Vail, Colorado, USA
6-8 June 2001

I. Introduction

1. At its Millennium Session in 2001, the United Nations General Assembly agreed to undertake a ten-year review of progress in the implementation of the outcomes of the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) or Rio Earth Summit. This review will take place at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in South Africa in 2002 – the Johannesburg Summit. However, an important challenge is to ensure that the outcome of the Summit is not limited to a review but leads to new visions, commitments, partnerships and plans for practical implementation to make sustainable development real at all levels.

2. As a unique and major feature of the preparations for the Summit, it was agreed that the main issues for the Summit would arise from participatory national and regional assessments and discussions drawing from all segments of society and regions of the world.

3. The global inter-governmental process, which will involve three preparatory meetings to be held in the first half of 2002, will benefit from Regional Inter-governmental Preparatory meetings ("prepcoms") to be held in all regions in the second half of 2001. In order to support this process and to take advantage of the views of experts, the United Nations is convening independent Regional Roundtables of eminent persons and leaders of civil society in the five regions of the world.

4. The Europe and North America Eminent Persons Regional Roundtable was held in Vail, Colorado in the United States of America from 6 to 8 June 2001. This report attempts to capture the key concerns expressed and proposals for action made by the participants. The participants attended in their personal capacities and provided their perspectives on major accomplishments and major lessons learned since Rio in 1992, on the major constraints to sustainable development, on new challenges and opportunities for the future, and on strengthening the institutional frameworks for sustainable development, both within Europe and North America and globally.

5. The report is intended to help in the preparatory process leading up to the Summit with new ideas, based on the participants’ practical experience and interest in sustainable development, to develop a platform which outlines key policy issues, priorities and follow up actions for the region as well as at the global level.

6. This report will be forwarded to all of the regional and sub-regional prepcoms. It will also be made available to the global preparatory meetings. Furthermore, the Roundtable report will be posted on the Johannesburg Summit web site.

7. The Europe and North America Roundtable was organised by the Secretariat of the World Summit on Sustainable Development in collaboration with the Denver-based Center for Resource Management. The Roundtable was co-chaired by Sir Crispin Tickell, Mr. Ray Anderson, and Dr. Larry Papay. A full list of participants is attached as an Annex to this report.

8. Special gratitude goes to the local community of Vail, which organised special events for the Roundtable participants showing what the actions their community has taken to achieve sustainable development, demonstrating the necessary link of local to regional and global action. They also showed appreciated kindness and generosity in opening up their homes for the participants.

9. At the opening of the Roundtable, introductory statements were made by Mr. Dick Lamm, former Governor of Colorado, Mr. Nitin Desai, Under-Secretary General of the United Nations; Mr. Terry Minger, President of the Center for Resource Management, and by Sir Crispin Tickell and Mr Ray Anderson, two of the Co-chairmen. Texts of introductory statements will be published separately in the proceedings of the Roundtable, along with the written contributions provided by participants.

10. The present generation may be among the last that could correct the current course of world development before it reaches a point of no return, due to depletion of the natural resource base and degradation of the environment. It has the knowledge and technological ability to achieve this. What it still lacks is political will and a individual commitment for action and broad public awareness of the consequences of inaction. There is a need for a new level of commitment, responsibility and partnerships. There is also a need for new ethics that are based on the recognition that growth is limited by the health and carrying capacity of the natural environment and that we have to respect the rights of forthcoming generations. There is a need to bring up and educate our children in ways that increase their deeper knowledge of natural processes , their connectedness with the natural world and their capacity for positive action.

11. The ways in which the industrial countries have developed in the past are not sustainable in the future, either for themselves or for others. Taking forward the switch to sustainability, this region must take special responsibility for assisting the poorer countries in the world by directly addressing their pressing environmental, social and economic problems. A new degree of global solidarity and partnership in the world - a world that is increasingly inter-connected and inter-dependent - will be key to the health and quality of life and the sustainable future of all citizens of our planet. Quality of life in one part of the world should not be at the expense of quality of life in other parts.

12. This region currently uses an unfair amount of the world’s resources, which is already beyond the carrying capacity of the Earth. It also has a special responsibility in helping to eradicate poverty globally.

13. There has been a substantial change in public awareness of environmental issues. Such issues as ozone depletion, the greenhouse effect, the destruction of tropical forests and the impact of human activity on the Arctic and small islands have now entered the popular vocabulary. The problems of growth of mega-cities are also widely understood.

14. In some cases, governments, cities, local authorities, non-governmental organizations, corporations, universities and other institutions have begun the process of understanding sustainable development, and devising programmes to put it into effect. At the local level, the issues defined at Rio are also becoming better known and understood, particularly through Local Agenda 21. But by any measurement, the results have been patchy and need much greater support, particularly from governments as well as from stakeholder groups and through individual action, since the overall situation is still worsening.

