The UN Conference on the Human Environment was held 30 years ago in Stockholm, Sweden, opening the door to debate within the international community on ecological and environmental issues. In 1992 the Earth Summit was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Last month the UN World Summit on Sustainable Development was held in Johannesburg, South Africa. What has been accomplished in 10 years?
In April, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan admitted that the results have been limited. Econo-mic globalization continues to make our habitat a victim of exploitation. The developed countries of Western Europe and North America have failed to deliver on the promises made in Rio -- most of the 2,500 proposals set out at Rio have not been fulfilled. Fifty-five percent of the signatories to the Kyoto Protocol to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change have failed to ratify that protocol's clause on the control of greenhouse gas emissions.
Poverty and sanitation problems have worsened in the less developed countries. In southern Africa alone, 14 million people face food shortages. As pointed out by Annan, prosperity and privilege as enjoyed by 20 percent of the world population, mainly in the US, Japan and Europe, rely on a model of economic development that is not sustainable and places a huge burden on the ecosystem.
In fact, the problems pointed out by Annan are caused by the economic development model used in the advanced countries. At the Rio summit, the US and Western European countries condemned the Third World for disregarding environmental protection and taking measures that seize and sell natural resources as the means for economic development. They failed to realize, however, that the development model followed by the Third World is one formerly pursued by the developed countries themselves. Third World countries also aspire to lead European and American lifestyles and adopting similar values.
The greatest threat to environmental protection is the high level of pollution originating from factories relocated to the Third World from advanced countries. Japan's model, as described by its representative to the Johannesburg summit, is not an example of sustainable development. Terrible consequences such as the transformation of Japan's beautiful islands into a "museum of pollution sources" have ensued from the country's economic success.
The problem has not been solved in the beautiful Silicon Valley, California, where the ground water has been seriously contaminated by the deadly poisonous chemicals discharged from the semiconductor plants in the region. China's cheap labor has contributed to the country's rapid economic growth in the last 10 years, but the degree to which the ecosystem has been destroyed is astounding.
A "memorandum to the UN World Summit on Sustainable Development" released by a German foundation in July stated that economic globalization since the Rio summit has offset most of the achievements of ecological conservation. Not only has the exploitative model of economic development been extended to all corners of the globe, but the world market for natural resources has expanded to include the southern hemisphere and Russia.
The memorandum advocated that the Johannesburg summit focus on egalitarianism. The rich countries should improve their efficiency in production and their means of consumption. The poor countries should pay greater attention to ecological conservation as they continue to develop their economies.
Ecological conservation and egalitarianism are inseparable. The memorandum went a step further, stressing the importance of financial equality. Only after the affluent societies of the West have altered their lifestyles by economizing on their use of resources will the poor countries stop resorting of necessity to the exploitation of natural resources in their battle against poverty.
The problems of consumerism and lifestyle in a market economy have long been neglected. According to a recent book review published in Nature magazine, the price of consumerism is a core problem in sustainable development, because it concerns the use of natural resources and pollution due to non-biodegradable sources. But the issue of consumerism was not addressed in Johannesburg.
In a market economy, consumerism is based merely on the assumption that the market will grow as consumption increases. Consideration of the meaning, value and significance of consumerism, however, is not possible in terms of the market economy. It is only from the perspectives of political and ecological economy that the problems of consumerism will surface. If the practice of consumerism remains unchanged, economic globalization will simply cause the ecological environment to deteriorate further. High levels of consumption are certainly the first and foremost killer of our natural habitat.
Humanity's concept of well-being derives from the urge to fulfill desires that are to a considerable extent determined by the values of society as a whole. In a market-oriented economy, such desires are generated by a desire that is seldom reflected upon. People's confidence in consumerism is an important factor in economic expansion. If we transform society into an affluent one of only light consumption by simply changing patterns of consumption but not people's desire for gratification, talk of sustainable development will remain empty talk.
Is driving a two-tonne luxury automobile in a mile-long traffic jam more enjoyable than riding a bicycle on a tree-lined trail? Why can we not have economic development with zero growth? Why can we not slow down and ask ourselves whether present day styles of consumption are really what we want?
Because we are so accustomed to such a high level of consumption, facing the problems of consumerism is far more difficult than we can imagine. Green consumerism does not root out the problems because all kinds of consumption deplete natural resources. Shouldn't we seriously consider a simpler lifestyle? Are our governments, politicians and financial corporations not brainwashing and misleading us to believe that economies must grow relentlessly? Does the concept of economic recession not imply some specific, subjective value and a materialistic mode of consumption? Do we have no choice?
We must seriously question: what is happiness in life? As the book review in Nature suggests, the best thing in life is sufficiency, not material things themselves; more is not better.
Allen Houng is a professor at the Institute of Neuroscience at National Yang-Ming University.
Translated by Grace Shaw
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