Blind Spots on Africa?

Outreach Issues

In discussions during the intergovernmental pre-

paratory meeting (IPM) of February 2009, several

delegates spoke of what their countries/regions

had done for Africa but very little was said about

what had done to Africa. This historical blind spot

has largely clouded discussions about the problems

that plague the continent.

Convergence of global crises

In the negotiations that will be happening at this

session, a moment should be taken to review the

deep and deepening convergence of crises that has

recently gripped the world. This is vital, because

they have tossed up a wide deficit of public

confidence in global governance with regard to the

handling of the crises. Whereas some countries

appear to be moving in a changed direction, when

it comes to discussions on the climate crisis, food

crisis and the economic crisis there appears to be

more continuity than discontinuity.

The way in which the resolution is achieved will

mark the path of future relationships between and

even within regions. With this in mind, Africa

should legitimately expect that the challenges of

the continent should be viewed through the filter

of history with all its baggage of inequity in

exploitative relationships including the rapacious

appropriation of global commons.

Continued on page 2

Inside this Issue:

Blind Spots on Africa 1

Two Weeks, Six Themes And

One Challenge

3

Rural development in a

changing climate

4

Water Water Water... 5

Earth Summit 2012 7

CSD 17: Anything New in

Terms of Actions for the

People of Drylands?

8

Public Food and the

Challenge of Sustainable

Development

9

A Note from the Editor 9

Food for Thought… 10

A daily publication of Sustainable Development Issues Network (SDIN) and Stakeholder Forum (SF)

MONDAY May 4, 2009

1

Outreach Issues is the civil society

newsletter produced by the SDIN

Group and Stakeholder Forum.

Outreach Issues aims to report

with attitude, from the global

scene of sustainability.

By: Nnimmo Bassey, Friends of the Earth International

Africa will be in the spotlight throughout the negotiations at this policy session of

CSD-17. This is to be expected because the continent has been set as a subtheme

besides others like agriculture, rural development, land, desertification, drought,

water and sanitation. When the sum of all these parts is taken together, all fingers

point to Africa as a continent that has been left behind in the global scheme of

things.

2

The financial crises

The financial crisis has helped reveal the

underbelly of the economic systems built on

neo-liberal dogma, fuelled by the structural

adjustment programmes of the international

financial institutions such as the World Bank

and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

While these institutions preached that states

should stay out of productive enterprises and

aided the distribution of public goods to the

private sector, they also ensured the disman-

tling of other public nets that provide the

base for development in the captive nations.

When talks of failing or failed states arise,

fingers quickly point at Africa, and the same

institutions that brought about the collapse

step forward to prescribe the way forward.

The threat of state failure

Today, the financial and economic crises

have confirmed the fear of opponents of

neo-liberalism that, even by the sheer size of

the bailouts needed, the failure of the mar-

ket is far worse than the failure of a state.

Market failure can be compared to a

pandemic whereas state failure could be,

and often is discrete. The ripples of state

failure may not reach far beyond its

immediate neighbours. We note that the

threat of state failure was used to force

weaker states into line. It has also been seen

that the market paradigm is not scientific

and that markets do not have self-correcting

mechanisms and this is why they needed

massive stimulus packages to prop up

collapsing scaffolds. The emperor has been

naked all along. Someone has to point and

shout it!!

Farms, not arms

It has been reported that in 2006 alone the

world spent $1,200 billion dollars on arms.

While these arms kill and destroy, some of

these expenditures are even classified as

overseas development assistance! Imagine

what impact a more focused investment in

agriculture would have on global food

production. Nevertheless, African food

production has doubled between 1990 and

today. It is time to end the playing of politics

with hunger and food aid and support small

holder farmers providing them with

appropriate technologies and cutting off

toxic technologies that lead to biodiversity

erosion.

Support small farmers

Emphasis on chemical based industrial

agriculture has overlooked the fact that

much of the world is fed by small-holder

family farmers whose productivity continue

to rise despite all odds. The smallholder

farmers need to be strategically supported if

the world is to escape another and perhaps

more vicious crisis. Africa should insist on the

utilization of the vital outcomes of the Inter-

national Assessment of Agricultural Science

and Technology for Development (IAASTD)

review as key policy resources. It is time for

Africa to recover her place as net food

producers and not chronic food importers

and food aid dependents.

