Wolfgang Sachs

Fairness in a Fragile World

FAIRNESS AND EQUITY IN A FRAGILE WORLD --- THE

Johannesburg Memo SACHS, P.31

The Rio Earth Summit sought to balance a dilemma:

• Northern desires to restrict development and protect the environment that increased poverty and

• Southern desires to spur development, increasing destruction of nature.

Johannesburg 2

• Failure to achieve balance left pent up development pressure that overwhelmed the next summit.

• Raised challenge of how to address equity without destroying the environment.

• Need to address “envy,” “catching up,” “dignity” and “modeling”

Reduce Footprints of the Rich

• Justice requires preserving nature which requires curtailing consumption of rich– 20% consume 70-80%, consume 45% meat

and fish, 68% electricity, 84% paper and own 87% of cars

– OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) 75-85% over average ecological footprint

– Wealtiest 25% occupy earth equivalent ecological footprint

– Globalized rich dominate localized 33% poor

Livelihood rights

• Development cures poverty vs. empower poor to thrive

• Export led displacement from land, joblessness, poverty, forced urbanization

• Sustainable livelihoods vs. expanding consumption of rich and corporate profit

• Myths: – poor cause environmental destruction, – economic growth removes poverty, – Economic growth eliminates poverty and

environmental destruction.

Regenerative Economy

• Spoiled nature (scarcity), rather than no money, is now the primary cause of poverty. Increase Gross Nature Product not GNP. Preserve biodiversity.

• Lay off wasted kilowatts not people• Use local knowledge---social capital• Renewable energy shortens supply chains

and keeps income and jobs local.

Role of Women

• Manage household, provide food, carry local knowledge, cultural memory and skills for survival

• Seed saving

Relationship to Nature

• Interconnections of people, plants and animals

• Contamination from chemicals• Poor health from soil degradation, water

problems• Ecological agriculture cheaper, preserve

soil, spiritual connection, stable livelihoods and relationships vs monoculture

• Restoration and water security

ENERGY

• Assume development means growth, growth means rising use of energy, which requires rising energy supplies.

• Poor left to use dung and other non-commercial energy sources

• Turn to advantage if use renewables and local building materials

• 4 steps to energy transition: – Conservation, – end fossil fuels and nuclear, – redesign systems for efficiency, – change lifestyle

CITIES

• More than 1/3 population heading to ½• 13% lack safe drinking water• A quarter lack sanitation and garbage disposal• Overcrowding and disease• Air pollution• Unpotable water• Mudslides and floods, etc. • Environmental injustices

Wealth-Poverty Connection

• Cannot eradicate poverty without reforming wealth

• Wealth in North must drop 80-90% in 50 years

• South must be dissuaded from “catch up”

• Wealth does not need to be redistributed but restrained

• Biomimicry, living systems, shift from products to services

2 Globalizations

• Corporate Globalization homogenizes world and allows unfettered competition and wealth

• Democratic Globalization based on flourishing plurality of cultures

• Model of leapfrogging into post-fossil age; underdevelopment is a blessing

• South can Leapfrog to solar economy!