Speeches

Thinking Globally Acting Locally: Governors’ Global Climate Summit 2

Sep 30, 2009 - When I received the invitation from Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to attend this Summit, I re-ordered my commitments to ensure my attendance because of the theme (for my panel) which was to think Globally and act locally. It is a most apt objective.

Thinking about it as I flew over the Middle East, large parts of Africa, over the Americas (I have been doing a bit of traveling lately) I kept reflecting on this theme as I flew past acreages of uninhabited desert, savannah, water bodies, rainforest land which make up our planet and how impossible it would seem to be, for our over 6 billion population to ever over-populate the planet.

Nevertheless it became manifest that even if we cannot fully populate the planet we are, from our far removed locations, collectively endangering the planet.

In the last five decades, more and more of the world’s population have been noticed to be moving into cities and this clustering into cities has had the most unsalutary effect on the environment

Increasing demand for power in mega cities means the burning of more fossil fuels to cater for power demand.

Massive transportation needs have resulted in high carbon emissions, and life style requirements for construction and infrastructure to mention but a few; these have exacerbated the plundering of the rain forest of the Amazon in South America, South East Asia, Congo and other parts of Africa in a frenetic race for wood from tree felling either to meet these demands or take the end benefit of the cash economy from tree logging.

The adverse effects on the ozone layer, the changing and unpredictable weather patterns causing droughts in Asia, flooding in America, melting of the Arctic and depletion of nature’s vast resources of food is what has come to be known as climate change.

In this sense therefore, it is a global problem that has taken the unrepentant commitment of esteemed personages and National and International bodies to refocus Global attention to it.

Of course all of the actions which precipitate climate change and indeed the devastating consequences such as flooding, drought, dislocation of people, destruction of the lives and properties and the attendant social and health care hazards, happen in cities and states within nations of the world, where Governors, Mayors and other similar public officials are first responders.

Often times, the national Governments trail in, sometimes only for the sympathetic presence rather than with any clear hands– on approach to the problem.

From Katrina to the recent Georgia floods and the wild fires in California, or Lagos in Nigeria, the pattern has been the same. The city Mayors or Governors are the first responders.

Indeed historically, national Governments have shown either their inability, impatience or reluctance to solve the problems of States or capitals that fall below expectation either by becoming over congested or increasingly difficult to manage.

The historical behaviour has been to move on, and create a new state or city capital, leaving the Governors or Mayors to deal with the problem.

Constantine left Rome to build Constantinople as a new city in ancient Rome, New York was left behind in America to build a new capital in Washington; in Brazil the capital was moved from Rio de Janeiro to Brasilia; in Germany it moved from Bonn to Berlin and in my own country it moved from Lagos to Abuja.

This therefore is the sense in which the global problem of the environmental planet becomes a local problem of Mayors, Governors and other city and state managers.

This is the time to develop a common body of rules and codes of best practices to be championed by those who deal with people on a daily basis in order to do Tens, Hundreds, Thousands and Millions of little things locally in a best way to replace those little things that have brought us to this dangerous planetary pass and create a global impact for our planet’s safety.

While the Sovereign national Governments deal with broad policies, the sub-nationals as first responders must lead from the front because this is a people thing; and as the ordinary Governments of the people they can easily be the drivers of the change that we all want to see in how solid waste is managed, water is produced from the surface and not from ground water, less water power is used, more eco-friendly transportation is delivered, more technology and jobs are created from recycling and reuse. Saving the planet from environmental degradation must be made as user friendly as making a phone call so that issues of underdevelopment pale into insignificance in its pursuit.

It must have a capacity to stimulate the economy by supporting agriculture, providing green jobs through production of renewable energy.

This must be so in the common interest because ironically it would seem that the bulk of resources that sustain humanity have been largely located in the part of the world that is classified as under developed.