Bretton Woods not in charge

As farmers groups in Africa declared in their

memo to the G8 meeting on Agriculture, the

Bretton Woods institutions whose SAPS

crippled much of developing world agricul-

ture should not be placed in charge of man-

aging funds meant to stimulate agriculture

development. They also cautioned that there

is no need for ad hoc structures, when there

are sufficient spaces already in place within

the UN system that should be used for this

purpose. In the same vein one could add that

the World Bank should not turn itself into

the Climate Bank when it is guilty of

supporting projects that have massively

impacted the climate.

NGOs point to gaps in the text

On the chair’s negotiation text delegates

should pay attention to the gaps and

omissions pointed out by NGOs at the close

of the IPM. They said: ‘We are concerned

about the largely technology solution-slant

of the document, thus missing the social and

economic dimensions of such farmer-

centred alternatives as ecological agriculture

and organic agriculture. A stronger presen-

tation of the rights-based approach, to food,

land, water and productive resources is

needed. Proposal on biofuels failed to cap-

ture the seriousness of the threats posed by

biofuels to local and global food security as

shown in last year’s food price crises.

The reference to further research and devel-

opment on 2nd and 3rd generation biofuels

must properly reflect this caution. Livestock

references should include humane treat-

ment of animals, which is directly linked to

health and environment. There must be

recognition of the role of structural

adjustments programs in damaging Africa’s

agriculture as a starting point of discussing

the problems in African agriculture.’

In the past it has not been uncommon to

see delegates from other regions, especially

Latin America, forcefully demand actions

that would aid African progress. It will be

interesting to see what positions the African

group will bring to this very important

session.

. “There must be recognition

of the role of structural

adjustments programs in

damaging Africa’s agriculture

as a starting point of

discussing the problems

in African agriculture.”

Outreach Issues

3

when it is guilty of

should pay attention to the gaps and

shown in last year’s food price crises.

recognition of the role of structural

group will bring to this very important

Outreach Issues

At the CSD-16 the alarm clock buzzed at

5:30, just another day in the life of a Youth

Caucus Coordinator at the UN Commission

on Sustainable Development (CSD). A daily

meeting to chair, drafting groups to

organize, pledges to collect and state-

ments to be delivered, among many other

things. It may seem like an easy thing to

do, except for an average of 12 hours of

work a day, networks and credibility to be

established, perceptions to be challenged

and reshaped.

Achievements

All that hard work certainly bore its fruits:

last year the Youth Caucus made a name

for itself and was readily identifiable by

most people, thanks to some exciting

features never before implemented:

• A brand-new logo and Youth Caucus

website in five different languages,

updated daily

• A stand with pictures, documents, and

pledges to ask governments to commit to

young people

• A guide for governments to select and

include official youth delegates in their

delegations

• The statements we delivered were also

well received and few of them even got

special commendations by the Chairman.

Now the opportunity presents itself yet

again, with the CSD-17 starting today.

While as young people we battle the

scourges of global poverty, climate change

and deadly pandemics, we also strive

to build our collective future, and this is

definitely an opportunity not to be missed.

With a less-than-perfect Draft Negotiating

text circulating at the IPM, the Major

Group on Children and Youth will make

sure that children and young people’s

voice be heard and included as much as

possible, working as hard as ever, to

guarantee that our future will be the

future of our choice. The choices being

made here will directly effect not just the

youth of today but the youth of tomorrow.

Global campaign

A Youth Blast prep meeting took place at

Columbia University the weekend before

the CSD kicked off, and videos were also

shown thanks to a cooperation with

Human Rights Watch. A global campaign –

the first of its kind in the history of the

Youth Caucus – has galvanised opinions,

gathered momentum and collected inputs,

ideas and suggestions from young people

the world over to be included in our state-

ments, complemented by an online group

opened to any child or young person

willing to contribute to the negotiating text

over the two weeks of CSD. Planned for

later this year, a forum for Indigenous

Young People will become a permanent

feature of our website www.youen.org.

Web 2.0!

