Young people's Agenda 21
This is an abstract of a children's version of Agenda 21. The original was produced as an illustrated book, written in English by representatives of nearly 100 countries, and published on International Earth Day 1994. The objective was to stimulate the formation of a global youth network to produce a better understanding of the fragile world in which we live. The hope in making it was that members of this network would dedicate themselves to do everything possible to protect and enhance our planet. So far, the book has not made a great impact, so this summary was produced to draw attention to its existence and highlight the main recommendations of Agenda 21, and points for action, as seen through the eyes of children. These could be the starting points for schools to help the communities they serve with their plans for sustainable development.
The Earth Summit, held in June 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, was the largest meeting of world leaders ever. Together, these leaders created a document called AGENDA 21, a blueprint for saving Planet Earth.
Now thousands of kids from nearly 100 countries have worked together in an extraordinary effort to find out exactly what was agreed in this important document. This unique book was designed, written and produced by children for children to inspire young people all over the world to join the rescue mission to save our planet, our only home. The Children's Agenda task force was co-ordinated by Peace Child International, a non-profit making educational charity and was sponsored by UNICEF UNDP UNEP AND UNESCO.
The children's version of Agenda 21 was published on International Earth Day 1994 by Kingfisher Books IBSN 1 -8569 7-1 75-9. US Library of Congress Card 94-2088. This summary was produced by Welsh children in the National Museum of Wales to spread the message on International Earth Day 1995. An on line version was prepared in celebration of the efforts of the UN team.
The road to Rio
The Rio Summit was the product of global environmental worries which began in 1972. That's when 70 governments met in Stockholm for a conference which created the United Nations Environment Programme or UNEP. UNEP's main job was pushing governments to take more care of the environment. It also hooked up with UNESCO to push environmental education. In 1984, it helped to publish the World Conservation Strategy-a forerunner to Agenda 21. It didn't go into the question of development- the need to balance protecting the environment with people's need for food. So the United Nations appointed a world commission on environment and development, which produced the famous report called "Our Common Future", which set out the idea of sustainable development. This means: Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Get it?- feed the world today but leave a planet around for your great grandchildren.
In 1989, the UN decided to hold a conference on environment and development. Brazil offered to host it in Rio. For 2 years, governments, NGOs and experts thrashed out a document that 179 states could agree to. Agenda 21 was the result! Its not a fixed law: no one's going to be punished if they don't do what it says. But the fact that all those governments did agree to it make it very important.
Children at Rio
Coming here today, I have no hidden agenda. I am fighting for my future... At school, you teach us to behave in the world. You teach us not to fight with others, to work things out, to respect others, to clean up our mess, not to hurt other creatures, to share and not be greedy. Then why do you go out and do those things you teach us not to do?
Severn Cullis-Suzuki, 12, delegate to the Rio Earth Summit
What the politicians said
The greatest challenge of both our time and the next century is to save the planet from destruction. It will require changing the very foundations of modern civilisation- the relationship of humans and nature Mikhail Gorbachev
As Chairman of the Space Subcommittee in the Senate, I strongly urged the establishment of a Mission to Planet Earth, a world-wide monitoring system staffed by children... designed to rescue the global environment. Albert Gore Jnr
Important Agenda Items
The following statements summarise the message of specific chapters of agenda 21 which the action group thought were particularly important for immediate action
AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY
The priority must be to maintain and improve the capacity of agricultural lands to support an expanding population: Agenda 21 Chapter 14
ALTERNATIVE ENERGY
Governments must get greater energy efficiency out of existing power stations, and develop new, renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, hydro, ocean and human power: Agenda 21 Chapter 9
ANTI-POVERTY PROGRAMMES
The main aim of anti-poverty programmes is to make poor people better able to earn a living in a sustainable way: Agenda 21 Chapter 3
BIODIVERSITY
Biological resources feed and clothe us, provide us with housing, medicines and nourishment. The loss of biodiversity continues at a faster rate as a result of human activity: Agenda 21 Chapter 15
CITIES
A growing number of cities are showing symptoms of the global environment and development crisis, ranging from air pollution to homeless street dwellers: Agenda 21 Chapter 7
DESERTIFICATION
The results of drought and desertification include poverty and starvation. About three million people died in the mid-1980s because of drought in Africa south of the Sahara.
