Durban talks

 

            
I am at Durban witnessing the UNFCCC COP17. Two days left for negotiations and things are getting hot here. Politics have begun in the negotiations. Battlelines are drawn, stances will get harder, and swords will be drawn out. My serious concern is about the wrong messaging that is coming out in the media. Indian negotiators are going great job and I am glad to see India bringing equity back on the agenda.

Well, I am holding two documents in my hand, one is the AWG LCA amalgamation text and another is the concept note of UNCSD Education Working Group called “Framing Policy Dialogues: A Well Prepared Society”.  The AWG LCA amalgamation text is basically the compilation of parties submission to AGW LCA Chair which on first look seems to have many loopholes but I need to closely review the documents.

At the UNCSD Education Working Group meeting, the members discussed the education part of the AWG LCA amalgamation text under the Agenda item 3.2.6 on economic and social consequences of response measures. The UNCSD Education Working Group is chaired by Dr. P J Puntenney believes that the part under education needs to be revised. The group is now trying to meet various countries’ negotiators and convince them to suggest the changes in the text. But right now, the major focus of all is the future of Kyoto Protocol and work on the LCA track, source of finance and mitigation commitments.

It is overwhelming to see youth wearing T-shirts saying “I love KP, true love needs commitment”. Kyoto Protocol is a very important instrument and there are high expectations raised by South African delegation that they won’t let KP being murdered at Durban. It is neither a secret nor a myth that South Africa is one of the vulnerable countries to be affected by climate change. But this also leads to a question of ethics. KP for me is a great instrument because it has principles such as common but differentiate responsibility and polluter pays. We must see climate change as an ethical problem because:

(a) it is a problem caused by some people in one part of the world that puts others and the natural resources on which they depend at great risk,

(b) the harms to these other people are not mere inconveniences but in some cases catastrophic losses of life or the ability to sustain life, and

Climate change raises civilization challenging ethical questions thus any proposed climate change regime must be examined through an ethical lens. We must also understand that climate change is a global challenge and everyone living in this world should contribute to safeguard the environment. No national government, even that of a super power, no group of countries, even the richest ones, can meet these challenges alone.

I would like to end by quoting few lines from Earth Charter Preamble for you to ponder over,

“We stand at a critical moment in Earth's history, a time when humanity must choose its future.

As the world becomes increasingly interdependent and fragile, the future at once holds great peril and great promise.

To move forward we must recognize that in the midst of a magnificent diversity of cultures and life forms

we are one human family and one Earth community with a common destiny.”

Education for Sustainable Development

I was in second year of my bachelor’s course when Dr. Maitry of neighboring college Miranda House gave a guest lecture at my college SGTB Khalsa College on environmental protection.  My college faculty has always taught us the way of sustainable living, living in harmony with nature and respect the equity. We were aware about various environmental issues but one thing that touched my heart during Dr. Maitry talk was when she said, “we all should do our bit to protect the nature, don’t think that just your contribution will not make any difference, always remember Raja Ramohan Roy and Gandhiji have started the revolution alone and later people joined in”. This statement has motivated me to work for environment protection and now as an educator, I often say the same to my students to motivate them to be a change agent and mark beginning of a new revolution.

Education indeed is a long term process but I feel the most essential step towards sustainability. Education is critical for promoting sustainable development and improving the capacity of the people to address environment and development issues. We cannot separate ENVIRONMENT and DEVELOPMENT. These two words are deeply interconnected and therefore development in sustainable manner is the need of hour.

Promoting Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) was first discussed in year 1977 at Tbilisi Intergovernmental Conference on Environmental Education which had lead to have “EDUCATION” as integral part in Agenda 21 of United Nations, in fact “EDUCATION”  the second most used word in entire Agenda 21. Although education is an important part of entire document of Agenda 21 but Chapter 36 focuses on “Promoting Education, Public Awareness and Training”.

I recently met Prof. Charles Hopkins, the author of Chapter 36 of Agenda 21 and discussed the importance of ESD in present time. Charles Hopkins is at York University in Toronto where he holds both a UNESCO Chair and a United Nations University Chair. The UNESCO Chair coordinates an international network of teacher education institutions working upon the reorientation of teacher education to address sustainable development. Prof. Hopkins is an advisor to UNESCO and UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (UNDESD). He played major roles in both the Rio and Johannesburg UN Summits on Sustainability.

During discussion with Prof. Hopkins, I understood how ESD is important in both formal and informal education and also that an effective means of communication is needed for the same. It is also critical for achieving environmental and ethical awareness, values & attitude, skill & behaviour consistent with sustainable development and for effective public participation in decision making.  There is need to increase public sensitivity towards environment and involving them in the solution and foster a sense of personal environment responsibility. I would like to quote here a statement from Para 36.5.(b) “Due respect should be given to the community-defined needs and diverse knowledge systems, including science, cultural and social sensitivities.” We all would agree that traditional systems and practices were in harmony with their environment, it is the recent development practice which harms the environment. Now is the time when we should look back to the history and try to understand how people use to live.