Owing to the fact that I will not be able to

partake personally this year, moreover,

the Youth Caucus will make full use of

Web 2.0 technologies to help me coordi-

nate everything virtually, and help other

young people have a say in matters affect-

ing us all from the comfort of their living

rooms. Just another innovation brought

forward by the most creative, dynamic

and energetic group at the CSD!!!

Two Weeks, Six Themes And One Challenge Being a Youth Activist is no easy task, much less so here at the CSD: countless meetings, statements, briefings and

rules of procedure to observe, attend and possibly contribute to.

By: Selene Biffi, Youth Caucus Coordinator

. “Two weeks, several energetic young

people, six themes and one challenge:

Empower young people to speak up

for themselves and their communities.”

“While as young people we battle the

scourges of global poverty, climate

change and deadly pandemics, we also

strive to build our collective future,

and this definitely an opportunity

not to be missed ”

The Youth Caucus at the CSD (Courtesy Lisa Develtere)

4 4

Outreach Issues

Rural development in a changing climate

Decisive Action

Agriculture will still play a key role in rural

development but it is time to work more

decisively with the interconnectivity it has

with a number of other key sectors such as

transport, energy, water management and

of course trade but not only focused on

trade for export. For rural women who

constitute most of small-scale farmers with

a major role in agriculture and significant

interest in rural development the time has

come to become key actors in this debate.

In the past their needs, interests and

capacities went largely unrecognized and

treated in a rather generic way. In reality

their key role as essential managers of

natural resources and their close inter-

action with the environment, its biodiver-

sity and its ecosystem services make the

voices of poor women essential to build up

the crucial adaptive capacities that rural

communities require to address the

challenges of climate change. It is

acknowledged that the poor and their

livelihoods are directly dependent on

biodiversity and ecosystem services. Yet

the environmental degradation of fragile,

marginal lands directly threatens the

livelihoods of 250 million people, while a

further 1 billion people are at risk.

This acknowledgement also requires a

critical look at the scale of interventions

that will be favoured for the reinvigoration

of rural development. Traditional policies

and investments on rural infrastructure

have favoured centralised schemes that

often have not addressed the basic needs

of the poor and that often have been

environmentally damaging.

While traditional infrastructure and

services programmes will still have a role

to play in the development of poor

countries, it is important to complement

this approach with clear support for

decentralised and alternative infrastruc-

ture systems that make the most of the

existing natural resources and benefit the

poor directly at location. For instance

locally managed decentralised energy

systems could provide for the basic energy

needs of dispersed rural communities in a

more direct and cost effective way than

extending the grid; while support for

appropriate types of transport including

waterways, animals, gravity ropeways can

be as important as building roads.

Likewise the potential for creating income

generating activities that decentralised

systems offer is not negligible when

reflecting on existing experiences of

energy and small roads maintenance

micro-enterprises.

Rural economies are still based on a

combination of subsistence and productive

activities complemented by short- and

medium-term strategies such as migration

and paid labour. It is normal that it is the

most vulnerable who are forced into these

exclusionary cycles, those who have no

access and control to land, water and/

or genetic resources.

Equality

Gender imbalances in all those remain

unresolved and unchallenged. It is

therefore of great importance that to

begin with issues of land tenure, reform,

restitution and redistribution are

addressed in these discussions in spite of

its complexity. Small farmers’ and

producers’ control of land and water

resources should be ensured.

A fundamental Right to Food

Food production should have the right to

food –as agreed internationally- as its

main priority. In spite of growing demand

for raw materials and increased attention

to access to export markets, policies in

this regard should reflect critically on the

reduction of resilience of food producers

that may impact food security in the long

term due to their specialisation in a

limited number of export crops. In that

sense Governments should take the

opportunity to promote the diversification

of livelihoods, prioritise national manu-

facturing capacities and its ability to

protect local and regional markets from

unfair and stronger competition.

Rural development that contributes to

poverty eradication will be demand-

driven and consider for instance the

existing knowledge of small scale farmers

and producers to reorient the provision of

extension services. Impact studies of the

privatization of agricultural extension

services, particularly veterinary services,

indicate that the smallest and neediest

farmers, mainly women, cannot access

and do not benefit from these services.

