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	Poorest countries lack proper safety nets, says World Bank by Guardian News / World Bank   April 2012   Three out of five people in the developing world lack a proper safety net to protect them from the shockwaves caused by the global financial crisis and rising commodity prices, the World Bank has said.   Announcing a new focus on social and labour protection, the bank said that in the world"s poorest countries 80% of the population were left without assistance during tough times.   Robert Zoellick, the bank"s president, said expanding social safety nets would be a priority for the Washington-based organisation.   "Safety nets can transform people"s lives and provide a foundation for inclusive growth without busting budgets", Zoellick said.   "Effective safety net coverage overcomes poverty, and promotes economic opportunity and gender equality by helping people find jobs and cope with economic shocks, and improving the health, education, and well-being of their children."   The bank"s analysis shows that 66 million children around the world go to school hungry, making it harder for them to concentrate and learn. It added that many of the 2.8 million newly-born babies that die in their first week of life each year could be saved by expanding and improving pre- and post-natal care for mothers.   Development ministers at an upcoming meeting will be asked to look at ways of helping countries cope with crises and ingrained poverty. Suggestions include cash transfers, food assistance, public works programmes and the waiving of fees for health and education.   The bank said strong and sustained growth in many developing countries had pulled millions of people out of poverty, but warned that progress had yet to benefit the majority in the poorest nations, who faced "unemployment, disability and illness, and struggle to protect themselves against economic shocks, persistent poverty, natural disasters, or other crises".   Outlining a four-pronged approach, the bank said it wanted: social safety net coverage extended to the most vulnerable; coherent national plans that could be scaled up in times of crisis; better access to jobs; and a sharing of knowledge between developing countries of policies that worked.   * Below is a statement made by the International Trade Union Confederation, calling for Job focused Growth and greater action to reduce inequality, to become higher prorities for international financial institutions at the 2012 Spring Meetings of the IMF and World Bank, in Washington, 20-22 April 2012.   http://www.ituc-csi.org/IMG/pdf/statement.imfwb.0412.pdf Visit the related web page
	Time Running Out to Ensure Sustainable Prosperity for All by Worldwatch Institute USA   April 2012   Over the last 50 years, the world"s middle and upper classes have more than doubled their consumption levels, and an additional 1 to 2 billion people globally aspire to join the consumer class. The planet cannot maintain such increases in resource demand without serious consequences for both people and ecosystems, concludes the Worldwatch Institute in State of the World 2012: Moving Toward Sustainable Prosperity.   The report, the 29th in a series that Worldwatch began in 1984, stresses that we must act quickly to redefine our understanding of the "good life" and redouble our efforts to make life sustainable.   "The Industrial Revolution gave birth to an economic growth model rooted in structures, behaviors, and activities that are patently unsustainable," says Worldwatch Senior Researcher Michael Renner, co-director of State of the World 2012.   "Mounting ecosystem stress and resource pressures are accompanied by increased economic volatility, growing inequality, and social vulnerability. It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the economy no longer works for either people or the planet."   Instead, we need to reprioritize basic needs and pursue true sustainable prosperity: development that allows all human beings to live with their fundamental needs met, with their dignity acknowledged, and with the opportunity to pursue lives of satisfaction and happiness, all without risk of denying others in the present and the future the ability to do the same. This, in turn, means not just preventing further degradation of Earth"s systems, but actively restoring them to full health.   With the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development taking place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in June, this is the year to catalyze the move toward a sustainable future. The gathering, more commonly known as Rio+20 for its commemoration of the anniversary of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, offers a chance to set the course for an economic system that promotes the health of both people and ecosystems.   Among the themes for Rio+20 are a green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication, and an institutional framework for sustainable development.   Erik Assadourian, a senior fellow at Worldwatch and co-director of State of the World 2012 says "minor shifts in policy and technology will not be enough to save humanity. Rio+20 participants should re-consider the vision that guides their deliberations. If we do not radically change our consumer culture and collectively re-prioritize sustainable living, we will be the agents of our own undoing."   The aspirations of the original 1992 meeting in Rio collided with a set of painfully sobering developments, including unfriendly politics, orthodox economics, and a dominant culture of consumerism. The 20 years since then have made it clear that necessary change is not merely technical, but encompasses changes in lifestyle, culture, and politics.   The report"s 35 contributors describe many of the currently untenable social and economic patterns and highlight opportunities for creative alternatives on sustainability topics ranging from agriculture, communication technologies, and biodiversity to "green" construction, local politics, and global governance.   A Green Economy that Works for Everyone: For industrial, emerging, and developing countries, a green economy will mean different things.   But they have in common the need to create green jobs that offer a decent living, and they all can benefit from policy innovations such as a network of cooperative green innovation centers, a standard-setting global "top runner" program, green financing and skills training, and greater economic democracy.   Degrowth in Overdeveloped Countries: Humanity uses 1.5 Earths worth of ecological capacity, with much of that consumed by overdeveloped industrial countries.   Sustainable prosperity will require economic degrowth in these countries. This can be achieved by a mix of tax shifting, shortening work weeks, denormalizing certain types of consumption, and de-marketizing certain sectors of the economy, such as food production and child care.   Inclusive and Sustainable Urban Development: Urban poverty is pervasive, and absolute numbers are expanding in both the developed and developing worlds: some 828 million people live in slums worldwide.   Urban planning needs to include strategies such as explicit and transparent spatial plans, democratic engagement of the poor and community-based organizations, and coordination across sectors, especially affordable housing, transportation, and economic development.   