产和消费更可持续;要增强人们做出可持续选择的权利,特别是妇女、年轻人、失业者以及社会最弱势和最脆弱群体的权利等。     

Science, Research, Knowledge and Capacity Building

A small part of the scientific community is seeking hard to enhance the contribution of science, knowledge and capacity building to environmentally sustainable and socially fair human development around the world. Many researchers over the globe share the same commitment – anchored in concerns for the human condition. They believe that science and research can and have influenced sustainability. Therefore their main goals are to seek and build up knowledge, know-how and capacity that might help to feed, nurture, house, educate and employ the world's growing human population while conserving its basic life support systems and biodiversity. They undertake projects, that are essentially integrative, and they try to connect the natural, social and engineering sciences, environment and development of communities, multiple stakeholders, geographic and temporal scales. More generally, scientists engaged in sustainable development are bridging the worlds of knowledge and action. This pro-active, heavily ethics- and wisdom-based "science for sustainability" can be seen as the conclusion of all dialogues and discussions amongst scientists at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) 2002 in Johannesburg. The "Plan of Implementation" after WSSD will be based on political will, practical steps and partnerships with time-bound actions. Several "means of implementation" are going to be proofed and initiated: finance, trade, transfer of environmentally sound technology, and, last but not least, science and capacity building.Some characteristics of working scientific sustainability initiatives are that they are regional, place-based and solution-oriented. They are focusing at intermediate scales where multiple stresses intersect, where complexity is manageable, where integration is possible, where innovation happens, and where significant transitions toward sustainability can start bottom-up. And they have a fundamental character, addressing the unity of the nature – society system, asking how that interactive system is evolving and how it can be consciously, if imperfectly, steered through the reflective mobilization and application of appropriate knowledge and know-how. The aims of such sustainability-building initiatives conducted by researchers are: first to make significant progress toward expanding and deepening the research agenda of science and knowledge-building for sustainability; secondly to strengthen the infrastructure and capacity for conducting and applying science, research and technology for sustainability – everywhere in the world where it is needed; and thirdly, to connect science, policy and decision-making more effectively in pursuit of a faster transition towards real sustainable development. The overall characteristic is, that sustainability initiatives are mainly open-ended networks and dialogues for the better future. A world society that tries to turn towards sustainable development has to work hard to refine their clumsy technologies, in "earthing" their responsibility to all creatures and resources, in establishing democratic systems in peace and by heeding human rights, in building up global solidarity through all mankind and in commit themselves to a better life for the next generations.     

Sustainable Development – A New Challenge for the Countries in Central and Eastern Europe

The paper gives an overview on the transformation process of 10 Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries leading to a change of political structure and the emergence of market mechanisms. These countries intend to get admission into the European Union (EU) in the near future. Therefore, the legal system of the EU is the standard for them and, in particular, they follow the respective environmental protection measures.The implementation of sustainable development is a new challenge for the CEE countries. Beside environmental protection, economic and social dimensions are also to be considered, and these three pillars are in mutual interaction. In the CEE countries, the preparations to implement elements of sustainable development began in the last few years. Thus, the documents of the Johannesburg Summit on Sustainable Development stimulate this recent process. The successful implementation requires the close cooperation of the governments, the various stakeholders and the civil society.     

Building capacity with demand-driven partnerships: a case study of Partners for Water and Sanitation

Multi-stakeholder partnerships emerged from the 2002 Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) as a new vehicle for progressing toward the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by aligning the interests of businesses, governments and civil society to leverage the impact of their interventions. The water and sanitation sector boasts the largest number of such partnerships, including the demand-driven capacity-building partnership Partners for Water and Sanitation (PAWS), a product of the WSSD and a premier UK partnership for sustainable development. Through its partnership network, PAWS has access to the entire UK water industry, which they assign to capacity-building projects in Africa on a demand-driven basis. Though the supply of partners is generally strong, the demand for their assistance is variable. This paper examines the efficacy of demand-driven capacity building partnerships at achieving the water and sanitation MDGs, presenting a case study of the PAWS partnership and using it as a framework for discussion of the supply–demand dynamics that influence the scope, scale and ultimate impact of such partnerships.     

Evaluation of Urban Sustainability in Specific Sectors in Latvia

In Latvia, the concept of sustainability is only slowly gaining recognition. An analysis of Development Plans prepared by the four largest cities of Latvia indicates that sustainability is presented as one of the guiding principles. However, a comparison of Development Plan policies against the urban sustainability issues reveals a great deal of ambiguity and contradiction.At the municipal level, planners and politicians lack indicators to gauge whether the long-term goals of Development Plans and the principles of sustainable development are being achieved. As a consequence, the broad public is deprived of the opportunity to assess for itself the process of development in relation to Development Plan policies, thus limiting accountability in development decision-making. Relevant statistical data collected on a regular basis are required to create sustainability indicators reflecting sustainability issues, to supplement and replace existing statistical compilations pertaining almost exclusively to economic growth and consumption. Development and utilisation of sustainability indicators can be an effective instrument for promoting the values of sustainable development amongst politicians, planners and the broad public and for enhancing accountability in decision-making.     