“locally managed

decentralised energy

systems could provide for

the basic energy needs of

dispersed rural communities

in a more direct and cost

effective way than extending

the grid”

By: Maria Arce Moreira, Policy Adviser, Practical Action

The current context of diverse crises should force us to perceive development and its actors in a rather different

light. For those seventy-five per cent of poor women and men who live in rural areas and who depend directly or

indirectly on agriculture for their livelihoods this juncture could translate into an important opportunity as long as

decision makers move away from business as usual approaches and decide to do things differently.

7 5

Outreach Issues

unresolved and unchallenged. It is

restitution and redistribution are

its complexity. Small farmers’ and

sense Governments should take the

Water Water Water…….. Why The Discussions at CSD17 Must Address Water as a Cross-Cutting Issue.

2009 will go down as a year during which

some make-or-break decisions were made

with regard to the global environment. The

keenly anticipated deal on cutting global

greenhouse gas emissions that will emerge

from COP-15 in Copenhagen at the end of

this year will represent a critical juncture

for the well-being of the planet and future

generations. Yet whilst the world’s most

powerful decision-makers, lobbyists and

mainstream media join the debate on

percentage cuts, baseline emissions and

‘common but differentiated responsibility’,

there is significant work to be done behind

the scenes to ensure that an enabling

environment is created to both mitigate

and respond to climate change impacts.

The way in which countries manage

their resources for economic, social

and environmental wellbeing must be

addressed, and the principles of

sustainable development adopted as the

lens through which decisions are made.

The thematic focus of the Commission on

Sustainable Development on Agriculture,

Rural Development, Drought, Desertifica-

tion and Africa therefore offers an ideal

opportunity for progressive thinking on

how to achieve rising living standards in

the context of sustainable natural resource

management.

As such, water must be addressed as a

cross-cutting issue during the negotiations,

recognizing that effective and sustainable

management of water resources underpins

progress in all these areas. The Global

Public Policy Network on Water Manage-

ment, a joint initiative of Stakeholder

Forum and Stockholm International Water

Institute, has been working with

stakeholders in the run-up to CSD17 to

ensure that water is a key consideration.

Below are outlined just a few of the issues

that have been raised.

Agriculture

Agriculture uses approximately 70% of

freshwater resources. With growing

demand for food driven by an expanding

and increasingly affluent global popula-

tion, there is intense pressure for

enhanced agricultural production. Whilst

this expansion provides significant eco-

nomic opportunities for developing coun-

tries, there is a risk that short-term eco-

nomic incentives will outweigh a long-term

and sustainable approach to agricultural

development, accounting for integrated

land and water management policies and

the incorporation of approaches that build

ecosystem resilience to maintain healthy

freshwater resources.

Continued on page 6

By: Hannah Stoddart, Stakeholder Forum

Community-based extension that revalor-

izes and supports traditional knowledge

systems and networks, with training for

local farmer-to-farmer extension agents, is

an alternative solution for the most vulner-

able and needs to be reflected in policies.

Decision makers have the opportunity to

ensure that rural development promotes

increased adaptive capacities, reduces

vulnerabilities and increases the resilience

of rural communities. For that to happen,

clear spaces need to be open for the small

scale farmers, forest dwellers, livestock

keepers, fishermen and pastoralists to

bring their agendas and expertise forward

and for us for at least once, to listen and

learn.

“Clear spaces need to be open for the small scale farmers,

forest dwellers, livestock keepers, fishermen and pastoralists

to bring their agendas and expertise forward and for us

for at least once, to listen and learn”

6

Outreach Issues

Continued from page 5

Throw into this the potential impacts of

climate change on water availability in

many parts of the world, and the

consequences could be disastrous. All too

often the knee-jerk response to increased

demand for agri-cultural products is the

intensification of irrigation to meet those

demands, taking little account of the

impact of freshwater diversion on broader

ecosystem stability, which in turn provides

the services upon which agriculture and

livelihoods depends.

