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Posted:
June 12, 2012
Author:
COA Students

¿Qué hace Colombia en Rio+20?: intenta producir un resultado tangible

by Maria Alejandra Escalante

No recuerdo la última vez que Colombia, como delegación representativa, tuvo un papel significativo en algún encuentro de negociaciones intergubernamentales en la Organización de las Naciones Unidas (ONU). Colombia, país denominado como en `vía de desarrollo` (en muchos aspectos un término cierto dadas las condiciones de vida de la mayoría de la población), ha hecho parte del amplio grupo G77 desde la creación de esta institución internacional. Vale admitir que el G77, incluso sabiendo que incluye el número más grande de países miembros dentro de la ONU, tiene un poder de decisión inferior y limitado frente a lo que la Unión Europea o los Estados Unidos quieran demandar, ceder y acceder dentro de este marco institucional; esto no es un secreto, tal vez sea una de las grandes fallas de este sistema.

Mi memoria falla, mi conocimiento no es absoluto y quizás sea tiempo de admitir, también, que para el esperado Rio+20, la Conferencia de las Naciones Unidas sobre el Desarrollo Sostenible, la posición de Colombia ha sido inusualmente participativa y propositiva a nivel internacional y nacional. Tanto así que escuchar hablar sobre los procesos y preparaciones a Alicia Lozano, miembra de la delegación oficial en la Conferencia, genera un incipiente dejo de orgullo en el aire. Es un orgullo que se basa en dos hechos: saber que el gobierno colombiano se ha preocupado y ha analizado los problemas más cruciales que amenazan a la existencia del planeta Tierra y sus miles de organismos vivientes que lo habitan (esto es inusual, repito. Muchas veces los problemas internos son tan demandantes que queda poco tiempo y pocos recursos para concentrarse en hazañas más intrincadas), y tener en cuenta que su propuesta puede ser el único resultado tangible de la Cumbre de la Tierra 2012, lo que sería una pequeña victoria para todos los involucrados en el proceso en diferentes niveles.

En Febrero de 2011 Colombia propuso incluir dentro de la agenda de negociaciones para Rio los Objetivos del Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS). No ha sido fácil convencer a los delegados que aparte de los dos temas decididos a discutir, la economía verde en el contexto de la erradicación de pobreza y desarrollo sostenible y el marco institucional global para el medio ambiente, es de gran relevancia plantear con claridad cuáles son las tan esperadas metas de esta conferencia. Estas negociaciones son exhaustivas (que lo confirmen mis amigos que han asistido a varias) y proponer más puntos por los cuales discutir no es bien recibido. A mi me cuesta trabajo convencerme de que la creación de otro texto más largo, complejo y repetitivo puede ser más efectivo que reforzar los principios y tratados que ya se han construido en el pasado, como los Obejtivos de Desarrollo del Milenio, los Principios de Rio o Agenda 21. A esto, Alicia Lozano responde ¨Despues de 20 años hay que reavivar el compromiso politico. Es importante porque materiliza la postura de Colombia frente al desarrollo sostenible¨; y si esto es cierto, y si gracias a la producción de los ODS los colombianos van a tener una fuente legítima en la cual basarse para exigir del gobierno dichos compromisos, entonces esta propuesta puede ser válida para Colombia y para el resto de naciones que la secundan.

Ahora mismo los ODS hacen parte del borrador del Futuro que Queremos gracias al apoyo de gobiernos como el de Perú y Emiratos Árabes, entre otros, y se encuentran en la Sección V – Marco de Acción y Seguimiento del mismo. Los ODS tienen la virtud de realmente integrar los tres principios por los que camina el desarrollo sostenible: social, económico y ambiental. Son objetivos que deberán ser aplicados universalmente, aunque serán adaptables a las circuntancias particulares. Por ende, son objetivos que se deberán implementar a nivel nacional y regional para que así se acelere la ejecución de las acciones necesarias para alcanzarlos. Son complementarios a los Objetivos del Milenio y comparten la característica con éstos de no ser ataduras legales para los gobiernos. La erradicación de la pobreza es la meta fundamental en la que se enfocan y contribuyen todos los ODS.

