- Progress in fighting climate change and global warming has been limited. According to Leonardo Lacerda fossil fuels prevail in the world energy matrix and energy efficiency and renewables have not been promoted enough. However, the political climate changed and there is an agreement now that climate change does exist. The main challenge is to keep average temperature change within 2˚C, and concentrations of CO2 within the 450 ppm limit. In this context Lacerda stressed the importance of multilateralism and the commonly shared, but differentiated responsibilities of the industrialised world.
- Progress in the preservation of tropical rainforests and biological diversity has also been limited. Since 1987, another 25% (200 million ha) of rainforest has been destroyed. On the other side “biodiversity” has become a known concept and the number of protected areas has been increased from 4% to 12%. Leonardo Lacerda stressed the close link between deforestation and climate change.
- Even though the marine issues were not included as a major area of concern in 1987, the crisis has become more serious. Overfishing, overcapacity and waste are among the main problems to be addressed if the crisis wants to be solved. Reforms of the Common Fisheries Policies of the EU are urgently needed to bring fishery capacity and production to sustainable levels and reduce by-catch and discards.
Leonardo Lacerda called for a bigger involvement of European foundations dealing with these challenges. He also stressed the importance of adopting clear goals and aiming for greater efficiency.
Fouad Hamdan of Friends of the Earth Europe gave an overview of the development of the environmental movement in the last decades to assess what the green movement has achieved and where it failed. Since the 1970s, the environmental movement managed to raise public awareness on green issues and achieved many victories. After a period of pure opposition in the early 1990s, green NGOs started also developing solutions often backed up by economic arguments. Political systems in Western Europe experienced the rise of green parties which helped to introduce greener legislation. Generally, environmental NGOs developed from emotion-driven, local protest groups to professional organisations. Examples of ‘green victories’ include topics such as clean air legislation, improved consumer protection, cleaner rivers and sea shores, the end of nuclear testing and even a few national decisions to phase-out nuclear power. In western democracies, NGOs play a watchdog role and hold governments, public institutions and corporates to account.
However, 20 years after the Brundtland report, the green movement is in a phase of stagnation. According to Fouad Hamdan we are living in an “era of mass awareness that lacks real action”. The challenge is to address the new non-visible threats like carbon dioxide (CO2), genetically-modified organisms (GMOs),toxic substances and nanotechnology. At the same time NGOS have to react to new concepts (Corporate Social Responsibility) and communication/ PR strategies that have been developed by the corporate sector. Therefore, the green movement needs to rethink its strategies and tactics and also address old and unfashionable questions regarding the “mega consumer way of life”.
In order to revive the green movement it is necessary to combine creative public campaigning with public mobilization as well as professional communication with pragmatic lobby work. Moreover, green NGOs need to develop policy solutions and build strategic alliances. Many NGOs are in need for professional management and modern campaign skills. Foundations have a major role to play in helping green NGOs and groups to rethink their strategies and tactics especially if they decide to fund capacity building. There is also the need to provide funding for long lasting political lobby campaigns that do not bring immediate visible effect but have a sustainable impact.
Furthermore, foundations can help to fill research gaps especially in the field of green economics.
Benoit Derenne from the Foundation for Future Generations presented the perspective of a foundation active in the field of intergenerational justice and sustainability. According to Benoit Derenne sustainable development requires a change of behaviour in the long term and a multi-dimensional innovative approach. In theory, foundations are well equipped to address the challenges of sustainable development. Benoit Derenne identified four core tools can be used by foundations to be sustainable and to promote sustainability:
- Sustainable endowment management: An endowment can be a tool to promote sustainable investment. The Bellagio Forum for Sustainable Development has just launched PRIME (Primer for the Responsible Investment Management of Endowments) to assist foundations to better understand and integrate responsible investment practices into the management of their endowment.
- Sustainable grant-making: Grant making is the best known tool of foundations. However, sustainable grants have to take into account the interconnectedness of environmental, social and economic problems. Therefore, foundations could support projects that integrate several dimensions of sustainable development.
- Convening place: Foundations can act as a neutral place and bring together major stakeholders to solve complex issues together.
- Sustainable Programmes: Operational foundations can run own programmes and initiatives in the area of sustainability and sustainable development.
