| Tuesday, February 5th, 6:45AM.
My alarm goes off and I’m half asleep
dragging myself into the shower. Somehow I make it to the train
station and
by 7:15 I’m on a train to Grand Central. As the train pulls out
I’m
trying to gather myself together and make a mindshift from sleep/Yale/New
Haven to a nine-thirty meeting with the UN Secretary General’s Advisory
Panel for the World Summit on Sustainable Development ?the WSSD--
in
Johannesburg this August. At the moment my lack of sleep makes
me feel
unprepared and as usual before these things, a bit intimidated.
0730 On the train I think back to our first meeting in October.
September
11th had just passed; everywhere in NYC were slogans of solidarity,
defiance
against terrorists, heart-swelling images of the American flag.
No one in
New York was thinking about issues of the environment, or of sustainable
development. My main point and concern at that last meeting was
making
public the correlation between violence and un-sustainability.
If anyone is
going to pay attention to a summit on sustainability, they have
to
understand why fighting against violence means fighting for sustainability.
Environmental degradation leads to poverty, which leads to violence.
They
are sides of the same coin. Our one-day meeting had left me feeling
confused and unsatisfied with the way that the UN is bogged down
its own
democratic processes and bureaucracy.
0742 The train is full of business people going to work. The panel
consists
of 13 members, including myself. They are an impressive group,
ranging from former Prime Ministers Moeen Qureshi and Joseph Warioba,
of Pakistan and Tanzania to Jane Goodall, crusader for chimpanzees,
to HRH Prince Willem Alexander of the Netherlands, who is deeply
concerned with global water issues. I always have to psych myself
up to make sure that I open my mouth. I have to remind myself why
I’m on the panel, as the one young person at the table, but also
because I have had ten years of experience working on social and
environmental issues, was on the Earth Charter Commission for five
years, and have become familiar with the UN.
0750 I pull a binder from my backpack (if I’m going to talk about
the Earth
Charter I’d better be up its progress). It is a document written
to be an ethical code of conduct towards the Earth and to each other.
It was put together from statements from civil societies around
the world and by a
diverse Commission. The process was lengthy (it took three years
for the
Commission to come to agreement on a draft!) and was my first experience
with the UN, and with the process of translating an ideal into something
that could be accepted worldwide. By now it has been endorsed
by over 4000 organizations, institutions, cities, governments and
communities worldwide.
0754 The train passes big ads at the stations. Catchphrases.
So many
after Sept. 11th. The WSSD? Desperately needs a better title,
a catchphrase. It’s the ten-year anniversary from the UN Conference
on
Environment and Development (also called the Earth Summit) held
in Rio de
Janeiro in 1992. (The speech I gave there when I was 12 is the
reason that
I started getting invited to these UN things). Rio was a two-week
affair
that included a political plenary, an NGO forum and even a conference
for
civil society. It was the largest gathering of heads of state ever
held,
where the UN’s global sustainable development plan “Agenda 21” was
born, and where the term “sustainable development” was coined.
0802 A perfume ad goes by. Between $500 billion and $1 trillion
is spent
on advertising per year, while $13 billion is spent on is spent
on basic
healthcare worldwide. $12 billion is spent on perfume in Europe
and the US
alone. Contrary to its intent, Rio ’92 almost seems to have marked
the end of a building movement. In the last ten years economic
growth has been a global focus, not maintaining resources or facilitating
equitable globalization.
Today the vast amount of money spent in the world is spent on advertising
and luxuries for the richer nations. Overfishing threatens to wipe
out the
major protein source for over a billion people in developing countries.
In
the last 20 years, 7 million hectares of rainforest have been lost
in Latin
America and the Caribbean, while Asia and sub-Saharan Africa lost
4 million
hectares respectively. At what gain? Over half the wood and three-quarters
of the paper is used in industrial countries. The Kyoto protocol,
a
document that addresses countries’ effects on global climate change
has yet to be agreed to and signed, while in the last ten years
our weather reports
have been setting all kinds of freakish records. In 2002, this
jam in Jo’
burg is taking a look back and a wants to step up to bring attention
back to
the idea of sustainable development. Good idea. But I think it
needs some
PR.
0832 In a sleepy haze, I try to think of what I could suggest
to Kofi Anan
and to the panel. I decide I have three points: first, stress
the importance of making the connections between violence and sustainability.
