Derek Osborn

United Nations Environment & Development
UK Committee (UNED-UK)

Lessons from Earth Summit II or Rio + 5

    The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) was held in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992. Popularly known as the Earth Summit, it was attended by over a hundred heads of state and government. It agreed to an ambitious programme (Agenda 21) for promoting sustainable development throughout the world. Conventions on climatic change and on biological diversity were also agreed, together with a declaration of 27 principles for sustainable development and a statement of principles for the sustainable management of forests. The conference also broke new ground procedurally in the way in which it involved participants from all the major sectors of society, not just representatives of governments.

    Annual meetings of the UN Commission for Sustainable Development (CSD) have provided a means for following up Rio at the international level. Perhaps inevitably, these meetings of the CSD have not been able to generate as much energy and commitment as the major Rio Conference itself. Derek Osborn believed that there were similar problems following up the other UN conferences.

    It was against this background that the five-year review processes were set up as special sessions of the General Assembly to review progress and to try and recapture some of the spirit of the initial conferences. A special session of the General Assembly took place in June 1997; sometimes referred to as Earth Summit II. Whilst it was recognised that some good progress had been made between 1992 and 1997, not nearly enough had been done; and, on many of the major global issues the position had continued to deteriorate. Poverty and inequality are spreading in many parts of the world. Fresh water supplies have dwindled or are being over-used and polluted. Greenhouse gases are accumulating and the threat of damaging climatic change is growing. Forest cover continues to shrink.

    Sadly, public attention and the collective political will throughout the world to tackle these issues constructively, creatively and co-operatively also seems to have diminished. Crucially, the global political deal that was struck has come unstuck. At Rio, the countries of the North agreed to make new and additional resources available to the South to enable them to handle their development in a more sustainable and environmentally friendly way from the outset. But the North did not deliver. The total amount of official aid instead shrunk by 20% between 1992 and 1997.

    The review process in New York in 1997 tried to face up to this. It achieved a useful result in planning the future work programme of the Commission for Sustainable Development over the next five years in a rational way with a clear focus each year, rather than trying to review everything every year. In spite of these modest gains the session clearly did not generate the kind of political attention and momentum to make for real movement on the key issues. Why were the results comparatively disappointing? Partly because of failure to focus. Partly because of lack of time. Partly because of insufficient participation and engagement by major groups, and lack of political engagement. Partly because of failure to address issues of resources properly.

    Derek Osborn felt that time is of the essence in these large overview processes. There has to be time to identify the key issues, and then to explore the real objectives and sticking points on them for all key players. What lessons could be drawn from this process for Copenhagen + 5? He identified a number of crucial issues.

• Start in good time. Copenhagen + 5 has started earlier and so stands a better chance of success than Rio + 5.
  
• Focus on a few key issues rather than try to address every one.
• The NGO community should be well co-ordinated.
  
• Identify outputs.
  
• Open up the debate around the world.

    Derek Osborn ended by underlining two issues which the Copenhagen and Rio processes have in common. The first is the level of assistance from the North to the South to assist with sustainable human development. Although he felt that the efforts made at Rio + 5 in 1997 were not successful at the time, he felt that they have played a part in turning the tide of opinion, and reinforcing the sense among many of the donor countries that greater efforts must be made. The second emphasis is on reducing poverty which is at the heart of sustainable development just as much as in the Copenhagen Summit process. He felt that all of those involved in Rio and Copenhagen should work together toward this common goal.

Derek Osborn is Chair of the United Nations Environment & Development UK Committee (UNED-UK).