15. There have been some new encouraging international agreements, including the Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. But the overall implementation of the agreements reached at Rio, particularly on climate change and biodiversity, has been disappointing so far, and is widely recognised as such.

16. Participants decided to focus their discussion on five key themes.

17. The model for development followed by industrial economies, which was created during the industrial revolution, is clearly outdated as the world moves towards a service and knowledge based society. Current models still rely on a form of economic growth that gives most value to financial and manufactured capital at the expense of human and natural resources. A new development model is needed, which provides for the integration of economic, social and ecological considerations, and for the growth of human well-being with decreased pressure on world resources.

18. Governments will continue to influence markets through legislation, fiscal and monetary regulation, and other incentives and disincentives. These tools, along with insurance and liability, need to be refashioned to place market forces within a framework of public interest and sustainability.

19. Corporate sustainability and ecological sustainability sometimes seem to contradict each other. However, they need not be mutually exclusive. They can be reconciled when government and corporate policies consider long as well as short term objectives. The contradiction between the "culture of quantitative growth" and the "culture of natural limits" can also be resolved. This requires changes in understanding and attitudes. Indeed natural limits and scarcities are often the best drivers for innovation, even if it means no more than the different use of old tools.

20. Experience shows that the voice of enlightened consumers of goods and services along with the voice of shareholders and employees can have an increasing impact on corporate behaviour towards greater sustainability.

21. The new structure needs updated methods of measurements and accountability, based on criteria and indicators of sustainability, so that governments, corporations and individual consumers can base decisions on a proper assessment of their full economic, social and environmental costs.

22. The transition of former centrally-planned economies to market-based economies and democratic institutions, along with the forthcoming expansion of the European Union, could provide opportunities to apply new ways of how to move towards more sustainable societies.

23. The region should also provide an example of how new partnerships, both between countries, and between governments and other stakeholders, could facilitate the transition to sustainable development.

24. Governments at all levels in Europe and North America should pioneer the use of economic instruments and policies supportive to sustainable development. The region should become a laboratory of how to make sustainable development happen.

25. The region also has a special challenge to increase financial and technological support to countries in transition and developing countries.

Implementation of the following proposals could assist in moving towards the new development model described above:

• Another critical look is needed at tax reform that would promote sustainability. Consideration could be given to a Convention within the UNECE to provide for green incentives and disincentives, and remove perverse subsidies. In this way proper consideration could be given to the economic and social consequences, including the implications for competitiveness.
• Consideration should be given to the development of tradable permit systems for scarce natural resources and emissions at the level of countries, regions, cities and corporations.
• Voluntary initiatives and agreements need to be further promoted.
• Rather than continued reliance on the GNP-based economic decision-making systems, accounting rules should incorporate the costs and depreciation of natural capital, including environmental risks.
• Specific timetables and targets for measuring progress need to be introduced and applied by countries, local authorities, cities and corporations. The development and use of criteria and indicators of sustainability should be encouraged.
• Banks, insurance companies, pension funds and other actors should adopt policies and practices that encourage sustainability through investments.
• Export credit agencies can also implement policies to promote sustainable action.
• Urban systems are the greatest drivers of socio-economic activity as well as generators of immense pressures on the environment. They should be planned and operated as integral parts of the overall system.

26. Patterns of consumption currently prevailing in the industrialised world are not sustainable. There is a need to move from a "standard of living" approach to a "quality of life" approach. This calls for a convergence of self-interest and a sense of collective responsibility. Media and advertising could play a significant role in promoting change in consumption patterns and consumer choice, especially among young people.

• There is a need to find measures that will shift the focus of advertising towards products and services that are socially and environmentally sound and are produced in a sustainable way, at the expense of advertising that leads to the consumption of products and services that threaten human health, the environment, social equity and human rights.
• Green codes of conduct and other voluntary action in the advertising industry should be explored and encouraged if they are shown to be effective.
• Consumers and their associations should be seen as stakeholders in the sustainable development debate. There is need to engage people rather than blaming them.
• Companies must inform and educate consumers and shareholders about all aspects of the process of the production of goods and services, including social and environmental factors, in order to inform free choice.
• Credible certification and labelling could also play an important role in informing consumer choice.
• Countries in Transition should develop a comprehensive sustainable production, consumption and waste management strategy with the support of other European countries.
• Governments should develop differentiated value added and progressive taxation systems that encourage sustainable behaviour.
• There is a need to promote increasing savings, including pension funds, which could both decrease current consumption spending and increase long-term sustainable investments.
• Public procurement should take account of sustainable development factors. The UN system should serve as an example.

