|
TARAgram YATRA - 2010:
A Dialogue Platform
At the Stockholm conference in 1972,
Indira Gandhi made a statement that went on to be quoted again and again
"Poverty is the greatest polluter". True enough the world today
is dealing with two grave concerns of persistent poverty and
environmental degradation - both being the inexorable result of adopting
a highly lopsided economic system.
The financial meltdown of 2008
was the result of this economic system. It resulted in the collapse of
large financial institutions, the bailout of banks by national
governments, and downturns in stock markets around the world with huge
negative impacts on development and growth around the globe. Then again,
there is growing international concern about the economic roots of
environmental destruction and their costs, such as climate change,
species loss and ecosystem destruction.
As economies strive to work
their way out of the global slowdown, there is a unique opportunity to
follow a new path, to re-orient the economic compass to initiate change
at a scale that matches the extent and rate at which our planet has been
ravaged and people impoverished. This means creating green jobs and
sustainable livelihoods, strengthening social capital, empowering
citizens, reducing our carbon footprint, reversing the loss of
biodiversity and reviving the health of our ecosystems, i.e., creating
the Green Economy.
On one hand we have this idea
of a Global Green New Deal highlighting the vast but unnoticed
opportunities for investments can serve the triple purpose of reviving
the economy, regenerating the environment and setting development onto a
more sustainable path like conservation, renewable energy and clean
transport. Conversely companies, economies are collapsing; unemployment
numbers are skyrocketing and the world is bordering on what could be the
6th
greatest species extinction of all times. TARAgram Yatra1
strives to begin filling this gap by initiating a dialogue on moving
"Towards Green Economies scalable solutions for people and our planet".
An efficient, fair and
environmentally sustainable society is the basis of a Green Economy. It
is key to lifting millions out of poverty by nurturing and enhancing the
productivity of human, natural and financial resources leading to the
creation of livelihoods on a large scale. A Green Economy does not
degrade the environment; rather it helps regenerate it in ways that
contribute to poverty alleviation in the short run and to sustainable
and equitable development in the long run. Its purpose is to not only
produce goods and services that people need and to enhance the
purchasing power with which they can buy these but, also to
simultaneously secure access to the myriad ecosystem goods and services
upon which the poor depend. What is more, it is the surest way to enable
our children and their children, decent, meaningful and secure lives.
TARAgram Yatra is an annual
event organised by Development Alternatives and its partners to
deliberate on relevant issues of sustainability. The 2010 dialogue was
organised in partnership with the Green Economy Coalition (GEC), the
Ring Alliance of Policy Research Organisations and the
International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED). The
dialogue provided leads for follow-up on policies and action at the
local, national and global levels on critical green economy issues and
practical solutions on green jobs, green investments and adaptation for
livelihood security, relevant to practitioners and policy makers. The
Yatra cut right to the heart of contemporary public dialogue to build
consensus amongst key stakeholders to priorities and sequence issues in
the transition to sustainability. Those present included members of
national, state and local governments, businesses and financial
institutions, academic and research organisations, civil society and
international agencies. The broad mix of interests and expertise was
designed to encourage generation of new ideas, innovative and scaleable
solutions and to facilitate the exchansce.
TARAgram Yatra 2010 recognised
that in addition to green investment, the achievement of green growth
requires the widespread adoption of green technology, the evolution of
green markets and a workforce armed with skills to take up green jobs.
Only when these are in tandem can the future of the planet and its
peoples be secured. The TARAgram Yatra 2010 declaration, comprised of
these key messages emerging from the five-day event, includes a few
fundamental action points:
The path for a
sustainable future must focus on eliminating poverty and regenerating
the environment in a way that creates decent green jobs and sustainable
livelihoods
Transformation of
attitudes and behaviour at individual and societal levels are possible
through appropriate governance systems, sustainable methods of creating
products and services that lead to equitable distribution of wealth.
Green growth will need
to strengthen peoples institutions, empower citizens, secure eco-system
services, enhance purchasing power, reduce carbon foot prints, reverse
the loss of biodiversity and revive health of our eco-systems at a large
scale
Policies and
mechanisms for scaling up of solutions need coherent overall vision,
agreement on outcomes from all stakeholders, political will and a
critical mass of public opinion to enable transformation at the scale
required.
Large scale impact
will require efforts for green technology packaging and incubation for
mass markets, including mechanisms for skill building, knowledge
generation and sharing.
Green social
investments will be required in the areas of eco-system services,
sustainable agriculture, small and medium enterprises, waste management
and recycling, green construction, and urban infrastructure
The idea of re-orienting the
whole economy towards environmental, social and economic sustainability
has recently gained momentum. This has been spurred on by growing
international concern with the economic roots of environmental
destruction and more recently, the need to stimulate growth and prevent
large-scale unemployment. The TARAgram Yatra 2010 dialogue was
one in a series of global multi stakeholder consultation processes
leading up to Rio+20.
The goal of these consultations
is to capture diversity of thinking and action to inform national policy
debate and enrich global deliberations towards creation of a Green
Economy. The series includes events and consultative processes in South
Asia (TARAgram Yatra 2010), Latin America, Africa and the Caribbean with
a focus on in-country issues and cross-cutting imperatives of Least
Developed Countries, Small Island States, Economies in Transition and
Rapidly Developing Economies. Franchised Dialogues in El Salvador,
Pakistan, Eastern Europe, South Africa and Central Asia are being
explored.
This series of dialogues aims
at building enriched national policy engagement and creating a platform
for discussion and deliberation with governments and the private sector
including multi-laterals and financial institutions. They will also act
as a tool for building communication for Rio+20 using a bottom-up
approach in partnership with media groups to broadcast dialogue insights
on a large scale.
TARAgram Yatra 2010 was the
first step in these series, ultimately leading to the formulation of
innovative, effective and realistic strategy options to create a green
economy, as well as transition roadmaps of how to move forward.
Rizwan Uz Zaman
Manager - Policy and Network Management
ruzaman@devalt.org
www.taragramyatra.org
(Footnotes)
1The Yatra - a journey or pilgrimage that one takes with friends and
colleagues to attain higher goals, brings together top-level
practitioners and policy makers from across the world.
Back to Contents
|