Articles by Geoff Dabelko

Finding Nemo, seaweed, and condoms on a small tropical island

Now, I am not a veteran snorkeler, but the underwater views I had last week were truly amazing. I was diving off a tiny (11 hectare) island in the Philippines where orange Finding-Nemo clown fish danced around my hands and the table coral must have been 10 feet in diameter. Cobalt blue starfish spread their arms across the spiky coral forests.

But this is not a post on a vacation, although the hour I was in the water felt like a holiday. No, snorkeling on the edge of the Gilutongan Marine Sanctuary was the highlight of a site visit to an integrated population, health, and environment program on this tiny island. We were a group of fifty invaders visiting Cebu City, the Philippines, for the 2nd National Conference on Population, Health, and Environment.

What had been just a marine-conservation program a few years ago has become a dynamic mix of efforts: children's immunizations and pre-natal checkups, family-planning services, clean-water provision, and alternative-livelihood strategies including tourism and seaweed farming.

Environment back in National Security Strategy

President Bush dropped any references to the environment from his 2002 National Security Strategy. Environment had first appeared in Poppy Bush's NSS in the early 1990s, and made continual appearances in the various Clinton administration iterations.

But just last week a new NSS was announced by the White House. In the last section, on the opportunities and challenges of globalization, environment appears along with pandemics, trafficking in drugs, people, and sex.

Environmental destruction, whether caused by human behavior or cataclysmic mega-disasters such as floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, or tsunamis. Problems of this scope may overwhelm the capacity of local authorities to respond, and may even overtax national militaries, requiring a larger international response.

These challenges are not traditional national security concerns, such as the conflict of arms or ideologies. But if left unaddressed they can threaten national security.

Obviously Katrina is a key frame of reference, rather than the contribution environmental degradation may be playing in causing instability in developing countries, the focus in previous NSS mentions.

The NSS is an important document in security circles -- remains to be seen whether this can translate into any new approaches.

Who will be the next UN Secretary General?

The search for the new UN Secretary-General is starting to find its way into the press and public commentary. Although the SG focuses day-to-day on issues deemed remote from environmental concerns, the person at the top can really make a difference in how the UN tackles environment, population, health, and poverty questions.

Former Norwegian Prime Minister and WHO head Gro Harlem Brundtland, for example, is a commonly mentioned candidate. Brundtland chaired the mid-80s panel that produced Our Common Future, the influential volume that helped set the agenda for the 1992 Rio Summit and provides the most commonly used definition of sustainable development.

Asian countries believe it is their turn, but splits between China and Japan, among others, may keep a single Asian candidate from emerging.

You can read all the gossip on who is up and who is down at "Who will be the next Secretary General?"

Russian hot air

Irony of ironies: The early 1990s collapse of Russian industry positions it well to collect on the Kyoto-inspired carbon trading market. Speculation is the boon could be as big as $1 billion. The Europeans are looking eastward to upgrade Russian facilities and count carbon credits towards meeting their Kyoto goals. This NY Times business piece shows there is at least one environmental topic Putin and company actually like.

The trend otherwise has been to criminalize environmental activism and accuse whistle blowers of treason. Read about Alexandr Nikitin's time locked up by the FSB as a case in point. The former Russian submarine captain was working at the time for the Norwegian NGO the Bellona Foundation, an outstanding source for information on Russian environmental conditions and politics.