occasion of the opening of the Fourth World Environmental Education Congress,
ICC, Durban
2 July 2007
Deputy Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Rejoice
Mabudafhasi
Executive Mayor of Ethekwini Metropolitan Municipality, Mr Obed Mlaba
Chairperson of the congress and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Wild and
Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA), Ms Mumsie Gumede
United Nation Environmental Programme representative, Mr Ibrahim Thiaw
Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona representative, Professor Joan
Martinez-Alier
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco)
representative, Dr Aline Bory-Adams
United Nation Environmental Programme representative, Dr Akpezi Obquigwe
Centre for Science and Environment India representative, Dr Sumita
Dasgupta
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
While there is absolute acceptance of the reality that the human race is
living beyond its means and that our present patterns of consumption and
production are unsustainable, the task of encouraging people across all sectors
of our communities to adopt new ways of living is an enormous task.
Environmental protection should, therefore, be everyone's responsibility.
Intensifying environmental management campaigns
As we intensify our environmental management campaigns, environmental
education has become a matter of common interest throughout the world as it is
one of the most fundamental and important strategies to combat environmental
problems. This congress comes at an opportune time when South Africa like many
other countries in Africa and elsewhere seeks practical solutions to
environmental challenges of the 21st century such as climate change, waste
management and land degradation.
This is the first time that the World Environmental Education Congress
(WEEC) comes to Africa and we are, therefore, honoured to host this conference.
It should, however, be noted that Africa does not have the luxury of viewing
environmental education processes as green issues.
Role of conference from an African perspective
From an African perspective, we hope that this conference will strengthen
the role of education in facilitating the achievement of the objectives of the
United Nations (UN) decade on education for sustainable development in African
countries, the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad) and Southern
African Developing Community (SADC) Regional Indicative Strategic Development
Plan (RISDP).
Promoting sustainable development
The earth's population has grown from 1,5 billion at the beginning of the
20th century to about 6,5 billion and is expected to grow to 9,5 billion by
2050. Billions of these people are still trapped in abject poverty and have
inadequate access to natural resources. Yet there is an ever increasing demand
for natural resources so that we grow our economies, create jobs and eradicate
poverty. This reality calls for a fundamental change in our approach to
development; we need to promoted sustainable development.
Importance of environmental education
During the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), which was hosted
by our country in 2002, the international community committed itself to the
promotion of sustainable development principles through adherence to sound
environmental management practices. Environmental education is one of the
effective means through which we could enhance our abilities to meet the
objectives of WSSD and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on education and
capacity building.
Need for strong partnerships
Given the scale and complexity of the issues confronting the international
community, we need to work together to maximise our efforts and achieve our
ambitious agenda that includes cutting poverty and hunger by half, ensuring
that every boy and girl in the world has access to primary education and
halting the spread of HIV and AIDS, all by 2015. We need to form strong and
effective partnerships involving governments, non-governmental organisations
(NGOs), private sector, community-based organisations (CBOs) and civil
society.
To achieve a greater impact on society, environmental education should focus
on real outcomes to change our values and behaviour so that we all embrace the
noble principles of sustainable development and respect for the environment.
For environmental education to bring lasting solutions, we must have an
understanding of how individuals and societies think, what they care about,
what motivates them, how they communicate and the conditions under which they
behave more responsibly and positively.
Constitutional obligations
Since 1994 the South African government has invested substantial resources
in creating a new, democratic and integrated education and training system. New
education policies and programmes have been established, guided by the
Constitution. In its Bill of Rights our Constitution enshrines the right to a
healthy and safe environment for all South Africans.
Young people were instrumental in South Africa in bringing about political
change and apartheid united people around the world who wanted to see justice.
It is that magnificent and calibre of activism that we need on the
environmental front.
Environmental education has to help nations galvanise citizens. There is a
tendency to make environmental education more abstract and detached from
people�s reality. The exclusion of poor people from participating in the
environmental economy has been to all our detriment. Our country faces a busy
challenge of skills, which are needed for accelerating and sharing the growth
of our country. Such skills include environmental professionals whose shortage
often means that Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) take too long.
South Africa has committed to green games in the 2010 Soccer World Cup,
which includes:
* energy efficiency in the stadia
* waste management plan
* transport with green fuels
* greening host cities
* water use technology.
I wish to conclude by saying that we are looking forward to groundbreaking
resolutions of this conference, which will bring practical solutions to
challenges in our educational systems.
I wish you a successful conference and pleasant stay in South Africa!
I thank you!
Issued by: The Presidency
2 July 2007
