tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13023558.post4844803971330889706..comments2023-08-13T18:00:29.364+10:00Comments on arch-peace editorials: Just SustainabilityBeatriz Maturanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476527926692961102noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13023558.post-66220489578530444002007-03-25T16:51:00.000+10:002007-03-25T16:51:00.000+10:00Great editorial Ceridwen and great report on the d...Great editorial Ceridwen and great report on the discussions that took place during the conference. I am glad to hear that people are making a connection between social and environmental agendas. It is too easy to shift the blame, demands and critique towards technology - as if technology was independent from human wants. <BR/><BR/>I agree with your wondering whether "much of the touted ‘sustainable development’ goes anywhere near far enough". I find it interesting that many of the discussions - public transport for example - centres on individual responsibility: opt public transport (even if there is none); ride a bike (indiscriminately of age, or physical condition). <BR/>Without denying the power of the individual, pressure at political/governmental levels is seldom considered an option and I wonder why.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13023558.post-43740512700844304792007-03-19T13:44:00.000+11:002007-03-19T13:44:00.000+11:00Hi,I have read the March editorial and found it il...Hi,<BR/>I have read the March editorial and found it illuminating and<BR/>thought-provoking. I had viewed the environmental crisis and social<BR/>equity as having links, but never saw them as different aspects of the<BR/>same problem. I would be interesting to read more from the Chennai<BR/>conference.<BR/><BR/>I happened to be reading Robyn Davidson's Quarterly Essay on declining<BR/>nomadic cultures this morning, where she talks about the Chinese using<BR/>environmental sustainability as a justification for halting and then<BR/>housing tibetan nomadic farmers - they are going to fence off the<BR/>steppes - all under the dubious belief that mobile farming practices<BR/>are harder on the grasslands than intensive agriculture.<BR/><BR/>How often are environmental sustainability measures, defined by<BR/>however is in power, an easy justification to push through policies<BR/>that destroy cultures and ancient sustainable relationships with the land.<BR/><BR/>The article is in Quaterly Essay #24,<BR/>which should be in the shops / libraries now.<BR/><A HREF="http://www.quarterlyessay.com/qe/past_issues/index.html" REL="nofollow">QE</A><BR/><BR/>Here is the Chinese government's perspective.<BR/><A HREF="http://www.china.org.cn/english/features/poverty/168635.htm" REL="nofollow">XINHUA NEWS AGENCY</A><BR/><BR/>The Tibetan givernment in India has a differing view, more like that of the essay.<BR/>"Environmental rights and human rights are inter-linked in international law and in the Tibetan nomadic lifestyle. The destruction of Tibet's grasslands, forests, waterways and sacred sites by over-grazing, deforestation, mining and nuclear proliferation is a gross violation of the rights of every Tibetan nomad, farmer, monk, nun, city and village dweller."<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://www.wilderness.org.au/campaigns/international/tibet/tibet2000e/" REL="nofollow">GOVT IN EXILE</A><BR/><BR/>PeterAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com