The World Summit on Sustainable Development 2002: Reports from the Scottish Civic Delegation
FOREWORD
Sustainable development matters to the people of Scotland. That is why I attended the World Summit in Johannesburg last year. I want there to be no doubt that government in Scotland is committed to sustainable development at the highest level.
In Scotland, we have made important progress in recent months - making sustainable development an integral part of the Executive's Spending Review 2002, massively increasing our ambitions for the generation of electricity from renewable sources and setting new targets for recycling and composting - but we must keep up the momentum, and our engagement in the World Summit has helped us to do just that.
The World Summit reminded me how important it is that we drive forward sustainable development, not only because of the benefits for the people of Scotland, but because we also have a responsibility to tackle poverty and environmental degradation internationally.
While in South Africa we made real progress with the proposal for ScottishPower, the Department of International Development and the Government of the Eastern Cape to explore the potential of a green energy project in Eastern Cape. This aim is to assist with access to new electricity supplies, show local people the potential of renewable energy and develop skills in operation and maintenance. ScottishPower is well equipped to export its skill and expertise in developing wind farms and this type of project illustrates how Scottish business can become part of the sustainable development solution.
Community participation is central to sustainable development and environmental improvements. So, I was impressed to meet a community leader in Soweto who has turned a wasteland that was a haven for crime, vandalism, drug taking and all kinds of other activities into a conservation area that is used for the voluntary support of 200 young people. He is keeping them away from a life of crime, and involving them in a community regeneration project. Initiatives of that sort, which help young people to take responsibility for their community, augur well for the future.
The absolute highlight of my visit to South Africa was a visit to Banareng Primary School in Atteridgeville Township in Pretoria. There I met an outstanding and inspirational head teacher, Pauline Sethole, who has almost single handedly turned around school performance by creating an 'edible curriculum' as she calls it. In this extremely poor area, the hot meal provided by the school, from produce grown in the school garden, is often the only meal they get. It is a very real example of an eco-school and I hope that the email link which we established with one of Scotland's eco-schools, the Royal School of Dunkeld, will only be the start of Scottish support for Banareng and other schools, and a further boost to Scotland's important role in the development of eco-schools world-wide.
These are my impressions of the Summit. The Scottish Civic Delegation also travelled to Johannesburg and made an excellent contribution in sharing Scottish ideas and in learning from others. This document contains their impressions of the Summit and their views on how Scotland can help to achieve the outcomes.
While the outcomes of the Johannesburg Summit did not generate the excitement of Rio de Janeiro in 1992 it clearly pushed sustainable development higher up the international agenda. And important commitments, targets and timetables were agreed.
But the targets and ambitions of the Summit must not be seen as maximum standards. I am determined that in Scotland we see them as the minimum contribution we can make in achieving sustainable development both at home and abroad.
We can, we must and we will do more.
JACK MCCONNELL
First Minister
March 2003