FOREST DESTRUCTION
Forests world-wide are now threatened by uncontrolled exploitation by human beings. They are being turned into farms or destroyed for timber and other uses: Agenda 21 Chapter 11
FORESTS AND CULTURE
Forests need to be preserved for their social and spiritual values, including the traditional habitats of indigenous people, forest dwellers and local communities: Agenda 21 Chapter 11
FRESHWATER RESOURCES
All social and economic activity relies heavily on fresh water. Water is becoming scarce in many countries. The management of water resources is of paramount importance in the 1990s and beyond: Agenda 21 Chapter 18
HEALTH
Human health depends on a healthy environment, clean water supply, sanitary waste disposal, adequate shelter and a good supply of healthy food: Agenda 21 Chapter 6
HEALTH AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Sound development is not possible without a healthy population, but the lack of development makes many health problems far worse. The overall goal is "Health for All by the Year 2000": Agenda 21 Chapter 6
HOMELESS PEOPLE
Governments should see that the homeless get access to land, credit, and low-cost building materials: Agenda 21 Chapter 7
HUMAN CONSUMPTION
The major cause of the continued deterioration of the global environment is the unsustainable pattern of consumption and production, particularly in the industrialised countries: Agenda 21 Chapter 4
HUMAN POPULATION: CARRYING CAPACITY
Countries need to know their national population carrying capacity- how many people their countries can hold without bursting: Agenda 21 Chapter 5
HUMAN POPULATION: RESOURCES
The world's growing population and unsustainable consumption patterns are putting increasing stress on air, land, and energy resources: Agenda 21 Chapter 5
LAND
There's only so much land in our world. Expanding human requirements are increasing pressures on it, creating competition and conflicts: Agenda 21 Chapter 12
OCEANS: DAMAGE
Oceans are under increasing stress from pollution, over fishing and general degradation. It affects everything from the climate to coral reefs: Agenda 21 Chapter 17
OCEANS: POLLUTION CONTROL
Nations must commit themselves to control and reduce the pollution of the marine environment and maintain its life support capacity: Agenda 21 Chapter 17
OZONE
Our atmosphere is under increasing pressure from greenhouse gases which threaten to change the climate and holes in the ozone layer which cause cancers in humans and animals: Agenda 21, Chapter 9
POVERTY CAUSES
The root causes of poverty are hunger, illiteracy, inadequate medical care, unemployment and population pressures: Agenda 21 Chapter 3
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
Fundamental to the achievement of sustainable development is broad public participation by all major social groups: Agenda 21 Chapters 23, 24, 26, 27, 29, 30 & 32.
RESPONSIBILITY FOR IMPLEMENTATION
Agenda 21 reflects a global concensus at the highest level. Its successful implementation is first and foremost the responsibility of governments... Agenda 21 Preamble
ROLE OF CHILDREN: POLICIES
Each country should include children's concerns in all relevant policies for environment and development and support their development in the United Nations: Agenda 21 Chapter 25
ROLE OF CHILDREN IN GOVERNMENT
Each country should provide children with opportunity to present their views on government decisions: Agenda 21 Chapter 25
ROLE OF LOCAL AUTHORITIES
Local authorities, at the level of government closest to people, have a vital role in educating and mobilising the public to get behind the goals of Agenda 21: Agenda 21 Chapter 28
ROLE OF SCIENTISTS
Scientists and technologists have special responsibilities to search for knowledge and to help protect the biosphere: Agenda 21 Chapters 31, 34, & 35
RURAL POVERTY
Poverty is a major factor in soil degradation. We need to restore fragile lands and find new jobs for farmers thrown out of work... Agenda 21 Chapter 12
SOIL EROSION
Mountain ecosystems are suffering from soil erosion, landslides and the rapid loss of animals and plant life: Agenda 21 Chapter 13
TRADE
Developing nations need free trade and access to markets, in order to achieve the economic growth that will enable them to grow in a sustainable way: Agenda 21 Chapter 33
UNITED NATION'S ROLE
The United Nations is uniquely placed to help governments achieve the objectives of Agenda 21. The UN itself should rebuild and revitalise itself around these goals: Agenda 21 Chapters 37 & 38
WAR
Warfare is inherently destructive of sustainable development, so effective laws, respected by all states are needed: Rio Declaration Principle 24
WASTE MANAGEMENT
Prevent or minimise the generation of waste. This should be part of an overall cleaner production approach; by 2010, all countries should have national plans for waste management: Agenda 21 Chapters 20 & 22
WASTE
Unsustainable consumption, particularly in industrialised nations, is increasing the amount and variety of wastes. Quantities could increase four to five-fold by the year 2025: Agenda 21 Chapters 20, 21 & 22
WATER IN THE HOME
By the year 2000, all city people should be provided with 40 litres of safe drinking water daily. By the year 2025, there should be safe water and sanitation for all: Agenda 21 Chapter 18
WEALTH AND CARRYING CAPACITY
We've got to develop new concepts of wealth and prosperity which are more in harmony with the Earth's carrying capacity: Agenda 21 Chapter 4
Important Action Points
The following statements were made by the children's Agenda 21 team to summarise the actions required to implement the Rio resolutions.
