CEE Oct-Dec 2002

I SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT WILL IT OPEN VP Sl ST AINAllLE OPPORTl lNITIES? J> .Yo:.:rujon, !~men tits Pn!fessor ol Lcnnulllics. ( ·ni1•ersil\' <d' Prince Edmmll.\lcmd. Cwudu. In 19 7'2. an epoch-maktng '-'tockholm Conference on the !Iuman Environment aimed at tackling the th r ct~ t s to the env ironment posed by the blind pursuit or market-led economic growth. In the years that lollowed the Stock holm Conl'erence, a ne vv paradigm emerged to reconcile the nppnrcnt conflicting views on human environment and economic gr owth. In 198 7. th e Wo rl d Commission l)n Envi ronment and J)evc lopment (WCED) espoused the idea or sustainable development in its repott. Our Common Future. ,,·idcly known as the Brundtland l~ c port. It defined sustai nable dc1 elopment as the "development th :n meet s the needs of present without comp,otnising the ability of the future gem:r:ttions to meet their own need s··. Inter-generatio nal equity shou ld ente r the eq uation in economi c pol icy deci sions. Many environmental cri ses are the result or both poverty in the developing world and excessive resource usc and consumpti on in the developed 1vorld and environmenta l protection arc interrelated problems. and we must address them simultaneously. l ri fa c t. thc i nflu c nt iaI 8 runcltbncl Report paved the "ay for the Rio de .Janeiro Conference on Environment and Development in 1992. popularly known as the Rio larth Summit. It produced the landmark blueprints for the world commun ity joint!) to redress the environmental destruction, poverty and frightening inequalit ). The concept or sustainable development gained currency and entered the lexicons of governments and interi1ational agencit>s. Agenda 21 of the Rio Summ it outli ned the action plan for the developing and developed countries to get on to the path of sustainable development. Environmenta l protection, economic development and social developmen t are the crux of sustainable development that must go hand-in-hand. However, the quest for sustainable development continues, w ith the upcomi ng World Summit in .J ohannesburg. the I 0'" anniversary of the Rio Earth Summit. from A ugust 26 to September 4. · What we need IS so lid commitments and concrete acti ons !'rom the developed world to move toward the pat h of sustainable development. As UN Secretary Genera l Kofi Annan forceful ly state'S. "The North has led the world in a hi ghly seduct i ve but env ironment aII y-u nsustainable development model. Only the North can now lead the worl d out of it''. It is worth emphasising that in a recent repo rt, ·'Exp loring Sust ainable Development: Global Scenarios 2000-2050"' , the World Business Council on Sustainab le Development observes that "Giobalisation and liberalisation of markets alone with the pressures of rapid urbanisation have raised the degree of social inequity and unrest 10 a leve l that threaten s basic survival or bo th human and environmental ecosystems"'. Pe r haps, our most urgent chall enge today is to persuade nati ons and institutions to slow the speed or economic globali s:Jtion. and g raduall y change the development path that \·vould be 70 con sistent wit h sustainable de velopment. Realising that g lobal isa li on-led g rowth i s incompatible with sustainable development is the fi rst step toward formulating an appropriate pol icy– mix lor the developing world. Finally , the li! 0 cstyles and standard of li ving of the developed worl d, if enjoyed by everyone in this plane\. is ecologically unsusta inabIe. Recently. the US President. Mr George W. !3ush, Said: "A world where some live in comfort and plenty, while hair the human race lives on less than $2 a day. is neither just nor stable." Perhaps, now it is the right time. the right place, ;md the right environment to declare a "War on Global Po ve rt v and Eco log ical Degradation" at thl! Johannesburg World Summit. The deve loped wor ld has all the resource s at their command to undertake this task. for the sake or tile present and future generation~. Last year, the military expenditure or countries was c lose to $900 bill ion. A fraction ofthisamount would be sufficient to wage a global war on poverty. A re we read y and willing to do it? Courtesy: The Business Standard, 2-1 Aug02. P 8 HONING TilE STRATEG' JCR Research In late August, ICR conducted an exclusive interv iew with Markus Akermann, the recently appointed CEO of the wo rl dwide Holcim Group, at his office in Zurich. ICR' s aim. to explore recent corporate and market developments, as well as to gain some useful in sight s into Holcirn· s strategic perspecti ves. I n developing ou r g lobal position, we are now \·vorking hard