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South African – Danish Environmental Co-operation PrefaceTowards the World Summit on Sustainable Development: Co-operation in praxisThe United Nations’ Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 concluded that transferring know-how and technology from richer to poorer nations is a prerequisite for sustainable global development. If all nations are to make their own discoveries and duplicate what is already happening elsewhere, enormous resources will be wasted, ones which could otherwise have been used on improving the environment. Without sharing, we’ll run out of time. As a direct result of the UN Earth Summit, the Danish parliament in 1992 decided to increase foreign aid for environmental purposes. Two years later Nelson Mandela became South Africa’s first democratically elected president. These two events paved the way for the extensive co-operation on environmental issues which is the subject of this book. Denmark was able to offer South Africa solutions to many of the problems caused by industrialiszation and economic growth. South Africa was eager to reach world standards for environmental protection as an important part of the transition from apartheid to democracy, targetting industry as well as the degradation caused by overpopulation in the poorer parts of the country. On the Danish side, the co-operation is administered through Danced (Danish Co-operation for Environment and Development), the foreign aid branch of the Danish Ministry of Environment and Energy. At governmental level South Africa is represented through five ministeries and departments: Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Minerals and Energy, Water Affairs and Forestry, Trade and Industry and Agriculture and Land Affairs. But one of the strengths of our co-operation is that we have managed to include a far wider range of players, including industry and non-governmental organizations. It has become increasingly clear that no government in the world is able to secure a healthy environment on its own. Co-operation with industry is crucial, not just through tougher legislation on emissions but even more importantly through cleaner technology aimed at limiting the use of precious resources and reducing the amounts of waste. The non-governmental organizations also have important roles to play: They are not just strengthening the environmental awareness among the general public but also contributing to a healthy debate on environment issues through their insistence on keeping industry and government on track. This book presents an overview of the co-operation programme and visits a number of projects in the field. The content mirrors the reality: Not all projects have necessarily reached their targets, for South Africa and Danced have embarked on a mammoth task. We nevertheless feel that both Danes and South Africans have reason to be proud of what has been achieved. We are both looking forward to present the results of the co-operation when South Africa is hosting the second UN World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002. Svend Auken Valli Moosa
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