Sustainable environment needs more than mere climate talks

A sustainable environment is one in which resources are conserved effectively; where no one organism or system overtakes another. Most animals and plants co-evolve toward a natural biodiverse balance that interacts perfectly within an environment to remain sustainable.

What makes an environment unsustainable is when one organism, usually human beings, takes more resources from a location than that which can be reproduced, for example, over clearing of forests for arable farm land. When more is taken than can be replaced, erosion, run-off waste water, lost vegetation, declining plant and animal species, storms, drought and wildfire are often the consequences.

Natural laws of economy, which all human and conservation efforts should follow, consider that waste products are designed by nature to become food for other organisms, and eventually minerals, water and soil components. Recycling is nature’s rule.

Living in connection with other ecosystems is living in alignment with them; and when humans separate themselves from nature, they grow to believe the issues concerning these systems exist outside their domain or control, and have no visible or lasting effect on them. Theoretically, this degradation in environmental sustainability could imply extinction for humanity.

Sustainable methods, therefore, have to be introduced to control overpopulation, damaging fertilisers, pollution, flooding and extinctions. It has much to do with realising that we as humans are a huge part of natural systems, living within this huge web of interdependence, and with a responsibility toward contributing to maintaining the balance in ecosystems.

Sustainability is constantly challenged by increased carbon gas emissions and irresponsible behaviours. Green development should therefore prioritise what is environmentally sustainable over economic and cultural considerations. Human activity should only make use of nature’s resources at a rate at which they can be replenished by natural means.

Sadly, the outcomes of the 17th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP17) held between 28 November and 9 December 2011 barely touched the iceberg in resolving these pressing matters. COP17 did not provide any breakthrough on issues relating to commitments in cutting carbon emission levels.

South Africa is emitting more global-warming gases than any other African country and is the 13th largest emitter in the world, according to analysis by the United States government. Hosting COP17 was part of the country’s foreign policy strategy to occupy influential positions during forums in multilateral institutions in Africa and abroad.

High on its agenda is to raise Africa’s voice in these forums to address sustainable environments within the reform of institutions such as the World Bank, UN Security Council, International Atomic Energy Agency and World Trade Organization.

The end of the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol – on 31 December 2012 – is approaching quickly, with none of the global binding agreements considered necessary to support a global response to human-induced climate change and with no clear pathway provided to ensuring a low-carbon economy.

Even though negotiators agreed to extend the Kyoto Protocol (the only treaty regulating carbon emissions) by five years, envisioning a new accord with binding targets for all countries to take effect in 2020, pressure and debate during the talks might have killed the Protocol altogether.

Water and Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa commented that given the international financial crisis and competing national political interests, trying to force countries to do more than they were willing and able to, would have resulted in not only killing the Kyoto Protocol, but possibly even COP17 itself.

In addition, the agreement did not commit nations to start decreasing their greenhouse gas emissions before 2020, which scientists say is crucial in preventing global temperatures from rising more than 1.2 degrees Celsius above current levels by the end of this century.

Molewa acknowledged that South Africa is among the countries wary of strangling its own industry and programme of poverty eradication, saying our nation needs more time and space to develop a sustainable environmental strategy.

The science behind climate change is well known and broadly covered across the world – even predicting, without a doubt, the devastating consequences of inaction. The world understands what needs to be done to prevent the impending disaster from becoming reality, yet ineffective governmental talks continue while the planet is melting.

For businesses, the wider agenda of sustainability has grown in the year since COP16 and a journey to a sustainable future is now part of the strategic thinking of many companies. Current, and more than likely future, volatility in commodity costs, shifting stakeholder sustainability priorities and the impact of integrated reporting are positive changes we can notice.

The biggest challenge in the years to come is to take ideas for sustainable environmental development, and implement them on a ground level – which would then become the next main source of competitive advantage.

There is an increasing need within the public and private sector for more integrated approaches and mechanisms with a deeper understanding and decision-making support to guide sustainable practices and development.

Understanding the sustainability, risks and opportunities associated with global change in South Africa will include: knowing how to monitor a sustainable trajectory and process; integrating the complex and often conflicting relationships between social, political, economic, ecological and biophysical aspects to guide decision-making; keeping up with the international and local demand for greener activities and green economy initiatives; understanding the sustainability of new and emerging markets or alternative development paths; incentivising and changing behaviour; assessing the effectiveness of improvement programmes; and developing drivers of change.

South Africa will have to highlight the priority areas for intervention and identify measures through which these can be addressed, through partnering with various sectors and spheres to structure appropriate responses. All sectors of society and government – at all levels – must accept collective responsibility to implement proper programmes, use new technologies, strengthen structures and actively partake in processes to achieve South Africa’s sustainable development objectives.

This will require clear and focused communication across all levels to build unified commitment, with growth and development at the core of endeavours – with apparent time frames and budgetary allocations for realising the accompanying objectives.

Rizel Delano