Southern Perspective

The Global Environment: A Southern Perspective
Author(s): Alvaro Soto

Source: International Journal, Vol. 47, No. 4, Environment & Development: Rio and After
(Autumn, 1992), pp. 679-705
Published by: Sage Publications, Ltd. on behalf of the Canadian International Council
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/40202799
Accessed: 24-12-2020 03:58 UTC
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide
range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and
facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
https://about.jstor.org/terms
Canadian International Council, Sage Publications, Ltd. are collaborating with JSTOR to
digitize, preserve and extend access to International Journal
This content downloaded from 139.219.98.17 on Thu, 24 Dec 2020 03:58:00 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
ALVARO SOTO
The global environment:

a Southern perspective
Resourcism is a kind of modern religion which casts

ation into categories of utility. By treating everything
geneous matter in search of a use it devalues all. Ye
dangerous aspect is its apparent good intention. By
something as a resource we seem to have cause to
But all we really have is a licence to exploit it.
Neil Evernden, The Natural Alien, 19
All around the world the environment is in crisis.

environmental disruption coincides with a severe e
social crisis that affects most parts of the Thirfl Worl
standing the apparent commitment to development
the 1980s, the increasing severity of the economic and
has become undeniable. Not only have existing d
problems continued but, in general, the poor cou
actually suffered a reduction in growth. In many ca
dent that the crisis is the result of conflicting develop
that destroy not only the environment but human
the global environmental crisis and the socio-econo
in the South are the interconnected result of an
world order, unsustainable systems of consumption
tion in the North, and inappropriate development m
South. This is, then, the socio-ecological crisis of o
A Colombian anthropologist, the author is director of the Internat

for the Environment in the Tropics (iNCENT-NEOTROPico)in Bo
recently served as executive secretary to the Commission on Develo
and Global Change, whose report, For Earth's Sake, was published
International Journal xlv u autumn 1992
680 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL
accelerating depletion and pollution of the earth's resources by

inappropriate production processes and technologies designed to
produce ever increasing volumes of goods and services which are
largely channelled towards meeting the luxury wants of small
elitist sectors of society, leaving the real and necessary require-
ments of the poor majority neglected.
NORTH AND SOUTH - VALUES AND VISION
Many of the problems that the environmentalists

countries consider to be of first importance ar
be as significant in the South. In developing co
tends to be on solving immediate problems re
requirements of the population for survival. A
bon dioxide emissions, and the loss of biologic
little meaning to people who see their children
tion and who lack even the most basic health care. It is therefore
important to reach a consensus among funding agencies and

potential recipients of such funding on what kind of investments
will lead to maximum efficiency in solving these problems and to
the widest possible dispersion of benefits among the target pop-
ulation.
In current debates, global environmental concerns have

become detached from the issues of world poverty and inequity.
A new context for the global environmental debate is required:
one which is based on relationships of environmental equity and
which includes a clearly articulated perspective from the South
on its priorities. An agenda which addresses the development-
environment impasse from the Southern perspective will require
a redefinition of some of the terms currently being used in inter-
national discussions. For example, at present, the primary focus
in Northern definitions of the concept of 'sustainability' is on the
physical environment. The South, in contrast, believes that 'sus-
tainability' should be concerned more with social and economic
issues, such as disparities in wealth and opportunities.
At present the selection of the problems that assistance pro-
jects and financial aid to developing countries seek to treat is
A SOUTHERN PERSPECTIVE 68l
based mainly on the perceptions of the aid-granting agencies in

the industrial countries. The participation of Southerners in
attempts to find solutions to the problems in their own countries
has been minimal. Few Southern scholars, scientists, or practi-
tioners take part in discussions about what research to conduct
or how to resolve problems or how to determine priorities. The
result is a unilateral perception of Southern problems and the
generation of stereotypes of those countries which, as with most
stereotypes, often do not reflect reality. After many years of
involvement, much effort, and many millions of dollars spent to
alleviate poverty in the Third World, the yoke of poverty has not
been lifted, and in some places, such as Africa, the situation has
actually grown worse. The same failure has occurred in other
areas targeted for assistance such as public education, health,
and general living conditions.
As well, institutions and people in the developing countries
communicate very little among themselves. To meet a person
from Africa, for example, a Latin American must first travel to
North America and Europe. The work of Southern scientists is
seldom reflected in the libraries or publications of the North.
Research is confined within a boundary that encircles the indus-
trial countries and separates them from the others. Because of
this lack of communication, it comes to be assumed that the
South produces no (or few) worthwhile scholarly theses or
research papers and is therefore incapable of determining its own
solutions. Thus, most of the aid or investment projects under-
taken by Northern organizations use the findings of Northern
research to determine their objectives, with little (usually no)
input from the South, the recipients.
It is of primary importance to open the doors to the partici-
pation of Southern institutions in the design and implementation
of development' projects. This is necessary not only to improve
the flow of information among global research institutions and
agencies but, more importantly, to give the developing countries
a voice in determining their own future and to ensure that
Southern priorities are given a proper role in future planning.
THE DISCUSSION ON GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE
Regional and global environmental impacts are

cumulative result of actions at the local/com
national level. Conversely, economic, technolo
cal forces originating at the global or regiona
influential at both the national and the local/
Therefore, in seeking to understand the causes
mental change, it is essential to examine not on
cies and actions but also the dynamics at the i
that influence them.
High consumption in the North

A high-consumption life style in the North has brought these
countries to the point of 'over-development.' There, the eco-
nomic system is geared towards stimulating an excessive demand
for non-essential goods and services. Stylistic trends, increased
demands for time-saving and convenience goods, and constant
innovations in the product mix have created a 'throw-away' cul-
ture which leads to generally superfluous and wasteful consump-
tion.
The massive changes that colonialism brought to Third