1 Promote energy efficiency standards
2 Tax industries in ways that encourage the use of clean, safe technologies
3 Improve substitutes for CFCs and other ozone-depleting substances.
4 Get all these technologies transferred to poor countries!
5 Deal with acid rain that floats across frontiers by having regular exchanges of information, training experts and applying international standards of pollution control
6 Increase knowledge of mountain and desert ecosystems by having a world information centre and identify areas most at risk from floods, soil erosion etc.
7 Give farmers environmental education
8 Prevent desertification by not polluting soil, by using land soundly and by planting trees that retain water and soil quality
9 Pass laws to protect endangered areas
10 Make plans to ensure that potential drought victims survive
11 Plant new forests
12 Practical knowledge on the state of forests is needed; planners often lack even basic information on size and types of trees in forests.
13 Further research is needed into forest products like wood, fruits, nuts, dyes, medicines, gums etc.
14 Replant damaged areas of woodland
15 Breed trees that are more resistant to environmental pressures
16 Local business people should be encouraged to set up small forest enterprises.
17 Limit and aim to stop slash-and-burn farming methods
18 Keep wood waste to a minimum. Find ways of using trees that have been burnt or thrown out
19 Increase tree planting- in towns and cities
20 Protect and check environmental damage to coastal areas nationally and internationally
21 Polluters should pay for the damage they cause. Those using cleaner methods should be rewarded
22 Protect marine life by controlling what materials may be removed from ships at sea and by banning removal of hazardous waste
23 Nations should share new technologies
24 Set limit on how many fish may be caught
25 Encourage fishing by skilled local people
26 Stop fishing for species at risk until they are back up to their normal numbers
27 Ban destructive fishing practices - dynamiting, poisoning and others; develop new practices to replace them
28 Prepare sustainable development plans for small island states
29 Support the islands indigenous culture
30 Set up high-level policy-making bodies to cooperate with Non-Governmental groups to put these plans into effect
31 Create a world information resource for biodiversity
32 Protect biodiversity! This should be a part of all government plans on environment and development
33 Offer indigenous peoples the chance to contribute to biodiversity conservation
34 Make sure that poor countries share equally in the commercial exploitation of their products and experience
35 Protect and repair damaged habitats; conserve endangered species
36 Assess every big project- dams, roads etc.- for its environmental impact
37 Eliminate guinea-worm disease, polio, river blindness and leprosy completely
38 Reduce and control tuberculosis and measles, and cut childhood deaths due to diarrhoea by 50 to 70%
39 Protect mothers. Provide them with the means to choose the number and spacing of their babies; allow them to breast feed their babies for the first four months of life
40 Immunise all children; protect them from sexual and workplace exploitation
41 Use effective traditional knowledge in national health care systems
42 All nations to identify environmental health hazards and take steps to reduce them
43 Coordinate national efforts to control the spread of the HIV "Aids" virus
44 Put anti-malaria programmes in place everywhere malaria is still a problem
45 Establish standards for industrial hygiene, use of pesticides, maximum permitted safe noise and exposure levels to ultraviolet radiation
46 Protect vulnerable groups, particularly the elderly and disabled population
47 Reduce consumption; use less energy
48 Eco-label less harmful products
49 Make eco-friendly products cheaper by taxing eco-harmful ones
50 Tax industry that pollutes or spoils limited nature resources; support eco-friendly industry
51 Develop sources of renewable energy
52 Help developing countries in building their economies based on utilising renewable sources of energy
53 Reduce waste, recycle and tax packaging materials
54 Require that industry in developed countries adopt cleaner production methods and promote the transfer of low waste production methods to developing countries
55 Give the people the right to know the risks of chemicals they are exposed to
56 Immediately clean up contaminated areas and give help to their inhabitants
57 Make polluters pay clean up costs
58 Ensure that the military disposes of their hazardous waste properly
59 Ban illegal export of hazardous waste to countries not equipped to deal with it
60 Minimise creation of radioactive waste
61 Bring together everyone who works on the land for planning meetings; local farmers, women, managers, business people, local officials, sales agents, scientists, government officials.
