Difficult trade-offs and choices are inherent to sustainable development. It needs wise decisions – and therefore good governance.
In the Diawling delta, Mauritania, an IUCN project releases artificial floods from a dam to inundate the floodplain. There was some discussion between the women and men: the women wanted the floods in May to start the growth of Sporobulus grass, used in the artisanal production of mats. The men wanted the flood in July, to start the spawning of fish. After much debate, it was agreed to have a short flood in May for Sporobulus, and a large flood in July. They also agreed, when little water is available, to alternate between the two.
A compromise is never easy to reach, even between two individuals. The three “e”s of sustainable development – environment, economy and equity – may often seem to conflict with each other. Whose needs should go first, yours or your neighbour’s? Is it better to save a wetland for its purification functions, or to convert it for rice production?
Difficult trade-offs and choices are inherent to the sustainable development concept. Sustainable development needs wise decisions – it therefore needs good governance.
Governance is a way to balance the wish lists – from individual to global. It is the means by which society defines goals and priorities and advances cooperation; be it internationally, regionally, nationally or locally. The governance, however, is just a means to an end – achieving sustainable development – not an end in itself.
As an organisation that works from the highest international levels right to the ground and back up again, IUCN believes that the machinery behind good decisions made in a Mauritanian village and at a United Nations forum may well be the same – it needs to be inclusive, transparent and accountable.
Tuvalu, a small Pacific island state, would be inundated if sea levels rise by a metre as a consequence of climate change. Making Tuvalu’s voice heard when the Kyoto Protocol on cutting down greenhouse gas emissions is discussed is what good governance at the global level should ensure. With a vision of all states, large and small, participating effectively when global environmental policy is being mapped out, IUCN offers training to delegates from the developing world to make their views heard and respected.
Nature does not recognise political boundaries. That’s why a country-by-country approach in environmental efforts is not enough. In a project to resolve environmental problems of the Zambezi River, a lifeblood of South Africa, IUCN has brought together a coalition of governments, NGOs and others, from all the countries of the Zambezi – from Angola to Mozambique. At the same time, IUCN has worked with the governments of Zambia and Zimbabwe to help make tourism sustainable in the area surrounding Victoria Falls.
Governance is not the province of governments alone. In a globalised world, civil society and the private sector wield greater influence and demand more active involvement in policy and decision-making than ever before. Through the review of the World Bank’s forest policy, IUCN advised the Bank on how to conduct a global process that is open to all those concerned.
Governance is about results. Community-based approaches to environmental and natural resource management are essential in many cases to move from conflict to collaboration. In the Mount Elgon project, IUCN has been helping the Ugandan Wildlife Authority to involve people living adjacent to the park in management of its resources on which they depend.
Regional mechanisms can often deliver concrete, practical programmes cost-effectively. Covering 40% of the total territory of Central America, the Mesoamerican biological corridor is a real success story of regional cooperation. Eight Mesoamerican countries have joined forces to create a place where environmental conservation and human progress go hand in hand with economic viability as the basis for development.
International finance and trade bodies can and should benefit from the knowledge and skills of non-state actors, as the World Commission on Dams, co-sponsored by the World Bank and IUCN, demonstrated in the case of the highly controversial development issue of large dams.
The world has become weary and cynical about grand policy statements and new institutions being touted as the answer to our environmental problems. The world today is calling out for making sustainable development the development agenda.