World economies and the subsequent intensification of these
changes through the spread of a world market economy con-
trolled by the North are the core causes of environmental change
at the international level. Technological capacity and economic
incentives led the North to colonize the territories of the Third
World in order to expand both the available storehouse of raw
materials and the market for manufactured goods, technologies,
and industries. More recently, this pattern has been replaced by
one of economic advice, 'encouragement/ and coercion to con-
tinue the export of huge quantities of raw materials for paltry
returns. Thus, the colonial pattern of world production and
trade has become further entrenched as Northern transnational
corporations expand massively and deeply into the far reaches of
the globe.
In the years since World War II, many of the programmes
and projects financed or promoted by aid agencies have had
A SOUTHERN PERSPECTIVE 683
adverse ecological effects. It is only in recent years, with growing

public awareness, that there has been some consideration of the
environmental impacts that might be associated with the poli-
cies, programmes, and projects of the World Bank, the Interna-
tional Monetary Fund, the regional development banks, the
Food and Agriculture Organization, the General Agreement on
Tariffs and Trade, and the bilateral aid agencies of the Northern
governments.
Inequities in North-South trade

In environmental terms, economic policies centred on cheaply
priced commodity exports to world markets have had many
repercussions. These include: the destruction of forests for wood
or to clear land for agriculture, cattle ranching, or mining; the
inundation of land for dams; the rapid depletion of energy
resources such as coal and oil; and the depletion of other non-
renewables, particularly metals and minerals. As national econ-
omies interlock ever more intensely with the world market, the
pace of resource depletion and environmental degradation
increases.
The problem has been exacerbated because environmental

issues have usually been considered in isolation from such major
policy arenas as economic and fiscal issues, and the governments
and elites of the South, having largely adopted the same eco-
nomic growth paradigm as the North, have eschewed longer
term efforts at conservation and wise resource allocation. Thus,
there has been a failure to focus on the socio-ecological implica-
tions of economic policy. The static and distorted political and
socio-economic structures of many developing countries perpet-
uate environmental destruction. Corruption and patronage often
lead to the approval or continuation of ill-advised and environ-
mentally and socially damaging projects and activities. The for-
mation of coalitions that might be capable of challenging these
abuses - for example, between trade unions and environmental
organizations - is often blocked by perceived conflicts in goals or
by government censorship.
Although the proportion of the world's economy dependent
on primary resources is decreasing, it is estimated that the exploi-

tation of land, forests, and water resources, among other pri-
mary natural resources, constitutes the basic means of survival
for 60 per cent of the population of the Third World. Further,
the distribution of different primary production activities in the
natural landscape ^loes not always correspond well with ecologi-
cal realities. For example, it is the lack of adequate policies on
land reform and of technologies for the integral and multiple use
of forest ecosystems that has played a key role in the transfor-
mation of the latter for agriculture and livestock breeding.
Another factor in this development is the increase in land
devoted to human settlements and related infrastructure.
Moreover, as the income base of developing countries increas-
ingly switches to manufacturing, the shifts in both the types and
quantities of goods produced often depend on even more inten-
sive primary resource exploitation. Thus, increased industriali-
zation in the South has brought with it all the attendant environ-
mental repercussions: resource depletion; consumption of
energy; generation of pollution and wastes and the consequent
contamination of water, soil, and air; occupational hazards;
health threats to residents in the vicinity of industrial plants; and
so on. And because of socio-political dynamics in the countries
of the South, standards of safety and pollution control are often
far below those that would be required in the North.
As a broad generalization, the South very largely lacks the
scientific and technical capacity it needs to be able to minimize
human impacts on its environment, to manage its rich natural
resource base wisely, and to maximize the socio-economic bene-
fits from these resources. Developing countries face these prob-
lems of environmental degradation at a time when the global
technological order is rapidly changing. Because the pace and
trends of that transformation are set by the North, the result is
Southern reliance on the transfer of knowledge and technology.
Reconciling the objectives of eradicating poverty and generating
employment with the goal of technological modernization is
proving particularly difficult when the direction of most techno-
logical change is towards greater use of capital and technology

and a corresponding decline in the need for labour unless it is
highly skilled.. Only with mutual co-operation and understand-
ing between industrialized and non-industrialized countries will
we be able to succeed in our search for a common future.
THE QUESTION OF THE GLOBAL COMMONS

As we enter the 1990s, the global community is faced with sta
gering statistics from around the world:
- Fifty thousand people starve to death every day in a world
that is suffering the ill effects of over-consumption, whi
roughly one million more babies are born every three week
in sub-Saharan Africa alone.1
- One-quarter of all kinds of plants, animals, and micro-organ-

isms are likely to become extinct during our lifetime, and it
has been predicted that species loss during the first years of
the twenty-first century may be as high as several hundred
per day.2
- In excess of 80 to 90 per cent of all commodities that contrib-
ute to the standard of living are controlled by First World
nations.
- In Africa 29 trees are cut down for every one that is planted.*
- The external debt of the Third World is estimated to be
about US$i trillion, while world military expenditures have
amounted to US$17 trillion since the early 1960s.
The contemplation of these statistics should stun the rational
human being. The question which cries out for an answer is how
did. things get to be so bad for the environment and for the
majority of the earth's inhabitants? What philosophical stance
allows the people of the First World to remain unmoved by these
facts? Does the North see the peoples of the South as less sensitive
1 World Resources 198586 (New York: World Resources Institute 1986).

