GLOBALIZATION AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: IS ETHIC THE MISSING LINK?
 
 
STATEMENT by Mr. Vladimir Petrovsky
Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations
Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva
At the Earth Dialogues Forum
 
Lyon, France, 23 February 2002
 
 
Mr. President,
Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
 
 
            I am deeply honored to have this opportunity to address the Earth Dialogues Forum and to convey to you the good wishes of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Kofi Annan, for the success of your job.
 
            At the outset, I would like to stress that the consideration of the international community’s major concerns related to globalization and sustainable development from an ethical perspective gives us an invaluable opportunity to encourage global efforts and guidance in the search for a more just and effective model of development. As the Dialogue in Lyon has been called to identify main constraints hindering the implementation of Agenda 21 and to address ethical dimensions of sustainable development to be raised at the Summit on review and assessment of the progress achieved after the 1992 Rio Conference, it would be advisable to report the outcomes of our deliberations to the Johannesburg Summit.
 
               The task of arriving at a common ethical framework related to Agenda 21 has become increasingly relevant. The world leaders attending the United Nations Millennium Summit in September 2000 decided to adopt in all their environmental actions a new ethic of conservation and stewardship. In the Millennium Declaration, as first steps, they resolved to make  “every effort to ensure the entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol, preferably by the tenth anniversary of the UN Conference on Environment and Development in 2002, and to embark on the required reduction in emissions of greenhouse gases.” They also agreed to intensify their collective efforts for the management, conservation and sustainable development of natural resources, and to reduce the number and effects of natural and man-made disasters.
 
            At this historic period, I am firmly convinced that the moral and intellectual solidarity of humankind represents the best way for the international community to meet the challenge of sustainable development in the long term.  In his recent report regarding the implementation of Agenda 21, the Secretary- General of the United Nations pointed out that “the goals established at the UNCED have been slower than anticipated, and in some respects conditions are actually worse than they were ten years ago. Some progress has been made in adopting measures to protect the environment. But the state of the world’s environment is still fragile and conservation measures are far from being satisfactory. In most parts of the developing world, there has been at best limited progress in reducing poverty. Some progress has been made in some areas of health, but other problems have surfaced, such as HIV/AIDS.”
 
            According to the Secretary-General, there is an insufficient implementation in a number of areas. It is worth mentioning that a fragmented approach has been adopted toward sustainable development. The concept of sustainable developments meant to reflect the inextricable connection between environment and development. This concept must simultaneously serve economic, social and environmental objectives. Policies and programmes, at both national and international levels, have generally fallen far short of that level of integration in decision-making.
 
            No major changes have occurred since the UNCED in the unsustainable patterns of consumption and production, which are putting the natural life-support system at peril.  The value systems reflected in those patterns are among the main driving forces, which determine the use of natural resources. Although the changes required for converting societies to sustainable consumption and production patterns are not easy to implement, the Secretary-General considers that such a shift is imperative.
 
            There is also a lack of mutually coherent polices or approaches in the areas of finance, trade, investment, technology and sustainable development. In a globalizing world, the need for consistency and coherence in such policies has become more important than ever before. Yet policy on those issues remains compartmentalized, governed more by short-term consideration than the longer-term determinants of the sustainable use of natural resources. Unfortunately, investments required for implementing Agenda 21 have not been forthcoming and mechanisms for the transfer of technology have not improved.
 
             Despite the gaps in implementation, Agenda 21 and the UNCED principles remain as valid as they were in 1992. However, the global context has changed. Globalization, the revolution in information and communication technologies, social dislocation in many parts of the world are some of the features of the world today which need to be taken into account in strengthening implementation.
 
            In these circumstances, only a policy inspired by fundamental ethical principles can give us an overall view, making it possible to identify new directions that a purely technical approach will never bring to light. The international community must join forces to conclude a moral contract with young people and future generations. This contract will lead to a fairer sharing of wealth and knowledge and give a new conception of working life. It will lead to action on a worldwide scale, which will include the hitherto excluded, and reach those who are today still unreachable.
 
