Dina Ezzat reflects on ecological/developmental decisions Arab leaders must take soon In Damascus in March and in Kuwait in the fall, Arab leaders are expected to convene twice: for the annual Arab summit and for the first Arab development summit. According to the secretariat of the Arab League, on both occasions the heads of the 22 member states of the Arab organisation will examine some serious environment-related issues. Putting the environment and its related development matters on the agenda of Arab leaders, concerned officials say, is now a top priority. According to Fatemah Al-Mallah, head of the Environment and Development Department at the secretariat of the Arab organisation, it has become "crucial" for Arab countries to formulate a common vision on the environment in view of the expected negotiations on a new world agreement that should replace the Kyoto Protocol in a few years. Speaking to Al-Ahram Weekly as she was exiting the Bali world environment conference, Al-Mallah reported a growing sense of concern on the part of developing countries on the nature of the future agreement and its impact on the environmental and development rights of these developing nations. "It was very evident during the Bali meetings that the US was not going to agree to the adoption of any measures in relation to the implementation of the international target of reducing about 50 per cent of the current hazardous emissions unless the developing countries undertook major commitments in this regard," Al-Mallah said. She added that while all developing nations, Arab states included, are willing to commit to measures required for the reduction of the emissions level, it would be unfair to expect these developing nations to be burdened with as many commitments as the already heavily industrialised countries which are mainly responsible for the current crisis of global warming. Moreover, as Al-Mallah asserted, for developing countries to take up commitments in relation to the "adaptation and mitigation" strategy that the entire world is supposed to embrace, rich countries and concerned funds should commit clear-cut technical and financial support. "It is in our interest, too, to pursue more effective energy management mechanisms and to pursue cleaner energy products. However, for us to be able to do this and still keep up [an already not so advanced] pace of development, we need streamlined assistance." In Bali, world delegations agreed on a roadmap to negotiate an alternative for the Kyoto Protocol. These negotiations would start next year, and by the time they are launched Al-Mallah hopes that Arabs would have formulated a strategy that will include oil-producing and non-oil producing states alike -- despite the different priorities and tasks. "At the end of the day the entire Arab region is confronted with the same problems and we all have to work on combating them," Al-Mallah said. She added that the positive agreement among Arab countries during the Bali meeting was a clear sign that a comprehensive Arab agenda could be formulated in line with the interests of all Arab League member states. Earlier this month, Arab ministers of environment, during their regular mid-year meeting, adopted a declaration on the need to confront the reasons behind the hazards of climate change. The strategy included a clear commitment to take measures leading to the reduction of hazardous emissions. However, this same strategy calls for the establishment of international funds to support developing countries in this respect. "There needs to be a collaborated world movement to confront climate change but without undermining the rights of sustainable development," the declaration stated. The declaration was adopted against the backdrop of the launch of two UN reports on ecology-related problems. According to these reports, Arab countries might be facing serious degradation, inundation and refugee problems in a few decades if they fail to design prompt schemes. According to the same reports, Arab countries, among others, will face serious water scarcity, a disturbing drop in agricultural products -- to the point where it would categorically undermine basic nutrition shares of individuals especially among the very poor and would also hamper several industries -- and the erosion of entire parts of land of countries. Fighting Climate Change: Human Solidarity in a Divided World and Global Environment Outlook: Environment for Development (GEO4) are two reports issued by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and which were taken up for serious discussion by the Arab Environment Ministerial Council last week on Wednesday and Thursday. The debate, considered by several leading Arab environmentalists and development economists as way overdue, reflected the scope of threats confronting the Arab countries as a result of aggressive environmental changes, mainly the result of insensitive environment and development policies of leading developing states. And, as participants of the ministerial meeting acknowledged, the debate highlighted the disturbing delayed reaction on the part of concerned Arab bodies in adopting the necessary positive mechanism that could contain the huge ecological and developmental damage that might be inflicted on both the richer and poorer Arab states almost equally. The two UN reports insist in almost identical language that the challenge of development in the Arab countries will be made all the more harder if Arab states, among others, fail to make the best out of the next 10 years when combating the world's environmental hazards. The elimination of poverty and the expansion of human development requirements, especially in relation to the promotion of education and good health that were set by Arab governments -- and for that matter summits -- as a top priority will simply become impossible as large segments of Arab societies start battling ecological disasters, which could turn large parts of Arab land into deserts or swamps and turn millions of Arab citizens into refugees. The UNDP and UNEP reports are loud alarm bells. Fighting Climate Change provides evidence of the mechanisms through which the ecological impacts of climate change will be transmitted to the poor. Focussing on the 2.6 billion people surviving on less than $2 a day, the authors warn that forces unleashed by global warming could stall and then reverse progress built up over generations. For its part GEO4 recalls that during the past 20 years, since the launch of GEO1 in 1987, the global population has grown by more than 1.7 billion, from about five billion people, and that worldwide GDP per capita (purchasing power parity) increased from $5,927 in 1987 to $8,162 in 2004. "However, growth has been distributed unequally between regions." However, according to press statements made by the head of the council meetings for its winter/spring session, Tunisian Minister of Environment Nabil Hamedah, if Arab countries fail to negotiate a fair deal with the developing countries on ecology/development assistance, especially in the field of relevant technology know-how, then the ecological and developmental damage to be sustained by these countries, as part of the broader harm to which all developing countries are likely to be subjected, would be immense. Meanwhile, Arab states need to examine some serious effective policy responses. According to the recommendations of the UNEP report, "economic instruments, such as property rights, market creation, bonds and deposits, can help correct market failures and internalise costs of protecting the environment." Moreover, in its report, the UNEP prescribes "valuation techniques to understand the value of ecosystem services". The UNDP suggests that governments should set a collective target to avert dangerous climate change, and proposes clear figures in this respect. Arab ministers of environment said they are willing to work for the ambitious figures stipulated in the UNDP report but will not accept a discriminatory world approach by which rich industrial countries who have so far failed to honour their ecological commitments continue to cause more pollution.
