Global Environment Facility
Human and Sustainable Development
in the Global South
by
Mohamed T. El-Ashry
Chief Executive Officer and Chairman
Global Environment Facility
Conference on “The State of Human Development in the Global South”
American University, Center for the Global South
Washington, DC
April 8, 2003
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It is a pleasure for me to participate in this discussion convened by the Center for
the Global South and the American University on such a timely topic that is of great
importance to sustainable development in the Global South. I want to commend Clovis
Maksoud for choosing “Human Development in the Global South” as the theme for this
gathering when the news media are reporting non-stop on the destruction of human
resources, institutions and civil society.
Human development, according to the UNDP, which happened to be one of
GEF’s implementing agencies, “is about much more than the rise or fall of national
incomes. It is about creating an environment in which people can develop their full
potential and lead productive, creative lives in accord with their needs and interests.
People are the real wealth of nations.”
Despite some progress over the last three decades, the state of human
development remains at an unacceptable level. Almost 3 billion people live on less than
$2 a day, one billion lack access to clean water, and more than two billion lack access to
basic sanitation.
The poor in the Global South are also the most vulnerable to environmental
degradation. They depend on natural resources – soil, water, fisheries, forests – to
provide their sustenance, and they suffer disproportionately from poor environmental
conditions.
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More than 65% of the world’s poor are dependent on resource-based livelihoods,
of which three-fourth are in food production and in fragile areas – steep hillsides, forest
margins, and coastlines. In his Millennium Report, the Secretary General of the U.N.
highlighted the urgent need to secure the freedom of future generations to sustain their
lives on this planet. He argued that “we have been blundering our children’s heritage to
pay for unsustainable practices.”
Clearly, it makes little sense to lift people out of poverty today to have their
children or grandchildren sink back into it tomorrow. A successful strategy for global
poverty and human development must take in consideration the serious degradation of the
environment and natural resources that underpin the lives and livelihoods of the world’s
poor and of future generations.
The much respected former President Nelson Mandela, in his usual eloquent and
wise way, gave the world a message, in December 2000, that should guide our own
vision of hope. In his words:
“Political freedom is still not enough if you lack clean water. Freedom alone is
not enough without light to read at night, without time or access to water to
irrigate your farm, without the ability to catch fish to feed your family. For this
reason, the struggle for sustainable development nearly equals the struggle for
political freedom. They can grow together, or they can unravel each other.”
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The conventional wisdom that development policies promote growth in human
and economic development while environmental policies restrict it must give way to the
understanding and acceptance of the complementarity between environment and
development. The Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 heralded the recognition that
economic development must not only be economically and financially viable, but also
socially acceptable and environmentally sound.
With a backdrop of little progress on both the development and environment
fronts since Rio, world leaders met once again in Johannesburg last September and
reaffirmed the commitment of the international community to sustainable development.
It remains to be seen whether this decade will be any different from the preceding one.
Pursuing a more sustainable global future in this millennium is less a matter of
cost than of conscience, commitment, and cooperation among all. Humanity, greater in
number and more economically active with each passing day, is increasingly playing
havoc with Earth’s natural systems. Our actions are giving rise to a multitude of critical
threats: the degradation of soils, water and the marine resources essential to food
production; health-endangering air and water pollution; global climate change that is
likely to disrupt weather patterns and raise sea levels everywhere; and the loss of habitats,
species and genetic resources which is damaging both ecosystems and the services they
provide.
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The challenges seem daunting: Africa, for example, is the only region of the
world where poverty is projected to rise during this century if adequate measures are not
put in place now to address pervasive land degradation and water scarcity problems.
Worldwide, 840 million people do not have enough to eat. Children are hit especially
hard. Every year, twenty percent of the children in poor countries die before they reach
the age of five. Differences among regions and between rich and poor are an important
subplot to this story.
While forests provide both economic values and environmental goods and
services, about 15.2 million hectares of forests disappear in the tropics every year. In
Latin America, deforestation rate is one of the highest in the world. More than 37 million
hectares were deforested between 1990 and 2000 – almost half of it was conversion to
large scale agriculture.
The Arab Region, on the other hand, faces unique development and
environmental challenges. Problems are dictated by the region’s geography and arid and
semi-arid climate. The major environmental issues revolve around water scarcity, both
quantity and quality, urbanization, and the concentration of polluting industries around
major urban centers.