A nivel nacional y como marco de preparación para Rio+20, el Ministerio de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sostenible, el Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y el Departamento Nacional de Planeación crearon una plataforma de participación junto con el sector privado y la sociedad civil para construir los planteamientos básicos de los ODS.
Esta iniciativa surgió apartir de un análisis crítico de la situación socioeconómica y ambiental de Colombia principalmente, y del mundo en segundo lugar. Al ver las cifras de deforestación, de crecimiento de población y de migración a las ciudades en términos globales, hechos clarividentes de una pronta destrucción, el Ministerio de Ambiente se preocupó, por fin, por los efectos directos en Colombia. A pesar de que el territorio colombiano es privilegiado por su alta biodiversidad, sus numerosas fuentes hídricas y su multiculturalismo (comunidades indígenas y afrocolombianas, por ejemplo), ¨tenemos una alta riqueza mal manejada¨ dice Alejandra Torres por parte de la Cancillería y el Ministerio de Ambiente. Y esto, el no saber organizar un país para que aproveche lo más sosteniblemente posible sus recursos, trae amenazas como la desertificación y el descongelamiento de los nevados, entre muchos otros problemas.

Teniendo esta visión sobre la posición de Colombia ante el deterioro de la naturaleza a nivel global, el gobierno decidió unir fuerzas para crear e impulsar los ODS en Rio+20. Se convocaron talleres y eventos en universidades y entidades privadas para hablar específicamente de temas relevantes a Rio+20 como la economía verde o las aplicaciones del acordado Protocolo de Montreal.

Los ODS se refieren puntualmente a temas relevantes dentro del marco de un desarrollo sostenible. Se habla, entre otros puntos clave, de seguridad alimenticia, mas no de autonomía alimenticia. De gestionar integralmente el acceso y el consumo de agua para evitar el completo deterioro de los recursos hídricos. De asegurar que la población esté proveída de energía limpia. De elevar el nivel de vida en las ciudades sin comprometer la estabilidad del ambiente. De modificar los patrones exageradamente consumistas e insostenibles de producción y consumo,

Sobre esta base se desarrollaron propuestas y preguntas que giran alrededor de la energía sostenible, los oceános, la seguridad alimenticia y el agua como derecho humano. Así se construyeron los ODS que propuso Colombia ante las demás naciones miembros de la ONU. Los aportes de la sociedad civil fueron esenciales lo cual, para mi, eleva el valor de este documento que al ser escrito ha tenido en cuenta la condición de aquellos más vulnerables y más propensos a ser afectados por las decisiones (o la falta de ellas) que se tomen en Rio.

Colombia se ha movido dentro del juego diplómatico internacional hasta el momento, sin embargo las expectativas de la delegación sobre la conferencia son bajas. Se cree que los resultados de la conferencia en general serán insuficientes para la gravedad de la condición del planeta hoy en día y que el compromiso político será leve, como siempre, para llegar a un verdadero desarrollo sostenible. Por esto, Colombia invierte sus energías en sacar adelante los ODS, para que éstos sean escuchados por los países desarrollados que se niegan a darle un apoyo incondicional y transparente al desarrollo sostenible. Claramente no es una labor fácil para un país que no tiene los recursos financieros para apoyar económicamente esta propuesta, si es que se requiriera, pero al menos la voluntad existe.

Una vez termine Rio+20 se piensa recolectar los resultados (precarios o no) tanto de la cumbre de la sociedad civil que ha empezado el pasado 10 de junio, como de la conferencia como tal. Se planea hablar con alcaldes y gobernadores para implementar estos resultados lo antes posible a nivel nacional.

Ver activa a la delegación colombiana en el ámbito político internacional es sorprendente. Ahora, a mi aún me quedan dudas e interrogantes. ¿cómo serán los ODS llevados acabo si los Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio, por ejemplo, están lejos de ser alcanzados? y ¿cómo hará un país de escazos recursos económicos para implementar dichos resultados sin el posible apoyo de la comunidad internacional que parece enredarse cada vez más en sus propias contradicciones y relegar el hecho de que países como Colombia sí necesitan más que palabras de apoyo para salir adelante? De las pocas esperanzas que guardo es que la delegación colombiana no se conforme con lo que ha logrado hasta ahora, porque es el conformismo, casi enfermizo, el que nos ha tenido estancados por tanto tiempo.