Sustainable Development and Environment: a Renewed Effort in the OECD

The importance of sustainable development has been clearly recognised by the OECD Council at Ministerial Level. The Communiqué of the 1998 Ministerial Meeting states that Ministers agreed that the achievement of sustainable development is a key priority for OECD countries. They encouraged the elaboration of the Organisation's strategy for wide-ranging efforts over the next three years in the areas of climate change, technological development, sustainability indicators, and the environmental impact of subsidies.... Further, Ministers asked the OECD to enhance its dialogue with non-member countries in these areas and to engage them more actively, including through shared analyses and development of strategies for implementing sustainable development (OECD, 1998d).To help countries achieve the transition to sustainable development, a framework is required for the integration of economic, environmental and social policy. This was the main recommendation of the report in November 1997 to the OECD Secretary-General, Donald J. Johnston, of the High-Level Advisory Group on the Environment (OECD, 1997b). The OECD and its affiliates (including the International Energy Agency (IEA), the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), the Development Centre and the European Conference of Ministers of Transport (ECMT)) are well equipped with the broad, multidisciplinary expertise to assist Member governments in this task. Work on sustainable development encompasses the full range of activities of the Organisation: macro and micro-economic analysis; environmental policy; labour markets, education, health and social policies; agricultural and fisheries policies; energy policy; technology policy; regional, local and urban policies; and development co-operation. Activities with non-members add an essential global perspective. The challenge is to move beyond a sectoral approach to integrated policies, and to exploit potential synergies and interrelationships between this wide range of competencies. The aim is to move as far as possible towards the harmonisation and integration of policies within an overall economic framework.     

Education for Sustainable Development: The Johannesburg Summit and Beyond

The World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), held in Johannesburg during 26 August and 4 September 2002, was a truly remarkable event, not least because it identified and committed the world community to what has to be done to realise Agenda 21 objectives. Discussion begins with the "means of implementation" of the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPI). Education for, and raising awareness of, sustainable development are the key commitments in the "means of implementation". The issues central to these commitments are discussed. The crucial role of moral philosophy in education for sustainable development is then discussed. Defining the "problem" as lack of progress (in fact negative progress between Rio and Johannesburg) towards global sustainable development, a cause–effect relationship of the "problem" is developed based on a systematic and logical analysis. It shows that the "cause" is West's profoundly materialistic, environment-degrading and exploitative attitude and activities to satisfy grossly unsustainable, hedonistic and insatiably avaricious Western life-styles – life-styles that are held up by the West as "ideal" fruits of economic "development" to be aspired by all. The "effects" are pollution of air, water and soil; mounting loss of biodiversity, ecosystems and species; relentlessly widening north–south divide, etc. It is argued that while science and technology can address some of the "effects", they cannot address the "cause". Only moral philosophy can by fundamentally re-orienting moral values genuinely to respect nature and the environment. Based on sound and tested principles of Educational Psychology, a proposal is then made for including moral philosophy in the formal curricula (content and pedagogy) of primary, secondary and higher education for instilling in children and young people genuinely environment-respecting moral values. To this end a generic syllabus for the secondary level is proposed. Finally, it is argued that if the scientific community really believes that science or technology alone can radically change the pervasive environment-degrading moral values to those that genuinely respect the environment, thus paving the way to real global sustainability, then it must demonstrate how this could be done and explain why, despite their abundant science and technology, the developed nations are the biggest polluters and consumers with grossly unsustainable life-styles. Certainly, examples would be much more convincing than rhetoric or tired old clichés about how science and technology alone could deliver global sustainable development.     

Sustainable Development and the Role of the Financial World

The incapacity to finance sustainable development through philanthropic official assistance turned the Johannesburg Summit to business world and the financial industry. Pioneering financial institutions – including development banks and private banks – have developed a wide range of innovations that can support sustainable development. This article highlights a few innovative products and markets and focuses on the progress made by financial players on the level of standards, metrics and guidelines to improve sustainability management systems, reporting and accounting practices and the multi-stakeholder dynamic. The role of the socially responsible investing (SRI) community has been underexposed by the Summit. Through its voice and market success, SRI has moved from a green market niche to the mainstream, however not becoming mainstream. The invaluable levering effect of SRI has just been discovered by authorities and market regulators and is becoming instrumental. In order to show the business case of Corporate Social Responsibility and to prove the financial viability of the People, Planet, Prosperity investing approach, the SRI community should critically reflect on its own quality assurance systems, sound disclosure and verification practices.     

