TL: TECHNOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATION [presented at PrepCom IV] SO: Greenpeace International (GP) DT: March 3, 1992 Keywords: greenpeace factsheet technology development unced un conferences gp / Prepared for the Fourth Session of the Preparatory Committee for the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development 2 March - 3 April, 1992 New York, USA Greenpeace International (GP) TECHNOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATION INTRODUCTION The issue of technology, both in UNCED and other international negotiations, has been dealt with in a narrow and superficial fashion. While billed as one of the most contentious issues in UNCED, the technology debate has accepted the premise, with relatively little questioning, that shipping technology from North to South is essential to save the planet. The question of the need for a technological transformation in the North - which should be on the top of the agenda - has not been addressed. UNCED has neither addressed the huge impacts of Northern technology on the global ecosystem, nor has it systematically examined the devastating effects of technology "transfer" from North to South, nor has it been able define what would make technology "environmentally sound." Thus the debate in UNCED has been almost exclusively limited to issues of financing technology transfer and patent ownership. Such debate implicitly assumes that a "technological fix" will save the planet, and that the technology will necessarily be developed in the North. Greenpeace believes that the terms of debate in UNCED must go far beyond "technology transfer" to discuss technological transformation in all parts of the world, and especially the indutrialised nations, for ecologically sound and socially equitable development. TECHNOLOGY AND INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE NORTH The centre of the world market economy, the industrialized North, is the most "advanced" in its technological development, and consequently, has been the greatest contributor to the global environmental crisis. Among the Northern technologies that have contributed to this crisis are: þ The manufacture, use and disposal of numerous toxic substances; þ The manufacture of automobiles, and the building of auto-based transport systems; þ Massive greenhouse gas emissions; þ Destructive fishing practices, such as large-scale driftnet fishing; þ Development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons; þ The building of large-scale hydroelectric dams; þ Modern capital-intensive agricultural technologies, including hazardous pesticides and herbicides, as well as capital-intensive irrigation and monoculture; þ Intensive and destructive forestry practices. In addition to the environmental destruction caused by the direct impacts and/or by-products of these technological processes, most of the above-mentioned technologies are highly resource-intensive, using large quantities of water, energy and other non-renewable materials. These technological production processes also often have direct and severe impacts on the health and safety of workers. Furthermore, the North's economic and technological power are consuming the vast majority of the world's finite and renewable resources, continually transforming local communities and environments in the South into export driven economies plauged by social and ecological problems. The focus of Northern industry in its often reluctant development of "environmentally sound technologies" has frequently been driven by a desire to seek the least costly way to mitigate the environmental damage caused by processes that were developed primarily to maximise profits. The results are pollution control technologies such as scrubbers on smokestacks, or "end-of the pipe" solutions that take water pollutants and transform them into solid toxic waste, which is in turn either incinerated and land-filled in the North, or exported to the South. This approach to waste management has led to an increase in the amount and range of toxic contaminants stored or dispersed worldwide. This inability of the North to address the environmental implications of its own technological development is the central problem impeding technological transformation. Furthermore, the growing crisis of technology and environment in the North also brings into question the argument that the North's technology can promote "sustainable development" elsewhere. TECHNOLOGY "TRANSFER" FROM NORTH TO SOUTH Northern technological development has been a key vehicle for Northern political, economic and military intervention in the South, and the imposition, or transfer, of development patterns onto weaker Southern economies. Since the Second World War, the primary promoters of this development model have been the Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs). Through their lending practices, the MDBs have often financed a series of technologies that have caused tremendous social and environmental dislocation in the South, for example, high-technology green revolution agriculture. MDB lending patterns have consistently paved the way for transnational corporate investment in the South, which has often included environmentally damaging technologies. Numerous products and technologies which are exported to the South and the East are now banned or obsolete in the industrialized North. This relocation of "dirty industry" is more characteristic of technology transfer in practice than is the export of clean production processes. GREENPEACE PROPOSALS: TOWARD TECHNOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATION Technological transformation must entail a fundamental reorientation of technology toward meeting basic needs, raising living standards for the majority, while maintaining and restoring a healthy, biologically and culturally diverse planet. A rapid move toward technological transformation in the North is essential if we are to avoid global ecological catastrophe. The South and East must also gain support from the North to help it step off the treadmill of environmentally destructive technological development, through the subsidised transfer of truely