Events convened on Wednesday, 29 May 2002

GREEN CALL: Global Results for the Environment through Community Action at the Local Level
Presented by the Yayasan Bina Usaha Lingkungan (YBUL), the Global Environment Facility's (GEF) Small Grants Programme (SGP), and the Ford Foundation 
 

This event featured videos showcasing success stories of SGP projects in the field, followed by presentations to share lessons learned from organizations working in community-based projects.

John Ohiorhenuan, UN System South Africa, stresses that communities are the driving force of sustainable development.

Yani Witjaksono, YBUL, highlighted the SGP's support for more than 100 projects in Indonesia, and expressed hope for increased collaboration with other funding agencies to support these projects.

Hutton Archer, on behalf of Mohamed El-Ashry, CEO of the GEF, highlighted the SGP as an excellent and replicable success story in the GEF portfolio, and affirmed the GEF's commitment to continue its support for the SGP.

John Ohiorhenuan, UN System South Africa, explained that the SGP channels small grants directly to grassroots communities and NGOs to support sustainable development on the front line, with 3,000 projects in 63 countries.

Nabiel Makarim, State Minister of Environment of Indonesia, expresses his hope for the implementation of more projects that resemble those supported by the SGP in Indonesia and worldwide.

Nabiel Makarim, State Minister of Environment of Indonesia, highlighted the SGP's valuable contributions to sustainable livelihoods in Indonesia. He noted that with decentralization in Indonesia, small funding mechanisms have gained recognition in contributing to grassroots projects by, inter alia: encouraging collaboration between communities and government; recognizing NGOs and community organizers as instrumental in rural development; and promoting democracy, accountability and transparency.

Avi Mahaningtyas, SGP Indonesia, highlighted lessons learned from community action in Indonesia, including the importance of: respect for community members as resource owners; transparency in supporting indigenous communities and local initiatives; and indigenous peoples' participation in policy making. She emphasized the need for capacity building, development of local economic models, access to information and decision-making processes, and policy dialogue.

Prema Gopalan, Swayam Shikshan Prayog (SSP), highlighted SSP's partnerships with grassroots women's groups in India to build capacity for women's participation in water management. She stressed the need to scale up the partnership approach to ensure that successes do not remain isolated instances.

Left to right: Mohamed El Banna, SGP Egypt; Avi Mahaningtyas, SGP Indonesia; Effendy Sumardja, Indonesian State Ministry of Environment; and Delfin Ganapin, Philippines National Council for Sustainable Development.

Mohamed El Banna, SGP Egypt, highlighted the SGP's success in empowering NGOs and building their capacity. He said NGOs' involvement in decision making has made them key partners with governments, the private sector and others, and has enabled them to become real drivers of sustainable development.

Delfin Ganapin, Philippines National Council for Sustainable Development, emphasized that participation of grassroots organizations in policy making is crucial for good governance. Noting that NGOs have the potential to accomplish more than national agencies, he stressed the need for massive capacity development, and for a shift from centralized governance to local empowerment.

Discussion: Participants highlighted, inter alia: the crucial role of volunteers; the benefits of local initiatives in many countries; the agility and country-driven nature of the SGP as keys to its success; the need to ensure gender assessment in the SGP; and the importance of partnerships between governments and local initiatives. Participants underscored the need to ensure that UNDP's Capacity 21 and the SGP are strengthened in PrepCom IV's final text, as they are crucial country-driven tools for action to achieve sustainable development.

More information: http://www.undp.org/sgp

Contact: Yani Witjaksono <witjak@indo.net.id> Hutton Archer <harcher@worldbank.org> John Ohiorhenuan <john.ohiorhenuan@undp.org> Avi Mahaningtyas <avi@indo.net.id> Prema Gopalan <ssp@vsnl.com> Mohamed El Banna <mbanna@starnet.com.eg> Delfin Ganapin <djg@psdn.org.ph>

Jose Andres Canivel, Environmental Legal Assistance Center, highlights legal assistance as an essential element of support for community-based forest management.

Jose Andres Canivel, Environmental Legal Assistance Center, presented a case study of community management of forest lands in the Philippines. He highlighted factors in its success, including: appreciation of the value of the resource; community capacity building; knowledge of legal rights and responsibilities; the community's initiative and resourcefulness; and the availability of legal assistance, including through community paralegals.

Ashok Babu, India, described a Joint Forest Management Programme in Orissa, India. He explained how this self-initiated community forest management programme, based on scientific rules and regulations, helped to create self-sustained and dynamic community institutions, improve livelihoods, and revive forests.

Arif Aliadi, Indonesian Tropical Institute, presented lessons learned from forest governance based on multi-stakeholder dialogue in West Java. He said that communities' rights are often neglected, and stressed the need for, inter alia: a balance of power among communities, local governments and private concessionaries; transparency and dialogue; and clarity of rights and responsibilities.