Water for Sustainable Development in Africa

Water is a precious yet non-renewable resource. Yet in Africa, the same water can be a source of life and death. Water is not only the most basic of need but also at the centre of sustainable development and essential for poverty eradication. Water is intimately linked to health, agriculture, energy and biodiversity. Without progress on water, reaching other Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will be difficult if not impossible. The fight against poverty will remain a pipe dream.A lot of activities have been undertaken with the aim of highlighting the importance of water, linking water with sustainable development and indeed developing strategies for resolving the ever-increasing problems of water. These include the adoption of the Africa Water Vision in The Hague, Netherlands in March, 2000.In order to address the many problems of water in Africa especially related to the coordination of the increasing number of initiatives in the Water sector in Africa, the African Water Task Force (AWTF) was established.As part of developing solutions to the African water crisis, the AWTF held a regional conference in Accra Ghana. Some of the emerging issues from the Accra Conference are highlighted in the Accra declaration.This paper highlights the linkages between water and sustainable development, water and poverty and the many facets that relate to water. It mainly addresses issues of water from the African perspective. A number of key events that have taken place and which have served as a basis for many policy pronouncements have been given.The last section concentrates on what happened to water at the World Summit for Sustainable Development (WSSD) held in Johannesburg in September 2002.     

China''''s CDM Policies and Their Development Implications:Major Concerns for CDM Implementation

Most CDM (Clean Development Mechanism) opportunities exist in some large industrializing developing countries. For instance, China is estimated to take 48% of the world potential for CDM project activities. In reality, however, the share by China over the CDM projects registered and CDM projects in the pipeline is less than 10% as of Auguest 2005. This paper will examine the reasons behind, as reflected in China's CDM policies. Further investigation will be made into the use of these policies to boost the country's sustainable development, the sustainable development implications and effects of these policies. In addition, it is noted that incompatibility of some other Chinese laws and policies can be responsible for the low level and slow pace of CDM implementation in China and some suggestions are offered for promoting CDM project activities in China. There also exist barriers at the international level that impedes implementation of CDM project activities. A conclusion is drawn that CDM policies in a developing country like China aim mainly at promotion of sustainable development and to a lesser extent the generation of CERs.     

地方政府与中国乡村的可持续发展——以浙江省横店镇可持续发展实验区为个案

在可持续发展过程中。政府、民间组织、企业和个人都有其能够发挥作用的地方．但是。地方政府可以说是实现地方可持续发展之关键。以浙江省东阳市横店镇可持续发展实验区为个案。深入探讨地方政府与地方可持续发展的关系。文章的一个基本结论是，从横店镇可持续发展实验区案例来看．我国乡村的可持续发展应该走政府主导的模式．而只有强化地方政府的能力（包括规划、资源与领导能力等）。方能培育地方良治（good governance）与支持可持续发展。     

WSSD 2002, Latin America and Brazil: Biodiversity and Indigenous People

Latin America comprehends notable variations in terms of natural environment, availability of natural resources, living standards, and demographic patterns. Latin America is a mosaic of cultures, post- and pre-Columbian. The rich variety of life forms discovered and described by chroniclers and traveling naturalists in the Neotropics contributed to the proposal, in mid-XVIIIth century, of a new system of classification and a scientific code of nomenclature for all organisms. Biodiversity was, for many centuries, a source of resources to be exploited in natura. In scientific circles, its inventory became the domain of taxonomists. But modern technology showed how important the miriad of life forms really are as sources of chemical molecules to be engineered as drugs and reassembled as novel manufactured products. We are on the brink of a new agricultural and medical revolution, thanks to the techniques of genetic engineering, which will lead eventually to the elimination of hunger and malnutrition.In this essay, the Brazilian environmental and social heterogeneity will serve as an example to illustrate some key points, which have influenced sustainability policies. The Amazon deforestation and indigenous knowledge (IK), subjects often associated with areas of high biodiversity, are usually the focus of environmental debates. The importance of IK in integrating development, reducing poverty and sustainability are considered together with the intellectual property rights of native populations.In the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) Implementation Plan, a few paragraphs were dedicated to Latin America, because of the pre-existing Action Platform on the Road to Johannesburg 2002, approved in Rio de Janeiro in October 2001. This paper calls attention to the need to draw up specific environmental policies for a region which shows an extremely high cultural and biological diversity, associated with a high availability of forests and water, among other resources.     