*Nota 1: entre el 6 y 9 de junio se celebró la Feria Internacional del Medio Ambiente en Bogotá. Allí fue donde tuve la oportunidad de escuchar a Alicia Lozano y Alejandra Torres, las dos parte de la delegación colombiana en Rio+20, en un foro abierto acerca de este evento.

*Nota 2: al final del foro, Luis, un estudiante líder de la delegación colombiana bajo el Grupo Mayoritario de Niños y Jóvenes que estaba listo para asistir a Rio+20, reveló la falta de apoyo por parte del Ministerio de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sostenible incluso después de varias cartas de comunicación. Probablemente no habrá delegación colombiana de jóvenes en Rio+20 por fatla de financiación. Las contradicciones de este país a veces son exasperantes.

*Nota 3: los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible para Rio+20 pueden encontrarse directamente en la página del Ministerio de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sostenible de Colombia – http://www.minambiente.gov.co/documentos/DocumentosInstitucional/rio_20/150512_propuesta_colombia_emiratos.pdf.

Posted:
June 6, 2012
Author:
COA Students

[Earth] and Rio+20

Rio+20 delegation member Nimisha Bastedo created this video about Earth in Brackets and Rio+20!

Earth in Brackets at Rio+20 from [Earth in Brackets] on Vimeo.

Earth in Brackets is a student organization based out of College of College of the Atlantic that engages with international environmental and sustainable development politics. We have been following the process leading up to the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) and we are concerned with the lack of ambition and the lack of political commitment. This video lays out our main concerns, and out vision for an alternative future. In Rio de Janeiro in June, we will be reporting directly from the United Nations meetings and analyzing the politics straight from the halls of power as well as the alternatives given by the People. What is the Future We Really Want? What will it take to get it?

Posted:
June 5, 2012
Author:
COA Students

Tweeting, Blogging, Shouting, Learning

By Mariana Calderon

Recently, in an online conversation about expectations for Rio+20, and the point of it all, Nathan Thanki was informed that “nothing of any worth” would happen at the conference in June. Entirety of the conversation, arguments and responses aside, I was struck by a simple truth in Nathan’s reply: “We’re students, and so place value in learning.” We are students. Students, sometimes “youth,” in halls dominated by those who are older, sometimes wiser, and certainly more experienced. So what does it mean, to be a student at a UN conference?

Being a student means that these days, I am often putting aside my visions of historical change and progress, or catastrophic failure and apocalypse, for a simpler, more selfish, and more immediate turning point in my life: My impending degree in Human Ecology. One year remains to me – a year in which I must simultaneously complete my courses and requirements (would anyone like to offer me an internship?), craft and produce a final, culminating project, and decide what Human Ecology means (and then write about it). I might even squeeze in time to sample student-budget-friendly wines, read Game of Thrones, Issac Asimov, and Sherlock Holmes, and cultivate my Tumblr account.

So why do I, in addition to these simple aspirations, also aspire to spend time at as many international environmental meetings in the next year as possible? I’m not crazy. I don’t even own a time-turner. It’s simple: The time spent at these meetings is invaluable to me and my studies. I am cultivating the collection of stamps in my passport, my collection of “that time in Rio when we took the wrong bus” stories, and my knowledge and experience in international environmental politics and the UN circus. For someone who currently is more comfortable navigating negotiating texts than filing a tax return (is anyone comfortable with filing tax returns?), the prospect of finally earning the degree is almost as unnerving as the price of food within the conferences. Therefore, I am packing a lunch, and aiming to make it the most nutritious, well thought out and organically produced lunch as possible, with a cordon bleu-worthy presentation, and some guilty pleasure, hardly-real-food type dessert (I’m thinking a Twinkie type of comatose post-conference time on the beach with 50 Shades of Grey). With all that preparation in the morning, I’ll have a meal that has everything I need to continue in the afternoon (no, don’t ask about graduate school). In short, if I’m going to earn that degree, I’m going to make it one that will serve me well, and do so outside of school. And I won’t do it by extending terrible metaphors.

