Wish List for WSSD, by Ron Mader

Wish List for the World Summit on Sustainable Development, by Ron Mader

Created as a sequel of sorts to the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (August 24-September 4, Johannesburg, South Africa) has begun by ignoring the fact that many, if not most, of the promises made more than a decade ago have not been delivered.

Defining Our Objective
Although we have definitions galore for what constitutes sustainable development, we rarely see these concepts in practice. Instead, implementation tends toward economic growth at all costs. Rarely do we discuss how to measure and improve “quality of life.”

The event’s focus on national governments and A-list environmental groups continues a 30 year trend of isolating environmental issues from the public. Insiders are calling the event “WSSD” — does this acronym ring clear to your neighbors? Probably not.

While organizers discuss inclusivity of the Summit and participation of “civil society” I would ask, again, what do those terms mean outside of policy think tanks?

Closed door meetings and closely guarded information generate a perception of “trickle down sustainability” that is sheer fantasy and a major disappointment over the past three decades.

Can development be sustainable? Here’s what Leonardo Boff says in his book Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor:

“For centuries all societies in the world have been held hostage to a myth, the myth of progress and uninterrupted and unlimited growth. Countries must show higher rates of production of goods and services every year… All productive forces have been harnessed to draw from the Earth all that it can provide. It has been subjected to a true Procrustean bed… Can the term sustainability be applied to the kind of modern development and growth whose logic is based on plundering Earth and exploiting the labor force?”

Improving Communications
For those of us with low expectations for the World Summit on Sustainable Development, we have only ourselves to blame.

For the past thirty years public attention to environmental issues has waxed and waned. There seems to be no middle ground in environmental reporting — coverage tends to be sensationalistic or non-existent. As media consumers, we need to be more discerning, more demanding. As responsible reporters and publishers, we need to take this opportunity to review our own work in light of the question, Just how “green” are the media?

All too often, our environmental coverage is limited to Lifestyle features. Can we not step up efforts to cover the green angle in Business and Tourism sections, with meaningful topics that capture reader interest and motivate involvement?

Last year Planeta.com hosted an online conference titled Media, the Environment and Tourism. More than 160 journalists participated from around the globe. As the result of the virtual gathering, several initiatives have begun that strengthen the networks of those covering ecotourism.

This year (2002, the International Year of Ecotourism), I was invited by the United Nations Environmental Programme and the World Tourism Organization to develop an online conference as a preparatory event for the World Ecotourism Summit. Nearly 1,000 people participated and the summary was posted online in record time for public review. The online conference proved to be a terrific success, providing an alternate means of participation for stakeholders who could not physically attend the meetings.

Do we foresee similar electronic venues being used during the World Summit on Sustainable Development? Planeta.com is preparing a list of related news stories and a resource index that will be updated during the coming week.

Wish List
Looking beyond the Summit to actions that would move Sustainable Development from goal to reality, here’s a personal wish list:

1) By our actions, we start making this decade (the Naughts or 00s) THE TIME for alliances and support for local environmental work. We also need to be creative and coordinate resources — this requires improved communication.

2) Environmental departments, groups, development agencies and foundations begin acting to improve the usefulness of information online their websites ASAP… We need to know what is being funded, what will be funded, what works and what lessons have already been learned.

3) The media start taking a serious look at how to improve environmental reporting. This does not mean holding more conferences or offering one-year fellowships! There are many talented reporters covering the field while the editorial market for their efforts continues to shrink. If we want to know how effective a conservation strategy is, or where funds might best be applied, we need to support journalistic coverage enthusiastically and financially.

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Author and journalist Ron Mader lives in Mexico and hosts Planeta.com. He is the author of the ‘Mexico: Adventures in Nature’ guidebook and the ‘Exploring Ecotourism’ resource guide. Ron presents workshops throughout the Americas.

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