Beyond the Horizon

By Kofi Annan

Imagine a future of relentless storms and floods; islands and heavily inhabited coastal regions inundated by rising sea levels; fertile soils rendered barren by drought and the desert's advance; mass migrations of environmental refugees; and armed conflicts over water and other precious natural resources.

Then, think again--for one might just as easily conjure a more hopeful picture: of green technologies; livable cities; energy-efficient homes, transport and industry; and rising standards of living for all the world's people, not just a fortunate minority.

The choice between these competing visions is ours to make. Current trends may not be very encouraging, and certainly we know enough about ecological problems to fear the worst. But there is time to draw back from the brink. Most important, another path exists--one that is better for people, less harmful to the environment and possible with the policies, knowledge and technologies at our disposal today. The human family has taken tentative steps in this enlightened direction. The purpose of the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg is to ensure that we gain firmer footing on that road and stick to it once and for all.

The challenge of living in harmony with the earth is as old as human society itself. That relationship changed fundamentally, a little more than two centuries ago, with the Industrial Revolution. Using the new technology of the steam engine in the early 19th century, and the internal combustion engine in the century just ended, society found itself able to exploit on a massive scale the energy locked in such fossil fuels as coal, oil and gas. At the same time, dramatic gains in agricultural productivity made possible by mechanized farming, fertilizers and more efficient water use pushed people from farms into factories and cities. The net result was a revolution in living standards that the world had never seen or even imagined possible.

Today we need another revolution--a revolution in our sense of global stewardship. For too long, too many people have believed that natural limits to human well-being have been conquered. And too many have put their faith solely in technological breakthroughs as the inevitable answer to any resource constraints or other vulnerabilities that might emerge.

Slowly, however, as humankind found itself in uncharted territory with respect to energy use and population growth--and in particular the natural desire of all people to share the prosperity so far enjoyed by only a few--we have begun to recognize the perils inherent in the prevailing model of development. As forests have been felled and aquifers drawn down; as the atmosphere has filled with toxins and the oceans have been fished to exhaustion; and as the climate itself has begun to talk back, holding up a mirror to our profligate ways, the world has seen the dangers of business as usual.

Societies throughout the world have been grappling with ways to ensure that economic growth and environmental protection work together, not at odds. Citizens' groups have raised awareness. Many business leaders are seizing the opportunities offered by environmentally friendly technologies and practices. And as a world community, we have held landmark conferences in Stockholm (1972) and Rio de Janeiro (1992), negotiated dozens of multilateral agreements, built up institutions like the U.N. Environment Program and set out a common vision of progress in the Millennium Development Goals, which include eradicating poverty and hunger, reducing child mortality and achieving gender equality and universal primary education. But as is so often the case, our understanding--popular and scientific--has run ahead of our political response. Johannesburg offers a chance to catch up.

Johannesburg aims to put equal stress on the twin aspirations of sustainable development. Those who profess to care about the environment yet scorn the goal of development only undermine both causes. For the poorest members of the human family in particular, development means the chance to feed, school and care for themselves and their children. But development that takes little account of sustainability is ultimately self-defeating. Prosperity built on the despoliation of the natural environment is no prosperity at all, only a temporary reprieve from future disaster. The issue is not environment vs. development or ecology vs. economy; the two can be integrated. Nor is this a question of rich vs. poor; both have an interest in sustainable development.

What can one conference do, especially given that the record in the decade since the Earth Summit is largely one of painfully slow progress and a deepening global environmental crisis? Johannesburg will surely sound another alarm. Above all, it must revive high-level political commitment to sustainable development. We have seen the results that can be achieved when leaders speak publicly about an issue--be it aids, aid or trade--and put the full weight and resources of their administrations behind it.

Dire predictions, apocalyptic talk and doom-and-gloom scenarios are not enough to inspire people to change either their politics or their day-to-day behavior. But neither can we afford to downplay the problems we face nor think that sustainable development will happen of its own accord. At the dawn of this new century, we must make a choice. We have the human and material resources needed to achieve sustainable development, not as an abstract concept but as a concrete reality. At Johannesburg the world's peoples must come together: to demonstrate our strong sense of common destiny, to show that we take this challenge seriously and ultimately to exercise greater responsibility, for one another as well as for the earth on which our progress and well-being depend.

For more about the summit, visit www.johannesburgsummit.org