Wolfgang Sachs

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Wolfgang Sachs

• Fairness in a Fragile World

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FAIRNESS AND EQUITY IN A FRAGILE WORLD --- THE
Johannesburg Memo SACHS, P.31

• The Rio Earth Summit sought to balance a dilemma
• Northern desires to restrict development and
  protect the environment that increased poverty
  and
• Southern desires to spur development, increasing
  destruction of nature.

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Johannesburg 2

• Failure to achieve balance left pent up
  development pressure that overwhelmed the next
  summit.
• Raised challenge of how to address equity without
  destroying the environment.
• Need to address envy, catching up, dignity
  and modeling

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Reduce Footprints of the Rich

• Justice requires preserving nature which requires
  curtailing consumption of rich
• 20 consume 70-80, consume 45 meat and fish,
  68 electricity, 84 paper and own 87 of cars
• OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
  Development) 75-85 over average ecological
  footprint
• Wealtiest 25 occupy earth equivalent ecological
  footprint
• Globalized rich dominate localized 33 poor

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Livelihood rights

• Development cures poverty vs. empower poor to
  thrive
• Export led displacement from land, joblessness,
  poverty, forced urbanization
• Sustainable livelihoods vs. expanding consumption
  of rich and corporate profit
• Myths
• poor cause environmental destruction,
• economic growth removes poverty,
• Economic growth eliminates poverty and
  environmental destruction.

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Regenerative Economy

• Spoiled nature (scarcity), rather than no money,
  is now the primary cause of poverty. Increase
  Gross Nature Product not GNP. Preserve
  biodiversity.
• Lay off wasted kilowatts not people
• Use local knowledge---social capital
• Renewable energy shortens supply chains and keeps
  income and jobs local.

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Role of Women

• Manage household, provide food, carry local
  knowledge, cultural memory and skills for
  survival
• Seed saving

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Relationship to Nature

• Interconnections of people, plants and animals
• Contamination from chemicals
• Poor health from soil degradation, water problems
• Ecological agriculture cheaper, preserve soil,
  spiritual connection, stable livelihoods and
  relationships vs monoculture
• Restoration and water security

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ENERGY

• Assume development means growth, growth means
  rising use of energy, which requires rising
  energy supplies.
• Poor left to use dung and other non-commercial
  energy sources
• Turn to advantage if use renewables and local
  building materials
• 4 steps to energy transition
• Conservation,
• end fossil fuels and nuclear,
• redesign systems for efficiency,
• change lifestyle

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CITIES

• More than 1/3 population heading to ½
• 13 lack safe drinking water
• A quarter lack sanitation and garbage disposal
• Overcrowding and disease
• Air pollution
• Unpotable water
• Mudslides and floods, etc.
• Environmental injustices

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Wealth-Poverty Connection

• Cannot eradicate poverty without reforming wealth
• Wealth in North must drop 80-90 in 50 years
• South must be dissuaded from catch up
• Wealth does not need to be redistributed but
  restrained
• Biomimicry, living systems, shift from products
  to services

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2 Globalizations

• Corporate Globalization homogenizes world and
  allows unfettered competition and wealth
• Democratic Globalization based on flourishing
  plurality of cultures
• Model of leapfrogging into post-fossil age
  underdevelopment is a blessing
• South can Leapfrog to solar economy!