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Follow
up to the Earth Summit is becoming even more hectic than the
preparatory activities which led up to the conference.
Independence Sector Organisations have initiated discussions
and activities that clearly indicate their intention to use
the outputs of Rio (both of the official Summit and of the
‘92 Global Forum) as a starting point for the changes needed
for Sustainable Development. Some Governments, for their
part, appear to have realised that active participation of
the public and a new inter sectoral dialogue must underline
future decision making.
The NGO Consultation in New Delhi was held at
the invitation of the Minister of Environmental and Forests,
Mr. Kamal Nath, and was organised by Development
Alternatives, New Delhi, Centre for Environment Education,
Ahmedabad, and Centre for Research for Rural Development and
Sustainable Agriculture, Madras.
The purpose of this consultation was not
merely to draw up an Indian plan of action for implementing
the profound and seminal agreements signed at Rio, but also
to identify the gaps which were left unfulfilled there.
The meeting was attended by over 150
participants and included the Indian delegation and NGOs who
were at Rio, plus many organisations and individuals who
have been involved in the UNCED process and other experts on
environment and development. Key officials of the Ministry
of Environment and Forests were present throughout the
consultation.
Mr. Kamal Nath, Minister for Environment and
Forests, invited Independent Sector Organisation to be equal
partners with Government in formulating and implementing the
country’s environmental agenda and welcomed a “no holds
barred” discussion. He emphasised the close links between
poverty, environment and development and felt the new
partnerships were needed in overcoming the obstacles to a
better national future.
Maurice
F
Strong, who was the Chief Guest, felt that
the six months since UNCED were too short to pronounce a
final judgement on its impacts; however as a political event
it was historic and unprecedented. He stated that the
current national dialogue at Delhi was unique in character,
particularly because it demonstrated willingness on the part
of both NGOs and Government to work together.
Ashok Khosla expressed the hope that the NGO
consultation would starts a new kind of interaction and
provide continuing opportunity for NGOs to inject the views
of the voiceless, the poor, into the decision making
process.
The eminent agricultural scientist, M.
S.
Swaminathan reiterated that a better common
present is an absolute pre-requisite for a better common
future. He felt that science must now be applied actively
to remove poverty and regenerate the resource base.
The participants met in three working groups:
the first dealing with selected aspects of Agenda 21 and the
Rio Declaration; the second dealing with Forestry
Principles; and the third with the Conventions on
Biodiversity and Climate Change.
Although discussions in the Woking group on
Agenda 21 touched on a broad range of issues, they focused
mainly on the Indian context. Current national policies,
including the Eighth National Five year Plan, came in for
sharp criticism because of the 20 percent decrease in the
budget allocated for the environment sector. “The
Government of India’s present economic policy of
liberalisation makes little sense without the immediate
introduction of the most stringent and fully enforced
ecological safeguards, “asserted Duleep Matthai. The
Ministry was urged to review its mandate in the light of the
new international commitments, and set up mechanisms for
continuous dialogue between NGOs and government. NGOs, for
their part, agreed that they must continue to closely
scrutinise national policies and action plans, suggest
alternative policies and programmes, and work closely with
people at the grassroots on these issues.
Discussions in the working group on Forestry
Principles revolved around issues of people’s participation,
especially the role of women in forest management, the
narrow conception, especially the role of women in forest
management the narrow conception of most government-
sponsored projects, and bureaucratic interference in project
implementation. All micro-planning, it was pointed out, is
currently done by the bureaucracy, in contrast to what has
been agreed upon in the Forestry Principles. Institutional
structures, therefore, need to be re-designed so that people
are directly involved in the planning and implementation
process. Another recommendation that emerged from the
discussion was that forestry should integrated with ongoing
village development schemes. The NGOs present at the
consultation called for a complete ban on all tree felling
in forests, active promotion of joining forest, active
promotion of joint forests management between people and
government, and open sharing of information on forests
policies.
Recognising that the Convention on the
Biological Diversity has profound implications for the
rights and aspirations of vast numbers of people, the
working group expressed concern at the process of
negotiation adopted for this initiative. They felt that the
process was undemocratic, and did not involve widespread
consultation with the communities which have traditional and
customary rights over biological resources. The working
group stressed that follow-up to the Convention must ensure
that it becomes an effective tool for biodiversity
conservation and for reversing traditional inequalities in
access to biological resources and related technologies.
On future negotiations on Climate Change, the
working group felt that national commitments must be based
on equity issues relating to past and continuing
responsibility for environmental damage. To do this, India
needs to establish a solid scientific capability on Climate
Change issues, particularly in the Independent Sector.
The Consolation provided Indian NGOs and
Government with a starting point for continuing dialogue.
The Minister announced that the Ministry has established an
NGO Cell to interact meaningfully with the Independent
Sector. Follow-up efforts to Rio, however, must include
simplifying and translating the massive Agenda 21, the
Forestry Principles and Conventions, into two or more
regional languages. Mass distribution of these versions
would be of utmost importance to elicit the views of the
people. Only time and sustained dialogue of this type can
answer the questions: can the political system fundamentally
change its vision and commitment to bring about sustainable
development? And, can the NGOs, given their obvious
strengths and limitations, fulfil their mandate? Or will
sustainable development remain an elusive goal, in spite of
Rio?
The Author is a Public Relations and
Conference Officer at Development Alternatives
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