62 Make laws to end the devastation of land by mining (polluter pays principle)
63 Governments must provide advice to farmers on environmentally friendly fertilisers
64 All farmers must be educated in methods of preserving topsoil
65 Encourage farmers to switch to renewable energy sources
66 Tell farmers about the problem of ultraviolet rays reaching their crops; research ways to minimise the effects of loss of the ozone layer and global warming
57 Raise people's awareness through education and campaigns
68 Develop National Agenda 21s to make sure that new laws aren't just good for the economy but for people and the environment as well
69 Provide technical support to countries who can't enforce environmental laws
70 Tax products that aren't ecologically friendly so that people will buy those products that don't harm the environment
71 Introduce environmental accounting; governments and businesses must stop thinking of natural resources as free sources of profit. For example, they must include the cost of re-growing a forest in the 'cost' side of their accounts
72 Have more women decision makers, planners, scientists!
73 Set up education programmes so all women can learn to read and write
74 Make sure women in developing countries have rights to own land and get credit from banks
75 Make women aware of the environmental consequences of what they buy through eco-labelling, especially in rich countries
76 Help set up child care so more women can go to work
77 Do everything possible to stop violence against women
78 Get close communication between governments and NGOs
79 Co-operation between governments and NGOs themselves should be increased
80 UN agencies should support NGOs
81 Freedom for NGOs to say things and promote ideas that governments and industry might not like must be guaranteed
82 Workers should take part in all decisions, co-operating with both employers and governments
83 Trade unions should promote worker education and training in work health and safety
84 Environmental management should be given a lot of importance and national business councils should be set up for that purpose
85 Measures should be taken to reduce the industry's impact on the environment and develop cleaner production methods
86 Let indigenous peoples take an active part in all political decisions affecting them and their land
87 Respect and protect the property and culture of indigenous people
88 Give more responsibility to farmers
89 Develop farming practices and technologies that are safe for the environment
90 Farmers should share knowledge on conservation of natural resources
91 Bring ecology into agricultural training
92 Prices of agricultural products need to reflect environmental costs
93 Local governments should draw up their own agenda 21s to reshape the policies, laws and regulations of their districts
94 Local governments should work with international organisations and with each other to gain new ideas.
95 By 1994 local governments should be linked at an international level
96 By 1996 each local authority must present their local Agenda 21
97 There is a need:-
- For the world to help low and middle income developing countries to deal with the problem of foreign debt
- For higher levels of foreign investment
- For the transfer of clean and efficient technologies
- For free trade and access to markets so as to achieve economic growth
98 Funds could be raised by reallocating resources now committed to the military
99 Make basic education available to as many people as possible
100 Set up training programmes on sustainable development
101 Promote awareness on environment, and make use of media and the entertainment industry
102 Promote the knowledge of indigenous people
103 Create partnerships with companies in the developing countries to teach environmental management
How should we act?
The following statements were made by the Editors.
As we edited this book, we thought of the thousands of kids who have worked on it who'd like to be here with us now. We've read their summaries, seen their pictures and they've inspired us. We'd like kids everywhere to become a part of this Rescue Mission, to get access to leaders with their ideas and concerns. It cannot just be an elite. There's only one way to do this in a fair way; to build a Global Democracy of Children.
How?! How on earth could 2.5 billion human beings under the age of 18 be connected in a way that would be democratic without being bureaucratic? How could we enter in the adult's decision-making process without starting to be as boring as them?
The first thing to do is to select issues not representatives. That way, we can all choose what we want to talk about, after which the question of who does the talking is less important. The first place to organise is in our schools. Each Rescue Mission will start with a conference where we would decide the issues and elect a small action council to see things get done. Like the Children's Councils in France, we will have regular access to local government and work with them, perhaps to organise the local Agenda 21.
Children's Councils
They started in Strasbourg France. A Mayor wanted children's advice on a plan for the town so he got the schools to elect a children's council. It helped, not just with that plan but with many others! Now, in 700 towns and villages across France, children elect their own official council to shadow the work of the adult council and approve their decisions. They also choose "action programmes" to carry out some of the ideas they have promoted.
The movement has had an impact right up to national level: politicians see it as a away of giving young people experience in democracy and getting them interested in their local communities. The idea has spread to Italy, Austria and Germany. You could start one in your town.
Get Connected!
Anybody, Somebody and Everybody knew there was a job to be done Anybody could do it and Everybody thought that Somebody would do it. But in the end, Nobody did it.
We've found that being together working on this book makes us feel incredibly powerful. We all dread going home- being alone again. That's why we are determined to stay in touch with the way we feel now. Just knowing that there are people like us, concerned about the same things on the other side of the world, helps. If you feel the same, get connected! Together we will be unstoppable.
