The WSSD: challenges for the global community

The World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) at Johannesburg began against a background of almost universal pessimism about its outcome. As distinct from the Rio Summit of 1992, the Johannesburg Summit did not receive the kind of media attention that led to very high expectations in the case of Rio. This, perhaps, was an asset, because the delegations that took part in the official discussions at the WSSD were under pressure to produce some tangible results. Perhaps, by pronouncing WSSD as a non-event, the media helped to create an atmosphere by which some positive outcome became inevitable. In the end, some positive outcomes did emerge. For instance, the decision to halve the number of people in the world without access to proper water and sanitation, targeted for achievement by the year 2015, is a major step forward. It need hardly be emphasized that one of the worst forms of deprivation that human beings face in different parts of the world relates to a lack of access to adequate and proper quality water supply for very basic human needs and a lack of facilities for proper sanitation. Other tangible agreements include doing away with chemical pollutants and promoting greater use of clean and renewable forms of energy. In the case of the latter, several countries wanted quantified targets for the use of renewable forms of energy, but in the end a compromise was reached in the wording of the final agreement, which does leave open the possibility of substantial increase in the use of renewable energy. Johannesburg has to be seen as part of a process, and a single event of this nature cannot be the sole defining basis for any new process. Consequently, what is required now is to accelerate the pace of change in thinking round the world on the very structure of development, particularly in the developed countries, for bringing about significant alterations in consumption and production practices. Fortunately, for the first time in a major international event of this nature, the issue of changes in consumption and production patterns was included specifically as a trend requiring change. It is for the global community to ensure that these words are converted into action. It is also necessary for the United Nations system to set up an effective and credible mechanism for monitoring developments and highlighting successes and failures on a regular basis to ensure sincere implementation of the agreements reached in Johannesburg. TERI, and I personally, participated in several events in Johannesburg, and the publication titled Sustainable energy: perspective for Asia, produced by TERI and the Asian Energy Institute specifically for the WSSD, was also distributed at several forums.