经济全球化背景下国际可持续发展进程的政治外交效应

本文以发展中国家和发达国家两大集团作为研究的基本单元，对国际可持续发展战略实施中产生的政治外交效应进行了初步分析。试图揭示经济全球化背景下国际可持续发展进程对世界经济社会和政治外交格局带来的影响和挑战，并就发展中国家开展国际可持续发展合作提出了对策建议。     

通过可持续认证推动农林牧渔领域自然资源保护

1992年里约环境发展大会后可持续发展成为各国和各界的共识,但经历了二十年的发展,自然资源保护与可持续发展之间的矛盾仍然存在,特别是农林牧渔等领域自然资源的合理开发利用仍待进一步发展。我国作为国际农林牧渔产品的重要消费国和贸易国,在积极推动国内资源的可持续利用同时,也可以通过国际贸易在全球自然资源可持续利用中发挥积极作用。可持续认证作为应对资源保护与经济发展这一矛盾的较为有效的市场手段,经过近二十年的发展已经涵盖了农林牧渔领域的多个产品,在国际上的发展势头强劲,对于自然资源的保护和可持续利用发挥了对政府政策的补充作用。但可持续性认证在我国国内的企业和消费者中还没有得到广泛认识,其通过市场机制引导企业实践可持续经营、落实企业社会责任的作用在国内还没有得到有效的发挥。因此,本研究的目的是通过对可持续认证的分析,为在我国农林牧渔领域更好地发挥其市场推动力提出政策建议。本研究首先综述了可持续认证在国际上的发展历程、产生的影响,详细论述了森林、棕榈油、野生海产品等可持续认证已经在全球贸易中占有一席之地,并在欧美等较发达国家和地区获得了消费者的支持;其次,本研究对可持续认证在农林牧渔领域的进一步发展所面临的挑战进行了剖析,肯定了可持续认证在调动企业和消费者的积极性、推动农林牧渔领域资源保护方面的正面作用,也指出认证对资源保护的预期效果没有完全达到、同一产业内认证体系可靠性参差不齐,着重强调了可持续认证在发展中国家的发展面临的困难,使其对自然资源保护的应有效果受到影响。在此基础上,本研究分析了我国农林牧渔领域在资源利用方面面临的国际和国内压力,尤其是我国在国际贸易中举足轻重的地位和进口大宗产品产地的生态脆弱性使中国在全球资源的可持续利用和保护中可以发挥重要作用,论证了可持续认证在我国的推广有利于提升中国企业的国际形象、促进贸易杠杆发挥资源保护的撬动作用、保障企业在海外开发中的长期效益,同时也有利于我国国内自然资源的可持续利用,明确得出在我国农林牧渔领域推动可持续认证的必要性。本研究建议我国政府部门应关注农林牧渔领域可持续认证在国际和国内的发展,收集相关的信息和案例可用于相关的国际谈判和对企业的指导。同时政府应鼓励国内外认证体系在中国开展认证工作,并为同一产业中的不同体系创造公平的竞争环境。另外,政府应积极支持国内农林牧渔产业的企业、专家、协会等参与到国际认证体系的建立过程中,将中国可持续发展的良好操作范例或规范国际化。政府自身的消费行为对全社会有明确的引导作用,所以在政府采购中应优选可持续认证产品,引导企业加入可持续经营的实践。     

21世纪前5年我国可持续发展战略的取向

“十五”期间,可持续发展战略仍将是我国最重要的发展战略之一。本文提出了“十五”计划和2010年规划可持续发展战略的目标和政策建议。     

"分裂的全球化"与人类的可持续发展

经济全球化一方面推动了世界各国的合作，另一方面拉大了发达国家与发展中国家的差距。全球化进程中这种强弱群体的分化，实质上是一个“分裂的全球化”。它给人类的可持续发展带来了极大的挑战。全球化是人类发展不可逆转的方向。同时，可持续发展是人类社会共同的目标。只有解决分裂的全球化，人类才能实现可持续发展。     

提高国民文化教育水准是社会可持续发展的根本保证

教育是使经济和社会可持续发展的重要战略内容,针对我国国情和当前存在的问题,本文提出必须十分注重在普通教育、高等教育以及在全体国民、尤其是在各行各业的各级领导和管理干部中加强可持续发展的教育,并提出了一系列可行的措施,这是社会可持续发展的根本保证。     

Local policies for reducing the ecological impact of households: the case study of a suburban area in France

Since Rio, governments have increased measures to promote sustainable household consumption, but this has induced limited changes in consumers’ daily practices. This article argues that one of the reasons behind the poor efficiency of these policies is the low level of consideration granted to local decision-making. The article discusses the results of a study which aims at better ascertaining the practices and representations of local government leaders in promoting sustainable development in households. We shall analyse the motivations, obstacles, interaction of players, communication and action plans associated with promoting sustainable development, in which individual will and effort are the keywords. The results obtained show how important it is to introduce better management systems for information and resource exchange between the different institutions involved. The study was carried out in a suburban area of south-west France counting 71 small towns and villages, characteristic of the spatial dynamics triggered by the global phenomenon of urbanisation.