2 Peter H. Ravens, 'Managing tropical resources: a challenge to us all, in A Mod-
ern Approach to the Protection of the Environment (Vatican City: Pontifica Aca-
demia Scientarum 1987).
3 Lester R. Brown et al, State of the World 1987 (New York: Norton 1987).
to the pain of hunger, or to the loss of their children to starvation

and disease? Do Northerners think, perhaps, that Southerners
are in some way responsible for and therefore deserving of their
circumstances? Is colonialism to blame and does it continue - in
the form of capitalism - to rape, pillage, and burn the landscape
of the Third World? Has the technology that has allowed the
First World to reap benefits from around the globe created an
enormous environmental debt that is about to fall due? What do
we do now?
A new world order must be found that is sensitive to all the
globe's inhabitants and to the environment. This, like all decla-
rations, manifestos, and sweeping platitudes, is easy to say, but
the task of managing the global commons actually offers a clear
opportunity for the peoples of the world and their political,
social, and academic representatives to create a better system.
An improved quality of life for the people of the world must be
one of the first priorities. The term 'quality of life' is used here
in opposition to the Northern idea of 'standard of living': the
former relates fundamentally to 'being' and the latter to 'having.'
What is needed is a delicate balance between 'having' and
'being,' which may be viewed as 'having in order to be' with the
emphasis on 'to be.'
The commons and common property

We are part of a global ecosystem which operates under natural
laws that have little respect for the political boundaries of the
moment. Yet these national boundaries are artifacts of the polit-
ical systems that happen to be in place today and it is the govern-
ments of this system of nation-states which are organizing the
new order. There are, however, portions of the globe that are not
considered to be held by any one nation -state. Currently, there
are four of these mutually recognized global commons: Antarc-
tica, the atmosphere, the deep oceans, and outer space.
The concept of common property, and by extension global
commons, can be approached from either a traditional or a
Western point of view. The industrial nations have created
regimes of land classification. In the Western concept there are
only privately owned and state-owned properties. Property that

is not suitable for private ownership is denoted as common prop-
erty. Such common property may be held in three ways: open
access; as state property; or as communal property. These three
types of property regime are defined in Berkes's book.1 In an
open-access regime, resource-use rights are neither exclusive nor
transferable; instead, these rights are owned in common and are
open to everyone (and therefore the property of no one). In a
state property regime, ownership and management control lie
with the nation-state or the crown; access to and rights to use
these public resources have not been specified. In a communal
property regime, the rights to use resources are controlled by an
identifiable group and are not privately owned or managed by
governments. There are rules about who may and may not use
the resource and how the resource should be used - a commu-
nity-based resource management system.

The North tends to be preoccupied with the individual. It is
this orientation, the preoccupation with the self, that has led to
many of our modern problems. This is not true of all societies.
In many non-industrial countries, common property refers,
instead, to lands and resources that are owned collectively by a
group, that is, by everyone who is part of the group. This is
different from the Northern understanding of collectivity which
holds that if property is not owned by someone, it is owned by no
one. Traditionally, in the North, common property is seen as a
resource that excludes non-owners and whose benefits are allo-
cated among the owners. These two concepts of land tenure rep-
resent completely opposite understandings of the land. It is that
fundamental perception of land ownership that dictates how the
land is tended. The concept of land ownership dictates the style
of land stewardship. If everybody owns it, then everybody is
responsible for the care of it. If nobody owns it, then nobody is
responsible for the care of it.
Traditional methods of managing the bounty of the bio-
4 Fikret Berkes, ed, Common Property Resources: Ecology and Community- Based
Sustainable Development (London: Belhaven 1989).
sphere, once frowned upon as primitive - producing low yields

and of little modern practicality - are gaining renewed status
and are increasingly the object of inquiry by the scientific com-
munity. The bona of Iran, the zanjera of the Philippines, the
acadia of West Africa, or the common pastures of England are
being reassessed because of their sustainable nature. These land
systems are based on concepts of communal ownership that
maintain the value of the resource for the good of the entire
community and for future generations. These systems are invar-
iably linked to the social traditions which maintain the social,
economic, and ecologic integrity of the community.
This is the context within which conflict over who owns and
is responsible for the global commons has been carried on. And
because the players from the North have accumulated the eco-
nomic and political power to enforce (or subtly promote) their
point of view, the commons have increasingly been defined and
treated as a common property in the Northern sense. Attempts
have therefore been made to settle the ownership and resource-
use questions for all the global commons, with treaties to allocate
the ownership and distribution of resources. The four global
commons are all suffering to some extent from the effects of
exploitation, pollution, and mismanagement by the populations
of the world. These problems have been addressed, in turn, by
international agreements for the co-operative management of
the commons by multinational groups of stewards.
The rapidly declining fund of resources in today's world has
brought a call for what has been termed 'sustainable develop-
ment' - the consumption of resources today in such a way that
the interests of future generations will not be compromised. The
question is: how do we care for these commons and wisely par-
take of their wealth, without exhausting the environmental cap-
ital which we hold in trust for our children? The strain that has
been placed on resources by increasing population and increas-

ing economic demand is well documented. New strategies for
adapting to the natural environment must be the goal of all sane
governmental, economic, and consumer powers.
a southern perspective 689
'managing' the commons

Antarctica
A new management regime for Antarctica has rece

embodied in a treaty that will run far into the next centu
agreement is a renegotiation of the 1959 Antarctic Tr
some additional instruments which provided for the us
arctica for purely peaceful purposes and were designe
mote co-operation among the various scientific inv
working there. Although coal and iron have been foun
arctica, they are considered economically impractical t
the present time and the ecosystem is therefore not at
mining. There are thought to be oil reserves along the
tal shelf but any exploitation of that resource could p
strophic for the coastal ecosystem. It does appear, how
the population of krill that lives in the waters surroun
arctica is endangered. These creatures are basic to
chain and over-exploitation of them for the production
trial protein has affected the 8 species of whale, appr
100 species of fish, and 40 species of birds which depen
as a major food source. There is strong scientific evid
various strategies for exploitation could be devastatin
fragile cold world, and it therefore makes good sense t
the Antarctic regime as carefully as possible.
The atmosphere
The composition of the atmosphere and climatic cond
the earth are directly linked. Concern has mounted tha
are becoming increasingly filled with gases which a
noticeable effects on the global climate. It is estimated
increase in greenhouse gases (such as carbon dioxide,
nitrous oxide) will contribute to an estimated rise in te
of one to two degrees Centigrade by the year 2030. W
predictions of the consequences of increased carbon d
other gases in the atmosphere vary depending on the m
ized, there is no doubt that the implications for c
changes, droughts, and changes in sea level are most d
69O INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL
It is thought that substantial warming may lead to the melting