Sustainable Transportation: Today there are nearly 800 million cars on the world"s roads, and in the developing world transportation is the source of up to 80 percent of harmful air pollutants.   A sustainable and socially progressive alternative requires a shift toward denser cities that generally require less motorized travel, invest in high-quality transit, and support vibrant, healthy communities by enabling walking and cycling.   Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs): More than half of the world"s population lives in cities, and 90 percent of urbanization is occurring in the developing world. ICTs can help cities become safer, cleaner, and more sustainable places to live, but they are currently underutilized in both the developed and developing worlds.   Reversing this trend must go beyond the current public-private partnerships and "smart cities" projects by providing broad public access to data and boosting public involvement. Measuring Sustainable Urban Development: Since the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio, there has been limited progress in developing a universal sustainability indicator system that is scientifically valid and credible. This has been true in the United States as well, but efforts are under way to develop a database of indicators that will inform discussions at Rio+20 about how to better measure urban sustainability.   Reinventing the Corporation: Transnational corporations (TNCs) have evolved over the past five centuries into globally influential entities. They often go unchecked, with no limits placed on their impacts on society, the environment, or the economy.   TNCs must adapt if sustainability is to become a reality, including shifts in their purpose, ownership, capital investment, and governance.   The Global Architecture of Sustainable Governance: Sustainability efforts worldwide will be shaped by the reforms being discussed for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). If UNEP is going to play a valuable and productive role in these efforts, it must enjoy increased authority and financial resources, but above all it must be better connected to other international agencies so it can play the coordinating and visionary role its founders had in mind.   Population Growth Strategies: In 2011, global population passed the 7 billion mark, and confronting population growth is critical to the future sustainability of the planet.   Over time, population growth will end and reverse with no need for "population control" through assuring reproductive health and rights for all, adequate education for girls and boys, and equal economic activity for both sexes with internalization of the environmental costs of economic activity.   Sustainable Buildings: The construction and operation of buildings use 25-40 percent of all produced energy, accounting for a comparable share of global carbon dioxide emissions.   We must aim for the goals of net zero energy use, zero emissions, and zero waste if new construction and existing buildings are going to be sustainable.   Public Policy and Sustainable Consumption: Combating the rise of consumerism will require government involvement, including advertisement management, tax modification to include the true cost of a product or service, and the establishment of sustainability certification programs.   Mobilizing the Business Community: Our current economic model does not consider planetary limits, is socially exclusive, and places private interests above public ones.   A recipe for a successful 21st-century economy needs to be green, inclusive, and responsible, which will take a combination of business-led voluntary initiatives reinforced by new corporate structures and strong government policy and public oversight.   Sustainable Agriculture: Almost 2 billion people are fed by produce from the 500 million small farms in developing countries. Yet these small-scale producers are some of the most food-insecure people: 80 percent of the world"s hungry live in rural areas.   To optimize the productivity and environmental sustainability of small farms, future agricultural policy must combine a rights-based approach with legislation that is localized and culturally specific.   Food Security and Equity: In recent decades, factory farming has increased meat, egg, and dairy consumption worldwide, particularly in the developing world. But this industrial meat production system has been harmful to human health and the environment.   The internalization of costs, restoration of ecosystems, and education of the public----among other strategies----can help create a new food system that is more efficient, equitable, and climate-compatible.   Biodiversity: The rate at which species are becoming extinct is estimated to be up to 1,000 times higher today than in pre-industrial times. Efforts such as the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services are needed to better understand and reverse the erosion of nature"s resiliency.   Valuation of Ecosystem Services: The human ecological footprint has grown so large that progress is now constrained more by limits on natural resources and ecosystem services than by limits on infrastructure or technology. Ecosystem services help evaluate the benefits derived from ecosystems by assigning a monetary or physical unit to those benefits, which can in turn help to better facilitate natural resource management.   Local Governance: Decisions at the local level can be the greatest catalysts for progress because they contribute directly to poverty reduction, job growth, gender equity, and environmental protection.   As a result, the development of local democratic procedures that are transparent and reliable is critical to global sustainable development,   "There won"t be much point in revisiting the Rio+20 conference in another 20 years to try to figure out what went wrong," says Worldwatch President Robert Engelman. "We know enough right now about the state of the world to see clearly that we have to change the way we live and the way we do business.   Working out new paths towards true sustainability will take much more than a conference of governments, though such a gathering can help. The task begins with the recognition that perpetual economic and demographic growth aren"t possible on a finite planet. We can work with the hope that ecological stability is possible, along with a good life based on health, literacy, strong communities, and access to "enough" rather than ever more."   (The Worldwatch Institute is an independent research organization. Its mission is to generate and promote insights and ideas that empower decision makers to build an ecologically sustainable society that meets human needs).   * Inequality in access to and use of natural resources is driving both global poverty and environmental destruction. Can we develop an alternative model for development that can deliver adequate standards of living for all but without unsustainable environmental damage? A report by Christian Aid:   http://www.christianaid.org.uk/images/constrained-world.pdf Visit the related web page
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