Ten years may have passed since the historic Earth Summit in Rio, Brazil, threw Agenda 21 on the table, but the world is still twiddling its thumbs as to how to go about getting countries to make concrete promises on sustainable development initiatives.
The World Summit on Sustainable Development, held in Johannesburg from August 26 through to September 4 , may have been deemed successful, despite US recalcitrance, but even United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan qualified his own enthusiasm with a warning "not to expect conferences like this to produce miracles".
It would surely take less than a miracle for real progress to occur, but US President George W. Bush, (absent in body but not in spirit) made his environmental message clear: no time deadlines for any environmental and social initiatives and no ties whatsoever regarding renewable sources of energy, thereby blocking progress and protecting oil companies interests.
Greek initiatives
Greeks present in Johannesburg, like local Greenpeace representative, Machi Sideridou, and Athens University assistant lecturer in Environmental Economics Andreas Papandreou, did not expect such levels of resistance. "I didn't expect that they'd put things so bluntly," Sideridou commented to the Greek press. "During a discussion on chemicals, the US representative said that it is irrational to attempt to reduce the effects that chemicals have on the environment since chemicals were designed to have that precise negative effect. When we don't recognise the basics, and claim that chemicals should in fact harm the environment, then things are not going very well." Still, Papandreou found the presence of private corporations to be a positive sign.
Greece may not be a forerunner in environmental policy but Prime Minister Costas Simitis (represented by foreign affairs minister, George Papandreou ) has expressed much interest on environmental issues encouraging the dialogue. "Greece has clearly left behind an era of introversion," explains lecturer Papandreou, "this is in fact the intention of the ministry of foreign affairs, which has made positive steps in green diplomacy.
Indeed, foreign affairs minister (and Andreas' older brother) George Papandreou presented a challenging initiative, the Online Global Poll on the Environment sponsored by the Andreas G. Papandreou Foundation in Athens. This is a pioneering effort to collect the opinions of citizens worldwide, collating their views on environmental problems and what they think their leaders should do to protect the environment. Results will be passed on to the relevant governments.
Based on the notion that "the earth belongs to everyone", Papandreou maintains that "everyone's voice should be heard in debating the policies and making the decisions that affect us all". He also emphasized that this would give the chance for groups that are normally not heard to voice their opinions to those who have the power to make change.
Mediterranean sustainability
There are some fundamental problems in Greece, such as the level of pollution and noise in central Athens. Tina Birbili-Hondraki (special consultant for the environment to ministry for foreign affairs) in Johannesburg explained that, "we've lost the sounds of the city. We've forgotten how to listen, we just hear a constant noise in our ears."
Greece, nonetheless, has also kicked off various initiatives around the nation encouraging the adoption of renewable energy solutions. The main initiatives presented by G. Papandreou and environment minister Vasso Papandreou in South Africa focused on water and waste. Following Agenda 21 suggestions and discussions at this year's meeting, the Mediterranean was handpicked as a region where the concept of sustainable development can be implemented as a regional test case - "due to its rapid development, the scarcity of its natural resources, the different levels of development among coastal States and also because of certain quite spectacular developments which are very specific to the region, such as tourism and competition for the coastal region".
Greece's own Mediterranean Information Office for Environment, Culture and Sustainable Development has taken leading role in a project, through the Mediterranean Education Initiative for Environment & Sustainability aiming to implement the wise management of freshwater resources and wastes, with first results due by the year 2007. The governments of Algeria, Cyprus, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Jordan, Slovenia, Albania and Turkey will also collaborate.
Fresh water and seas
One of the most important results of the Johannesburg summit is the resolution to act upon the target posed by the United Nations' Millennium Declaration, which aims to halve the percentage of people lacking access to safe drinking water by 2015. As such, Greece - together with Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco and the Euro-Mediterranean Water and Poverty Facility - will assist in improving the livelihoods of poor people in urban Mediterranean areas, particularly in relation to water and sanitation. The project's completion date is set in 2010.
Greece will also play a major role in the Integrated Framework of Tools for Implementing Sustainable Development in Small Islands (SUSTIS), which will act on the Agenda 21 suggestion to "adopt and implement plans and programmes supporting the sustainable development and utilization of their marine and coastal resources, while meeting essential human needs, maintaining biodiversity and improving the quality of life for island people". Furthermore SUSTIS seeks to enable small islands to cope effectively with environmental change and reduce threat posed to marine and coastal resources.
Countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea have been collaborating since 1975 through the Mediterranean Action Plan and continue to work towards raising awareness on sustainable development, water resources management and poverty eradication.
