An estimated 1.3 billion people, living mostly in South Asia and Sub-Saharan African countries, survive on per capita income of less that US Dollar 1.25 a day. The wide gap between the per capita income of people living in developed and developing countries is stark. Clearly, eradicating poverty and reducing inequality has to be the overarching priority for achieving sustainable development. The development we all are aiming at has to be inclusive, addressing the concerns of the most oppressed, marginalized and poverty ridden people in the world.
One of the most significant outcomes of Rio+ 20 Summit has been to place poverty eradication at the centre of the global development agenda. I quote from paragraph 2 of the outcome document, “The future we want”:
Eradicating poverty is the greatest global challenge facing the world today and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development. In this regard we are committed to freeing humanity from poverty and hunger as a matter of urgency.”
It is a matter of great satisfaction that out of various focus areas being considered for developing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the Open Working Group (OWG), established by the UNGA, the first proposed goal relates to ending poverty in all its forms everywhere.
The importance of sustainable consumption and production for sustainable development cannot be overstated. The topic of today’s discussion makes a reference to “..within the earth’s operating space”. This instantly brings to my mind the famous quote of Mahatma Gandhi “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed”.
1.3 billion tons of food produced is wasted every year, amounting to over one-third of all food produced. The wastage of food at consumer level alone in industrialized countries is nearly as much as the total food production in sub-Saharan Africa. Food waste has been often clubbed with the issue of post-harvest losses in developing countries, which is a flawed approach.
There is a wide variation in the per capita energy consumption level in the world. While the world average per capita energy consumption is 1.8 tons of oil equivalent (toe), the corresponding figures for OECD countries and India are 4.28 toe and 0.6 toe respectively.
All this points towards unsustainable and wasteful consumption patterns in developed countries and makes it imperative for them to take lead to shift towards sustainable consumption and production patterns.
The principles of “common but differentiated responsibilities” and “equity” must continue to be the bedrock of the ongoing and future global discourse on sustainable development. Clearly, our efforts to put the global economy on a sustainable path cannot be and must not be on the backs of the poor.
While attaining sustainable production and consumption pattern would result in release of unproductive and wasteful resources which could then be gainfully utilized, it would be simplistic to assume that sustainable production and development by itself would be sufficient to eradicate poverty across the globe. Eradication of poverty requires much more proactive and concerted action.
Sustained and inclusive economic growth is a key enabler for achieving poverty eradication. The developing countries requiring assistance to implement poverty eradication policies and programmes have to be assured of predictable, additional and adequate international financing.
The developed countries need to not only urgently fulfill their commitment to provide 0.7% of gross national income (GNI) as official development assistance (ODA) for developing countries but also pledge additional and predictable funding considering the ambition levels for post- 2015 development agenda. The options for other supplementary modes of financing could be looked at once this basic commitment is met by the developed countries
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