Wolfgang Sachs

1. Wolfgang Sachs Fairness in a Fragile World

2. FAIRNESS AND EQUITY IN A FRAGILE WORLD --- THE Johannesburg Memo SACHS, P.31 The Rio Earth Summit sought to balance a dilemma: • Northern desires to restrict development and protect the environment that increased poverty and • Southern desires to spur development, increasing destruction of nature.

3. Johannesburg 2 • Failure to achieve balance left pent up development pressure that overwhelmed the next summit. • Raised challenge of how to address equity without destroying the environment. • Need to address “envy,” “catching up,” “dignity” and “modeling”

4. Reduce Footprints of the Rich • Justice requires preserving nature which requires curtailing consumption of rich • 20% consume 70-80%, consume 45% meat and fish, 68% electricity, 84% paper and own 87% of cars • OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) 75-85% over average ecological footprint • Wealtiest 25% occupy earth equivalent ecological footprint • Globalized rich dominate localized 33% poor

5. Livelihood rights • Development cures poverty vs. empower poor to thrive • Export led displacement from land, joblessness, poverty, forced urbanization • Sustainable livelihoods vs. expanding consumption of rich and corporate profit • Myths: • poor cause environmental destruction, • economic growth removes poverty, • Economic growth eliminates poverty and environmental destruction.

6. Regenerative Economy • Spoiled nature (scarcity), rather than no money, is now the primary cause of poverty. Increase Gross Nature Product not GNP. Preserve biodiversity. • Lay off wasted kilowatts not people • Use local knowledge---social capital • Renewable energy shortens supply chains and keeps income and jobs local.

7. Role of Women • Manage household, provide food, carry local knowledge, cultural memory and skills for survival • Seed saving

8. Relationship to Nature • Interconnections of people, plants and animals • Contamination from chemicals • Poor health from soil degradation, water problems • Ecological agriculture cheaper, preserve soil, spiritual connection, stable livelihoods and relationships vs monoculture • Restoration and water security

9. ENERGY • Assume development means growth, growth means rising use of energy, which requires rising energy supplies. • Poor left to use dung and other non-commercial energy sources • Turn to advantage if use renewables and local building materials • 4 steps to energy transition: • Conservation, • end fossil fuels and nuclear, • redesign systems for efficiency, • change lifestyle

10. CITIES • More than 1/3 population heading to ½ • 13% lack safe drinking water • A quarter lack sanitation and garbage disposal • Overcrowding and disease • Air pollution • Unpotable water • Mudslides and floods, etc. • Environmental injustices

11. Wealth-Poverty Connection • Cannot eradicate poverty without reforming wealth • Wealth in North must drop 80-90% in 50 years • South must be dissuaded from “catch up” • Wealth does not need to be redistributed but restrained • Biomimicry, living systems, shift from products to services

12. 2 Globalizations • Corporate Globalization homogenizes world and allows unfettered competition and wealth • Democratic Globalization based on flourishing plurality of cultures • Model of leapfrogging into post-fossil age; underdevelopment is a blessing • South can Leapfrog to solar economy!