How will the proposed ‘Green Revolution’

in agriculture take into account the natural

limits of ecosystems, and the need to

balance the increased demand for water

for agricultural purposes with the demand

from other sectors and users? If the

importance of land rights and security of

tenure in the agricultural context is rightly

recognized, why are we not also talking

with more urgency about the rights of the

environment and of ecosystems? WWF

points out in its valuable work on water

management that building ecosystem

resilience for sustainable livelihoods may

require ‘prior allocation’ of water for

environmental flows, redefining water

rights systems so that the basic

requirements to maintain healthy eco-

systems are met. This is not at odds with a

people-centred approach, rather it is

integral to it.

Land and Rural Development

It is welcome to see reference in the

Chair’s negotiating text to the importance

of managing land and water resources in

an integrated manner. Integrated land and

water resources management holds the

key to avoiding land degradation and also

to adapting to the

impacts of climate

change – this has been

the subject of the Danish

Dialogue on Land and

Water Management,

which has comprised a

series of intergovern-

mental and multi-

stakeholder round-

tables, and has resulted

in a set of principles and

options for going

forward that should be

vital reading for dele-

gates at the CSD.

Capacity must be built at

every level to ensure

that patterns of land use

are considered in the

context of integrated

water resources man-

agement, and that

incentives are provided

for preserving freshwa-

ter ecosystem services

to avoid land degradation. It is at this

point that the inter-related nature of the

thematic discussions at CSD17 becomes

more evident, as Payment for Ecosystem

Services schemes can be a highly effective

way of both building ecosystem resilience

and also enhancing rural development, as

rural communities are rewarded for

managing land and water resources in

such a way that avoids ecosystem

degradation. Providing rural communities

with the training, tools, technologies and

incentives for managing water and land

resources in an integrated manner offers

enormous opportunity for long-term and

also climate resilient development.

Drought and Desertification

One might say that drought and desertifi-

cation are sadly the inevitable outcomes

of the wrong kinds of natural resource

management policies in the areas of land,

agriculture, and rural development

touched on above. Natural fluctuations in

weather patterns are not something that

can necessarily be controlled, though

human-induced climate change is pro-

jected to increase the quantity and sever-

ity of droughts.

Whether climate change-induced or not,

managing drought and building resilience

depends on the sensible management of

land and water, and the practice of sound

agricultural policies that use water pro-

ductively and efficiently, and do not

degrade ecosystems and deplete fresh-

water resources so that there is little

‘buffer’ in the case of drought conditions.

It is critical once again in this context to

consider the importance of the ecosystem

approach, and the recognition that

environmental flows must be secured as a

priority alongside basic social needs,

especially in times of water shortage and

scarcity. Depriving ecosystems of the

water that they need in times of

decreased water availability is tanta-

mount to cutting off the hand that feeds

you – at the heart of any policies on

drought and desertification should be the

recognition that water for development

means water for environment.

“Capacity must be built at every

level to ensure that patterns of

land use are considered in the

context of integrated water re-

sources management”

7

Outreach Issues

rural communities are rewarded for

such a way that avoids ecosystem

approach, and the recognition that

water that they need in times of

“We can't solve problems by using the

same kind of thinking we used when we

created them.” - Albert Einstein.

In February the CSD IPM was opened by

the G77 Chair, the Sudanese Ambassador

Abdalmahood Abdalhaleem Mohamed

telling the meeting:

“In 2012, the international community will

reach the twenty year mark from the Earth

Summit held in 1992 and the ten-year

anniversary of WSSD held in Johannesburg

in 2002. It will be 40 years after the

Stockholm Conference of 1972. The time

will be opportune for the international

community to thoroughly review and

assess the progress achieved since these

momentous summits. Guided by the ‘Rio

Spirit’, a Rio+20 Summit should provide

the necessary political impetus for the

range and level of action to bridge the

implementation gap. In this context the

G77 and China welcomes the offer of the

Government of Brazil to host such a

Summit in 2012.”

In the spirit of Rio during the IPM, the

Stakeholder Forum hosted an informal

dinner for 17 governments to discuss the

idea of Summit and what that Summit

might address.

It gave an opportunity for SF to present

the outcomes from the San Sebastian

workshop held the previous November.

The summary of the discussion there

highlighted a number of possible out-

comes for a Summit in 2012.

Including the idea that to underpin a

successful Summit a new deal on funding

sustainable development needs to be

agreed. To help this the UN Secretary

General could set up a High Level Commis-

sion or Panel to identify key elements for a

Global Green New Deal which would feed

into the Summit process in 2011.

