UN’s Agenda 21: Sec 3 –STRENGTHENING THE ROLE OF MAJOR GROUPS

UN’s Agenda 21: Sec 3 –STRENGTHENING THE ROLE OF MAJOR GROUPS

The real estate development industry has changed by the implementation of United Nation policies and letting all stakeholders to the table

Highlighted in blue are the Agenda 21 subsection titles of the UN document.
I have highlighted specific sections in red to illustrate important UN policies
I have emphasized my comments in green for your consideration.

Before analyzing Section 3 of Agenda 21, I wanted to provide additional background on the global effort toward sustainable development which is not necessarily a good thing!

DID YOU KNOW:

1. The United States Business Council for Sustainable Development began in 1992 with the innovative, cross-boundary thinking of a few company leaders in the Gulf of Mexico region. The list of companies on the council will make you pause for concern.

2. The United Nations conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), which marked the 20th anniversary of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, was held in Rio de Janeiro from June 20-22, 2012.

With over 40,000 attendees and participation from 191 nations and observers, including 79 heads of states or governments, it was the largest conference ever hosted by the United Nations.

The United States delegation was led by:

Secretary of State Clinton and was composed of over 40 delegates, the Secretary of State attends a Sustainable Development conference – really?
including U.S. mayors and county officials (for example, Oakland and North Little Rock), Local government officials attended on the backs of local citizens for what benefit?
NGO and private sector representatives (for example, National Research Defense Council and the U.S. Council for International Business)
and delegates from 12 U.S. government agencies such as the State Department,
Environmental Protection Agency (led by Administrator Jackson),

U.S. Agency for International Development and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The USDA was represented by Elise Golan, Director of Sustainable Development,

Office of the Chief Economist; Greg Crosby,

National Program Leader, Sustainable Development, Institute of Bioenergy, Climate, and Environment,

National Institute of Food and Agriculture; and for the Global Bioenergy Partnership events, Gerald Ostheimer,

AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow,

International Affairs Specialist, Office of Global Analysis Foreign Agriculture Service.

The Rio+20 conference is the 20^th anniversary of the initial Agenda 21conference which set everything in motion.  20 years of funding, organizing, regulating and EDUCATING from federal government to the local level. Very difficult to overcome the momentum but if we do not rally our real estate development industry to counteract this trend, our individual property rights will disappear for the collective!

Most of the recommendations that were made (Agenda 21) have still not been implemented. A number of working groups have thus written to the Obama Administration urging it to develop and implement such as a National Strategy for Sustainability

A NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR SUSTAINABILITY – really? We can’t even get an energy policy!

Let’s review the approach from one federal agency --- USDA.

As of 2010^[update], a Director of Sustainable Development in the U.S. Department of Agriculture has a mission of advancing the principles and goals of sustainable development through partnerships, collaboration, and outreach. If the USDA has sustainable development as a mission, wouldn’t you think that other federal agencies might even be more engaged in the subject i.e. EPA, Energy Transportation, etc.?

As an example:

The FY 2014 EPA budget request also includes:

• $20 million for climate change research, specifically climate change impacts on human health.
• $1.9 million was requested for the SmartGrowth program, which would strengthen local economies through sustainable community growth and efficient design.
• $7.6 million is slated for the Environmental Justice (EJ) program, which incorporates the considerations of disproportionately impacted minority, low-income and tribal communities into rulemaking processes.

Interagency Partnerships – As part of a partnership between HUD, the Department of Transportation, and the Environmental Protection Agency, the budget includes $75 million in Integrated Planning and Investment Grants to help communities develop housing and transportation plans and improve their resilience to extreme weather and other climate change impacts. This may include incentives to update building codes, revise land-use and zoning ordinances, and other activities to “reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions and increase affordable housing near public transit.”

HUD --- Choice Neighborhoods – The budget proposal includes $400 million (versus $120 million enacted in FY 2012) to transform 30 neighborhoods of extreme poverty into sustainable, mixed-income communities

Dept of State ---- In addition, the FY 2014 budget request for the Department of State includes $317 million in bilateral development assistance for climate adaptation, clean energy, and the sustainable landscapes program within the Global Climate Change (GCC) priority area

NOW……………………………………………………….