Sith Ying Sanchez, Coordinating Association of Peasant and Indigenous Communal Agroforestry (ACICAFOC), presented a case study of the world's largest community-managed forest certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. She said that community forest management resulted in poverty reduction, the generation of approximately 40,000 jobs, and a reduction in social conflicts. She proposed the formation of an umbrella certification mechanism for community forest management.

Yvan Biot, DFID, said that successful self-initiated efforts for community-based forest management are challenging the myth that the poor degrade their environment, and stressed the need to provide communities with opportunities to use and manage their resources and environment. He also stressed, inter alia: the importance of joint forest management, capacity building in legal systems, and multi-stakeholder dialogue.
 

More information: http://www.i-mailbox.net/elac http://www.latin.or.id http://www.acicafoc.org http://www.dfid.or.id http://www.cifor.cgiar.org

Contact: Jose Andres Canivel <jcanivel@mozcom.com> Ashok Babu <vasundharanr@satyam.net.in> Arif Aliadi <aaliadi@latin.or.id> Sith Ying Sanchez <riomas10@acicafoc.org> Yvan Biot <forfield@dfid.or.id>

Jonathan Margolis, US Department of State, introduced this event on US involvement in Type II outcomes and focal areas for partnership arrangements.

Jan McAlpine, US Department of State, highlights the Collaborative Partnership on Forests as a "virtual body" that brings together international organizations and actors on forest issues.

Adela Backiel, US Department of Agriculture, highlighted opportunities for partnerships through PrepCom IV and the ensuing World Food Summit+5. She noted opportunities for agricultural partnerships focusing on market-based approaches, the role of women in agriculture, community issues, and land, water and soil degradation.

Jan McAlpine, US Department of State, discussed partnership opportunities in the area of forests. She highlighted the Collaborative Partnership on Forests, and US partnership arrangements in the Congo Basin and the Amazon, and emphasized illegal logging as a priority area for action.

Griff Thompson, US Agency for International Development (USAID), lauded the "groundswell of recognition" since UNCED of the importance of energy, and highlighted the Global Village Energy Partnership as a key Type II initiative.

John Borrazzo, USAID, said that partnerships have always been central to health-related activities, and noted that the US is well positioned to take a leadership role in this area, in part as a result of new funding available both bilaterally and through international partnerships such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

Aaron Salzberg, US Department of State, underscored the strong connection between water and health issues, and highlighted the priority of access to safe drinking water and sanitation.

Discussion: Participants raised questions regarding, inter alia: water privatization; the Global Development Alliance; genetically modified organisms; options for the provision of modern energy services; legal arrangements in partnerships; a framework for coordinating Type II initiatives; UN mainstreaming of partnerships; and good governance.
 

More information: http://www.usaid.gov

Contact: Adela Backiel <adela.backiel@usda.gov> Jan McAlpine <mcalpinejl@state.gov> Griff Thompson <gthompson@usaid.gov> John Borrazzo <jborrazzo@usaid.gov> Aaron Salzberg <salzbergaa@state.gov>

Viv Davis, RING Alliance, stresses the need for research partnerships, which will require new approaches to agenda setting, research processes, communication, and engagement with key stakeholders.

Viv Davis, RING Alliance, described the RING as a global alliance of policy research organizations that seeks to promote sustainable development through South-South and South-North collaborative research. He outlined RING's Research Partnerships for Sustainable Development project, which aims to: identify priority research needs for improving global environmental governance; assess the drivers of knowledge production for sustainable development; share lessons on methods and capacities for research, communication and engagement; and improve links between research institutions for learning and coordination.

Barry Dalal-Clayton, International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), outlined work being undertaken to assist countries in developing national sustainable development strategies. He noted that a detailed resource book on sustainable development strategies, which outlines methodologies and analytical processes, will be launched at the WSSD.

Rubens Born, Vitae Civilis, described case studies being undertaken by his organization to identify criteria for the introduction into Brazilian policy of economic instruments to enable payment for environmental services.

Adil Najam, Sustainable Development Policy Institute, presented a Southern perspective for rethinking sustainable development research. He outlined Southern frustrations with the last ten years of global environmental negotiations, including the unfulfilled promises of additionality, common but differentiated responsibility, and the polluter pays principle, as well as the proliferation of negotiations and negotiation fatigue. He said challenges for the South include the need to: define a proactive agenda for sustainable development; clean up their own act; expand the fora for pursuing agendas beyond MEAs; forge alliances and influence people, particularly civil society in the South; redefine power; and organize itself. He stressed that the new Southern agenda will need to come from the South, and tackle new issues and forge new partnerships.

