These figures describe a desperate spiral of increasing global poverty and environmental destruction. Halting this spiral was the aim of the third World Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, 26 August - 4 September, 2002.
'Sustainable development' is about addressing the needs of the current generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own. This concept was relatively new and still tinged with hippy undercurrents when it was presented to the world at the last World Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992. Since then, it has become more popular and is now globally recognised as an essential concept when considering world poverty and its solutions.
More than 100 world leaders and 21,000 other representatives of nations, governmental and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), pressure groups and companies, met in Johannesburg for the largest world conference ever. Their mandate was, 'to talk the world out of poverty, degradation and violence'.[1]
Seven broad issues were debated at the summit, in an attempt to reach international agreement on improving the plight of the world. These were: Energy, Water and Sanitation, Poverty, Agriculture and Fisheries, Biodiversity, Health, and Trade. All of these are closely interlinked in a multitude of ways, creating a complex web that serves to trap the poor and vulnerable in their ever-increasing misery, while the rich become richer and more complacent about their social responsibilities.
For all responsible citizens of the world, these issues are important, some particularly so for medics, whilst for Christians they are tremendously relevant. Our God is deeply concerned about the plight of the poor, the orphaned and the widowed - indeed any who are socially disadvantaged. His laws allow for their protection and provision.[2] His angry rebukes of the Israelites via the Old Testament prophets often concerned their profligate lifestyles, wanton greed, selfishness and neglect of the poor.[3] Jesus' words in Matthew 25:34-36 can surely not fail to move us and how compelling are the words of James and John?
Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you…You have hoarded wealth in the last days…You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence…[4]
If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?[5]
So what agreements were reached after the seven days of talks? Disappointingly few. No targets were set for increasing the use of renewable energy or for further cancellation of Third World debt or ending rich countries' agricultural subsidies, which cripple the market for developing world producers.[6] However, positive steps were taken regarding water and sanitation: an agreement was reached to halve the estimated 2.4bn people presently living without basic sanitation facilities by the year 2015.[7] Consider this each time you wash your hands on the wards or flush the toilet: United Nations figures suggest that if everyone had clean water and adequate sanitation, the total disease burden of the entire world would be cut by three-quarters![8]
Different world leaders (notably those of France, Italy, Germany and Japan) made significant pledges to various funds and projects to fight world poverty. These are crucial at a time when aid to developing countries has fallen to an all-time low proportion of rich countries' wealth, even though the debt burden of the Third World and ex-Soviet states continues to increase.[9] The other major decision made at the summit was to end the subsidies that currently encourage the plundering of Third World fishing areas by the West, which has drastic environmental consequences and deprives the poorer countries of an essential food source.
The issue of healthcare might be considered to be relatively uncontroversial, but the very last paragraph of the summit's action plan, which deals with increasing the capacity of health services throughout the world to deliver basic healthcare to everyone[10] became a major sticking point. It touched on women's rights and inevitably stirred up the troubled waters surrounding female circumcision, contraception and abortion.
The final outcome document states that the provision of reproductive healthcare for women should be 'consistent with national laws and cultural and religious values'. Some delegations were concerned that this could be interpreted as denying a woman's 'right' to abortion. After much debate, the inclusion of additional pro-abortion language was successfully resisted. However, paragraph 47 does refer to 'human rights and fundamental freedoms'. This will hopefully protect women against oppression and circumcision; yet whilst it should not put pressure on ethically conservative nations to implement easy abortion, it does not clarify the status of the embryo.[11]
According to a spokesman for the charity Tearfund, the World Summit 'merely inched forward when a giant leap was needed'[12] and indeed many vital issues remain unresolved. Cynicism towards such highly politicised gatherings is an easy response, although I do not mean to accuse the Tearfund spokesman of having such an attitude. At the time one journalist wrote, 'Of course the summit is a giant talking shop. Of course rich and poor nations are deeply divided over its vast agenda of good intentions. Of course the global environment has continued to be degraded since the last Earth Summit in 1992…But this gathering…is far from pointless. In the absence of a world government capable of decreeing and enforcing…today's summit is the only way the people of the world can make progress towards a sustainable way of life.'[13]
Although Christian hope must not be confused with ignorant naivety, I see no place in the Christian heart for cynicism. We worship the almighty creator God, ruler of heaven and earth, who holds the future in his hands and who cares about his human creatures far more than any government or NGO ever will. He calls us to be stewards of his creation[14] and will hold us accountable for our treatment of it.[15] Let us take an interest in these matters, seek God's heart, pray for world leaders in their decision-making and examine our own lifestyles with honesty and humility.