It’s official. According to the UN, my age defines me: 15-24. I am a “youth.” This means a number of things. It means that some in the crowd around me take a look and confide that they see themselves in me, 20 years ago (with the current state of the international environmental governance, this is sometimes infinitely encouraging, sometimes cringe-worthy). It means that some of those I strive to work with and learn from can be unwittingly condescending. I get virtual pats on the head. It does mean that I am often surrounded by an enormous amount of positive energy and collaboration. It also means leading a very hectic life: Normal coursework is time consuming. Staying informed about the latest international policy is time consuming. Being actively involved in youth efforts to make a difference is time consuming and devours email inboxes. Those who roam the UN halls alongside me know this – more official participants could likely teach me a lesson or two about time-consuming work.

But as students go, the writers of Earth in Brackets are lucky. We are lucky enough to pursuing degrees that are flexible, with coursework that actively grooms us, arms us, and then sends us to international negotiations to make what we will of them. Our work in the UN world is part of our work fulfilling degree requirements. Add the fact that our degrees are individually crafted, and four years of undergraduate work can become a sort of international environmental policy degree, if we so desire, complete with courses in economics, statistics, ecology, cultural anthropology, domestic law, and photography thrown in for good measure. With that sort of background, or even just the beginnings of it, for a first-year, we can take the long days, dragging negotiating sessions and miniscule amounts of sleep, and glean an incredible amount of learning from it all. We might even enjoy it.

I am often asked what it is that Earth in Brackets does. What do we do that we enjoy so much, enough to travel to exotic locales and spend the majority of the time in over-air-conditioned buildings? “We tweet, we blog, we shout.” The catchphrase has a lot of truth to it: We do tweet. We do blog. Sometimes, we shout. We also meet with other youth, and with representatives from other Major Groups, NGOs, countries, and coalitions. We sit in on negotiations, and chuckle at the co-chair’s dry jokes while taking notes on attempts to water down the Right to Water. We discuss the poorly-defined Green Economy, and the idea of a Sustainable Development Council. We plan actions (where we shout), and analyze newly-released text at 2 in the morning. At 5am, we tell the world on twitter and facebook that, once again, things didn’t go the way we so desperately hoped. And then we write here about why, and how, and how to turn what happened into something useful.

In between all of that, we learn. We can be optimistic, but we are not naive. We know that the chance of our work creating a perceptible difference is slim. But we try, and we learn, and we try again. We get pushy. Some of us may continue the work, and the years of experience between will pay off. Yes, we’re writing, analyzing, and networking, but most of all, we are learning, about the policy, the atmosphere, and the relationships. We learn when to be aggressive and when to be charming, and to give out our cards. We learn how to understand the language. We see the possibilities and impossibilities, and try to stop defining them as such.

In attending the international meetings I study, I can develop a more holistic perspective on the UN and international environmental governance. I can meet the people I know on paper as “Representative of the US,” or “Representative of the G77,” and try to understand them as human beings as well as negotiators. I can understand how the mood in a negotiating room can drastically change the pace and results of the negotiations – and why optimism, if not idealism, is so important. I think this all to be of great importance. It will be an integral part of the degree I craft and what I choose to do with it. I look around at other student-participants and feel that their being present is a step towards the Future I Want. Learning alongside other “youth” at the negotiations often gives me much more hope than watching negotiators does.

Some also ask, why waste time with the UN? After all, it is bureaucratic and slow, frustrating and, in the minds of many, useless. We’re raking up carbon emissions in order to “feel better about ourselves” and “failing to produce results.” I’ve been informed of this many times. It is a discussion that never ends, and one that I am still developing answers and opinions for. Nonetheless, in the end, I still feel justified, perhaps wrongly, perhaps self-centeredly, in participating – in flying across a continent to take part in what I see as a turning point. Because nothing beats experiential learning. And it is important to know your enemy. Or important to understand the world you work in. Or important to understand that which you seek to change. And important to bring that understanding back home.

