By Ban Ki-moon:
This week, world leaders gather for a momentous occasion — the United
Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro. Will
it be a success? In my opinion, yes. To be sure, the negotiations have
been lengthy. Even now there is more disagreement than agreement on
the details of the so-called “outcome document” that will emerge. Yet
that will not be the defining measure. Far more important is what the
Rio conference has already accomplished. And that is to build a global
movement for change.
Rio+20 is a milestone on a long road. The famous 1992 Earth Summit put
sustainable development on the global agenda. Today, we have come to a
broader and more nuanced understanding of this age-old imperative: how
to better balance the development needs of a growing world population
— so that all may enjoy the fruits of prosperity and robust economic
growth — with the necessity of conserving our planet’s most precious
resources: land, air and water. At Rio, more than 100 heads of state
and government will join an estimated 25,000 participants to map our
way ahead. For too long we have sought to burn and consume our way to
prosperity. That model is dead. At Rio, we must begin to create a new
one — a model for a 21st century economy that rejects the myth that
there must be a zero-sum trade-off between growth and the environment.
Increasingly, we understand that, with smart public policies,
governments can grow their economies, alleviate poverty, create decent
jobs and accelerate social progress in a way that respects the earth’s
finite natural resources.
In this larger sense, I believe that momentum for change is already
irreversible. The evidence is all around, hiding in plain sight in
countries large and small, rich and poor. Barbados, Cambodia,
Indonesia, the Republic of Korea and South Africa, among many others,
are already adopting “green growth” strategies that use limited
natural resources more efficiently, create jobs and promote low-carbon
development. Armenia, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Kenya, Jordan, Malaysia,
Mexico, Nepal, Senegal and Ukraine are applying new green-growth
technologies in a variety of industries, from agriculture to tourism.
China has committed to supply 16 percent of its energy needs from
renewable sources by 2020 and plans to invest more than $450 billion
in waste recycling and clean technologies under its current five-year
plan.
In Brazil, waste management and recycling employs more than 500,000
people, most of whom live on society’s margins. Under its new National
Rural Employment Guarantee Act, India has begun paying people to
better manage natural resources, such as forests and fresh water.
Wherever you look, national and local authorities are adopting
principles and practices that, taken together, could help move us from
a prospect of environmental ruin and growing social inequality toward
a new era of inclusive and balanced sustainable growth.
Governments and nation-states are not alone in driving this
transformation. At Rio, more than 1,000 corporate leaders from all
continents will deliver a common message: business as usual no longer
works. Many are members of the United Nations Global Compact —
volunteers in a growing private-sector movement that understands that
21st-century corporate responsibility means corporate sustainability.
Thus Nike (a champion of so-called “closed loop” manufacturing that
minimizes industrial pollution) has initiated a new program called
Mata no Peito — a Portuguese colloquialism for “taking on a challenge”
by helping protect Brazilian forest ecosystems. Unilever has pledged
to source all its raw materials from sustainable sources by 2020.
Kenya’s Safaricom has integrated gender equality into its internal
policies to create a mother-friendly environment.
Meanwhile, Microsoft has announced it will soon go carbon-neutral.
China’s Broad Group produces non-electric air conditioning units that
are 200 percent more energy efficient; it is now diversifying into
other energy-saving products and sustainable buildings. ToughStuff
from Mauritius seeks to bring affordable and reliable solar energy to
33 million people in Africa by 2016, and the Abu Dhabi Future Energy
Company is working to provide rural electrification in Afghanistan and
the South Pacific island nation of Tonga.
Energy will be a major focus at Rio. I call it the “golden thread”
that connects the dots to a sustainable future — the key driver for
development, social inclusion and environmental protection, including
climate change. That is why, in 2011, I established a new initiative
called Sustainable Energy for All. Our aim: to ensure universal access
to modern energy services for the one in five people worldwide who
lack them; to reduce energy waste by doubling energy efficiency; and
to double the share of renewables in the global energy mix. In Rio,
leaders from government, business and civil society will announce a
galaxy of actions to advance these goals, from promoting cleaner, more
efficient cook-stoves to helping governments scale up their geothermal
and other renewable energy potential.
Sustainable Energy for All is the partnership model of the future.
The principle is simple but powerful: the United Nations uses its
unrivalled convening power to bring all relevant actors to the table
so they can work in common cause for the common good. At bottom, this
is what Rio+20 is all about. Yes, the negotiations themselves are very
important. Agreements that can be committed to paper today will shape
the debates of tomorrow. But Rio+20 goes beyond that. It is the
expression of a dynamic global movement for change — and a big step
forward toward the future we want.
Ban Ki-moon is Secretary-General of the United Nations