July 31, 2002
A South African NGO has taken issue with the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), charging that the blue print fails to reflect an adequate definition of the term "sustainable development," and warning that this could cost Africa dearly in the long term.
The indictment came from the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA), which plans to send a delegation of 20 representatives to the upcoming World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg, to lobby for a greater level of commitment to long-term environmental sustainability on the continent.
WESSA is South Africa's oldest, and one of its strongest environmental NGOs, representing 75 years of work in the field. "NEPAD needs to be far more widely discussed by civil society than it has been to date, and will require extensive amendments if it is to provide a clear directive to all stakeholders as to how to approach development activities in such a way that Africa's natural heritage is protected," said Western Cape WESSA manager Andy Gubb.
"The document's current incoherent approach to sustainable development leaves it wide open to misinterpretation, presenting a real risk that long-term environmental sustainability in Africa could be sacrificed on the altar of short-term economic development gains," Gubb warned.
Among changes WESSA wants reflected in the NEPAD document is a clause that empowers member countries to act as environmental watchdogs that monitor each other's use of natural resources in the same way that the document currently calls on them to monitor each other's adherence to the principles of good governance and democracy.
"Countries that fail to protect the environment should be penalised accordingly," said Gubb.
Citing paragraph 100 of the continental blueprint, he said the whole tone of the NEPAD document ignores the environmental aspect of sustainable development, giving cause for alarm.
The paragraph in question states that "infrastructure is one of the major parameters of economic growth, and solutions should be found to permit Africa to rise to the level of developed countries in terms of the accumulation of material and human capital."
Gubb said that with the world's resources already being used up 20 percent faster than they can be replaced, NEPAD should acknowledge that the wealth of developed nations was gained at huge environmental cost.
He said NEPAD should rather break new ground by seeking a way to provide a better quality of life for all without the need for wasteful over-consumption and materialistic accumulation.
"Perhaps most disappointing is the Environment Initiative (Paragraphs 138-142), which omits any mention of the need to maintain strong environmental standards to ensure that Africa does not become a haven for dirty industry, and makes no reference to the need for adherence to ecological limits," Gubb observed.
He further charged that "the governance and finance sections of the Environment Initiative comprise meaningless, stock phrases that lack substance and make no reference to the environment."
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