Posted:
June 5, 2012
Author:
COA Students

Expectations, Expectations

Why global summits matter: Rio+20

by Ana Puhač

When last December TIME magazine featured the “the protester” as the person of the year, I thought how in the future, that publication could be seen as one of the most symbolic images that marked the start of a new global era. The world is in crisis? Isn’t that what every generation before us, facing a transition into a new global paradigm has said: “the world is in crisis”? Generations are born with crises like people are born with birthmarks – some have it, some don’t, some may symbolize something positive, some cause complications. But none have yet turned fatal, and completely eroded this civilization. We’ve learned from the past that there have been justifiable fears of global existential risks because of the warfare, the threat of nuclear mass destruction and epidemic diseases. But never before have we faced such global systematic disrepair because of the way we’ve decided to develop.

Evidently, the world is starting to crumble under the weight of growing social and economic inequality while polluting the environment and hitting the limit of natural resource depletion. The disrepair is irrefutable, but we persist in our failure to see the protests, collapses of economies, and ecocides that are surging up all over the world as part of one common problem.

The 1992 United Nations Human Development Report (HDR) called for “a world summit on human development that should be convened to enlist the support of the world’s political leaders for the objectives of the compact and their commitments to the resource requirements it will entail.” In response, the Earth Summit was created in Rio de Janeiro the same year. That summit has paved the way in forming a trajectory of global discussions on sustainable development.

Still, no such discussion has saved the world from the crisis. In the public eyes, global mega-conferences simply don’t deliver any success and suffer from exaggerated claims.

After so many disappointing conferences, the Rio+20 summit enjoys an excellent advantage over the other global conferences: incredibly low expectations. There is a little bit less than a month left, and the buzzing question in the media that is actually following the Rio process, is: What are the expectations?

What a trap. By asking the wrong questions, the media encourages standard and disappointing responses. This is how the world remains deemed a melting pot of malevolent disparity that yet again fails to attain utopia. The use of the word “expectation” in the question immediately assumes a direct and concrete “outcome” in response. No wonder that we read in the news how Rio+20 is framed as yet another impasse even before it has even happened. No wonder there are no expectations.

If global summits themselves don’t deliver real outcomes, why do they matter at all? They matter because they are the only acknowledgment that the world’s problems are interlinked and that only with collective commitment toward common goals are we all much better off.

The problem with expectations of global conferences such as Rio+20 is that they are not realistic. As Steven Hale writes in the Guardian: “We overestimate the importance of formal outcomes, and underestimate the importance of the progressive coalitions that summits can inspire.”

It is true: there will be no legally binding document coming out of Rio, there will be no serious political commitment, there hasn’t been improvement in the past twenty years, there is no organization around providing sufficient funding, a sinful carbon trade off will be made so that we can fly to the conference, only the privileged ones will be able to be there. What is maybe most striking is that, as I am writing, the majority in the world is barely surviving this day through hunger, war, injustice and disease, let alone expecting some outcome document they have probably never heard about to make everything better.

However, there are some key things we mustn’t forget. First and foremost, these conferences would not exist if there were no demands from civil society. Therefore, the civil society has as much of the responsibility for pushing the outcome as do the politicians and other power-holders have for making it possible. The responsibilities are different, but their magnitude is equal. Second, the engagement of civil society at the local and national level reflects in the discourse on the global level. Domestic politics decide whether and what outcomes from these negotiations will be implemented. Third, we must distribute our efforts wisely and understand that at this level of urgency, the world is more likely to be changed by deeds, and less by opinions or words.

Finally, the last Rio summit in 1992 has proved something to us. We haven’t seen the real change ever since, but it brought the notion of sustainable development into the mainstream. It’s sealed into politicians’ and public’s minds, and the lack of our common commitment just increasingly outlines its significance. The only sober expectation we have to have for the “outcome” of those couple of days is that there will be a strong prod to the world that we have entered a new era, marked by the global crisis that is curable only if we join our collective efforts. Therefore Rio+20 must, and will be, important.

What will happen after and between those big events is the real outcome. We must embrace the fact that those conferences hold high value of political symbolism more than they do immediate political intervention. Still, it is crucial to make that symbolism reflect the needs of people and the planet impeccably. This is why we need to unite, clearly state what we want and compel our political leaders to show genuine commitment.

Rio will be a moment in time. It won’t save the world, but even if we succumb to disaster or overcome the challenge, our descendants will know that we cared.

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