The Scope of Sustainable Development and the Case of Mexico

Abstract

The 1992 Declaration of Rio de Janeiro committed all countries to the far-reaching objective of sustainable development, understood to mean a process of economic and social development that includes environmental protection and respect for natural resources, that is equitable and shall offer future generations access to resources and to non-polluting technologies, to achieve a better quality of life worldwide. Until now, a positive balance has yet to be struck. Rio+5 went by without much consequence or prospect. The Kyoto summit for the setting in motion of programs to control global climate change has not enjoyed much support. Not a single country has started to undertake an integrated process of sustainable development. It is not a technical problem but a social and political issue: the mobilization of resources, the adoption of new priorities, the coordination of governmental efforts with those of the business community and of civil society. Awareness must be created of dangerous and possibly irreversible thresholds looming ahead. An evolving culture of knowledge and communication relevant to sustainable development is required. Sustainable development implies a shift to clean energy sources, an environmentally-friendly use of water, soils and forest lands, the protection of biodiversity, the recycling of municipal, industrial and agricultural waste, the promotion of environmental and health education and training, and, not least, a long-range, effective population policy. No country can remain isolated from these necessary steps into the future, and no single measure will be sufficient. In the case of Mexico, in spite of institutional progress in environmental policies since 1989, the environment has continued to deteriorate. The multiple conditioning factors of an integrated sustainable development process have not been given the necessary priority, resources and steady attention that a long-term perspective requires. Given the specific relation of Mexico to Canada and the United States under NAFTA, a study of the sustainable development prospects of the three countries as a whole is urgently needed. A first step in this direction has yet to be taken.