On the development side, according to the World Bank, almost 30% of the
region’s population are living on less than $2 a day. Low-income countries have
alarming levels of infant and maternal mortality and illiteracy. In middle- and high-
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income countries, on the other hand, health, education, and social protection systems
have not targeted vulnerable populations and have not ensured equity, quality, and
efficiency in the provision of services.
And the outlook is not very favorable because of high population growth rates,
regional instability, limited political empowerment, weak governance, and lack of civil
society involvement in decision-making. Population growth puts pressure on the demand
for social services and on natural resources, while security concerns and political
instability, exacerbated by the war on Iraq, will divert public resources away from
development and discourage foreign investment.
The repercussions of the war notwithstanding, many of the critical environment
and development issues facing the Arab Region also face many developing countries
around the world, including Latin America.
Then, there is the widening gap between rich and poor countries. The average
income in the richest 20 countries is already 37 times that in the poorest 20 countries and
the gap have doubled in the past 40 years. But the inequality is not just between
countries, it is also within countries – developed and developing. Witness the situation in
many large cities in the developing world, where unemployment and deprivation are
occurring on a large scale, side by side great affluence. We need to have development
that is socially sustainable as well so that peace and security may be enjoyed by all
citizens.
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One question we must ask ourselves is this: in the face of 90 million people being
added to our global village each year, how can we ensure human and sustainable
development? What will it take to protect our biological heritage, avoid devastation from
climate change, sustain the soil and water that give us life, protect human health, and
reduce the scourge of poverty and hunger? How do we summon and perpetuate the
necessary political will?
First, developing human resources is one important answer. Developing human
resources is an important social goal in its own right and is a necessary ingredient for
long term sustainability. Without complementary progress in human development, policy
and institutional reforms to improve economic efficiency will not yield sustainable
results.
Special attention is needed for addressing comprehensively women’s
empowerment and youth development needs. Today 1.7 billion people at least half are
women, are between the ages of 10 and 24. 86% of them live in less developed countries,
and many of them are growing up with less opportunities to education, health, and gainful
employment than was the case 50 years ago.
Second, central to achieving sustainable development is the build-up of technical
and institutional capacity for analyzing, applying and adapting successful solutions and
technologies. The underlying problems and potential solutions for socially and
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environmentally sustainable development are complex. We need a stronger involvement
of the science and technology community in the social and political processes that are
shaping the global sustainability agenda. Simply put, “the transition towards sustainable
development is inconceivable without science.”
Unfortunately, disparities between countries of the North and South in the
generation of scientific information and its use make it difficult for the South to
participate fully in actions for global sustainability. Developed countries representing
20% of humanity have more than 90% of the world’s share of scientific publications and
more than 90% of R&D expenditures.
Third, capacity building is another important answer. Capacity building is a longterm and dynamic process. A fundamental goal of capacity building is “to enhance the
ability to evaluate and address the crucial questions related to policy choices and modes
of implementation among development options, based on an understanding of …..needs
as perceived by the people of the country concerned.” It is a knowledge intensive process
requiring the continuous upgrading of skills, organizational capabilities, policies and
laws.
Building the capacity for sustainable development of the South can also be
achieved through South-South cooperation and networking. This has been one of the
major objectives of the Center for the Global South since its inception under the able
leadership of Clovis Maksoud. South-South cooperation is critical to enable developing
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countries to learn and draw lessons from successful efforts of other developing countries
and regions.
When the dust from military conflict and the threat of terrorism ultimately settles
(hopefully sooner than later), there is reason for optimism in addressing the pressing
challenges of sustainable development. In many ways, we have entered one of the most
creative phases in human history, where science, technology, and communications
advance at breathtaking speed and offer unmatched opportunities for political consensus
and responsible change. We have new tools at our disposal, and a vastly increased
understanding that our strength lies in working together to overcome the threats facing
our planet and its people. The actions we take and the investments we make in the
coming decade will determine both our evolution and that of future generations.
It is time to break away from the obsolete images of today’s world. That world
should no longer exist. “Now is the rare moment, a clearing horizon of historic
opportunity, for all nations to promote peace, liberty, and global prosperity through
partnerships.”
These words are from the conclusion of the December, 1992 report of the
Carnegie Commission on Science, Technology, and Government. They are as valid
today as they were 10 years ago.
Thank you.