In the following video, Prof. Hopkins is talking about ESD and Earth Charter at Centre for Environment Education (CEE) during Earth Charter Conference on Ethical Framework for a Sustainable World. He is talking about similar beginning of ESD and Earth Charter at Rio and how both are vital, timely and needed. Also what are the problems with ESD implementation at present time.

The Bonn declaration which Prof. Hopkins is talking about can be found here.

India has already steped forwarded towards ESD and CEE has been identified as the National Implementing Agency for Implementing DESD in India by the Indian National Commission for Cooperation with UNESCO (INC UNESCO), Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India. A National Committee on DESD has been formed with representations from the government, NGOs and subject experts to guide the implementation process for DESD. Some of the key components of the strategy on ESD for India would build upon existing experiences and initiatives, while strengthening areas of strategic focus for ESD. These include:

• Facilitating ESD through national networks and programmes;
• Aligning ESD objectives with national and global priorities and work with existing national strategies and guiding documents;
• Intersectoral Cooperation, Partnership and Networking at local, national, regional and international levels.

The details about DESD can be found here.

Shri. Kartikeya Sarabhai has indeed unique way of explaining things. Following video is about Shri. Sarabhai's thought on ESD.

Shri. Sarabhai's way of explaining had truly helped me understanding sustainability and motivates me to work towards the same. It is indeed the time when we all should look into education in more broader term and value its contribution towards sustainability. I would like to end with Prof Hopkins statement during UNESCO World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development;

"ESD is one of the more powerful tools for preparing civilizations for the future. There is hope if we begin to collaborate on a global scale to see a more sustainable future for all as the ultimate goal of humanity."

Ethical framework for a Sustainable World

The current millennium started with recognition by the international community of the many critical situations it faces, the most appalling of which are addressed in the United Nations Millennium Declaration: The United Nations Millennium Development Goals aims to address issues of hunger, poverty, gender inequality, child mortality, water crisis, and environmental decline. The world is confronted today with three major challenges which encompass all other problems: the challenge of security, including the risks associated with terrorism; the challenge of poverty and underdeveloped economies; and the challenge of environmental sustainability.

2012 is the crucial year on the calendar as it marks 20 years of United Nations Conference on Environment and Development at Rio de Janeiro which lead to formation of UNFCCC. 2012 is also the year in which the Kyoto Protocol expires. Kyoto Protocol was an important step towards protecting environment as it sets individual, legally binding targets for industrialized countries prepared to take positive steps to curb emissions of carbon dioxide and other GHGs from sources within their remit. “Common but Differentiate Responsibities” in the Kyoto makes it ethically correct as the countries (Annex 1) who are more responsible for this anthropogenic climate change should take the responsibility of combating and at the same time other countries (Non Annex 1) should also adapt sustainable development.

We must see climate change as an ethical problem because:

Ø  It is a problem caused by some people in one part of the world that puts others and the natural resources on which they depend at great risk

Ø  The harms to these other people are not mere inconveniences but in some cases catastrophic losses of life or the ability to sustain life

Climate change raises civilization challenging ethical question, any proposed climate change regime must be examined through an ethical lens. We must also understand that climate change is a global challenge and everyone living in this world should contribute to safeguard the environment. No national government, even that of a super power, no group of countries, even the richest ones, can meet these challenges alone.

It gives me pleasure to introduce an initiative which has principles to protect the mother earth, shares responsibilities with equity, care of human rights and believe in sustainable development. The Earth Charter is an international declaration of fundamental values and principles considered useful by its supporters for building a just, sustainable, and peaceful global society in the 21st century. Created by a global consultation process, and endorsed by organizations representing millions of people, the Charter "seeks to inspire in all peoples a sense of global interdependence and shared responsibility for the well-being of the human family, the greater community of life, and future generations." 

The Earth Charter has four principles which guides the decision making process. They are;

·         Respect and Care for the Community of Life

·         Ecological Integrity

·         Social and Economic Justice

·         Democracy, Nonviolence and Peace

The Earth Charter is an unusual document since it reflects a new, universally-shared level of understanding of the interdependence between humans and nature. It also corresponds to the stage of globalization at which we find ourselves. The Earth Charter text can be found here.

I would like to end with few lines from Earth Charter Preamble for you to ponder over;  

“We stand at a critical moment in Earth's history, a time when humanity must choose its future.

As the world becomes increasingly interdependent and fragile, the future at once holds great peril and great promise.

To move forward we must recognize that in the midst of a magnificent diversity of cultures and life forms

we are one human family and one Earth community with a common destiny.”