Volume 65 December 2026-January 2026 : Politics

"Environmental degradation” and “climate change” have become buzzwords as the world grapples with the large-scale damage that is being visited upon the environment. On May 24 and 25, 2012, as the winter chill descended on Gaborone, the government of Botswana and green organisation, Conservation International, jointly hosted a meeting whose thrust was to discuss climatic degradation,  “The Summit for Sustainability in Africa.”

In his keynote speech before some of the world’s luminaries who attended the all-important occasion, President Lt.Gen. Seretse Khama Ian Khama, warned, “It is apparent that the current rate of natural resource exploitation and use of our physical environment will soon reach the thresholds for our own existence on planet earth.” Chilling as it sounds, the stark reality is that excessive resource exploitation has become a threat to the very existence of humanity. It has been a long time coming.

It all started with the Industrial Revolution, that period between 1750 and 1850 AD that saw rapid changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology.  The phenomenon started in the United Kingdom, and spread to other parts of Western Europe, North America, Japan, and eventually the rest of the world. It changed human relations relative to economic production and drastically improved human life. But it had dire consequences to the environment. In realising this, world leaders have, especially over the last two decades, been discussing possible solutions to the problem. As President Khama noted during the Gaborone meet, “In our endeavor to attain sustainability, global commitments were made at the World Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) of 1992 in Rio de Janeiro and the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002”.

The world leaders would again meet in Rio after 10 years. A more serious lesson that the world’s governments have come to appreciate over the past few decades has been the fact that sustainable development is not possible without partnership of the state, civil society and the private sector, he said. Each of these sectors is a key variable in sustainable development. Thus, the Gaborone summit brought together stakeholders from across the socio-political and business spectrum. They included the host President Lt. Gen. Khama, presidents Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf  of Liberia and Hifikepunye Pohamba of Namibia, Tanzania’s Vice President, Gharib Bilal, Mozambique’s Prime Minister, Aires Ali, Gabonese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Emmanuel Issoze Ngondet, Kenyan Minister of Finance, Njeru Githe, environment ministers of Rwanda and South Africa and Ghana, Stanislas Kamanzi, Edna Molewa Sherry Ayittey respectively.

From Europe, Heikki Holmas, Norway’s Minister of International Development, also attended. Then were the heads and representatives of multinational companies and organizations: Peter Seligmann, the chairman, CEO and founder of Conservation International, Robson Walton, chair of Wal-Mart and Laurene Powerll Jobs, widow of Apple founder, Steve Jobs, as well as chair and founder of Emerson Collective. There was also Simon Susman, the chairman of Woolworths Holdings, Rachel Kyte, vice president, Sustainable Development of The World Bank, and Dirk Messner, director of the German Development Institute.

They all crafted the “Gaborone Declaration”, which committed them to promotion of sustainable development. They bound themselves to observe various international instruments previously agreed upon, such as the African Convention on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources of 1968, the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development of 1992, and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development of 2002. Held a few weeks before the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, “Rio + 20” the Gaborone Summit would ensure African countries went to Rio with a common agenda and purpose.

A great concern at the Gaborone summit was that “the historical pattern of natural resource exploitation has failed to promote sustained growth, environmental integrity and improved social capital,” and that economic growth and human well-being are in danger unless “concerted action is taken to halt and reverse the degradation and loss of healthy ecosystems and biodiversity”. The Gaborone Declaration also noted that countries should take action as sovereign states acting in enlightened self-interest but in alliance with the global community of nations. Through it, nations committed themselves to coming up with “effective communication and public education” as well as “ecosystem restoration measures, and actions that mitigate stresses on natural capital.” One of the issues the Declaration raised was one that many scholars of development economics have grappled with over the past 20 years, especially following the collapse of the Soviet Union, which presented an alternative approach to economic development.

Unlike the current unipolar system, the soviet approach emphasised greater involvement of the state.  On the other hand the unipolar approach has been dominated by neo-liberal economics fixated on economic growth, a linear state and the dominance of multi-national/transnational capital.This issue has been on how accurate gross domestic product (GDP) is as an economic measure, as it sometimes masks deep-seated social problems.  Some countries with relatively good GDP per capita indices have gross inequities as exposed by the inequality measure, the gini coefficient. In its “Communiqué on Natural Capital Accounting,” the Gaborone Declaration “recognises the limitations of GDP as a measure of well-being and sustainable growth that values environmental and social aspects of progress.”

To this end, the Gaborone Declarations seeks to invite governments, the United Nations system, international financial institutions, and other bodies to “develop institutional arrangements to strengthen and implement natural capital accounting and integrate economic, social and environmental aspects of development.”As such, it urged the world to implement holistic development strategies that incorporate economic, social and cultural rights of communities and individuals, as well as take into cognizance the impact of industrial and agricultural practices on the environment. Among the potential points of engagement and action plans that were recommended was that African governments should promote integrated approach to farming, management of crops, livestock, water, solids, energy, and ecosystem services, provide support to farmers and have private sector partnerships. ENDS

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