About this blog:

A view from the South is a blog focused on the efficiency and effectiveness of public policy - global, regional and national - in addressing sustainable development. Sustainable development being defined in terms of the Brundlandt Commission broadly as meeting the needs of today without compromising the needs of future generations. As a zoologist and a scientist I have often struggled with this definition as it is entirely anthropocentric. Over the past 30 years or so since Brundtland and the later UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, public policy on sustainability has attempted to address the conflicting realities of human population growth and consequent resource consumption, with protecting biodiversity, air and water resources on which all life depends. Climate change dominates the public discourse with respect to sustainability. However the ability of public policy to actually control or manage it is limited. Its a natural process which is now heavily influenced by man and his emissions. Therefore the drive to address it will remain preminent in global and regional public policy for some time to come. In this blog, I will be primarily focusing on biodiversity and water resources and how effective our efforts are in addressing the challenges around these resources at a global and regional level.