of the continental ice sheets which would cause the inundation
of coastal areas and the ruin of most coastal cities.
The sources of these greenhouse gases are the combustion of
fossil fuels, industrial emissions, deforestation, the fermentation
of farm products, and the use of fertilizers. Figures available for
1988 estimate global carbon dioxide emissions to be approxi-
mately 8.6 billion tonnes. Industrial emissions and the burning
of fossil fuels account for 5.5 billion tonnes of that total. It is
estimated that industry accounts for 74 per cent of the carbon
dioxide poured into the skies every year. Agriculture is thought
to contribute 3 per cent of global emissions per year.*
Deforestation is also considered a major contributor to global
warming. This problem is linked to those of land tenure and
availability. The link between the First World consumer and the
degradation of the environment and the reduction of Third
World peoples to abject poverty is quite clear. Beef production
for American markets provides an excellent illustration. Mexico
and Central America have been producing beef for the United
States. Since the 1960s, the United States has sanctioned greater
and greater imports of beef, thereby keeping the price to the
consumer lower than it would have been. These increasing
imports of beef are a major factor in the loss of more than half
of the forest of these two regions. To provide the United States
with one hamburger requires the clearance of a 3 X 4 metre
patch of forest. Thus, the consumers of the North are manipu-
lated by the apparent lower financial cost, and the peasants of
the South are degraded by the actual higher environmental cost.
A similar link occurs with exotic woods from the tropical regions
of the world. The industrial world's demand for hardwoods is
now 15 times greater than it was in 1950, leading to increased
cutting of tropical forests and the consequent socio-ecological
problems.
5 M.W. Holdgate, et al, 'Climate change: meeting the challenge,' in Our Own
Agenda (Washington: Inter- American Development Bank 1990).
A SOUTHERN PERSPECTIVE 6gi
Damage to the tropospheric ozone is another environmental

disaster in the making. Although not a contributor to climate
stability, ozone is responsible for filtering damaging ultraviolet
rays from incoming solar radiation. Ninety-five per cent of the
gases which destroy the ozone layer (chlorofluorocarbons, hal-
ons, refrigerants, and industrial solvents) are produced by indus-
trial countries but the effects on the environment are spread
across the globe and affect all its people.
The oceans
The oceans are a physically interconnected unit and a dynamic
system that reaches around the globe. They offer the peoples of
the earth myriad resources in the form of fish, plants, and min-
eral resources. In spite of the benefits to be reaped from the
marine environment, we increasingly treat our waters as recep-
tacles for garbage, sewage, chemical effluent, and even nuclear
waste. Every year an estimated 6 million tons of petroleum are
dumped into the oceans. From 1933 until 1967, when such
dumping was outlawed, it is estimated that 90,000 tons of waste
with a radioactivity level of 1 billion curies was dumped into the
sea.6 This pollution is taking its toll on life in the oceans.
Sea-bed mining has proved to be the most contentious of the
issues in the management of the deep oceans. To help protect
the interests of the Third World which is unable to participate
in this activity at the present time, negotiators at the Third
United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea suggested that
an area equal to every area mined be set aside in a land bank for
eventual exploitation by the developing nations. This idea was
opposed by the mining interests which had spent millions in
developing the technology to mine the sea-bed. In the end the
United States refused to sign the Convention on the Law of the
Sea. One reason for this refusal was that it would set a dangerous
precedent for relations between the United States and the Third
World. This convention dealt largely with the matter of owner-
6 World Resources 1 g8$- 1 g86.
ship. Action still needs to be taken regarding the pollution of the

waters and over-exploitation of the fisheries.
Outer space
The successful functioning of communications satellites and dig-
ital remote sensors is dependent on their position above the
earth. The optimal geosynchronous orbits exist as a finite band
about the equator which can be considered a global commons.
The large number of satellites circling the globe today are
already creating conflict: 180 satellites can use the optimal path
efficiently but currently there are more than 280 in geostationary
orbits. Of these, 100 belong to the Soviet Union and 170 to the
United States with only 10 from other countries.7 In December
1976 eight of the countries situated on the equator met in Bogota
and agreed to assert their claims to the geosynchronous orbit as
an extension of national air space, describing it as a scarce and
valuable natural resource. Those parts of the orbit above the
ocean were to be a common resource for all. Not surprisingly,
this proposal came under attack from the non-equatorial coun-
tries and is not accepted by most. In any case, the Third World
is not in the position to participate in this technology and is
quickly being excluded from the resource. Another concern is
the growing amount of junk in space - unused satellites, dis-
carded rocket parts, and other material orbiting the earth. Not
only does this detritus affect space itself, but space junk periodi-
cally plummets to earth rather than being burned up in the
atmosphere, posing a hazard to both people and the environ-
ment.
'National' commons
As well as the accepted global commons there are other are
that are often perceived in the same way. One such is th
national park which preserves some precious or endangered ty
of plant or animal life. These reserves are maintained under th
7 Latin American and Caribbean Commission on Development and Environment,

