Minister reports from Joburg Summit
Leaders from around the world continue to meet in Johannesburg, South Africa tonight at the World Summit on Sustainable Development. The delegates are discussing the protection of natural resources and recommending ways forward, ten years after environmental goals were set at the Rio Summit. Representing Belize is Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Natural Resources Johnny Briceno. Via phone from Johannesburg Briceno told News 5 that one conclusion of the conference is that the only way to protect the environment is through the eradication of poverty.
Johnny Briceno, Min. of Natural Resources
“We know that over the years, the developed countries were the ones that have done, they did what was necessary to develop their countries, and in many instances they affected negatively the environment. Now that they are rich and powerful, they look at the less developed countries trying to put certain standards on them when it comes to their development and telling us developing countries that we can’t do certain things because we’re going to be affecting the environment. And what we have been telling them all along is that it must be shared, but differential partnerships and responsibilities. Because the amount of pollution that the United States produces every year could never be compared to what we produce in Belize.”
“Countries like Belize can get monies from the United States to help us protect the reserves that we have. And at the same time to allow that the communities that live in these areas can benefit from it. Because at the end of the day, as I’ve been saying over and over, it comes down to people. If we cannot show Belizeans, in our case, that it is profitable to protect the forest, to protect the environment, to protect our biodiversity, we are going to lose it. And for us to do it, then we need help from the developed countries, they are the ones that have damaged the environment. So I think that they have even more of a responsibility than us developing countries.”
According to Briceno, the Toledo Institute for Development and the Environment, TIDE, was among five community-based organisations honoured with the Equator Prize. The prize is awarded to community groups who initiate projects designed to reduce poverty through conservation activities.
