Globalization of Environmentalism

							Globalization of Environmentalism

Evolution of Global Discourse on Environment and Development
History of environmental diplomacy
embedded in history of global economy

10,000 years ago
Shift from hunting-and-gathering to settled agriculture: profound turning point

300 years ago
Industrial Revolution: human activity begins to accelerate toward a scale able to alter the globe

1960s and Early 1970s
In First World concern develops over rapid industrialization World Wildlife Fund founded in 1961 Rachel Carson’s bestseller Silent Spring (1962)

1960s and Early 1970s
Image of the earth from space
• July 16 1969, taken from Apollo 11 at 180,000 kilometres. It shows most of Africa and the Middle East as well as parts of Europe and western Asia. NASA photo ID AS11-36-5355.

1960s and Early 1970s
Other developments shaped enviro discourse:
Global economic infrastructure e.g.: IMF, WB Advances in communication and transportation technologies Decolonization

1960s and Early 1970s
“Developing” countries –
• Industrialization not automatic • Global growth rates began to falter in the early 1970s

Result: A growing sense of global interconnectedness, as well as mutual vulnerability
For environmentalists: A single global economy was tied to the fate of a single global environment

Early 1970s
Rising Concern:

Earth Day, 1970

First Earth Day on April 22, 1970 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in US – (1970) Department of the Environment in Canada – (1971) Greenpeace – emerged in late 1960s, Alaska (1971) Friends of the Earth founded (1971)

Views of bioenvironmentalists and social greens emerging onto global agenda

The Stockholm Conference
UN Conference on the Human Environment (1972)
First world conference on a single issue Organizer Maurice Strong Theme: Only One Earth Cold War backdrop to conference

South calls for global economic reforms
“pollution of poverty”

Stockholm outcomes:
Declaration on the Human Environment United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Recognition of need for global cooperation

1970s After Stockholm
Despite economic turbulence in 1970s, states still negotiated global env treaties Increase in the number of local environmental movements, particularly in non-Western countries Founding of Worldwatch Institute (1975) Discourse on environment continues to evolve:
Whales: targets to glorious animals Swamps to wetlands Limitless planet to finite planet

The 1980s
Foreign debt crisis
Clash: neoliberal economic prescriptions in the North vs. increasing poverty and debt in the South

Policy shift in 1980s to reflect neoliberal economic thought
Structural Adjustment

Env Concern also rises
NGO campaigns, emerging problems like ozone Accidents: Union Carbide cyanide gas leak in Bhopal (1984); Chernobyl nuclear accident (1986); Exxon Valdez oil spill (1989)

Further global environmental treaties
1989 Basel Convention on the Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Waste and their Disposal

1987 Brundtland Commission
Formal name: World Commission on Environment and Development
Chair, Gro Harlem Brundtland, former PM Norway Produced Our Common Future (Brundtland Report) The Brundtland Report changed the discourse of global environmentalism

“Sustainable Development”
“meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

The 1992 Earth Summit
UN Conference on the Environment and Development (UNCED)—1992
Known as Earth Summit and Rio Summit (held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) Over 100 leaders attended; put environment at top of global agenda; largest UN conference to date Brundtland report dominated discussions

A main issue of debate:
Financial transfers for sustainable development
• split along North-South lines

The 1992 Earth Summit
Put environment and development on the agendas of global leaders Reaffirmed the Brundtland view Countries adopted the Rio Declaration
27 principles (non-binding) to guide gov’ts

Also adopted Agenda 21
non-binding plan of action (800 pages) for implementing Rio Declaration

Opened two legally binding conventions for signature:
UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Convention on Biological Diversity

Established UN Commission on Sustainable Development to monitor/evaluate the progress

The Earth Summit and the 1990s
Critique of the Rio Earth Summit:
Cost of implementing Agenda 21 Skepticism of NGO’s “Managerial” approach

Success of Rio Earth Summit:
Increase in environmental awareness among the general public in both the North and South

Earth Summit +5
The world had not met most of the Agenda 21 goals Lack of new enthusiasm

2000 and Beyond
Economic inequalities continued to grow after Rio Earth Summit Reaction: Global coalition of nongovernmental forces emerged in the late 1990s to oppose globalization Anti-globalization sentiment in the background during the preparations for the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD)
Johannesburg, South Africa Rio +10

Johannesburg Summit
Goals
Evaluate and accelerate progress of Rio Set concrete targets

Outcomes
Produced Johannesburg Declaration on Sustainable Development
• Bit different from previous global declarations on environment and development
– Economic inequality was recognized as a major problem in terms of global security – Globalization was mentioned as a new challenge for achieving sustainable development

Public-private agreements between governments, NGOs and business