ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
by Antonio C. Antonio
November
22, 2012
Environmental
Management refers to the deliberate human action to influence a certain number
of conditions of the environment usually to favor particular human needs. As all resources are finite, they need to be managed,
protected and carefully nurtured to ensure that they continue to provide long-term
and sustainable support to man. To be
more effective, there should be a partnership between government and private
sector. This partnership could be
compared to a bird in flight… both left and right wings working together for a
specific purpose. Anything less will
simply not work at all.
Environmental
management is universal… meaning, a global concern and not only a particular country.
All countries in the world must have an environmental management agenda (like
the Philippine Agenda 21[PA 21])…
§ On
the global level, all countries could adopt the principles and objectives of
the Earth Summit;
§ On
the country level, like in the Philippines, PA 21 was adopted. Political will would play a pivotal role in
the effective implementation of environment laws, rules and regulation. Unfortunately, in the Philippines where
political patronage and considerations seem to take precedence over the
national good, PA 21 is just another not-to-be-given-proper-attention national
agenda and sustainable development is just another oratorical punch line;
§ Local
government units could implement their own environmental management ordinances towards
in their own areas of responsibilities as the Cities of Las Pinas, Davao and
Puerto Princesa are currently doing.
Again, the success or failure of such ordinances will depend largely on
political will. Given the 3-year
electoral term of office of local government officials, nothing much could be
accomplished as most environment-related projects and programs take decades to
be realized;
§ Communities
(neighborhood associations) could also formulate their own rules and regulations
on the most mundane activities such as garbage collection, segregation and disposal;
and,
§ Getting
closer to man, environmental management should be an individual concern. If everyone, with the capacity to discern,
becomes aware of his/her environment and do whatever little thing to manage it,
this world would be a better place to live in.
People have a tendency to think of spitting, peeing or throwing of candy
wrappers anywhere will not harm the environment… but if everybody adopted the
same mindset, we are certainly in for a major environmental disaster.
Carbon
dioxide emission from the burning of fossil fuel is the primary cause of global
warming and the greenhouse effect. Governments
must infuse more funds in developing projects and programs towards climate
change mitigation. To boost the
environmental management effort exponentially, alternative sources of energy
should be tapped like:
1. Solar
(Example of which could be solar panels presently being used to power street
lights in Puerto Princesa City. As a future prospect, the Philippines being an
agricultural country, has miles upon miles of irrigation canals. Solar panels could be installed on top of
these canal systems to: a) Make better land use rather than use grazing lands
for this purpose; and, b) Prevent loss of water through evaporation as the
solar panels will also function as a canopy for the irrigation canals.);
2. Wind
(Example of which are the windmills in Bangui, Ilocos Norte which produces
electricity for the communities there.); and,
3. Hydro/Water
(Examples of which are the hydro-electric dams like Maria Cristina Falls,
etc. More hydro-electric-producing
facilities should be planned in the national infrastructure program.
Sustainable
Development (SD) is the framework for both the Earth Summit and PA 21. It was in the Earth Summit where initial awareness
of SD started to spread and, henceforth, have been used (oftentimes, loosely)
as the general solution statement for environmental management. SD is development
that meets the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs. SD,
as defined in the PA 21, is “harmonious integration of a sound and viable
economy, responsible governance, social cohesion and ecological integrity, to
ensure that development is a life-sustaining process.”
On
the “how” and “what” of Environmental Management, there are templates provided
by worldwide organizations as well as individual nations such as:
1. Earth
Summit or the United Nations’ Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED)
held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in June 3 to 14, 1992 reached a consensus that
the environment should be viewed as a support system for society and its
economy. This system, however, should be
carefully studied to prevent and mitigate the ill effects of human intervention
towards the environment for social and economic gains. The concept of sustainable development was
highlighted in this summit.
2. Philippine
Agenda 21 (PA 21) was approved by Pres. Fidel V. Ramos in September 1996. PA 21 calls for the ecological and social
resources found in the environment to be utilized to meet society’s higher
economic needs but only to within the ability of the resource to keep their
original characteristics.
The Earth Summit (1992)
resulted in the following documents:
a) Rio Declaration on
Environment and Development;
b) Agenda 21; and,
c) Forest Principles.
Moreover, two important legally binding agreements were opened for
signature:
a) Convention on Biological
Diversity; and,
b) Framework Convention on
Climate Change.
The
Principles contained in PA 21 are:
- Efficiency: Resources are not to be over-exploited; Resources should not remain unutilized; Utilization must prescribe full restoration; and, Must be aimed at achieving a high marginal return sufficient to “pay back” the cost of utilization and the value of the resources being utilized.
- Sufficiency: Resources are to be used only for absolutely necessary ends; Use of the resources must entail the use of a minimum unit of the resource; and, Must not exceed the minimum requirement to support a necessary end.
- Consistency: Ecosystems are to be managed to be compatible with each other; A “landscape” (or system of ecosystems) approach is preferred to a “single ecosystem” management style; and, Require that the use of resources be based on strengths and weaknesses of the ecosystem with emphasis on the weakness of the weakest ecosystem.
- Precaution: If the potential threat posed by an economic activity to ecosystems is serious, or where environmental damage due to it is expected to be irreversible, precautionary or mitigating measures should be undertaken.
Purpose of the Principles Contained in
PA21: Efficiency, Sufficiency,
Consistence and Precaution are anticipated to lower the obtrusions of economic
production and consumption on ecology and society. The ecological and social costs of creating
economic opportunities would be minimized.
This would be sound environmental management which promotes sustainable
development.
The
Goals of PA 21 are as follows:
1.
Poverty Reduction: Poverty is a central concern of sustainable
development. Poverty reduction includes measure to create enabling economic
environment for sustained and broad-based growth; improve employment, productivity
and income; and attain food security.
2.
Social Equity: Social equity means the allocation of
resources on the bases of efficiency and equity to achieve balanced
development. Efficiency and equity mean the channeling of resources to
developing areas where greater economic benefits accumulate and where there is
greater need, distribution being dependent on the practicality and urgency of
needs.
3.
Empowerment and Good
Governance: Empowerment is a
precondition of informal choices and good governance is a necessary precondition
to empowerment. These two are a defining element of each other.
4.
Peace and Solidarity: The cycle of poverty and conflict goes on as
the costs of war escalate in terms of various kinds of destruction while
withholding funds for basic services, resulting in more poverty and
underdevelopment.
5.
Ecological Integrity: Enhancing the integrity of the ecological
domain of the country will have to involve heightened and sustained
implementation of environmental laws, as well as the continued pursuit of resource
conservation, and environmental restoration/enhancement programs.
Just my
little thoughts…
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