Discussion: In the ensuing discussion, participants debated the existence of "a Southern agenda," given the multitude of Southern countries and concerns, and underscored the need for research on how to build capacity for research.

More information: http://www.iied.org http://www.sdpi.org http://www.vitaecivilis.org.br

Contact: Viv Davis <ring@iied.org> Barry Dalal-Clayton <barry.dalal-clayton@iied.org> Rubens Born <rborn@vitaecivilis.org.br> Adil Najam <anajam@bu.edu>

Mike Muller, WaterDome Organizing Committee, outlines topics for the Water and Globalization discussion, including water and trade, the role of the private sector, corruption in water services, and the potential for international organizations to address water issues.

 

This event presented the WaterDome, a venue at the WSSD that will be devoted entirely to water issues.

Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands emphasized that managing water resources is critical to sustainable development, stressing that water must be made "everybody's business."

Mike Muller, WaterDome Organizing Committee, highlighted the growing prominence of water issues in the WSSD process, and described how the International Water Management Institute and the African Water Task Force have worked to put water on the WSSD agenda.

Muller described the WaterDome venue, which will house an African Water Village, small and large presentation spaces, a stage, conference rooms, and a media center. He said events to be held there include daily presentations on water-related subjects, entertainment and exhibitions, as well as major announcements and launches. Muller also described NGO participation at the WaterDome, which is being organized by the Freshwater Action Network and WaterAid.

 

 

More information: http://www.waterdome.net

Contact: Mike Muller <mikemuller@dwaf.gov.za> Doug Merrey <merrey@waterdome.net> ngo@waterdome.net

Sander van Bennekom, ANPED, highlights political resistance to financial reforms as a major obstacle to achieving progress in international negotiations on sustainable production and consumption.

Jeffrey Barber, ANPED, presented a report on civil society assessment of progress toward sustainable production and consumption, which, inter alia, highlights the key role of NGOs in overcoming obstacles to sustainable consumption, such as: lack of awareness, information, understanding and acknowledgement of the driving forces of consumption; promotion of consumerism by marketing and the mass media; inadequate corporate accountability; political resistance to developing national policy frameworks; and lack of cooperation between governments and NGOs.

Bjarne Pedersen, Consumer International, recommended that the WSSD: express strong political will to strengthen the implementation of sustainable production and consumption policies in a transparent and participatory way; create a ten-year work programme with time-bound goals and targets and monitoring to improve understanding and implementation of integrated sustainable production and consumption policies; and highlight sustainable consumption and production patterns as the key to poverty eradication.

Sander van Bennekom, ANPED, described the negative impacts of economic and fiscal policies on sustainable production and consumption. He stressed the need for: a fundamental change in the economic regime; linkages between research on financial instruments and political processes; and transparency in government subsidies and export credit policies.

Arjun Dutta, Consumer Unity and Trust Society, emphasized that advertising remains a driving force for unsustainable production and consumption, and stressed the need for, inter alia: legislation to regulate advertising; promotion and aggressive marketing of independently verified ecolabels rather than self-declared claims; promotion of environmentally friendly products; environmentally sensitive taxation; funding for research and advertising campaigns promoting sustainable production and consumption; independent review and verification of self-regulated advertisers' codes of conduct; innovative awareness and education campaigns; and promotion of traditional values.

Simone Lovera, Global Forest Coalition, highlighted the lack of attention to issues of sustainable consumption in forest-related debates, which she attributed to the fact that international negotiations on forests are dominated by the self-regulated forest industry, and called for institutional change and independent regulation.
 

More information: http://www.anped.org http://www.consumerinternational.org/odte http://www.cuts-india.org http://www.cuts.org http://www.foei.org

Contact: Jeffrey Barber <jbarber@igc.org> Bjanre Pedersen <bpedersen@consint.org> Sander van Bennekom <svbennekom@anped.org> Ajun Dutta <cutscal@vsnl.com> Simone Lovera <forest@foei.org>

The Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) on the side is a special publication of the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The Editor of ENB on the side is Kira Schmidt kira@iisd.org.This issue has been written by Tamilla Held tamilla@iisd.org, Jenny Mandel jenny@iisd.org and Kira Schmidt kira@iisd.org. The Digital Editors are Andrei Henry andrei@iisd.org, Leila Mead leila@iisd.org, and Diego Noguera diego@iisd.org. Funding for publication of ENB on the Side at PC-IV is provided by UNDP. The opinions expressed in ENB on the Side are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of IISD and funders. Excerpts from ENB on the Side may be used in non-commercial publications only and only with appropriate academic citation. For permission to use this material in commercial publications, contact the Managing Editor at kimo@iisd.org. Electronic versions of issues of ENB on the Side from WSSD PC-IV can be found on the Linkages website at http://www.iisd.ca/linkages/2002/pc4/enbots/.

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