The South African Civil Society Information Service

Joel Netshitenzhe: Sustainable Development and the Green Economy in South Africa

18 May 2012

The Rio+20 summit is taking place from 20-22 June 2012 in Brazil where world leaders will be asked to make "voluntary commitments" towards a global plan for sustainable development.

But, it looks like prospects for a new global agreement, which everybody signs on to, are looking bleak.

The Inter Press Service reports that after two weeks of closed-door negotiations, a United Nations preparatory committee (PrepCom) has failed to reach consensus on a global plan of action for sustainable development.
And NGOs are warning that Rio+20 "looks set to add almost nothing to global efforts to deliver sustainable development."

Fazila Farouk, executive director of SACSIS talks to Joel Netshitenzhe, executive director of the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection (MISTRA) about the role of the South African government in sustainable development, the green economy in South Africa, the minerals energy complex, the country's unhealthy reliance on coal and its decision to pursue nuclear energy, which goes against the international trend.

Before establishing MISTRA, Netshitenzhe held many senior positions in the ANC and in government. In the early 2000's, he was head of government's GCIS and later went on to head up policy co-ordination in the president's office under President Thabo Mbeki.

The interview took place on the sidelines of a conference that MISTRA hosted in Cape Town, which examined the role of the South African government in sustainable development.

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You can find this page online at http://sacsis.org.za/site/article/1300.