27. The planet is running out of its ability to support present eco-systems. The depreciation costs of natural capital and waste generation are currently included neither in commercial nor in national accounts. These need to be reflected to ensure that private and public decision makers are made aware of the medium to long term consequences of treating natural resources as a free good and of not limiting waste and pollution.

28. Natural resources, such as minerals, land, fresh water, forests and the resources of the oceans and seas, are being used and exploited at an unprecedented rate. The long-term impacts of removing or degrading parts of a natural system are still, to a large degree, unknown, but they still need to be taken seriously. We are only now beginning to understand the threshold and trigger reactions of natural systems to certain human activities. In this context, the strict demarcation between renewable and non-renewable resources is a false concept.

29. The degradation and depletion of fresh water resources is in need of urgent attention. Complex and politically sensitive concerns surround issues of equitable access to water resources and transboundary water catchment areas. Disputes over access to and use of fresh water risk provoking conflict in some regions of the world.

30. The resources of the oceans and seas are feeling the increasing impacts of human activities. The conduct of fishing fleets in the high seas, in particular the harvesting of young fish, new species and indiscriminate catches, will have irreversible consequences. There has already been a total collapse of fish stocks in some areas of the world’s oceans. Marine mammals are also threatened by pollution.

31. The degradation of land resources - in particular the topsoil – will cause critical economic, social and environmental effects. Desertification, soil erosion, salinisation, deforestation, and unsustainable agriculture affect food production, livelihoods, carbon storage and sequestration, community displacement and ecological collapse.

• The capital costs of the depletion of natural resources and waste generation should be include in commercial and national accounts and in indicators used by decision-makers.
• Preventative strategies need to be developed to mitigate the risk of collapse of energy, land and water supply systems, as well as providing for long-term, effective methods of waste disposal. Particular attention should be paid to critical thresholds and irreversible effects in natural systems.
• The concept of industrial ecology should be fostered in any significant development.
• The extension of marine protected areas should be a priority at the Johannesburg Summit
• The precautionary principle should be adopted in food production and processing, including fishing and animal husbandry.
• Progressive charges per unit of waste generated and water consumed need to be introduced across the region. The use of fresh water as a waste carrier should be significantly reduced.
• The problem of global forest loss and degradation remains intractable. Forest certification schemes should be encouraged and governments should consider new ways of coping with forest fire prevention and recovery.
• Tacit and indigenous knowledge needs to be tapped, as well as expert scientific knowledge, to assist full understanding of resource and eco-system management and sustainable use.
• Demand-side management should be applied, not only in the energy sector but with regard to water, land and forests.
• Governments should continue to reduce and eliminate damaging subsidies in the agriculture, forests and fishing industries, while at the same time continuing to provide adequate financial support for eco-system services such as catchment areas and mangroves.
• Governments should ratify the Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), the Rotterdam Convention on Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade (PIC), the Basel Protocol on Liability and Compensation, and the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity, by the time of the Johannesburg Summit.
• The recommendations of the World Commission on Dams should receive serious consideration.
• Mechanisms that induce cities and regions to establish partnerships to manage water and other resources in a sustainable manner need to be created.

32. The industrial countries, in particular those in Europe and North America, are primarily responsible for the anthropogenic aspects of climate change. Therefore the region has particular responsibility to lead the way and give the example in taking remedial action. One key area where this shift has to take place is in energy and power production and use, including consideration of energy conservation and efficiency and renewable energy technologies. There are several examples of local authorities, cities and corporations that have already taken concrete action to reduce emissions.

33. The Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change states that drastic reductions in carbon emissions are necessary by 2050. A series of changes in society will be necessary to transform the supply and use of energy and raw materials. Early action is urgent.

• Focus first on domestic measures. Create mechanisms that persuade cities, local authorities, and corporations among others to set their own targets, select their own criteria and create alliances for action to reduce emissions and save energy. Publicise the resulting monetary and energy savings and advertise and reward their successes.
• Shifting to a more renewable-based energy system makes economic sense. But there could be a need to mitigate any short- and medium-term economic and social hardships that could be encountered. Measures to facilitate transition have to be in place and coalitions need to be formed to overcome political and social barriers to change.
• The use of economic instruments to promote energy efficiency and modify sustainable consumption patterns is essential.
• Entrepreneurial capacity and employment should be promoted though training and outplacement services as well as the use of revolving cooperative funds.
• Research, development and demonstration capacities offer key opportunities and must be employed to explore the shift of energy production and distribution towards long-term sustainability.
• Governments should consider the establishment of an International Renewable Energy Agency, to help promote national programmes, the collection of data and statistics and to assist countries in the development of renewable energy.
• Renewable energy systems are important elements in a sustainable energy supply. Successful European models for promoting renewables should be supported on a global scale.
• Governments should ensure that an agreement, achieving real greenhouse gas emission reductions, should come into force by the Johannesburg Summit and make the necessary commitments.
• Governments in the region should develop energy initiatives to help developing countries avoid some of the greenhouse gas problems they themselves have experienced.
• Governments in the region should initiate adaptation strategies to reduce vulnerability of societies and eco-systems to climate change.

