Volume 1
Global climate change and sustainable development : third report of Session 2001-02 / International Development Committee.
- Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. International Development Committee
- Date:
- 2002
Licence: Open Government Licence
Credit: Global climate change and sustainable development : third report of Session 2001-02 / International Development Committee. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![benefits. In designing any scheme to share emissions rights or allocate emissions targets it is important to remember that the international community has a poor track record when it comes to dividing global commons, like oceans or the atmosphere, equitably. World Summit on Sustainable Development 86. Many see the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) as the last chance to push for ratification of the Kyoto Protocol. Though this would be an important milestone to celebrate, it would leave many concerns of developing countries unresolved. Climate change will not be a core agenda item at WSSD. Instead the focus is likely to be on other areas that have seen little progress. DEFRA said that WSSD was expected to focus on the gaps in implementing the Agenda 21 programme, with a focus on the implementation of sustainable development.” However, some groups have expressed concern that the international community should not assume climate change has been adequately dealt with. They would like to see WSSD at least give impetus to a review of the adequacy of the climate change convention. 87. WSSD is attempting (pushed by developing countries) to give social and economic issues a higher profile. Clare Short told the Environmental Audit Committee that she believed Johannesburg offered an opportunity to move away from the northern-dominated environmental agenda. She told us that the prize for Johannesburg was a “...shift in the mind set, a guarantee of development for the poor with a commitment from all of us to work for a sustainable planet...”.”*° 88. The Environmental Audit Committee has reported on the UK Preparations for the World Summit on Sustainable Development and concluded: “We support the Government’s decision to push issues such as poverty eradication and access to clean water as leading candidates for WSSD’s agenda rather than issues such as climate change and biodiversity where frameworks of action have largely been agreed. However, WSSD does not start with a clean sheet and it is important that these elements of the Rio process are built upon and not forgotten in the WSSD discussions.”.”' Clare Short told us that any attempt to discuss the Kyoto Protocol at WSSD'would be divisive and could result in some major players avoiding the conference.”* We agree that discussion of the Protocol would be divisive and could jeopardise other important negotiations at the WSSD. We also agree with the Environmental Audit Committee that climate change should not be a major focus of WSSD. There is already a well established international process for dealing with climate change. At most, WSSD should seek a commitment to make the established process work more effectively and equitably. Substantive discussion should be left to a more appropriate forum. Coping with climate disasters Managing climate extremes 89. A mix of social, political and economic measures are needed to help manage the risks posed by extreme climate changes. Post-disaster reconstruction offers an opportunity to rebuild infrastructure and systems in a different way, making them more resilient. There are Opportunities to change agricultural practice, land use planning, and building codes. Table 13 lists several adaptive strategies that have been used in the past to moderate the “Ey 15 [para 5.4] ae 50 | ~~ Third Report from the Environmental Audit Committee, Session 2001-2002, UK Preparations for the World Summit on Sustainable Development, HC616 2529155](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b32221356_0001_0052.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