            With this in mind, I must say that, from the view of human security, poverty is a form of violence. So are hunger, exclusion, underdevelopment and the unequal distribution of resources. A feeling of isolation and despair leads many inhabitants of our planet to believe that the only way out is to fuel violence against anything “alien”.  We must heed not only the symptoms, but also the causes of the problem, identifying the origins of violence, insecurity and instability on a national and global scale.
 
            This vicious circle must be broken, with lucidity and solidarity.  How can we ensure stability when millions of children have no access to drinking water or to a minimum of education and who will never have any opportunity of escaping from poverty.
 
            Inertia and limited creativity are what is preventing the international community from devising the security measures, which will make it possible to replace the reason of force by the force of reason. This is why full support should be given to a new approach.  It is high time to create a new “ethic of our age,” based on immediate detection and fast reaction. I am gratified to report that a first major step towards promoting dialogue on this idea is a document of the Latin American and Caribbean countries with the title of  “Rio de Janeiro Platform of Action on the Road to Johannesburg,” adopted in October 2001. The Platform highlights, among others, the need to lay down the foundations for a new ethic that will serve as the cornerstone of sustainable development. Ethical imperative is critical to our future if we are to take effective actions. Any clinician knows that you have to recommend a treatment on the basis of sensible diagnosis without aspiring to perfection.  And it is known that the only perfect diagnosis comes from the autopsy, but by then it is too late. The same applies to the environment and the tissue of society.
 
            I have to stress here that there is a need to reach an agreement on the ethics of banking to end speculative capital flows, money-laundering and to send them in real economy. By this way, it would be possible to ensure that we keep our promises to help the endogenous development of the less developed countries.   The diagnoses have been made. Our desks are piled high with reports, but so often we lack the vision and courage to apply the necessary remedies in time.
           
            Political will, practical steps and partnership have to be combined with a renewed spirit of global cooperation and solidarity.  Partnerships with a variety of business associations, civil society groups, religions and professional communities, international and non-governmental organizations and academic institutions are essential for ensuring the mobilization of funds, product donations and volunteer support of all, including those who have a direct impact on an agenda for sustainable development, and the management of all living species and natural resources.
 
            It is well known that in order to prevent the threat of living on a planet irredeemably spoilt by human activities we need knowledge and education.  Today, scientific assessment have found new stronger evidence that much of the global warming over the last 50 years is attributable to human activities.  They warn of potentially devastating global warming over the coming century, with rising sea levels and changing weather patterns that could threaten the lives and livelihoods of many millions of people.  To know is to foresee.  To foresee in order to prevent and avoid.
 
            Education gives a more critical approach, the ability to investigate for ourselves and the capacity not to accept unquestioningly the views put forward by others.  Both education and awareness-raising, as well as creating an ethic for sustainable development are considered by the international community as important means of enabling the public and civil society to achieve sustainable development goals.  In this context, education plays a particular role in reinforcing the capacity of women and girls to contribute fully to society. Greater efforts are needed to advance both formal and informal education and awareness, particularly in childhood.
 
            Regarding the preparation to the Johannesburg Summit, we in the United Nations think that it is necessary to underline the following.  Political leadership at the highest level needs to be mobilized.  Officials from line ministries in capitals need to be engaged fully in the preparatory process and the follow-up at the global and regional level.  New modalities are required for non-governmental organizations and other major groups to provide contributions to the negotiating process and the high-level meetings.  The national level follow-up of conferences should be connected with the UN System operational activities at the country level, as is happening with the millennium development goals.
 
            New partnerships with standards to implement sustainable development need to be supported.
 
            In conclusion, I would like to address my appeal to all of you to work together in order to ensure our own peace, stability and well-being and that of future generations. The neglect of long-term concerns today will sow seeds of future suffering, conflict and poverty. We have an ethical obligation to bring about the conditions in which human dignity and creativity can flourish.
 
            Thank you very much.