THE AGENDA 21

What is Agenda 21?

Agenda 21 is a program of action into
21st century for bringing the Earth into a
sustainable future. It was adopted by the
participating government of the world in
the United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development (UNCED),
otherwise known as the Earth Summit, in
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in June 1992.

Sustainable Development
It focuses on improving the quality of life
for all of the Earths citizens without
increasing the use of natural resources
beyond the capacity of the environment
to supply them indefinitely. It requires an
understanding
that
inaction
has
consequences and that we must find
innovative ways to change institutional
structures and influence individual
behavior. Its about taking action,
changing policy and practice at all
levels, from the individual to the
international.
Schematically using three circles for
the
target
dimensions
of
Environment, Economy and Society
Economic,
Social
and
Environmental
processes
are
interlinked. Public and private
agents alike cannot be permitted
to act one-dimensionally and
isolation. Instead, their actions
must take into account the
interplay
between
the
three
dimensions
Sustainable development goes
beyond
environmental
conservation. In order to satisfy
our
material
and
immaterial
needs,
we
require
economic
prosperity and solidarity in our
society.
The sustainable development calls
for long-term structural change in
our economic and social systems,
with the aim of reducing the

consumption of the environment

and resources to permanently
affordable level while maintaining
economic output potential and
social cohesion.

The Philippine Agenda 21

PA 21 is our own national agenda for
sustainable development. It is basically
made up of:
-

The Principles of unity

The Action Agenda
The Implementation Strategies

The Vision of PA 21
The PA 21 envisions a better quality of
life for all through the development of a
just,
moral,
creative,
spiritual,
economically-vibrant, caring, diverse yet
cohesive
society
characterized
by
appropriate productivity, participatory
and democratic process and living in
harmony within the limits of the carrying
capacity of nature and the integrity of
creation.
The Enhanced PA 21 has five (5)
goal elements as follows:
1. Poverty Reduction: Poverty is a
central concern of sustainable
development. Consistent with
this, the various consultations
for the updating of PA 21 have
yielded
poverty
reduction
agenda that includes measures
to
create
and
enabling
economic
environment
for
sustained
and
broad-based
growth; improve employment,
productivity and income; and
attain food security.
2. Social Equity: Social equity
should mean allocation of
resources on the bases of
efficiency and equity to achieve
balanced development.
3. Empowerment
and
Good
Governance: Empowerment is a
precondition
of
informal
choices. Good governance is a

necessary
precondition
to
empowerment,
as
empowerment
is
to
good
governance.
4. Peace and Solidarity: The cycle
of poverty and conflict goes on
as the cost of war escalate in
terms of various kinds of
destruction while withholding
funds
for
basic
services,
resulting in more poverty and
underdevelopment.
5. Ecological Integrity: in general,
the path towards enhancing the
integrity
of
the
countrys
ecological domain will have to
involve
heightened
and
sustained implementation of
environmental laws, as well as
the
continued
pursuit
of
resource
conservation,
and
environmental
restoration/
enhancement programs.
The three (3) Key Actors
Sustainable Development Work:

in

1. Business, the key actor in

economy, which is mainly
concerned
with
producing
goods and services for people.
2. Government, the key actor in
polity, which is concerned with
democratic governance and
security of human rights.
3. Civil Society, the key actor in
culture, which is concerned with
the development of the social
and spiritual capacities of
human beings.
Five forms of growth are identified
as
leading
to
unsustainable
development.
1. Jobless Growth results when
economic
output
increases
amidst high unemployment and
underemployment.
2. Ruthless Growth is forcing
millions of Filipinos to live in
poverty constraining them from
developing as full beings.
Meanwhile,
few
individual
billionaires/millionaires enjoy an

income level equivalent to the

combined
income
of
the
millions in poverty.
3. Futureless Growth results
from the destruction of nature
through
improper
mining
practices, use of pesticides,
insufficient
and
improper
environmental planning for the
construction of dams and a
range of other ecologically
unsound development projects.
4. Rootless Growth refers to the
cultural decay and loss of
meaning and identity which
often
accompany economic
growth fueled by globalization
and
the
entrance
of
materialistic
lifestyles
of
industrialized countries.
5. Voiceless Growth is economic
growth racing ahead of direct
human rights and democratic
processes and participatory
governance
essential
to
modern societies.
To these five undesirable forms of
growth can be added a sixth.
Meaningless
Growth
results
when come combination of the
other five forms of undesirable
growth blocks the creativity of the
human spirit. The resulting loss in
creativity, perspective, meaning,
hope, and morality necessarily
expresses
itself
in
suicide,
violence, drug addiction, crime,
corruption and other social ills.
Executive Summary
PA 21 is part of the countrys response
to fulfill its commitments in the historic
Earth
Summit
in
1992
where
government and key sectors of society
agreed to implement an action agenda
for sustainable development known as
Agenda 21. PA 21 seeks to answer four
(4) questions:

Where are we now?

What
is
sustainable
development?

Where do we want to go?

How do we get there?

Where do we want to go?

Where are we now?