Critical Issues

The world has changed a lot since 1992

and even since the 2002 Summit. The sug-

gestion was that Summit might address

key critical issues under the banner of

Human, Economic and Environmental

‘In-Security’ – that is, global insecurity over

a range of issues, such as increased

consumption patterns, urban growth,

food, water, energy, health, migration,

climate, resource availability and

economics which are going to impact

countries with increasing frequency.

This would enable a review of Agenda 21

and the JPOI could be undertaken through

this new lens of Human, Economic and

Environmental ‘In-security’.

Global Governance

At the UNEP Governing Council also in

February a Ministerial Working Group on

International Environmental Governance

(IEG) was set up with a 2012 horizon. The

South African Minister called for the UNEP

GMEF in 2010 to adopt a Ministerial

Declaration on IEG Principles and Goals.

But it isn’t just environmental governance

that needs to be addressed but sustainable

development governance as well. Maurice

Strong in Rio and since has called for

sustainable development to be addressed

at the highest level. In the past ideas

included transforming the trusteeship

Council, or the formation of a Sustainable

Development Council of the General

Assembly to look at critical and emerging

issues. It’s clear that the CSD over the past

few years has lost credibility among

governments, and civil society alike. A

strengthening of both the environmental

and sustainable development architecture

would enable the UN to address growing

“In Securities”.

Continued on page 9

Earth Summit 2012

By: Felix Dodds, Stakeholder Forum

Throughout the two weeks of CSD-17, Outreach Issues will be publishing a number of articles from different

stakeholders on what they feel a Rio+20 Summit might address. Beginning with Felix Dodds Executive Director of

Stakeholder Forum.

The Earth Summit in 1992. Rio+20 will rejuvenate the spirit of the 1992 summit.

8

Outreach Issues

The long term silent crisis of drylands

Increasing land degradation leads to

increasing food insecurity, poverty, loss of

natural capital and also to increasing

migration. The implementation of sustain-

able development policies and practices

are for the 1.5 billion people affected by

desertification the condition for their

survival in the long term. More recently

three global crises have taken place

between CSD16 and CSD17: the food crisis,

the energy crisis and the financial crisis.

Many questions discussed during CSD16

have been put under the spotlights of the

media and became much more pressing to

the general public but also for the decision

makers. Nevertheless, one can wonder if

the decisions taken at CSD 17, the policies

agreed on by the parties to the CSD, will

have any concrete positive impact for the

people living in drylands. Is this question

offensive or simply honest at the beginning

of this session?

The UNCCD has recently celebrated its

tenth birthday and as a its Parties offered

it a 10 year strategy for its implementation

without clear commitments on the means

– is this a strategy for failure or late aware-

ness? A lot of hope is put into this new

strategy and the same could be said about

the policies agreed on in terms of agricul-

CSD 17: Anything New in Terms of Actions for

the People of Drylands? Drought and desertification occurring in drylands, and the poverty and marginalization of their inhabitants have

for a long time been neglected in the priorities of the decision makers despite the efforts of the United Nations

Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

ture, land management, rural develop-

ment, drought and desertification at CSD

17. In which perspective and to what

degree will these new policies make the

lives of people in drylands any less chal-

lenging?

A reality that one must accept to face

Drylands are characterized by low and

irregular rainfall which limits agricultural

production and which might be worsened

by climate change. Droughts and desertifi-

cation are just two problems which affect

dryland areas which are vulnerable to sev-

eral threats. People living in drylands are

often marginalized in terms of local devel-

opment projects and policies, and their

lifestyle, such as pastoralism for example,

can be seen as backward. Infrastructure

development in terms of roads, health

services, communication, etc. is often

limited in these areas, which in turn limits

local development. Dryland areas are

often perceived as areas with low value in

terms of economic production and as

areas which are ‘difficult’ to work in and

which face security problems. This leads

to a lack of focus on and inward invest-

ments in these areas, which increases

their marginalization socially, economi-

cally and politically.

And who asks questions that should pre-

vent us from sleeping peacefully?

