“To boldly go…”

Yannick Beaudoin

By GRID-Arendal

December 14^th, 2017

Anyone who has seen the 1960s Star Trek science fiction series or the half-dozen films that followed will recognize the line -- "to boldly go" -- from the show’s opening credits. When series creator Gene Roddenberry penned that now immortal phrase, he was thinking of space exploration in the 23rd Century, not international politics in our time.

The United Nations system as we know it was conceived primarily with one objective in mind: to keep the peace. Based on consensus, the evolution of global policy would by default assume a careful and incremental pace designed to avoid sparking another destructive military conflict. Over the years, getting 180 countries to agree on anything has always required a cautious, not bold, approach.

But 70 years on, maybe we need to re-examine this way of doing international business. That’s because in the 21st Century, we find ourselves waging a new kind of war: a full-on assault against Nature and all her species, including our own. And for this kind of battle, an incremental pace within a consensus-driven system seems a poor response to what amounts to a make-it-or-break-it need for an elusive peace with our planet.

One of our major weapons has been pollution. But if we keep winning all our battles with weapons like this, we are sure to lose the war. How do we lay down our arms in time to usher in a new era which both people and planet thrive?

These kinds of questions floated through the corridors of the 3rd UN Environment Assembly which recently took place in Nairobi, Kenya. There people were increasingly talking about the need to focus on the lack of desired outcomes despite intense environmental policy making efforts.

As an example, the Paris Climate Accord deserves to be seen as a success for global policy making. Yet when it comes to ensuring we reduce greenhouse gas emissions in time to pass a world with a relatively benign climate on to future generations, it is increasingly seen as lacking. More attention to the challenge of converting environmental policy to improvements in the environment does not mean a transformation has occurred. However, a first step towards changing something is acknowledging there is something in need of change.

David Granger, President of Guyana, opening extractives side event: "People must come before profits.”

Thirteen resolutions were adopted by member states at this UN Environment Assembly, all of which were related to the theme #BeatPollution. Two resolutions, one on marine plastics and litter and another on pollution from the extractives sector (including mining, oil and gas), were the main focus of GRID-Arendal’s attention and we supported key events related to each.

The good news is that the resolutions for each adopted by member states at the conclusion of negotiations contained stronger than anticipated language. For marine litter and plastics, the global community agreed to form a formal working group that will provide recommended policy action by the 4th UN Environment Assembly in Spring 2019. Member states also agreed to a set of actions to further reduce the damage to biodiversity from extractive activities.

Science Policy Business Forum Forum, Closing Session.

Getting this language was no small feat given the continuing challenge of policy fatigue. Comments overheard at UNEA included “we’ve had this language before” and “resolutions seem to repeat themselves from year to year”. The potential created by positive policy making events such as the UN Environment Assembly is immense. However, we have not been very successful at converting that energy into the environmental (and societal) improvements we seem to universally agree are essential. That said, this 3rd UN Environment Assembly may create some of the momentum needed to convert this potential into action and change.

An increasing number of discussions were flavoured by a growing acknowledgement that environmental degradation and social injustice are linked to a flawed economic model. In other words, no matter how good we may be at producing strong environmental policies and actions, these remain “economic externalities” that are overridden by our core societal decision-making system: the growth-based economy.

Erik Solheim, Executive Director of UN Environment

For instance, the problem of litter and plastics entering the marine environment is not an environmental policy failure, it is an economic one. It’s the same for pollution from mining and similar activities. These economic policy failures have their equivalent in the social sphere where injustices and inequalities are exacerbated by an outdated and disconnected economic model that does not consider such issues.

But some progress is being made. The Sustainable Development Goals framework, designed to reflect the interconnected nature of environment, society and development are inspiring new thinking and policy action. Such an evolution, if boldly taken, may underpin collective actions leading to real improvements.