Our Own Agenda.
jurisdiction of the state in which they lie and as such they are
common property of people but not part of the global commons.
While these areas are often biological reserves, they rarely pro-
vide sufficient protection for the species concerned. In fact the
high profile they have can be counterproductive, misleading the
public as to their value as a biological reserve. They can also
suffer from the environmental strains imposed by tourism.
Another region that is perceived in some quarters as a global
commons is the tropical rain forest. Its status as a 'global'
resource grows out of the senseless claim that these forests are the
'lungs of the world.' Tropical rain forests with their large biomass
are a valuable economic and environmental resource. Still, the
emphasis seems to be on their economic worth. Specific aspects
of the tropical rain forest, such as biological diversity, unique
natural phenomena and ecosystems, carbon fixation capacity,
and issues related to atmospheric pollution and global warming
can be used to draw funds for conservation programmes and
sustainable development. Their management could provide a
vehicle for moving towards evening the balance between North
and South and addressing broader issues of poverty and social
disparities in the region.
Many of the planet's richest sources of biodiversity are found
in some of the world's poorest nations. The current rate of species
extinction has led to increasing pressure from the North (most
particularly, agribusiness and pharmaceutical interests) to have
the genetic resources of the Third World declared a universal
heritage - a non-territorial global commons. The loss of biodi-
versity has been called the most important long-term global
problem that we face today. It is estimated that over one-half of
the world's species of plants, animals, and micro-organisms (esti-
mated at 10 to 30 million) are found in the tropical rain forests.
These forests will be heavily damaged in the next fifteen years,
and estimates of loss range form 100,000 to 350,000 in the next
forty years to as many as one billion within our lifetime.8
Currently, genes are being manipulated in laboratories to
8 Ibid., and Ravens, 'Managing tropical resources.'
create what are considered to be new and improved species. Most

of this research is supposedly focused on improving crop yields
by imparting resistance to disease, herbicides, pests, and stress,
by increasing the quality of the plants, and by making harvesting
easier.9 Today, about 50 per cent of an increased yield on a farm
crop arises from the genetic resources of the plant. Maintaining
biological genetic diversity is also important for the medicinal
biocompounds that are available around the coral reefs, many
of which are known to be useful in combating cancer and other
diseases. As well, 25 per cent of prescription drugs have a plant
origin, and in 1980 the United States market for these drugs was
approximately US$8 billion.
Ironically, in many Southern countries, the loss of biodiver-
sity has often come as a result of new technologies (such as the
Green Revolution) and forms of exploitation promoted by the
North at the expense of indigenous practices that helped sustain
genetic diversity.
We canitot deny the local and global importance of biodi-
versity and the concomitant value of the tropical rain forests.
However, efforts to extend the concept of global commons to
nationally based resources are a threat to Southern sovereignty
over Southern resources and consequently to the right of the
Third World to benefit economically from indigenous resources.
Given that Northern countries are unlikely to consider their nat-
ural resources in this light, the message from the North seems to
be that 'what's mine is mine, and what's yours is ours/1"
THE POVERTY QUESTION

The poverty of the Third World is one of the factors contributing
to some of today's environmental problems. This problem exist
hand in hand with those arising from disparities in resource,
9 Donna Smyth, 'From technological fix to appropriate technology,' in Constance

Mungall and DigbyJ. McLaren, eds, Planet under Stress: The Challenge of
Global Change (Toronto: Oxford University Press 1990).
10 For Earths Sake: A Report from the Commission on Developing Countries and
Global Change (Ottawa: International Development Research Centre 1992), 28.
energy, and wealth distribution. The lack of an acceptable qual-

ity of life spurs people to act in ways that lead to further environ-
mental degradation. Poverty at the local level is linked to ine-
qualities at both the international and the national level and is
the result of a wide range of factors including inequities in inter-
national economic arrangements, dependency, unfair terms of
trade, reduced prices for primary products, and the lack of rec-
ognition accorded to the legitimacy of the 'people's economy' -
small farms and businesses mainly family owned and operated -
in the face of private sector corporations or large state-run enter-
prises, a failure which leads in turn to a lack of support for this
economy.
Absolute poverty is the inability to obtain adequate food,
shelter, and clothing from one day to the next. Of the 2.7 billion
people who live in tropical and subtropical regions of the world,
1.2 billion exist in absolute poverty. World-wide, it is estimated
that 950 million people, approximately one-fifth of the global
population, are malnourished. These people face 'stunted
growth and serious health risks/11 Many millions of people starve
to death or die of hunger-related diseases every year. Environ-
mental issues are not of concern to the man or woman whose
impoverished family does not have enough food to eat. Global

warming and the loss of biological diversity have little meaning
for people suffering the day-to-day consequences of malnutrition
or lack of health care.
WHO HAS A STAKE IN THE GLOBAL COMMONS?
A common element in academic and scientific works on manag

ing the global commons is the assumption that the arrangemen
will be made among various governments. This is not entirely s
It is true that the Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplet
the Ozone Layer took the form of a convention among govern
ments, but much of the negotiation about time-frames, levels o
allowable emissions, and allocation of permits was carried out
11 World Resources 1 g8tf- 1 g86.
for the benefit of large corporations which manufacture and

market the materials. Other aspects of the global commons are
subject to governmental conventions and administration, but the
programmes are often framed with their economic aspects
clearly in mind.
Willingness to pay
A 'willingness to pay' is a common proposal in discussions about
managing commons. It is used, for example, to derive user fees
for parks and for expeditions to see wildlife. This method is use-
ful when all potential users have similar freedom of choice and
equitable access to resources, and when all eventualities can be
reasonably quantified. But the method favours short-term goals.
It cannot adequately deal with a case in which the value, eco-
nomic or otherwise, of preserving ecological integrity may not be
fully appreciated until far into the future or with a case in which
the area concerned is too remote for this type of exploitation.
Swapping debt for nature

Many analysts promote variations on the theme of 'swap debt for
nature' or 'swap debt for social equity/12 In this scheme, debts
which have been discounted on secondary money markets are
bought up by companies or by development or environmental
organizations for a fraction of their original value. These are
then traded back to the debtor country for local currency, which
can then be allocated to development -related purposes, includ-
ing biological diversity, soil conservation and watershed protec-
tion, reforestation, appropriate scale irrigation, preservation of
cultural heritage, literacy, and education.
While this type of scheme can lead to true development,
more often than not it merely gives the illusion of progress. The
purchase of Third World debt by environmental organizations
12 Jeffrey A. McNeely, 'How to pay for conserving biological diversity,' Ambio

2o(March 1989), 308-13; Susan George, A Fate Worse than Debt (London: Pen-
guin 1988); Together or Not at All: Choosing Real Security (Waterloo, Ont.: Pro-
ject Ploughshares 1990).
has only a very marginal effect on a country's overall debt load.

