World Summit on Sustainable Development
Each
country participating in the World Summit is to prepare a National Report
reviewing ten years of the country's progress in implementing sustainable
development since the Rio Summit of 1992.
Sustainable
Development: A Canadian Perspective was commissioned by the Government of
Canada as part of Canada's preparations for the Summit. The report involved
collecting the views on accomplishments and challenges from the different
segments of society to provide a perspective on Canada's progress towards
sustainable development over the past decade. The report highlights some of
Canada's successes, speaks of some of the remaining challenges and explores some
of the current efforts underway to meet those challenges.
Input
to the draft report was provided by members of the public through round table
consultations, discussions with Aboriginal representatives, and through
individual and group submissions; by 18 federal government departments,
including World Summit thematic working groups; by provinces and territories;
and by 27 contributing authors from both inside and outside government who
provided their perspectives on issues raised in the report.
The
draft synthesis report was released for public review, and comments received
were considered by the lead authors of the report in preparing a final draft.
To
bring "third party" oversight to the process, a Reference Group of
recognized experts was established to contribute the views of independent
stakeholders.
North American's
Environment: A 30-year
State of the Environment and Policy Retrospective
A
new report indicates that the United States and Canada's success in improving
local environments where its people can live with clean water and air and enjoy
green spaces has come at the expense of global natural resources and climate.
The
report, North America's
Environment: A thirty-year state of the environment and policy retrospective,
is published by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as a regional
product of the UNEP Global Environmental Outlook (GEO 3) process. It was
produced in collaboration with the World Resources Institute (WRI), the
International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and the Commission
for Environmental Cooperation of the North American Agreement on Environmental
Cooperation.
Over
the past 30 years, North America has had success with a number of environmental
problems. Most notably, it has controlled emissions of pollutants, including
those that destroy the ozone layer and cause acid rain, and protected parks and
wetlands.
However,
in many instances, gains made in arresting environmental pollution and
degradation have recently been eroded by choices related to consumption
increases and population growth. Energy use in North America grew by 31 percent
between 1972 and 1997 as part of a consumer lifestyle based on the desire for
mobility, convenience and product disposability.
With
about 5 percent of the world's population, North America accounted for 25.8
percent of global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) in 1998, and per capita
annual gasoline consumption for motor vehicles was nine times the world average.
North America's ecological footprint was four times greater than the world
average.
The
report says that North America needs to accept more responsibility for
environmental change. It needs changes in its automobile use, more
fuel-efficient technologies, and changes in municipal planning and urban
development strategies that curb sprawl, including investment in public
transport. People need to start connecting climate to individual behaviour and
decision-makers need the political will to introduce improvements.
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