AGNEDA 21 TABLE OF CONTENTS

SECTION III. STRENGTHENING THE ROLE OF MAJOR GROUPS

23. Preamble

23.1. Critical to the effective implementation of the objectives, policies and mechanisms agreed to by Governments in all programme areas of Agenda 21 will be the commitment and genuine involvement of all social groups.

23.2. One of the fundamental prerequisites for the achievement of sustainable development is broad public participation in decision-making. Furthermore, in the more specific context of environment and development, the need for new forms of participation has emerged. This includes the need of individuals, groups and organizations to participate in environmental impact assessment procedures and to know about and participate in decisions, particularly those which potentially affect the communities in which they live and work. Individuals, groups and organizations should have access to information relevant to environment and development held by national authorities, including information on products and activities that have or are likely to have a significant impact on the environment, and information on environmental protection measures.

Without a question the real estate development industry has been subject to broad public participation in the decision making process. Did you ever question where such an effort to energize the general public was initiated? Agenda 21!

24. Global action for women towards sustainable and equitable development

25. Children and youth in sustainable development

e. Mobilize communities through schools and local health centres so that children and their

parents become effective focal points for sensitization of communities to environmental
issues;

f. Establish procedures to incorporate children's concerns into all relevant policies and

strategies for environment and development at the local, regional and national levels, including those concerning allocation of and entitlement to natural resources, housing and recreation needs, and control of pollution and toxicity in both rural and urban areas.

Remember Al Core’s statement to a group of children: “And when our parents’ generation couldn’t answer that question, that’s when the law started to change. There are some things about our world that you know that older people don’t know,” he continued. “Why would that be? Well in a period of rapid change, the old assumptions sometimes just don’t work anymore because they’re out of date,” Gore said.

26. Recognizing and strengthening the role of indigenous people and their communities

27. Strengthening the role of non-governmental organizations: partners for sustainable development

27.1. Non-governmental organizations play a vital role in the shaping and implementation of participatory democracy. Their credibility lies in the responsible and constructive role they play in society. Formal and informal organizations, as well as grass-roots movements, should be recognized as partners in the implementation of Agenda 21. The nature of the independent role played by non-governmental organizations within a society calls for real participation; therefore, independence is a major attribute of non-governmental organizations and is the precondition of real participation.

I will have a separate blog post on the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives  (ICLEI) which was founded in 1990! Do your own research but don’t be surprised at how our local community efforts are guided by such organizations.

27.2. One of the major challenges facing the world community as it seeks to replace unsustainable development patterns with environmentally sound and sustainable development is the need to activate a sense of common purpose on behalf of all sectors of society

The Federal Budget has allocated enormous amounts of money to sustainable development initiatives. Federal tax dollars, staffing, and on-going programs are allocated resources to change the way we develop land. It may sound good but is it good?

27.3. Non-governmental organizations, including those non-profit organizations representing groups addressed in the present section of Agenda 21, possess well-established and diverse experience, expertise and capacity in fields which will be of particular importance to the implementation and review of environmentally sound and socially responsible sustainable development, as envisaged throughout Agenda 21. The community of non-governmental organizations, therefore, offers a global network that should be tapped, enabled and strengthened in support of efforts to achieve these common goals.

Agenda 21 promotes a link between government agencies and non-government organizations through funding to achieve environmentally sound and socially responsible sustainable development goals.

What is environmentally sound?

What is socially responsible?

Objectives

27.5. Society, Governments and international bodies should develop mechanisms to allow nongovernmental organizations to play their partnership role responsibly and effectively in the process of environmentally sound and sustainable development.

27.8. Governments and international bodies should promote and allow the participation of nongovernmental organizations in the conception, establishment and evaluation of official mechanisms and formal procedures designed to review the implementation of Agenda 21 at all levels.