In the face of all these challenges, how

can the decisions taken at CSD 17 to

combat drought and desertification and

promote sustainable development in

drylands become a reality? How can these

promising decisions lead to concrete

actions and changes for the people of

drylands? And especially, what should be

the role of civil society organizations

(CSOs) in creating an enabling environ-

ment for the implementation of these

policies at the national and local level?

CSOs clearly have an important role to

play, as they always have in sustainable

development projects. The UNCCD

dedicates an important role to CSOs in

reaching its objectives and the Chairman’s

report, to be discussed during this

session, mentions the importance of

bottom-up implementation strategies. It is

thus crucial that the role of CSOs in

bringing these policies to life is discussed

and taken into account in the final report

of CSD 17. In that aim, a side-event will be

organized in the evening of May 11th to

address exactly this topic.

“Dryland areas are often

perceived as areas with low

value in terms of economic

production and as areas which

are ‘difficult’ to work in and

which face security problems.

This leads to a lack of focus on

and inward investments in

these areas, which increases

their marginalization socially,

economically and politically.”

By: Written by: Lauren Naville Gisnås (Drylands

Coordination Group) and Patrice Burger (Centre

d’Actions et de Réalisations Internationales, CARI)

and the networks: European networking initiative on

Desertification (eniD) and Drynet.

9

Outreach Issues

report, to be discussed during this

session, mentions the importance of

thus crucial that the role of CSOs in

Continued from page 7

Potential products of the summit could

include two conventions -- one on access

to information, participation and environ-

mental justice (Principle 10 of the Rio Dec-

laration), and one on corporate account-

ability. The last year has shown us that

voluntary agreements among bankers do

not work so, why should we believe that

they work in the environmental arena. The

time is surely here for a proper regulatory

framework for companies in the area of

environment. Between Prep Com 2 and 3

for Johannesburg, SF organised a private

meeting of 6 multinational companies, key

NGOs and the Trade Unions. As the

meeting was under the Chatham House

rules, I can’t say which companies but I can

say they all supported international

regulation and were fed up with their

competitors hiding behind voluntary

agreements and not getting any

recognition for the positive work they

were doing. In the end we couldn’t move

forward because it was felt that the politi-

cal landscape wasn’t positive. That has

changed and a corporate accountability

convention would give the general public

more confidence that the environment

was being looked after both now and for

future generations.

Finally a Rio+20, Johannesburg +10 should

utilise web 2.0’ learning from the Barrack

Obama presidential campaign in the U.S. –

it could be used to engage the motivated

individuals and in the delivery of its

outcome. Millions of people becoming part

of delivering a global solutions agenda!

Doesn’t that sound like a good Summit!!

Food has a crucial role to play in advancing the sustainable development agenda. Food production and consumption affect our individual and communal health, the integrity of our eco-systems, our quality of life. Hence, political intervention on the various stages of the food chain means addressing multiple forms of deprivation.

Throughout the world, governments are beginning to discover the development potential of PUBLIC FOOD systems, especially in relation to school food, which is increasingly seen as a strategy that can contribute to food security, childhood education and market access for farmers. Both the Curry and Obesity Reports in the United Kingdom highlighted the potential role of public pro-procurement for re-localizing the agri-food sector and addressing health issues.

Public Food and the Challenge of

Sustainable Development

Development strategies that emphasize the inter-dependence of economy, society and nature, have the offer diverse bene-fits over a range of issues. It is hoped that

the delegates this year recognize this, especially in relation to school food systems and offer concrete support to such programmes both in the developing and developed world.

Kevin Morgan and Roberta Sonnino, Uni-

versity of Cardiff, focus on food as a cru-

cial planning and development tool, to be

discussed on the opening day of the CSD

from 3-6 in CR 6.

By: By: Linda Elswick, International Partnership for

Sustainable Agriculture (IPSA)

How School Lunches Can Help Sustain the Whole Planet

A Note from the Editor

Good morning everyone and welcome to

the first day of CSD-17. As the daily editor

of Outreach Issues this year, I thought

I would introduce myself. So here goes,

I am Stephen Mooney, and I work for the

Stakeholder Forum, and this is my first

year as daily editor and also at the

Commission on Sustainable Development.

