NEW DELHI: The Stockholm+50 meeting, held June 2-3 to commemorate 50 years since the first global meeting held in the Swedish capital on the human environment, ended with a statement stressing the need for policies aimed at promoting the phasing out of fossil fuels. and encourage sustainable lifestyles.

Co-hosts, Sweden and Kenya, drafted the statement with some key recommendations based on input from UN Member States and stakeholders during the meeting’s plenaries and leadership dialogues.

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“The declaration contains several recommendations for an agenda for action, including, among others, placing human well-being at the center of a healthy planet and prosperity for all; recognize and implement the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment; embrace system-wide changes in the way our current economic system works and accelerate transformations in high-impact sectors,” the Stockholm+50 team said in a statement on Friday evening.

Some scientists and researchers, however, said the text of the declaration was not strong enough in the face of the climate emergency. For example, one of the recommendations is to change the way the current economic system works.

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“Enact system-wide changes in the way our current economic system works to contribute to a healthy planet, by defining and adopting new measures of progress and human well-being, supported by economic and fiscal policies that take into account the value of the environment; invest in infrastructure, develop effective policies and encourage global dialogue to promote sustainable consumption and production; and promote the phasing out of fossil fuels while providing targeted support to the poorest and most vulnerable based on national circumstances and recognizing the need for financial and technical support towards a just transition,” the text reads.

A point of contention was the lack of mention of “overconsumption” or “reduction of consumption” that led to the climate crisis that some researchers had highlighted on Friday also when publishing the draft text. “The text continues to be flexible and does not place much emphasis on phasing out fossil fuels. It mentions that such policies should be promoted,” said one researcher.

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“Such statements will seem like empty words unless they are backed by investments in decarbonization technologies, reliable grant-based financing for adaptation, policies to achieve announced climate goals and lifestyle changes by the rich.The Stockholm+50 conference comes on the eve of the Bonn Climate Change Conference which will set the stage for COP-27.

“This includes the new work program on mitigation ambition and implementation, which aims to close the emissions gap for a warming of 1.5°C,” said Ulka Kelkar, director of the climate program at the World Resources Institute.

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The statement contains 10 recommendations, including: 1. Place human well-being at the center of a healthy planet and prosperity for all, recognizing that a healthy planet is a prerequisite for peaceful, cohesive and prosperous societies; 2. Recognize and implement the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, realizing the vision set out in principle 1 of the Stockholm Declaration of 1972; 3. Embrace system-wide change in the way our current economic system works to contribute to a healthy planet; 4. Strengthen national implementation of existing healthy planet commitments, by improving national environmental legislation, budget, planning processes and institutional frameworks; 5. Align public and private financial flows with environmental, climate and sustainability commitments, developing and implementing well-designed policies to redirect environmentally harmful subsidies.

Two of these recommendations are particularly important for India. One of them concerns the establishment of a relationship of trust between countries. “Recognizing the importance of leadership from developed countries in promoting transitions to sustainability; support capacity building and technology transfer for national efforts of developing countries to implement internationally agreed environmental agreements, taking into account national circumstances, including honoring the commitment to mobilize $100 billion each year for developing country climate finance,” the recommendation reads.

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India urged that the $100 billion climate finance pledge be honored by developed countries and that climate finance be scaled up given the delay in action on the climate crisis.

India’s Environment Minister, Bhupender Yadav, in an interview published in the Hindustan Times on June 3, had said that India would pursue the issue of climate finance at the upcoming climate meeting in Bonn which will start on June 6. . the Bonn meeting. The issues are clear. First, financial assistance to developing countries. Developed countries have failed to deliver on their promise of climate finance. Second, financing for mitigation and adaptation must be equal and equal. Third, we need a multilaterally agreed definition of climate finance. India will also continue its efforts to make progress on loss and damage. We are among the most vulnerable countries to the climate crisis which was felt again during the recent spring heatwave in India,” he said.

Another recommendation repeatedly made by India relates to sustainable lifestyles. PM Modi proposed the concept in Glasgow last November. “LIFE…L, I, F, E, that is, Lifestyle For Environment… It can become a mass movement of an eco-friendly way of life. What is needed today is conscious and deliberate use instead of thoughtless and destructive consumption,” he said.

The Stockholm+50 declaration reiterates the point of sustainable consumption.