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Interview with Jonathan Lash, President of World Resources Institute
By Annabel Short, Global Youth Reporter from the UK
Johannesburg, August (GYRP) –
Do you believe that sustainability is an achievable goal and what are the main barriers to progress?
Ultimately it is not only an achievable goal but a necessity. We have no future unless we move towards it. But on an individual level the current generation have incentives to live in unsustainable ways. That's the main obstacle to progress.
Short term vulnerability and fragility, caused by shaky markets and armed conflict for example, often stand in the way of long-term sustainable development. What are your priorities for achieving security in the present?
At the World Resources Institute we tend to focus on long-term needs and think about those things that will really improve people's lives and the environment. I would say that you have to give people the opportunity to participate in decision-making. Give them access to information. One of the most exciting partnerships to emerge from this summit is the Partnership for Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration, which identified public information, participation in decision-making and access to justice as key principles of environmental governance. It involves 40 NGOs and 12 countries, including Chile, Hungary, Sweden, Uganda and the EU, who are making specific commitments to put those principles into practice.
Business has an energetic and enthusiastic presence at this summit. What lessons do you think the business community needs to learn to maximise its contribution to sustainable development?
There are two main lessons.
1. The best way to protect their legitimacy and credibility is transparency and openness. This is already working to the benefit of those companies who are doing it.
2. Governments need multilateral frameworks. Sustainable development won't happen if they just watch governments wrangling over details. The worst thing for business is when regulations are changed and imposed on them overnight. They need to know what regulation on issues such as climate change will be over a 20-year period so that they can adapt and make the most of it. The best result will be if companies actually stand up and do something which is counter-intuitive, that is, ask to be regulated.
Do you think youth should have more access to decision-making processes on sustainable development and if so how should this be achieved?
It's true that the people who are making the decisions in this building are unlikely to be around to suffer or benefit from their consequences. It worries me that in the US only a tiny percentage of the young are concerned with the future. Theirs is an attitude of ‘well what can I do about it?’ and people are far more concerned about satisfying the needs of the here and now.
What in your view are the main differences between Rio and Johannesburg?
Rio was characterised by high hopes because people were awakened to global issues. Johannesburg is characterised by scepticism, but healthy scepticism. People are confronting reality. It doesn't mean giving up, just realising quite how difficult it is to implement sustainable development principles. But we've had enough of one step forward and two steps backwards, we need to realise it is possible to be creative and advance.
© GLOBAL YOUTH REPORTERS PROGRAMME
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