Second, try to get the panel to support the Earth Charter, and third,
emphasize the need for translation (education) of all this UN/conference
talk to the ground level? where the real action is going to come
from.
0900 The train finally pulls into New York and I’m outside and
walking to
the UN Secretariat building. The City is bustling. Center of the
world.
0920 I get my temporary UN pass from staff, put my bags through
the security check and suddenly I’m in a sea of people from all
over the world. There isn’t much to tell me what country I am in,
and I can hardly hear any
English. Saris and turbans walk by, next to a troop of huge blond
women and
men.
0925 We go downstairs to conference room 8. I find my assigned
seat around the circular arrangement of desks. I recognize two
friends that I got to know when I was on the Earth Charter Commission:
Kamla Chowdhry from India and Yolanda Kakabadse from Ecuador. I
am very happy they are here. Kamla is a very spiritual person who
believes it is by examining our values and
beliefs that change will happen. She wanted the theme of the WSSD
to be
Gandhi’s saying: “My life is my message.” Yolanda is a scientist
who is
always pushing for real action and purpose to our discussions.
We have been
conspiring to get this panel to endorse the Earth Charter. It seems
the
most progressive thing we decided we could achieve with this Panel.
0935 Haven’t started yet. Not everyone is here. Yolanda and
I inform
the members present of our proposal to support the Earth Charter.
1020 It’s very late. Most of us are here and the chair, Nitin
Desai,
comes in to begin the meeting. Desai is the Secretary General
of the
Summit. He is an Indian man who always introduces me as the twelve
year old from Rio. (Hey, I’m 22!)
1030 The Secretary General arrives on time. Enter Anan.
The crowd
(twelve of us) hushes. We rise to greet him, and he comes around
and shakes our hands. He is about my height, has grey hair and
a good handshake. We sit and Nitin Desai directs us as we go around
in a circle and briefly state our primary concerns.
1046 Kofi Anan speaks. He has a quiet, low voice. He speaks
clearly and
eloquently. He reads from notes (he must be a very prepared and
organized
man). He says everyone wants Johannesburg to be more than a list
of good
intentions. He proposes a report that lists ten main areas where
initiatives are needed (UN dialogues consist of many words like
“reports” and “initiatives”). He acknowledges the need for partnerships
between the UN, NGOs and grassroots. He asks us to focus on partnerships
and practicality.
1054 The Panel responds. Kamla Chowdry speaks. She says there
is an intellectual understanding of problems, but it doesn’t seem
to call us to action. What is the missing link? Spiritual organization.
Not religious, but spiritual. We need to find the institutions
that can tap into the hearts of people. She says this movement
is a river, and if the river is going to flow, one bank must be
science, while the other must be spirituality. I agree. Higher
values must be addressed for people to open their minds to the idea
that we are each responsible for the global situation. Yolanda
and I follow up Kamla’s statement by introducing the Earth Charter.
The document is the most credible framework for governments, organizations
and individuals to accept as an ethical guideline. Ernst von Weizsaecker
from Germany now speaks. He likes the idea of legally binding people
to their accountability. He thinks it would be good if Jo’burg
was involved in rule setting; it will be a theme for rejuvenating
democracy. He turns back to Globalization. He says there has been
a great shift in focus from public to private goods. The focus
is on economic efficiency and speed, which penalizes slower economies
and systems, including democratic and spiritual systems. Democracy
takes time and addresses people. If societies care too much about
people, they will lose out economically. We must decide and commit
to the idea that democracy and sustainability are worth it. Viktor
Danilov-Danilyan addresses us through the Russian translators.
(He has great eyebrows). What is globalization? He asks. We need
a definition. Globalization is the desire to exchange and to cancel
borders. For the sake of economic flow, competition is valued above
all else, and human tragedy sometimes disappears on a global level.
The main danger of globalization is to speak only of economics and
the exchange of money. He concludes he is in support of the Earth
Charter, and that the state of Tatarstan has endorsed it.
Dr. Makhubu from Swaziland turns the conversation from our global
musings to her reality. In her calm, soft voice she reminds us
that we are going to
Johannesburg from totally different positions. Our perceptions
of the global situation are totally different. How can we discuss
issues of sustainability when issues of HIV have complicated the
situation so much in Africa? How can we discuss sustainable development
in places where there is no development to speak of? Science and
technology are lagging behind in
Africa. How will we discuss that? It must be discussed. This
is the crux
of the issue-- how to level the playing field.
