Your Voice at the UN -- Wednesday May 9

After a week and a half of lobbying and negotiations, the “high level” sessions opened Wednesday in the main General Assembly hall. The chair of Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) opened with a message on behalf of his native oil-rich country Qatar and his work as chair of the Commission. His words were not as blatantly anti-change this morning as they have been-- certainly not as they were last week when he countered “energy-security” (the concept of ensuring sustainable and equal access to energy worldwide) with his own concept of “security of demand!” Fortunately for CSD (and all who live on this planet) , the new Secretary General of the UN who replaced Kofi Annan, Ban Ki-moon, has placed climate change and sustainable development at the very top of his priority list since taking office.

The most inspiring speaker this morning was Ms. Gro Harlem Brundtland from Norway. Ms. Brundtland is the authoress of the very definition of Sustainable Development (as adopted by the UN), former head of the World Health Organization, authoress of a book entitled “Our Common Future,” and recently appointed special envoy to the UN on climate change. This is a woman who is very experienced with many of the drastic and immediate issues our world faces. She shared this morning that, “poverty is our greatest challenge… it is a scar on the face of humanity… it degrades people and environment alike.” She also stated that in her view climate change is a single and all-important struggle that all of humanity faces together, that no one can buy their way out of its effects.

Her message was not of doom; but hope. Humanity’s seemingly chronic struggle with poverty is both the challenge and the opportunity—in poverty itself lays the potential. The new “green economy”—that is, the demand for new products and services, the shift to more sustainable lifestyles, and a new understanding of humanity’s wellbeing as a whole and how that affects all individual’s well being as a whole—this new economy can “save the world from poverty and from climate change.”

After hearing Ms. Brundland speak, several of us US citizen delegates met with two delegates to the U.S.Mission to the United Nations. It was striking how different the position of the U.S. government is from every one of its citizen delegates to the convention. Which isn’t to say there are many citizens who also hold their view, because there are. In a nutshell, the U.S. does not think world governments or other concerned bodies should work together. It believes wholly in the power of the free market and the private sector to solve all and be all. No laws, no agreements, no time-bound targets in the public sphere that limit soveirgnity or regulate for common interest. In their eyes, if a need exists for increased sustainability or a change in lifestyles, the market will follow with the best solution.

Today's Definition is:

Time-Bound Target: In the context of policy, it is a law or recommendation that defines when a certain activity or transition will be completed. For example, many countries and NGO’s at this conference support phasing out the use of fossil fuels within 10 or 20 years. This is a time-bound target.

Sustainability Stat of the Day: Did you know that the City of Oakland, CA, has committed to being oil independent by 2020? The resolution reiterates that transitioning to a green economy is intended to CREATE Jobs, Increase JUSTICE, and STOP GLOBAL WARMING. Read more at http://ellabakercenter.org/img/messages/rtf/Oil-Independence-Resolution-and-FAQ.pdf.

That's all for now!

Caitlin