A professor of mine in my graduate study gave us a thought paper on sustainable development and so here it is. I wanted to share what I knew about sustainable development and how far is the Philippines now in terms of its being sustainable enough for its development and if given a chance this I think is my way of how my own country will achieve the what they so-called sustainable development.
The Philippine Agenda 21 is an effort of the national government to provide the enabling environment for the operationalization of sustainable development. At the local level (province, cities and municipalities), efforts have been initiated to mainstream sustainable development in the planning and plan implementing process.
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| Source: NEDA |
The Philippines was one of the countries that swiftly responded to the call of 1992 Rio Earth Summit committing to pursue sustainable development as defined under Agenda 21. This commitment involved the creation of mechanism to operationalize sustainable development in the country through the issuance of the Executive Order 15 on 1 September 1992, creation of the Philippine Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD) and the release of the Memorandum Order 288 in July 1995 directing the formulation of the Philippine Agenda 21 (PA 21).
Besides of having a PA 21, in order to strengthen the operationalization and localization of PA 21, a Memorandum Order No. 47 was issued on January 25, 1995 by strengthen the operationalization and localization of PA 21 and to monitor its implementation.
Local Agenda 21 defines localization as a process that involves the formulation of local sustainable development action agenda, and the establishment of local sustainable development councils to implement the said agenda. It ensures that sustainable development takes root in each region, province, city, and municipality of the country.
In addition to these, for more than a decade, the Philippine has also regularly and actively participated in international and local fora on sustainable development. The Philippines was recently elected as a bureau member for the 2010/2011 cycle of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD 18/19).
As of now the PCSD is preparing for an assessment report to be presented in next year UN General Assembly in celebration for the 20 years of the Rio Summit and Agenda 21. But the big question is where is the Philippine now in terms of its implementations of the sustainable development?
Due to absence of a law on sustainable development in our translating every efforts and initiatives on a more concise and precise manner the problem is there is no firm efforts in the implementation and enforcement of the sustainable development in our country.
What our country needs is to have a concrete political commitment to sustainable development for instance having a national vision to have an environmentally sound and sustainable development. Although, we had already the presence of a body which is the PCSD my recommendation is for the council to monitor and ensure that all national and local initiatives should be complying/integrated with the said national vision of having a sustainable growth and development.
The implementation of PA 21 must also be anchored on the basic principle of collective choices and responsibility. Forging new partnerships and finding areas of common ground for collaborative action are central to the process of implementation as well as building and strengthening the roles and capacities of major groups and stakeholders; a consolidated and well coordinated effort at information, education and communication advocacy; localization; generating financing means and strategies; and monitoring and assessment.
A good example of successful implementation of sustainable development is the Green Growth National Policy of the Republic of Korea.
In 2008, President Lee Myung-bak declared Low Carbon Green Growth as the country's new vision to lead the country's development for the next 60 years. Green growth is an action-oriented paradigm which promotes a mutually supportive relationship between growth and the environment by holistically embracing the framework of sustainable growth.
With the aid from the government, businesses have been investing boldly in such technologies as new and renewable energy, electric cars, rechargeable batteries and light emitting diodes (LEDs). Market-driven green growth has also been transformed towards a green economy. Green growth will also improve the quality of life by bringing a green revolution into daily life. Korea‟s green growth will help the country enhance its contribution to the development of the global community. With this contribution, Korea hopes to serve as a role model, a responsible member committed to the creation of responsibility for the planet. Korea‟s green growth will help the country enhance its contribution to the development of the global community.
The Korean government has also created an institutional framework for a great leap forward toward a green economic power which is the Framework Act on Low Carbon Green Growth, the first law of its kind in the world, and released a National Strategy for Green Growth and Five-Year Plan for Green Growth. In particular, the Framework Act represents a milestone in the national development strategy and the legal foundation of the nation's green growth policies, approaching green growth in a comprehensive and systematic manner.
The key in the successful implementation of the Korea's Green Growth is the public-private-partnership which is visible in the creation of this national policy. The National Strategy for Green Growth envisages three (3) main objectives and ten policy directions, which is based on a consensus between social, business, academic and government stakeholders. The three (3) objectives include mitigation of climate change and the strengthening of the country‟s energy independence, creation of new growth engines, improvement in the quality of people‟s lives and enhancement of Korea‟s international standing.
In order to ensure effective implementation of this new vision, President Lee also launched the Presidential Committee on Green Growth. The Committee coordinates and evaluates the green growth policies of various Ministries, as well as undertakes consultation with the diverse circles in the private sector.
If these will be happend in my country, then I assumed that Philippines will not be dreaming anymore of having and experiencing sustainable development.
Source:
* National Economic and Development Authority
* Presidential Committee on Green Growth. http://www.greengrowth.go.kr/english/en_information/en_report/userBbs/bbsView.do
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