Getting the Goods

Building the Framework

Jeffrey Barber

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Welcome to this issue of Getting the Goods (formerly SPAC Update), an international newsletter presenting news and views about changing production and consumption—from the perspective of different parts of civil society. Here we continue to examine efforts to “reduce and eliminate unsustainable patterns of production and consumption,” as the world’s governments agreed in Rio de Janeiro over a dozen years ago.

Because there are already so many conferences, books, and knowledgeable commentary about consumption and production, the purpose of this newsletter is to not simply echo familiar critiques and recommendations given over the years about the importance of raising public awareness and engagement and increasing political will—or the consequences of not doing so. Two major questions for this newsletter are: (1) Why has improvement of awareness and political will been so slow, and (2) What is being done to identify, address and overcome the obstacles?

Our goal is to help assess actions taken and needed to change current unsustainable and inequitable systems of production and consumption; to look more closely at the strategies and methods used or proposed by the different players; and to promote more informed and effective participation by citizens and civil society organizations working for this change.

Some of this assessment focuses on the public, on citizens and consumers, and how much they are informed of the impacts of this system on their quality of life—as well as others around the world and future generations.

To what degree citizens are informed and concerned, as well as their access to information and knowledge about their situation and options, is a critical factor. France’s President Chirac pointed out that “our house is burning and we are blind to it,” which Emmanuel Prinet quotes in his description of the challenge. Public awareness and options for action are key concerns and responsibilities among civil society and public interest organizations.

Another part of our examination focuses on what is being done by the world’s decision makers and policy makers in governments, business, and the United Nations. Rajat Chaudhuri reports on India’s efforts to develop a national sustainability strategy—where integrating SPAC policies remains a challenge. James Rochow describes the campaign to get policymakers around the world to adequately address just one part of this challenge—eliminating poisoning and pollution from lead. Veena Ramani reports on efforts at last year’s WTO meeting in Cancun to eliminate subsidies encouraging unsustainable production and consumption.

In this issue, Ramani also reports on her experience at the first international experts meeting on the ten-year framework for promoting SPAC, which took place in Marrakech, Morocco last summer. This was primarily an intergovernmental meeting, with only a few civil society groups participating. UNEP and the CSD’s Department of Social and Economic Affairs (DESA) are playing a leading role in organizing what is now called the “Marrakech Process”, following up on this ten-year framework idea (as put forward at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development).

Intergovernmental meetings were also organized in Latin America, Asia, and other regions to discuss the Framework in terms closer to home (see Regional News). In early March, UNEP convened an Advisory Taskforce meeting in Paris to further discuss the Framework. While most of the official reports do not appear to give much prominence to civil society’s role in the process, we’re looking to hear more direct reports by those groups that did participate.

Karin Krchnak, one of the coordinators of the Fresh Water Caucus at the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD), reports on the last and upcoming CSD sessions, pointing out the need for greater NGO cooperation in taking better advantage of the CSD’s public participation mechanisms.

If our newsletter is effective, our attention to the obstacles blocking progress will make some people uncomfortable. Nevertheless, civil society groups have an obligation to challenge those cases where corporate interests are raised above the public interest, and to put the spotlight on public leaders who should be taking more responsibility for protecting the common good.

Responsibility for looking behind the curtains of buzzwords, broken promises, and news spin often falls to the whistleblowers and public interest groups in civil society. In some countries, NGOs are jailed and even killed for their exposés and critiques. Nevertheless, as the 1995 Oslo Ministerial Roundtable concluded, civil society should “monitor and evaluate progress of local, national, and international authorities, institutions, and industry.” These groups play an essential role in keeping progress on track. This newsletter, in turn, aims to provide a vehicle for those public voices and experiences.

—By Jeffrey Barber, Integrative Strategies Forum