The road to Copenhagen must chart a path similar to that of the Marshal plan after the World War II. The justification is easy. This is another global war. The cities and states must be the direct beneficiaries of the product of the plan. The developed nations must take responsibility for directing this plan. China has put a useful proposal of a commitment of 1% GDP of developed nations on the table. All other leading nations of the world must respond in kind.

A NEW LEGAL ORDER, THE BOTTOM UP SOLUTION

It is no longer a matter for debate that many of the world’s problems including that of a threat to the environment no longer require a top down approach, but a bottom up approach.

While the UN remains the forum for sovereigns and National Governments to interact and adopt policy decisions and sign treaties, we must come to terms with the fact that the road to Copenhagen and the promise that it holds will remain only a promise unless something else is done.

If the threat to the environment anywhere is a threat to the environment everywhere, protocols and treaties proposed to be signed in Copenhagen may not guarantee common and collective commitment to implementing solutions to the problem.

As a matter of Public International Law, treaties have no force of law within the domestic arena in regions, states and cities of committed nationals until they are ratified by domestic legislation.

In many developed and developing democracies, passage of legislation for common good cannot be left to politicians to become a matter of filibuster and horse-trading. Viable and numerically constituted oppositions or in some cases, governments of compromise in the name of National Unity, can stand in the way of progress.

Simply put, we cannot afford the risk of playing politics with a threat to our planet. It is the umbilical cord that connects us as human beings. It would mean that we would leave our humanity to chance.

This is the challenge that Globalization now poses and the sensible response seems to me to be the creation of a new legal order.

What then, we may all wonder will this new order look like.

I must confess that what I propose is not perfect. I am however convinced that if we are to respond in a bottom up approach this is the way that we must cast our minds. It is not something that we are unfamiliar with. It is simply something that we must prepare to accept and get used to as a new way of connecting ourselves, as a new handshake across the globe in the way that ICT has allowed us to network.

I propose that in the same way that the UN which is a global forum of nations, we must establish a global Forum of cities, states or regions that are led by elected officials with executive powers to take decisions to lead change in their sphere of jurisdiction.

I propose that the 7 (seven) continents for example must have representatives and that each continent produces its leadership by an elective process on a regional basis.

Using my own continent as an example, I propose that regional leaders from the North, East, Central, South and West Africa emerge on a basis of either one or a combination of (two) criteria – population and environmental risk.

Because we have identified that this is about people, and also that sub-national Government leaders will bear the brunt of an environmental crisis that displaces or devastates people, it makes eminent sense in my view that these criteria will stand the tests of objectivity and common sense and will find broad based acceptability amongst members.

On another level, the regional leaders will form a directorate to collectively review continental areas of commonality and present common continental fronts at global meetings to be held on intercontinental basis. The continental leadership can be vested in a Chair to be rotated on an agreeable time basis among the directorate members representing each continental region.

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, this is my view of what the road to Copenhagen should look like.

From these cities and states, to the regions, the Mayors, Governors and other political leaders of the people can evolve a common framework that significantly avoids local politicking, and set common commitments for reducing emission, reducing and managing rising water levels, sharing experiences about flood prevention and management on a people to people basis in an experiential learning process, that avoids the bureaucracy of the top down approach that National treaty obligations currently bring.

Baseline figures can be developed, targets set, resources allocated and competition among cities and states not to be left behind, on a global performance ranking basis will lead to productivity in energetic tree planting, arrest of deforestation, efficient waste management and pollution control that will bring every useful hands to the plough to reverse this threat to our common existence.

I admit it is not a finished job, but I am convinced this is the pathway to the road, that we must all walk. I urge us to find the courage to walk this uncharted path to the recovery of our planet.

This is the local content of our Global challenge:

LAGOS

Prevention – Tree planting, Advocacy, Climate Change Club, Change Summit, Parks and Gardens

Restorative - Eko Atlantic (8.2m Sq. mtrs.), sea defence walland land fill management (combustion) Oshodi

Advocacy - Desertification support.

Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN
Governor of Lagos State