Moreover, the money donated often goes right back into the
pockets of the original lending institutions. Yet it fosters the illu-
sion among well-meaning people in the North that they have
actually contributed to the solution of the environmental prob-
lem. It does not address the more fundamental issue of wealth
disparity and the fact that their privileged existence in the North
with a high standard of living and discretionary wealth to spend
on environmental charities has been purchased at the expense of
the environments and peoples they are attempting to help.
The manipulation of debt is part of what George calls finan-
cial low-intensity conflict - a means to maintain financial, polit-
ical, and social pressure on the South, to prevent co-operative
opposition, and to allow continued access to markets and sources
in the South. Applications to international conservation foun-
dations and to private corporations for funding of environmental
projects require compromise and paybacks, for a minuscule
return. According to Pearce, the World Heritage Convention
can provide US$i million for 'projects in natural sites of great
international importance for biological diversity'; the Conven-
tion on Wetlands of International Importance provides approxi-
mately US$600,000 per year.1* These amounts demonstrate that
the North's commitment to environmental issues is less than
robust. Such sums are negligible in comparison with either the
massive debt that Southern countries must service or the military
spending of Northern countries. It is telling that one Tomahawk
long-range cruise missile costs as much as the annual spending
of these two conventions together - US$i.6 million.
Moreover, when the debt has been discounted and then
bought by a transnational corporation, as was the case in Mexico
in 1986, it may lead only to further neocolonialism. In that case,
US$650 million in debt was retired in exchange for equity in a
Mexican business; the concession was that the transnational
13 D. Pearce, 'Deforesting the Amazon: toward an economic solution,' Ecodecision,

no 1(1991), 4°9-
which bought up the debt and sold it back discounted would be

allowed to set up a subsidiary in the country.
Debt swapping has particularly disturbing implications for one
of the most important assets of the tropical rain forest: the genetic
diversity of medicinal and nutritional plants. Petrochemical and
pharmaceutical corporations may gain access to valuable assets
because these firms are currently purchasing genetic patents for
seeds and medicinal products. In a landmark case before the
United States Supreme Court, General Electric, which operates in
Latin America, was the first corporation to receive a patent for a
genetically engineered micro-organism. Genetic material is turning
out to be the next global commons to be enclosed, and the struggle
is taking place in the Third World, particularly in the tropics.
Many Southern nations in the tropics argue that these genetic
resources are part of their national heritage and that they should
realize the economic benefits accruing from them. The transna-
tional corporations and Northern governments argue, however,
that the genetic material has value only when it has been manipu-
lated and marketed and that they have no obligation to compen-
sate countries from which the genes are taken.
Paying for the carbon sink

The tropical rain forest is also valuable because of its function as
a carbon sink: the world's forests absorb carbon dioxide and emit
oxygen. Deforestation leaves fewer trees to provide this service
and the burning of the forest leads to the release of more carbon
dioxide into the atmosphere. The role of carbon dioxide in
global warming has already been mentioned. Atmospheric
effects do tend to be global, although their impact in any one
place may range from minimal to catastrophic. A variety of
practices and materials is involved in the creation of atmospheric
pollution. It is generally believed that measures to deal with the
problem must be arranged through legislative controls because
economic measures are recognized to be insufficient and difficult
to implement.
Pearce has suggested that a tax on carbon dioxide emissions
would encourage conservation and wise use and would also 'stim-
ulate technological change to reduce energy consumption per
unit of economic output.' This is probably a naive view. Many
conservative thinkers dispute the existence of a climatic crisis,
citing the uncertainty and variation of ideas on causation and
prediction among the scientific community. They therefore see
no reason to decrease consumption of materials and energy at
this time. Others argue that the primary purpose of a tax on
carbon dioxide emissions would not be to discourage energy con-
sumption but that such a tax is 'an effective way to raise the
money needed to fund a transition to an ecologically benign
economy' - leading one to wonder about the sanity of using con-
sumption to pay for a move to non-consumption.14
For example, the Montreal Protocol dealt with establishing
the scope of control measures required and determining the
stringency and timing of controls to make their imposition equi-
table for all producers and consumers. The goal was to develop
alternatives and methods for the capture and disposal of chloro-
fluorocarbons already manufactured and installed in equipment
and to devise a formula to achieve the required emissions reduc-
tions. The formula developed was: consumption = production
+ imports - exports. It was designed to promote efficiency and
free trade and to allow for 'economies of scale and other market
forces/15 This protocol recognized the special situation of devel-
oping countries and proposed concessions to them because the
industrialized countries had long enjoyed the benefits of the
products that were now being phased out. The process would not
have moved forward without the co-operation of corporations
which ensured that all would be included in the agreement. Par-
ticipation was seen to be mandatory, and enforceable, and there
was little economic advantage to be gained by being a free rider.
14 Ibid., 41; W.E. Block, ed, Economics and the Environment: A Reconciliation
(Vancouver bc: Fraser Institute 1989), article by Shaw and Stroup; J. Goldem-
berg, 'A carbon tax to prevent climate change,' Ecodecision, no 1(1991), 87-8.
15 J. Koehler and S.A. Hajost, The Montreal Protocol: a dynamic agreement for
protecting the ozone layer,' Ambio i9(no 2, 1990), 84.
Emissions permit trading