Everyone involved in producing Outreach

Issues would like to have the contribution

of all the major groups, and to give every-

one the opportunity to submit articles on

the daily proceedings. While I can’t

promise to publish everything, I think with

the input of all the major groups we can

produce a good publication. While not

every stakeholder will agree with what

others have said it is important that

everyone has the opportunity to express

their views.

This year , then I would like to implement

a “write to reply” column, where

stakeholders could write a short response

to issues that have been discussed.

So please do submit your articles and

comment (in a constructive and jovial

manner) please do get in contact.

Stephen Mooney

Food for Thought… Felix Dodds, Stakeholder Forum

after eight years of President Bush and the

denial around climate change and the block-

ing of many environmental suggestions, so

many things that didn’t seem possible now

seem probable.

The first green roots can seen in the sugges-

tions around the second recovery package

followed by the support by the US for a con-

vention on Mercury. In Bonn at the climate

preparatory meeting Todd Stern, the US

Climate Change envoy said: “President

Obama is proposing to reduce U.S.

emissions by something in the order of

about 16-17 percent from where we are

right now; about 15 percent from 2005

levels, and about 80 plus percent by 2050.

That is a significant reduction. I am well

aware that there is a historical affection for

the year 1990; and that in 1990 terms, the

President has proposed to be at that level,

the 1990 level, by 2020. But it is a 16 or 17

percent reduction from where we are right

now.”

This is a huge movement from the previous

administration but as yet not enough to

ensure we keep within the 2 degree

scenario that most climate experts think we

should not exceed.

We have also seen in response into the U.S.

Supreme Court, the US Environmental

Protection Agency has determined that:

“carbon dioxide and other tailpipe

emissions are harmful to the health and

wellbeing of the American people.” And

finally on Earth Day President Obama said

that we need: "global coalition" to solve the

problems of climate change.

"Our climate knows no boundaries; the

decisions of any nation will affect every

nation,"

All this within the first 100 days. Is this

enough? This will be the first Commission

on Sustainable Development under a

President Obama administration...perhaps

we will have a clearer idea this time next

year when Copenhagen has happened. But

we should remember that climate is not

everything the US has not ratified the UN

Convention on Biological Diversity nor the

Basel Convention or the Law of the Sea

Convention so lots for President Obama to

do in the second 100 days.

“100 days of Obama”

Senior Editor: Jan-Gustav Strandenaes, ANPED

Co-Editor: Felix Dodds, Stakeholder Forum

Daily Editor: Stephen Mooney, Stakeholder Forum

Journalists:

Nnimmo Bassey, Friends of the Earth

Linda Elswick, IPSA

Maria Arce Moreira, Practical Action

Selene Biffi, Youth Caucus Co-Ordinator

Lauren Naville Gisnås, Drylands Group

Patrice Burger, Cari

Editorial Team

Previous and today’s

issues are easily

available online, go to:

www.sdin-ngo.net

www.stakeholderforum.org

Outreach Issues

10

It always worried me that in that in the

United States, the environment had become

something of a Left v Right issue which in

Europe it had not. After all Margaret

Thatcher was one of the key leaders in

galvanising support for the Montreal Proto-

col, President Chirac led the call for a

stronger organisation to protect the

environment, and a UN Environment

Organisation and Chancellor Merkel who the

Spiegel calls: ‘Germans Green Chancellor’.

So I decided to look up in the Webster defi-

nition of conservatism and found that it

said: “preferring gradual development to

abrupt change,” or to “preserve what is

established.” Until Senator McCain’s bid for

the White House this view did not seem to

percolate the Republican Party. A party that

has had green Presidents in the past, after

all Theodore Roosevelt is well remembered

for creating Central Park, saying: “Let me

add that the health and vitality of our

people are at least as well worth conserving

as their forests, waters, lands, and minerals,

and in this great work the national

government must bear most important

part."

But what a difference a President makes,

Hannah Stoddart, Stakeholder Forum

Design and Layout: Erol Hofmans, ANPED

Pictures published under Creative Commons Licenses.

Outreach Issues is made possible

through the generous support of:

The Italian Ministry of the Environment,

Land and Sea

and

Belgian Sustainable Development Federal

Public Planning Service