Geping Qu takes the floor (we put our little translator earphones
on). He is a friendly professor from China. He talks about the
inseparability of the environment and development, and of differentiated
responsibility conflicts of the North and South. He wants to focus
on eradication of poverty, because without that sustainability is
impossible. These focuses must be combined. Now Yolanda explains
how issues of environment and sustainability are inextricably linked
to issues of poverty, development and international injustice.
She urges the Secretary General to stress these links. Yeah, Geping
and Yolanda! That was my point #1! After these general statements,
the Secretary General speaks. I wonder how he is going to use our
discussion. How can the UN incorporate so many different concerns?
“Thank you… I’m glad these topics have come up. I agree with you
regarding spirituality, partnership, governments and universities.
There is
a moral imperative for the sake of humanity to pay attention to
neighbours.
There is a challenge of governance. Who explains to the people?
Take
someone in Indonesia who went to work Friday, and comes to work
on Monday to find their employer is bankrupt. They ask ‘why?’
Someone tells them that someone in New York pushed a button and
now there’s no more money. Does he understand? How can he understand?
This is an example of an effect of globalization-- it is incomprehensible
to the majority of people. How can we relate those people to this
part of the world?
“On the question of science and HIV: in Davos yesterday I reminded
the
audience that between 1975 and 1997, 1233 drugs were created. Only
13 of them were for tropical diseases and only 4 made it to the
market. Why?
There is no market for the poor! We need to encourage pharmaceutical
companies to sell drugs close to cost, and the government must supplement
this. HIV and development is linked. It is taking away Africa’s
future.
The link between education and development is clear, so the link
between
health and development must be clear as well. We need a healthy,
educated
workforce.
“Yes, there are three players?government, the private sector and
civil society. We must focus on how to get them to work together.
At what point
does civil society get heard? We must work to facilitate their
involvement,
yet they are ahead of us [the UN]-- they can say and do more than
we can.
We cannot control them, they don’t want to be controlled, nor should
they
be. But in order to move forward we need to bring them to the table.”
Anan believes that his ten-point report addresses many of our issues.
He
sympathizes with our causes. But he finally leaves us with the
reminder that the UN can only do so much, and that it is up to us,
in the public sphere, to make change happen.
We are still left with the question of accountability. Who is responsible
for our shared future? We all are. The UN is a framework effort
at coordinating the inevitable shifts that our globalizing world
needs. Connections must be made between our own consumption and
the consequences that it has on people on the other side of the
world. After September 11th we saw that people can be touched by
the pain of others, and if the correlations between our lifestyles
and human suffering are made, perhaps we might be willing to re-examine
our values. But that value shift is going to be from the people,
not from the UN.
1140 That is all the time the Secretary General can stay with
us today.
He leaves the room with his entourage, leaving us to continue our
discussions, and our task to agree on a report of recommendations.
1300 We go for a work lunch in a private room in the dining
floor of the
UN to have cocktails and a three-course meal with members of the
political
bureau. Wine and chocolate mousse cake. I miss Jane Goodall who
was here
last time?her whooping chimpanzee welcome to the table of distinguished
guests was very exciting. Even without her the talk is interesting,
full of
different points and good intentions. Still I wonder what will
come of it.
1430 We’re back in debate downstairs.
1730 I am absolutely exhausted. By the end of the meeting I
have to write
a brief summary of the Earth Charter for our “shared values” report,
and
have been invited to three conferences-- PrepCom 4 in Jakarta, a
student’s
meeting organized by Geping Qu in China, and Johannesburg. While
excited
at the idea of traveling to these exotic places, I wonder whether
I have
been sucked into the diplomacy and conference circuit of the UN.
All the
talk and reports must not be confused with action! I remind myself
that
most of the people panel members go home and work at the grassroots
level.
I am always full of conflicting thoughts when I think about this
process of
the United Nations.
1817 I’m back on the train to New Haven.
2011 My cab pulls up to the steps of my house on Edgewood Avenue.
Just as I get out the familiar homeless guy walks past me, and asks
me for some
change. I’ll bet anything he’s never heard about the WSSD (wouldn’t
care). While I’m glad UN forums exist and that they invite people
like me,
I know that the real work comes down to this backyard level?community
projects and voices, the place and people that actually bear the
effects of
globalization and destroyed environment. And it’s going to take
more than
a day of meetings to do it.
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