The key to it all is keeping in touch with each other. This is hard to do with the language differences, distances, phone bills etc. The solution is to set up a series of Youth Centres around the world, run by young people from different countries. Their job would be to help set up and promote the Action Councils and to keep in touch with each other. The Rescue Mission will be promoted chiefly through the many existing eco-groups, scouts, guides etc. The Youth Centres will simply promote and network their work and success around the world
Target Dates
1995 - Pilot local offices in every region 1998- National meetings in every country 2000- Complete global democracy of youth.
The Response of Teachers and Children in Wales
The school-based local environmental action plan (SCAN) is an idea developed in 1994 in a partnership between the Dyfed area teachers advisory service, local schools in Pembrokeshire, and the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff, to encourage schools to help the communities they serve to take action in the spirit of Agenda 21 of the Rio Conference on the Environment. The stimulus came from the International Children's Agenda 21 published in 1994 by 'Peace Child International". The SCAN methodology is based on two national campaigns that use standard question forms designed to heighten local environmental awareness. 'Jigso' is a Welsh campaign to encourage the adult section of communities to question the way their environment looks and works, and then gather resources to improve it. 'Enviroscope' is a package devised in 1993 for a UK wide environmental survey to be used by children (8 to 13 age range) in families and schools.
The aim of SCAN in a school is to to set up, and maintain, a special school bulletin board which shows the problems, issues and challenges of development in the community served by the school. An important practical objective is to create and update a local children's environmental action plan to be communicated to the community served by the school at regular intervals, and passed on to other schools.
The beginning is a set of local 'postcards' produced by individuals and groups, each of which encapsulates a local environmental improvement (actual or needed).
This simple geographical information system is an 'eye-opener' which is followed up with regular environmental auditing, using simple questionnaires related to information relevant to local implementation of the UK Government's action plans for sustainable development and biodiversity.
A general audit can start by finding answers to the following questions.
What is special about the place where we live?
What can we do to conserve and improve it?
What are the problems, issues and challenges of local development? How can we act locally?
What should we be telling our community?
How can we communicate with other communities?
A detailed audit can be based on questions of the Jigso/Enviroscope type, customised in school to the local situation, for gathering information on 'geographical place', 'biological place' and 'socio-economic place'.
The answers to the questions will encapsulate the local problems, issues and challenges of development, and indicate actions required to meet the Agenda 21 framework. The action plan can be transmitted to the local community and other groups.
Other learning advantages that stem from the project are:-
it creates a cross-curricular teaching resource to meet classroom subject-objectives using local information;
it is a practical method of running the 'citizens environmental networks', and local 'environmental warden' schemes, the Government recommends to promote its Rio action plans;
it gives a boost to IT through databasing the responses to the questions and communicating the database to other groups;
it encourages involvement with systems-thinking about environmental protection by pointing towards the need for the resourcing and management of environmental projects.
SCAN models are simplified views of the local environment. A photograph, a painting or a poem, which highlights a problem, are all models representing a personal view of 'home'. Maps, diagrams, mathematical equations, and a small-scale three-dimensional static, or working, systems, are models designed to analyse local problems. They are usually made as a first attempt to understand our more complex world,, in order to solve a problem by creating an action plan. The Welsh Jigso campaign recommends that the community first maps its local area before embarking on a detailed survey. Many of these map-models turn out to be pictorial tapestries or scrap books which link places with important natural/historical features.
There is obviously an educational progression from drawing a picture to doing something practical. In this sense modelling the local environment at school can be a progressive and co-operative activity across age and curriculum. As a co-operative activity it is also a powerful learning experience for future living.
Ultimately, modelling is a basic approach to simplifying systems that are too complex to handle. A local environmental action plan has to be based on a simplified dynamic model of nature/people/landscape, highlighting those features that are limiting improvement to a desired state.
For example, an easy way to begin a dynamic community model is to delineate its past and present water features. This not only lays down the cultural thread binding the first settlers to the modern inhabitants, but also points to connections with other communities currently sharing the watershed. Watersheds are useful environmental management units.
To enter a bigger picture, there is the local estuary, lake, reservoir, water treatment works, or industrial user; entry points to management systems.
In summary, anyone at any age can 'make a SCAN' with a picture. Older groups can build dynamic models, ultimately drawing upon the nearest information agency/industry for involvement with the latest environmental knowledge and its applications. These links could be the starting point for inter-country connections, sharing ideas and teaching resources.