27.10. Governments should take measures to:

a. Establish or enhance an existing dialogue with non-governmental organizations and their

self-organized networks representing various sectors, which could serve to: (i) consider the rights and responsibilities of these organizations; (ii) efficiently channel integrated non-governmental inputs to the governmental policy development process; and (iii) facilitate non-governmental coordination in implementing national policies at the programme level; b. Encourage and enable partnership and dialogue between local non-governmental organizations and local authorities in activities aimed at sustainable development;

e. Review government education systems to identify ways to include and expand the involvement of non-governmental organizations in the field of formal and informal education and of public awareness;

28. Local authorities' initiatives in support of Agenda 21

The UN’s Agenda 21 reaches into our LOCAL communities!

28.1. Because so many of the problems and solutions being addressed by Agenda 21 have their roots in local activities, the participation and cooperation of local authorities will be a determining factor in fulfilling its objectives. Local authorities construct, operate and maintain economic, social and environmental infrastructure, oversee planning processes, establish local environmental policies and regulations, and assist in implementing national and subnational environmental policies. As the level of governance closest to the people, they play a vital role in educating, mobilizing and responding to the public to promote sustainable development.

28.2. The following objectives are proposed for this programme area: a. By 1996, most local authorities in each country should have undertaken a consultative process with their populations and achieved a consensus on "a local Agenda 21" for the community;

28.3. Each local authority should enter into a dialogue with its citizens, local organizations and private enterprises and adopt "a local Agenda 21". Through consultation and consensus-building, local authorities would learn from citizens and from local, civic, community, business and industrial organizations and acquire the information needed for formulating the best strategies. The process of consultation would increase household awareness of sustainable development issues. Local authority programmes, policies, laws and regulations to achieve Agenda 21 objectives would be assessed and modified, based on local programmes adopted. Strategies could also be used in supporting proposals for local, national, regional and international funding.

29. Strengthening the role of workers and their trade unions

Basis for action

29.1. Efforts to implement sustainable development will involve adjustments and opportunities at the national and enterprise levels, with workers foremost among those concerned. As their

representatives, trade unions are vital actors in facilitating the achievement of sustainable
development in view of their experience in addressing industrial change, the extremely high priority they give to protection of the working environment and the related natural environment, and their promotion of socially responsible and economic development. The existing network of collaboration among trade unions and their extensive membership provide important channels through which the concepts and practices of sustainable development can be supported. The established principles of tripartism provide a basis for strengthened collaboration between workers and their representatives, Governments and employers in the implementation of sustainable development.

30. Strengthening the role of business and industry

30.1. Business and industry, including transnational corporations, play a crucial role in the social and economic development of a country. A stable policy regime enables and encourages business and industry to operate responsibly and efficiently and to implement longer-term policies. Increasing  prosperity, a major goal of the development process, is contributed primarily by the activities of business and industry. Business enterprises, large and small, formal and informal, provide major trading, employment and livelihood opportunities. Business opportunities available to women are contributing towards their professional development, strengthening their economic role and transforming social systems. Business and industry, including transnational corporations, and their representative organizations should be full participants in the implementation and evaluation of activities related to Agenda 21.

"The National Councils for Sustainable Development...almost mirror the CSD's mandate (trustee of the "Spirit of Rio") at the national level. They monitor the state of affairs in national sustainable development efforts; keep sustainability, as a key national priority; enable broad-based partnerships towards sustainable development; generate participatory processes in national sustainable development decision making; and ensure that sustainable development actions taken in their countries are in harmony with each other as well as in harmony with similar actions taken by other countries in their regions and around the world... A missing link for the CSD since its creation has been its lack of direct connection with national sustainable development coordination mechanisms and efforts. National Councils for Sustainable Development...have the potential to help close this gap."

Undersecretary-General Nitin Desai
UN Department for Economic and Social Affairs

31. Scientific and technological community

32. Strengthening the role of farmers

32.6. National Governments should:

a. Ensure the implementation of the programmes on sustainable livelihoods, agriculture and

rural development, managing fragile ecosystems, water use in agriculture, and integrated
management of natural resources;

The key to this section of Agenda 21 is the cooperation of government and non-government agencies to implement Agenda 21 goals and objectives. This has been progressing over the past 20-years with millions of dollars being allocated by government to private groups.

 

More next week………..