Sustainable agriculture at the UN
Published March 17, 2009 @ 01:55PM PT
Following up from Rob's blog on "farming sustainably" I'd like to share my experience last month in New York at the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD), which is currently focusing on the topic of sustainable agriculture . Wading through the UN website you can easily get overcome by the familiar UN bureaucratic language. I was there for the week-long "Intergovernmental Preparatory Meeting" which leads into the two week session May 4-15. Then delegations from various member governments will consider the results of the previous year's review of the problems and policies related to agriculture, land, drought and desertification, rural development and Africa. This year they will discuss "Policy Recommendations" on each of these.
Needless to say, it is all rather ambitious to think, in the face of the global food crisis that this session will provide the answers and solutions. That assumes most of the world's governments, corporate lobbyists, academics and representatives of the range of public and private interests can manage to agree on the questions much less answers.
Perhaps that's a bit cynical, but we all know the difficulties of reaching agreement among such a diverse body, even when the stakes are so high. Yet occasionally we do see some breakthroughs, perhaps historically symbolized by the 1948 UN Universal Declaration on Human Rights.Here is a situation where the world's governments agree on certain principles and definitions (whether or not they abide by them!) which establishes a legal or at least moral bar for later treaties and laws.
For our Sustainability Campaign, there is the series of agreements and precedents defining "sustainable development," starting with the familiar Brundtland definition. But that is another discussion.
Whether or not the international community agrees on how to address the challenge of "sustainable agriculture" and the global food crisis, the upcoming CSD session offers us two important values: (1) a snapshot of the complex of viewpoints and interests engaged in the international debate, and (2) a physical space for those who care to come together and share their knowledge and ideas -- and possibly build partnerships for action.
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Author
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Jeffrey Barber
- Silver Spring, MD
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Jeffrey is the National Coordinator for the Citizens Network for Sustainable Development , which continues to promote and help build the sustainability movement in the United States. He is also Executive Director of Integrative Strategies Forum, based in Silver Spring, Maryland, encouraging collaborative action and knowledge exchange.
