Climate Change and Rights Protection in Asia
Welcome address by Prof Rajiva Wijesinha, MP, Chair, Council of Asian
Liberals and Democrats at the workshop on climate change titled ‘Setting
CALD’s Climate Change Agenda’ held in Bangkok from November 28 – 30,
2011
A group of Thai Democrats with former Prime Minister Abhisit
Vejjajiva |
I am happy to welcome all of you here to the first of a series of
discussions on Climate Change, which the Council of Asian Liberals and
Democrats has embarked on. We are particularly grateful that the Abhisit
Vejjajiva, leader of the Democrat Party of Thailand and former Prime
Minister, has graced the occasion to deliver the keynote address. The
recent floods in Thailand seem to me a clear example of the climate
change that can have such adverse consequences and which needs to be
address.
However I should note that, reading in the Thai papers about your
debate in Parliament on this subject, we should bear in mind that
perhaps climate change had little to do with the catastrophe, and that
it was due more to bad management by the government that took over from
the Democrats earlier this year. Indeed I gather there is yet another
interpretation, namely that Khun Abhisit deliberately lost the election
and then called down floods from heaven to show up the inadequacies of
the successor government.
Senior administrators
I leave it to you to choose which explanation is the most convincing.
However in all of them there is an underlying fact that cannot be
gainsaid, namely that the impact of inclement weather is getting worse
and the consequences are upsetting for increasing numbers of people.
Though I am not an expert in this field, I believe there is no doubt
that what has been happening recently, and not only in Thailand,
suggests that it is high time we as Asian Liberals looked at this issue
and its effect on our countries.
I should note that I do have a greater familiarity with the subject
than you might expect from someone with a literary background. The
reason is that for nearly two years I was Secretary in Sri Lanka to the
rather strangely named Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights.
The name seemed to me illogical before I took up the position, and
perhaps my appointment contributed to further illogicalities, but I
should note that the experience was invaluable. This was not least
because I gained greater understanding of the role of senior
administrators, in particular when it comes to financial accountability,
which we as Parliamentarians monitor through the Committee on Public
Enterprises. But I also learnt much through what seemed the strange
juxtaposition of subjects at the Ministry for which I was responsible.
Principal reasons
Disaster Management requires precautionary measures as well as rapid
responses when problems occur. Unfortunately the range of problems with
which we have to deal has increased dramatically over the last few
years, and I fear that one of the principal reasons for this is climate
change. The most obvious example of this was the increasing frequency of
flood and drought, in cycles that were unpredictable and of greater
intensity.
I will leave it to our discussions however to decide on which areas
we must concentrate. What I want to stress here is the connection, which
I had not understood until I worked at the Ministry, between Disaster
Management and Human Rights. At present the discourse on Rights dwells
largely on Civil and Political Rights, and this is understandable
inasmuch as these are of greatest concern to those in a position to
worry about Rights. But when after the Second World War the United
Nations enunciated its doctrine of Universal Human Rights, it also
emphasized the importance of Economic and Social Rights. These are of
vital importance to those who are voiceless, and we in Asia must speak
for them in a context in which they might be forgotten, in the blithe
assumption that the trickle down effects of economic growth will solve
their problems.
Economic productivity
Disasters strike the poor most harshly, and their resilience is less.
These facts make clear the importance of putting measures in place to
avoid disaster as well as to mitigate its effects. Given the increasing
impact of changing weather patterns, as illustrated graphically in
Bangkok where we are now meeting, we must develop policies to deal with
these problems, and not only implement them systematically but also
monitor the work that is being done and fine tune our responses. We need
to examine how we have contributed to potential disaster, not only
through global warming but also through irresponsible urbanization that
enhances the ill effects of climate change.
Economic development is vital, and we must promote this through our
commitment to private enterprise and free markets. But we must also
remember the importance of ensuring that its benefits accrue to those
who need them most. We cannot forget the
social roots of liberalism and its commitment, as Gladstone put it,
to the masses, rather than the classes who might be the driving forces
in the economy. And just as we promote actively the ability of all our
citizens to participate in economic productivity, through social
services that develop necessary skills and competencies, so too we must
ensure protection from the disasters that can knock them off balance so
conclusively. In welcoming you here, I would like to affirm again the
importance of this subject for those pillars of liberalism, equal rights
as well as free enterprise. Equity may be difficult to achieve, but the
impact of climate change could deprive many of their hopes of fuller
participation in economic and social activity. Let us bear in mind our
obligations in those respects too in our deliberations. |