environmentally sound technologies. However, while demanding fairer terms for technology transfer may be helpful in some cases (i.e. the transition away from CFC production), generally it will not suffice to achieve real ecologically sound and socially equitable development. The Fourth UNCED PrepCom should specifically address at least the following issues, which are a pre- requisite for technological transformation. DEFINING ENVIRONMENTALLY [ECOLOGICALLY] SOUND TECHNOLOGY There is no one solution available for creating "environmentally sound" technology. Rather, there should be a diversity of solutions. However, such an approach should be based on the principles outlined below which UNCED should take up: - Clean production; - Democratic control of technology; - Cultural and biological diversity. Clean Production Clean Production systems avoid the use and manufacture of toxic chemicals, the generation of toxic waste and other pollutants. They are energy efficient and produce products that promote efficiency as well. Clean Production must also be based on the precautionary principle, which places the burden of proof that a certain technology will cause no harm on that technology's advocate, rather than on the receiving community. Thus, before a technology can be developed, produced, used or transferred, it must be demonstrated that it will not create harm. It is not enough to assume that the earth, a region, or a local ecosystem is big enough or resilient enough to assimilate the harm. For technology to be conceived, developed and used according to this principle, its orientation must be shifted away from short-term profit, and toward supporting the long-term viability of the ecosystem and community within which it exists. This creates new criteria for decisions regarding the size and location of the technology; raw material selection, extraction and processing; capital versus labour-intensive processes; product manufacture, assembly or cultivation; materials transport; packaging for distribution and marketing; commercial and household usage; and the final fate of the product. When measured against Clean Production criteria, it becomes obvious that a number of current technologies and production processes must either be phased-out or fundamentally transformed. þ Governments should ensure that workers and communities now involved in the manufacture of toxic chemicals and products should receive compensation, retraining and guaranteed replacement in new jobs as a mandatory component of the technological transformation to Clean Production. The phase-out of industries, and accompanying technological transformation should be financed by the destructive industries themselves; þ There should be an international prohibition on the export of banned, severely restricted, cancelled or obsolete products or technologies. These major changes clearly illustrate, the need for a fundamental transformation of much of the Northern model of technological development, as well as a challenge to transform and create clean technologies throughout the world. Democratic Control of Technology Increasing democratic participation and control in the development, production, use and transfer of technology is essential for creating environmentally sound technology. þ With regard to the "transfer" of technology from North to South and from West to East, a framework must be developed for technology assessment on environmental, social and economic grounds. Based on this framework, nations should be allowed to reject technologies offered by aid agencies, multilateral institutions and transnational corporations in favour of technologies that are environmentally sound and appropriate to the country. Host countries should also, based on this framework, be able to demand transformation or replacement of destructive technologies already in place. þ Within each country, community control over the development and application of technology should be a fundamental principle upon which technologies are assessed and chosen. To ensure this environmental and technological democracy, the public must have access to information on the environmental, health and safety, and social impacts of all technologies; there must be provisions for full public participation in investment and development decisions; mechanisms should be developed so that a community can refuse and demand alternatives for the use of what it determines is an environmentally destructive technology within its boundaries; strict civil liability must be enforced for personal injury or damage to the environment. Mechanisms must be developed to implement all the above steps into international, national, local and contractual law. þ Transnational Corporations and government controlled commercial enterprises should be held accountable for universally employing the highest environmental standards in existence. þ All governments should elaborate and give priority to national programmes of research, education and development on clean production practices. The North should provide financial support to help the South achieve environmentally sound technological self-determination. þ In the South, the development and dissemination through South-South transfer of small-scale appropriate technologies should be given a high priority. Appropriate technologies must also be developed for the North. þ Research and development efforts should also focus on promoting the flow of environmentally sound technologies from South to North, to boost economic development and to help the North in the technological transformation required of it. Ecologically sound agricultural and irrigation practices are one example. Cultural Diversity Technological transformation should not imply the creation of one, new homogenous set of technologies. The development of new technologies should celebrate diversity and recognize the knowledge systems and experience of traditional communities as well as the broad range of ecosystems in which they are applied. Traditional and indigenous production practices and systems are a rich source of sound technologies. A key task is to identify and understand the underlying ecological dynamics that make them sustainable.