Elements of a Shared Vision

The current and Emerging

Landscape
for
Sustainable
Development

In concretizing the vision, PA 21

describes a path of images for
individuals, families, households
and
communities;
for
each
ecosystem and across ecosystems
in consideration of the interaction
of the various life capes and
landscapes found therein. The PA
21 adheres to the following
principles
of
sustainable
development.

Achieving
sustainable
development is a formidable task.
Hence,
the
journey
towards
sustainable development must be
grounded on a clear understanding
of the challenges trends and
opportunities that lie ahead.
1. Demographic Trends
2. Cultural Trends
3. Science
and
Technology
Trends
4. Economic Trends
5. Urbanization Trends
6. Human Development Trends
7. Environmental Trends
8. Institutional Trends
9. Political Trends
What is Sustainable Development?
A Conceptual Framework for
Sustainable Development
The
World
Commission
on
Environment and Development
(WCED),
in
its
report
Our
Common Future published in
1987,
defines
sustainable
development as meeting the
needs of the present generation
without compromising the ability
of the future generations to meet
their own needs
Thus, the essence of sustainable
development is in the harmonious
integration of a sound and viable
economy, responsible governance,
social
cohesion/harmony
and
ecological integrity to ensure that
development is a life-enhancing
process. The ultimate aim of
development
is
human
development now and through
future generations.

Primary of Developing Human

Potential
Holistic
Science
and
Appropriate Technology
Cultural, Moral and Spiritual
Sensitivity
Self Determination
National Sovereignty
Gender Sensitivity
Peace, Order and National
Unity
Social Justice and Inter-,Intragenerational
and Spatial
Equity
Participatory Democracy
Institutional Viability
Viable, Sound and Broad based
Economic Development
Sustainable Population
Ecological Soundness
Biogeographical equity and
Community Based Resource
Management
Global Cooperation

How do we get there?

Operational Framework
Action Agenda

and

The Operational Framework of

Philippine Agenda 21 consists of a
multilevel guide for decisionmaking consisting of sustainable

development criteria, parameters

and descriptors.

Operationally,
sustainable
development is development that
draws out full human potential
across ages and generations. It is,
at the same time, ecologically
friendly,
economically
sound,
politically empowering, socially
just, spiritually liberating, gender
sensitive,
based
on
holistic
science,
technologically
appropriate, builds upon Filipino
values,
history,
culture
and
excellence and

PA 21 advocates a fundamental
shift in development thinking and
approach.
It
departs
from
traditional conceptual frameworks
that emphasize sector based and
macro-concerns. PA 21 promotes
harmony
and
achieves
sustainability by emphasizing:

A scale of intervention
that
primarily
arebased. The national
and
global
policy
environment
builds
upon
and
support
area-based initiatives.
Integrated
island
development
approaches
where
applicable.
People
and
the
integrity of nature at
the
saltier
of
development
initiatives.

Action Agenda
The Action Agenda at the level of
ecosystems consists of strategic and
catalytic interventions covering the
following ecosystems and critical
resources.
Ecosystems

Forest/upland ecosystem
Coastal and marine
ecosystem
Urban ecosystem freshwater
ecosystem
Lowland/Agricultural
ecosystem

Critical Resources
Minerals
Biodiversity
Strengthening the Role of Major
Groups
Operationalizing
sustainable
development involves the interlocking
components of an ecosystem and how
these
interrelate
towards
defining
specific roles and addressing specific
needs
of
individual
sectors.
The
identification of key players and their
interaction provide a basis for deepening
our analysis and treatment of the
ecosystem, as well as the definition of
the
varying
roles
that
various
stakeholders are expected to play for
achieving sustainable development.
Categories
Stakeholders

of

major

Basic Sectors comprise

the major poverty groups;
Farmers,
Landless
rural
workers,
fisherfolk,
Indigenous people and the
urban poor.
Intermediaries serve as
the fulcrum upon which
socio-economic, cultural and
political
interventions
towards
sustainable
development depend. These
are the Formal institutions
that include Government
Organization, Church-based
Organization, civic groups
and
professional
associations; mass media;
and
the
international
community.

Roles of the Major Groups in

Sustainable Development
The roles of the major
stakeholders in sustainable
development are defined
according to sectoral needs,
motivation, or interest and
perspectives. But there are
basic key holders that are
considered
common
among the basic sectors and
the intermediaries. In the
performance of this role, its
interventions
must
go
beyond the protection of the
environment. It implies a
responsibility to effect a
balance
between
development and ecological
dimensions.
Equity
and
social justice are primary
goals that should also be
achieved.

The Local Agenda 21

The PA 21 emphasizes the importance of
localization as a strategy for its
implementation. It defines as a process
that involves the formulation of local
sustainable development action agenda,
and the establishment of local SD
councils to implement the said agenda.
PA 21 sees that localization will ensure
that SD takes root in each region,
province, city and municipality.
On the 25th day of January 1999, M.O.
No. 47 was issued by the Office of the
President
to
strengthen
the
operationalization and localization of PA
21 and to monitor its implementation.
A number of regions have already
formulated their own Local Agenda 21,
serving as the regions guide and
springboard for the formulation by the
local
governments,
regional
line
agencies, and all other entities of their
respective Sustainable Development
Agenda.

Summarized by:
Ronel
Dagohoy

Geraladizo
BPA