Sustainable Human Development

SUSTAINABLE HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

SPECIAL STUDYPSU-LNU-UCU

Edwin Badu Rawlings GbargayeFacilitator

Prof Jo B. BitonioMDM Coordinator

Human Development “Human progress is neither automatic nor

inevitable. We are faced now with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life history there is such a thing as being too late… We may cry out desperately for time to pause in her passage, but time is deaf to every plea and rushes on. Over the bleached bones and jumbled residues of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words: Too Late.”

Martin Luther King Jr. ‘Where do we go from here: Chaos or community’

Human Development DefinedThe actual satisfaction of all human needs

especially the basic human necessities ranging from food, shelter, house, environment and the likes.

Climate ChangeThe defining human development issue of

our generation.All development is ultimately about

expanding human potential and enlarging human freedom.

It is about people developing the capabilities that empower them to make choices and to lead lives that they value.

Climate change threatens to erode human freedoms and limit choice.

It calls into question the Enlightenment principle that human progress will make the future look better than the past.

The early warning signs are already visibleAcross developing countries millions of the

world’s poorest are being forced to cope with the impact of climate change.

Climate change will undermine international efforts to combat poverty.

Eleven years ago political leaders around the world gathered to set targets for accelerated progress in human development.

The MDGs defined a new ambition for 2015.

Climate change is hampering efforts to deliver the MDG promise.

Looking to the future the danger is that it will reverse the progress built-up over generations not just in cutting extreme poverty, but in health, nutrition, education and other areas.

Climate change provides a potent reminder of the one thing we share in common. It is called planet Earth. All nations and all people share the same atmosphere.

A call to ArmsHow the world deals with climate change

today will have a direct bearing on the human development prospects of a large section of humanity.

Failure will consign the poorest 40 percent of the World’s population-some 2.6 billion people to a future of diminished opportunity.

Climate change exacerbate deep inequalities within countries.

It undermines efforts to build a more inclusive pattern of globalization, reinforcing the vast disparities between the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’.

In today’s world it is the poor who are bearing the brunt of climate change.

Tomorrow humanity as a whole will face the risk that comes with greenhouse gases.

Our generation may not live to see the consequences.

There are indeed many unknowns: climate science deals in probability and risk, not in certainties.

The risks could be greater than we currently understand.

Climate Change Demands ActionThere are threat to two constituencies:- The World’s poor and future generations- Profound questions raised are about social

justice, equity and human rights across countries and generations.

The battle against climate change can- and must- be won.

The world lacks neither the financial resources neither the technological capabilities to act.

If we fail to prevent climate change it will be because we were unable to foster the political will to cooperate.

Ecological interdependenceClimate change is different from other

problems facing humanity today. The challenge it poses to us is how to think

about what it means to live as part of an ecologically interdependent human community.

We live today in a world that is divided at many levels.

People are separated by vast gulfs in wealth and opportunity. In many regions rival nationalisms are source of conflict.

Religious, cultural, and ethnic identity are treated as a source of division and difference from others.

In the face of these differences, climate change provides a potent reminder of the one thing we share in common Planet Earth.

International EffortsMitigation EffortsKyoto Protocol 1990The Doha RoundCopenhagen Summit

The post Kyoto ProtocolThe post 2012 Kyoto framework will

powerfully influence prospects for avoiding climate change.

Negotiations on that framework will be shaped by governments with different levels of negotiating leverage.

Power vested interests in the corporate sector will also make their voices heard.

Disparity in contribution to the Carbon Emissions

Countries vary widely in their contributions to the emission that are driving up atmospheric stocks of greenhouse gases.

With 15 percent of world population, rich countries account for half of emissions of carbon.

High Growth in China and India is leading to a gradual convergence in ‘aggregate emissions.’

The carbon footprint of the US is five times that of China and over 15 times that of India.

In Ethiopia the average per capita carbon is 0.1 tonnes of CO2 compared with 20 tonnes in Canada.

TargetStabilization target is stringent but

affordable.Between now and 2030, the average

annual cost would amount to 1.6 percent of GDP depending upon how costs are measured.

Energy related CO2 emissions have increased sharply since 1990.

Not all developed countries ratified the protocol targets.

Climate Shocks Risks and Vulnerability in an unequal

World

Climate shocks are figure prominently in the lives of the poor.

Events such as droughts, floods, and storms are often terrible experiences for those affected.

Hurricane Katrina provided a potent reminder of human frailty in the face of climate change.

Some 262 million people were affected by climate disasters annually from 2000 to 2004 over 98 percent of them in developing countries.

In the OECD Countries one in 1,500 people was affected by climate change disaster.

In developing countries is 1 in 19 –a risk differential of 79.

High levels of poverty and low levels of human development limit the capacity of the poor to manage climate change.

Limited access to formal insurance, low incomes and meagre assets poor households deal with climate shocks under constrained conditions.

Water Stress and Water InsecurityAbout 1.8 billion people could be living in a

water scarce environment by 2080. Central Asia, Northern China, and the

northern part of South Asia face immense vulnerabilities associated with the retreat of glaciers.

Seven of Asia’s great rivers systems will experience an increase in flows over the short term.

Several countries in the already highly water-stressed regions such as the Middle East could experience deep losses.

Sea levels could rise through flooding to countries like Bangladesh with over 70 million people, 6 million in lower Egypt and 22 million in Vietnam.

Small Island states in the Caribbean and Pacific could suffer catastrophic damage.

The Way ForwardIncreased adaptation financing should be

seen in part as a response to the increased financing requirements for delivering on the MDGs.

Developed countries would have to mobilized around 0.2% of GDP in 2015-roughly one tenth of what they currently mobilize for military expenditure.

ConclusionThe limitations of adaptation strategies

have to be recognized. Failure to deal with the symptoms will lead

to large-scale human development losses.The World’s poorest and more vulnerable

people are already adapting to climate change

Developing countries and the world’s poor cannot avert these setbacks by acting alone.

Rich countries have a moral obligation to support adaptation in developing countries.

They also have the financial resources to act on that obligation.

The business as usual model for adaptation is indefensible and unsustainable.

They put in place large-scale adaptation investments in rich countries while leaving the world’s poor to swim or sink.

ReferenceHuman Development Report 2007/2008 United Nations Development

Programme (UNDP)

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