The willingness to pay for protecting the environment or taxes
on consumption to pay for conservation require intellectual and
economic acrobatics to link the payments to the commodity they
are meant to protect. Another strategy, which is the one most
likely to be implemented because the business community sup-
ports it, is an emissions permit trading system under which per-
mits to discharge pollutants into the air are assigned to various
corporations. This system would provide, in the eyes of industry,
a way to meet emission standards in a cost-effective manner. 'As
a market developed, a going price per ton would be established
for emission rights. This would lead to equalization of marginal
costs of abatement, as sources with marginal abatement costs
higher than the going price would buy rights and those with
marginal abatement costs below the going price would sell them.
In addition, it is conceivable that the governments of downwind
states or even private environmental organizations might bid for
pollution rights in order to hold them off the market, thus
achieving a total reduction in emission greater than [the allowed
number of] tons. The presence of such bidders would drive up
the market price of emission rights'16
One possible negative aspect of emissions permit trading,
from the business point of view, was noted by Heggelund: if the
cost of the permit to emit was passed along to the consumer, the
increased price might force consumers to reduce their use of the
utility and so profits might decrease. However, representatives of
the Fraser Institute, a conservative think-tank in western Can-
ada, believe that through purchase of pollution rights, emissions
levels would be conditioned by the marketplace and 'society
would best be able to economise resources, while ensuring that
pollution levels stay below certain politically determined levels'11
1 6 Mereta Heggelund, Emissions Permit Trading: A Policy Tool to Reduce the

Atmospheric Concentration of Greenhouse Gases, CERI study 36 (Calgary: Cana-
dian Energy Research Institute iqqi). Emphasis added.
17 Block, ed, Economics and the Environment: A Reconciliation, 27. Emphasis
added.
THE ROLE OF THE NORTH
It is unrealistic to hope for private enterp

deal with the global socio-ecological crisis.
to expect the Northern media to deliver a
the true extent of disparities between the N
Advertising is paid for by the consumers of th
the campaigns promote life styles that cre
of the largest broadcasters in the United State
eral Electric, whose interests include aircraf
ing and communications, defence electroni
electrical equipment, engineering plastics,
financial services, industrial systems, lig
major appliances, medical diagnostic system
equipment, and space satellites. And, as we h
involved in genetic engineering research.
Nor can we necessarily depend on some o
institutions to provide solutions unless som
the World Bank, for example. Supposedly
responsive to the wishes of the government
World Bank and other large transnational le
support large mega-projects because they say
of scale. They say it is too difficult for th
community-level projects of small monetary
the money is spent as required. However, th
jects are more open to abuse. For example,
know that considerable amounts of capital a
development projects and deposited in the
that loaned the money for projects in the
place. If the World Bank's projects are truly
South, it is essential to make the developm
ble. Flight capital and embezzlement should
same way that banks are required to repo
money-laundering schemes. George suggests
ment a strategy of accountability: one is to
the debt to be repaid by the amount taken; th
the banks to issue fresh funds to replace those
the amount of the debt to be repaid would remain the same.

Either strategy would target both the local elite who do not suf-
fer, in any case, from the austerity programmes foisted on the
less powerful citizens, and the banking institutions which have
been making money at both ends of the deal.18
It is also essential that environmental issues become an inte-
gral part of decisions about future development projects. In
1984, when the World Bank was approving projects which the
Third World is paying for today and which will degrade common
heritage resources because of engineering and environmental
mistakes, it had only 5 full-time professional environmental staff
among a complement of 5,250 employees.19 Goodland and his
colleagues used a variety of sources to itemize World Bank crite-
ria for projects, with particular attention to environmental prob-
lems, the dislocation of people, the effect on global commons
(particularly genetic biodiversity), and pollution. Their list
included:
- projects depending on the harvest of renewable natural

resources (such as forests, fisheries, and grazing lands) shall
adhere to sustained-yield principles to minimize the risk of
over-exploitation and degradation (through overcutting,
overfishing, or overgrazing).
- projects shall not clear, inundate, or otherwise convert eco-
logically important wildland ecosystems, including (but not
limited to) officially designated protected areas, without ade-
quate compensatory measures.
-- projects shall avoid knowingly causing the extinction or
endangerment of plant or animal species, unless adequate
mitigatory measures are provided.
- any project based in one country shall not affect the environ-
ment or natural resource base of any neighbouring countries
without their full consent.
18 George, A Fate Worse than Debt.

19 P. Adams & L. Solomon, In the Name of Progress: The Underside of Foreign Aid
(Toronto: Energy Probe 1984).
- projects shall not contravene any international environmental

agreement to which the borrowing country is party.
- any groups seriously disadvantaged by Bank-supported pro-
jects (such as vulnerable ethnic minorities or communities
undergoing involuntary resettlement) shall be appropriately
compensated to a degree that makes them at least no worse
off (and preferably better off) than without the project. (This
is to be done even if the compensatory project components do
not contribute to the stream of economic benefits.)
- projects shall not compromise public health and safety to any
degree which would be widely regarded as unacceptable by
the affected people or by experienced, impartial third par-
ties.2"
The phrases given added emphasis in this list illustrate how

