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Society, Religion and Technology Project Church of Scotland Looking at the ethics of technology for a New Millennium

Things are not looking good for the World Summit on Sustainable Development. Today the Prime Minister and the other Heads of States are making their formal national statements. It all sounds fine and visionary. The reality behind it is often rather different. After a week of negotiations, the delegations failed to resolve the disputed areas of the text of the plan of implementation. The pressures of the different groupings of nations and their agendas have turned issues into pawns in a chess game. Major issues of environment, poverty and justice confronting the global community are reduced to mere commodities of horse trading. Under US and OPEC pressure, even as I write, at ministerial discussions the EU seems in the process of giving up its major targets for implementing renewable energy in exchange for a target on sanitation measures that some regard as largely meaningless. In particular, the principalities and powers of the US energy lobby and the major oil producing countries have cast a long shadow over the crucial area of energy. Such is the state of affairs in global governance.

What should have been the platform from which governments, business and civil society would plan for the future direction for long term sustainable development has become subject to the immediate interests of the most powerful lobbies. While the final text is still awaited, the prospect is that it will drop any mention of the Precautionary Principle agreed in Rio in 1992, that despite Mr Blair’s speech, there will be no commitment to early ratification of the Kyoto protocol on climate change, no targets for global uptake of renewable energy, and no commitment to phase out harmful subsidies on fossil fuels. In all, this is a depressing picture. A few crumbs may be salvaged at the last minute, but it is certainly not the landmark recommitment of the world's national political leaders to sustainable development, despite all today's fine speeches.

Indeed, the World Summit presents a huge irony. While so much has been given away at the level of government negotiations, there are so many evidences of major developments about sustainable development at all levels - in public, private and voluntary sectors. All around us at the many Johannesburg venues are innumerable exhibits, conferences and presentations that show clear signs that all over the world initiatives are happening that put into practice the very goals so many of our leaders seem unable to agree to. This morning, while global renewables targets of a mere 2% were being debated in negotiations, Scottish First Minister Jack McConnell confirmed his commitment to 40% renewables target for Scotland by 2020 and to turning round Scotland’s poor record on waste recycling. He was speaking in a session on environmental justice with community groups from South Africa and the USA who showed the difference civil society can make in combating pollution and renewing brownfield sites. There are initiatives on corporate social engagement with their communities, and much else besides. It is civil society that is putting the practice of global governance to shame. In the end power, may still be rooted in the people.

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