Nothing permanent is change

MAPping the Future: It's time to change
Posted: 2:59 AM Jul. 25, 2005, Cora PB Claudio, Inquirer News Service
Published on Page B3-2 of the July 25, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
this story was taken from www.inq7money.netURL: http://money.inq7.net/columns/view_columns.php?yyyy=2005&mon=07&dd=25&file=9

RESPECTED citizens of the country, including church leaders, admit the Philippines has become a very corrupt society. Cheating, many say, has become so common, starting at home between husband and wife, that concern now is more how grave the offense is rather than whether it happens or not.

It is, indeed, the time to change for the better. But, in doing so, let us focus first on ourselves, then on our home, our companies and our local communities. Our campaign slogan in promoting environmental caring--SIMBY or Start In My Back Yard--applies here also. One cannot stand on good moral ground to demand a national leader to resign, supposedly for cheating, weak decision making, etc., if one is also guilty of such offenses. The change must start from within.

Proposals on needed changes abound. To such proposals, may I add the need to change our lifestyle--perhaps, the root of many evils we see now. It is time to change our unsustainable, materialistic, wasteful lifestyle to a sustainable one.
Sustainable lifestyle covers sustainable production and consumption; social, ecological and economic resilience and vulnerability; governance and institutions needed to foster sustainability; and societal values and norms for promoting sustainability.

Sustainable production
With limited resources for meeting increasing needs, making our food and industrial production sustainable becomes an urgent challenge.

One way of doing so is to "convert agricultural wastes into rich fertilizers to increase productivity that, at the same time, reduces greenhouse gas emissions."

Recently, a small group from the environment committee of the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) and our new partner, the Gawad Kalinga Community Development Foundation (GKCDF) visited the integrated farm of MAP member Joe Simeon in Tarlac which applies bio-organic technology developed by a group of development-oriented scientists-businessmen led by Bong Garrucho, formerly of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

Joe converts the waste from his piggery into high-grade fertilizer and rich nutrient feed for his prawn pond. It is an integrated farm system, which we hope to replicate as a livelihood source in GK communities.

Sustainable consumption
Sustainable consumption demands being aware of the impact of purchases and lifestyles on the environment and other people; taking actions that are not wasteful. It requires us to ask before buying: Do I really need to buy this? What raw materials were used in this product? How long will it last? How will I dispose of it after my use?

Sustainable consumption starts from equitable sharing of resources. The United Nations Environment Program reports that industrialized countries, with only about 15 percent of the global population, account for more than 70 percent of consumption expenditures.

Resilience and vulnerability
The economic health of the Philippines is important to the national stability and development. But sustainable development is like a stool with three legs and economic development is but one of them. The social and ecological pillars are as important as the economic one. Unfortunately, they are in worse shape than the economic pillar.

The social pillar includes social equity and other political and social concerns, as well as values, attitudes and behaviors of the individuals and organizations that make up our society. It is the weakness of the social pillar, more than that of the economic pillar, which makes the country unstable. Past economic progress has not made much difference in the life of many of our people due to social inequity.

The ecological pillar is also weak. Poor treatment has led to risks to the environment and public health. Note the increasing incidence of cancer.

Environmental pollution does not differentiate the poor from the rich. It affects all, hence, defense of the environment should be a national health and security concern.

Governance and institutions
Decision-making is an important function in governance and in the operation of our institutions. My doctoral thesis adviser, Prof. M. Elisabeth Pate-Cornell, said that in collective decision-making, searching for a universally acceptable result is addressing the wrong question. Setting a norm on the process, she argued, is more conducive to agreements. She identified the characteristics of the decision-making process, for which certain norms and procedures need to be agreed on. These include: sound legal basis, an information and communication system, a public review process, a clear but flexible set of decision criteria reflecting public preferences, an appropriate conflict resolution mechanism, and a feedback mechanism. The "sound legal basis" starts with our Constitution and the manner by which we apply it. We now need to subject it, as well as the entire legal system, to reforms that are acceptable to the public.

Societal values and norms
We just launched a partnership program to help establish one or more ecologically sound villages with priority for those populated fully or partially by indigenous people who belong to the poorest of the poor in our country and in the areas affected by natural disasters. This is a joint project of the MAP, through the MAP environment committee and the MAP national issues committee, and the TOWNS (The Outstanding Women in the Nation's Service) Foundation and our companies, relatives and friends, with the GKCDF.

An eco-village applies environmentally sound and sustainable technologies (e.g., energy-efficient housing design) and practices (e.g., recycling, sustainable lifestyle). It integrates human activities harmlessly into the natural environment, supports healthy human development, and can be continued into an indefinite future. It uses energy, water, food, soil, and materials in balance with the "carrying" capacity of the natural processes of the area. It supports a vision for a sustainable future which involves clean air, water, and land and living practices that respect nature. The community's members meet their economic and social needs through interdependence and with an economy that provides good quality of life to all community members, not only to a few. The community achieves sustainability through values formation and community empowerment, improved health and sanitation, ecologically sound livelihood projects, and education.

It is the type of community that we hope to start building soon with the help of our members and of other caring souls out there who would like to join us. By focusing first on the indigenous people, we also hope to promote improved understanding of their culture, skills, needs, etc., as well recognize their current and potential contributions to the sustainable development of our country.

The indigenous people seem to intuitively know what sustainable development means as they live within the resources available to them. Perhaps, by helping them, we can also get inspiration, if not ideas, on how to get out of the political situation that we are in and move forward to a sustainable path.

(The author co-chairs MAP's environment committee and co-directs the MAP-TOWNS-GK partnership project. Feedback mapsec@globenet.com.ph.) copyright ©2005 INQ7money.net all rights reserved