admirable criteria for the protection of the environment and the
prevention of related social ills can be watered down, distorted,
or glossed over to serve economic or political ends. A first step to
making the environmental criteria more appropriate to the
actions needed to address the current global crisis would be to
remove the escape clauses and enforce the criteria.
In the end, however, a solution to the socio-ecological crisis
the world faces comes down to collective action for change taken
by people working together. There are excellent examples of the
power of communities and organizations, spanning the range
from informal community groups to national lobbies to major
international organizations. In the area of health, a massive boy-
cott was carried out in the 1970s against Nestle products. It was
organized by church-based organizations and supported by the
World Health Organization and the United Nations Children's
Fund. As a result of this campaign stringent controls were
imposed on the advertising and marketing of infant feeding for-
mulas in the Third World.21 The international Boycott Shell
20 R. Goodland, G. Ledec, and M. Webb, 'Meeting environmental mismanagement

in economic development projects,' in Berkes, ed, Common Property Resources.
21 Eleanor Mac Lean, Between the Lines: How to Detect Bias and Propaganda in the
News and Everyday Life (Montreal: Black Rose Books 1981, reprinted 1988).
campaign, along with other well-organized and persistent sanc-

tions campaigns by concerned people supported by international
labour, the World Council of Churches, and the United Nations
Committee against Apartheid, were carried out at the request of
the oppressed people of South Africa. That outside support for
the internal efforts of the people of South (and Southern) Africa
to bring about democratic reform helped to encourage the
changes now beginning to occur in South Africa.
Environmental organizations, both at the community level
and through international networks of scientists, humanists, and
activist groups, have pushed for and obtained major changes in
the way environment and social considerations are included in
Economic' development policy. The role of transnational govern-
mental, academic, and environmental organizations has to be to
support the efforts of the South to meet its needs.
Development assistance must be made more dependent on
environmental principles and human rights rather than tied to
the purchase of technology and expertise from the 'donor' coun-
try: that is closer to extortion. The appropriate development of
agriculture must be promoted to ensure that the people are self-
sufficient before their land can be used to produce cash crops for
export. The enhancement of primary health care, literacy, and
education, and the promotion of the rights of women and abo-
riginals must be part of the cost and programme goals of devel-
opment. A way must be found to ensure that foreign exchange is
not used for luxury items and armaments.
The import of technology and expertise from the North fos-
ters dependency: financially, socially, and scientifically. It also
means that inappropriate methods and materials find their way
to the Third World. Third World countries must be enabled to
develop their own science built on their own needs, both cultural
and environmental.
The major change that must take place is a transformation

of the communications between the citizens of the North and the
South. It is considered mandatory for academics, politicians, sci-
entists, and business people to communicate with one another.
The transnational exchange of ideas, culture, and knowledge are

truly the 'commodities' which must be opened up to free trade,
rather than the materials, energy, pollution, labour, and capital
which are now being moved about globally. Although we are told
that we live in a global village, we learn less and less about the
lives of people in other countries and even in other regions of the
same countries. This cultural isolation can be and has been used
to manipulate workers and consumers. The facilitation of link-

ages between workers, farmers, and artists of all kinds in the
South with their counterparts in the North for mutual education
and communication is of the utmost importance. It is in this way
- and not through proclamations and declarations from above
- that people will recognize their commonality.

Southern Perspective

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Southern Perspective

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

The Global Environment: A Southern Perspective

Author(s): Alvaro Soto

The global environment:

Resourcism is a kind of modern religion which casts

All around the world the environment is in crisis.

A Colombian anthropologist, the author is director of the Internat

International Journal xlv u autumn 1992

accelerating depletion and pollution of the earth's resources by

NORTH AND SOUTH - VALUES AND VISION

Many of the problems that the environmentalists

important to reach a consensus among funding agencies and

In current debates, global environmental concerns have

based mainly on the perceptions of the aid-granting agencies in

THE DISCUSSION ON GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE

Regional and global environmental impacts are

High consumption in the North

The massive changes that colonialism brought to Third

adverse ecological effects. It is only in recent years, with growing

Inequities in North-South trade

The problem has been exacerbated because environmental

on primary resources is decreasing, it is estimated that the exploi-

logical change is towards greater use of capital and technology

THE QUESTION OF THE GLOBAL COMMONS

- One-quarter of all kinds of plants, animals, and micro-organ-

1 World Resources 198586 (New York: World Resources Institute 1986).

to the pain of hunger, or to the loss of their children to starvation

The commons and common property

only privately owned and state-owned properties. Property that

nity-based resource management system.

sphere, once frowned upon as primitive - producing low yields

been placed on resources by increasing population and increas-

'managing' the commons

A new management regime for Antarctica has rece

It is thought that substantial warming may lead to the melting

Damage to the tropospheric ozone is another environmental

6 World Resources 1 g8$- 1 g86.

ship. Action still needs to be taken regarding the pollution of the

7 Latin American and Caribbean Commission on Development and Environment,

8 Ibid., and Ravens, 'Managing tropical resources.'

create what are considered to be new and improved species. Most

THE POVERTY QUESTION

9 Donna Smyth, 'From technological fix to appropriate technology,' in Constance

energy, and wealth distribution. The lack of an acceptable qual-

impoverished family does not have enough food to eat. Global

WHO HAS A STAKE IN THE GLOBAL COMMONS?

A common element in academic and scientific works on manag

11 World Resources 1 g8tf- 1 g86.

for the benefit of large corporations which manufacture and

Swapping debt for nature

12 Jeffrey A. McNeely, 'How to pay for conserving biological diversity,' Ambio

has only a very marginal effect on a country's overall debt load.

13 D. Pearce, 'Deforesting the Amazon: toward an economic solution,' Ecodecision,

which bought up the debt and sold it back discounted would be

Paying for the carbon sink

Emissions permit trading

1 6 Mereta Heggelund, Emissions Permit Trading: A Policy Tool to Reduce the

THE ROLE OF THE NORTH

It is unrealistic to hope for private enterp

the amount of the debt to be repaid would remain the same.

- projects depending on the harvest of renewable natural

18 George, A Fate Worse than Debt.

- projects shall not contravene any international environmental

The phrases given added emphasis in this list illustrate how