34. Open and democratic systems and respect for human rights are essential to progress. However, current institutions are not necessarily adequate to meet the challenge of sustainable development as they mostly respond to crisis and short-term political needs rather than long-term threats. New system of governance should fully engage stakeholders from civil society and the private sector. Partnerships of different stakeholder are a critical tool to achieve sustainable solutions at all levels. Institutions that promote sustainable development should be strengthened at all levels

• Countries should commit themselves to the principles and elements of sustainable development.
• Sustainable development should become a core element of education curriculums at primary, secondary and tertiary levels. The links between economic, social and natural sciences and technologies need to be fully understood from an early age.
• There is a need to strengthen the link between decision-making for sustainable development and scientific institutions.
• The establishment of local and national Sustainable Development Councils, which involve all stakeholders, should be encouraged. Such bodies should be involved in decision-making concerning use of resources as well as performing an advisory functions.
• There is a need to engage youth broadly in the formulation of strategies within government, industry and other major groups and in practical internships.
• Local institutions need to be strengthened taking into account the need to delegate decisions to the appropriate level.
• Sustainability assessments and reviews of major projects and activities should be included in existing processes and institutions or by new arrangements if required.
• Greater use of institutional partnerships should be encouraged, particularly between local authorities and business.
• New initiatives are required to develop the workplace dimension of sustainability by encouraging green agreements or other partnership arrangements between employers and employee representatives. Workplace health and safety and wider environmental concerns need to be integrated.
• The use of the precautionary principle in decision-making should become a standard at all levels.
• At present there is a serious imbalance in international institutions covering the three interlinked issues of trade, environment and sustainable development. So far, the World Trade Organisation has failed to take due account of sustainable development concerns. The situation is even more complex as a result of the multiplicity of environmental bodies, Conventions and agreements, which create confusion and risks of institutional conflict. Options for resolving the problems that arise, and may be still more important in the future, include the upgrading of UNEP, the conversion of the existing Trusteeship Council, or the creation of an umbrella organisation such as a World Environment Organisation responsible for the environmental dimension of sustainable development.
• The Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters needs to be fully implemented and its principles should be extended elsewhere.
• Further steps are needed to strengthen the voice of civil society within UN intergovernmental bodies, in particular in UNEP. The potential of the multi-stakeholder approach should be further explored, taking into account the experience of the UN’s Commission on Sustainable Development and considerations of accountability and responsibility.
• Sustainable development should be written into the operating guidelines of the international financial institutions.

35. Ambitious and focused goals need to be set early in the preparatory process so that the Summit can achieve tangible results.

36. The Summit needs to make sustainable development understandable and meaningful to the public.

37. The voice of global civil society, which has emerged strongly since Rio, needs to be heard, both at the Summit and during its preparatory process. The Summit should become an event for the entire world community.

38. Governments cannot achieve sustainable development separately from other groups. Civil society, business, local authorities, trade unions, indigenous people and other stakeholders should come to the Johannesburg Summit, not as guests but as genuine partners and agents of change.

39. In an increasingly globalised world, new partnerships are critical between governments, NGOs, trade unions and the private sector, the role of states and their institutions will become less and less relevant. Adequate engagement of stakeholders will lead to the most constructive results.

40. A major development since Rio has been the greater technological connectedness among people, brought about by recent developments in communication technologies, in particular the use of the worldwide web. This should improve links between agendas (on health, environment and poverty).

41. It is in the long-term interest of industrial countries to increase their financial and technological support for sustainable development worldwide, and to fulfil the commitments they made at Rio.

42. The United Nations should consider developing a worldwide marketing plan to mobilise citizens’ support for global change and to promote awareness of the Johannesburg Summit.

43. Participants in the Roundtable expressed their strong commitment to facilitate progress within their own constituencies towards the goals of sustainable development and the success of the Johannesburg Summit. They agreed to stay in touch with each other in the lead up to the Johannesburg Summit. A meeting of the Chairmen of all five Roundtables should also be considered to consolidate the views expressed by participants at each meeting, and thus contribute further to the Summit process