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Contents
1.
UNESCO FINALIZES
PREPARATION FOR THE WORLD SUMMIT ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (UNESCO21 June
2002)
2.
EXPECT TIGHT
SECURITY AT WORLD SUMMIT (SABC News 20 June 2002)
3.
PRINCESS
BASMA LAUDS DEVELOPMENT ROLE OF UN AGENCIES (The Jordan Times 20 June 2002)
4.
EU TRADE
COMMISSIONER PASCAL LAMY TO HOST ROUND TABLE ON TRADE, GOVERNANCE AND
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (European Commission 20 June 2002)
5.
SWEDEN URGED
TO TAKE 'VIKING SPIRIT' TO JOHANNESBURG MEET (BusinessWorld Online 20 June
2002)
6.
WORLD SUMMIT
MUST FIND WAYS OF HELPING POOR NATIONS (The Herald (Harare) via All Africa 19
June 2002)
7.
TOUGH TALKS AHEAD OVER POVERTY DEAL (The
Mercury 18 June 2002)
8.
MBEKI PUSHES
EARTH SUMMIT SUCCESS (CNN 18 June 2002)
9.
AFRICANS
URGED TO TACKLE PROBLEMS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (Xinhua News Agency 18
June 2002)
10.
AHEAD OF G-8
MEETING, ANNAN URGES SUPPORT FOR AFRICA, ACTION ON MILLENNIUM GOALS (United
Nations 18 June 2002)
11.
CONCERN HEADS OF
STATE MAY SHUN SUMMIT (SABC News 18 June 2002)
12.
MBEKI VOWS TO RESCUE
WORLD SUMMIT (SABC News 18 June 2002)
13.
KEEP YOUR SUMMIT
PROMISES: TOEPFER (SABC News 18 June 2002)
14.
MORE THAN 420
MILLION COULD LIVE IN EXTREME POVERTY BY 2015, UN WARNS (United
Nations 18 June 2002)
15.
GLOBAL WARMING NOW A
REALITY (The Yomiuri Shimbun 18 June 2002)
16.
AFRICAN MINISTERS TO
COORDINATE ENVIRONMENT POLICIES (The Namibian 18 June 2002)
17.
UNTREATED WATER, A
HEALTH HAZARD (This Day (Lagos) via All Africa 18 June 2002)
18.
UN CALLS FOR BACKING
OF MULTIBILLION-DOLLAR ENVIRONMENTAL FUND (United Nations 17 June 2002)
19.
SUBSTANTIAL BACKING
FOR GEF RECIPE FOR SUCCESS AT WORLD SUMMIT ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (United
Nations Environment Programme 17 June 2002)
20.
ANNAN URGES
FOUNDATIONS TO SUPPORT UN MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS (United Nations 17 June
2002)
21.
GLOBAL CLIMATE SHIFT
FEEDS SPREADING DESERTS (Environment News Service 17 June 2002)
22.
ENVIRONMENTAL
EXPERTS HOPE FOR CONCRETE ACTION AND A CLEAR MESSAGE FROM SUMMIT IN
JOHANNESBURG (Associated Press 17 June 2002)
23.
WORLD EARTH SUMMIT
ALL SET FOR MAJOR FLOP (Times of Malta 17 June 2002)
24.
CONFERENCE ON MARINE
ENVIRONMENT OPENS IN ABUJA (UN Integrated Regional Information Networks 17
June 2002)
25.
WATER, WATER
EVERYWHERE, BUT... (Independent 17 June 2002)
26. PRIME MINISTER CONSULTS YOUNG
PEOPLE AHEAD OF 2002 UN EARTH SUMMIT (United Kingdom 17 June 2002)
27.
MESSAGE ON WORLD DAY TO COMBAT DESERTIFICATION AND DROUGHT (United Nations 17
June 2002)
28.
ANNAN URGES
COUNTRIES TO BACK TREATY AIMED AT STEMMING DESERTIFICATION) United Nations 17
June 2002)
29.
MOUNTAIN PEOPLE
SUFFER MORE MALNUTRITION AND DISEASE (Food and Agriculture Organisation 16
June 2002)
30.
BROWN TRIES TO HELP
67 MILLION CHILDREN (Independent 16 June 2002)
31.
AFRICAN NATIONS FACE
TOUGH WAR AGAINST DESERTIFICATION (Xinhua News Agency 16 June 2002)
32. BALI PREPCOM HIGHLIGHTS NEED FOR STRONGER POLITICAL
LEADERSHIP TO PUT SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT INTO ACTION (United
Nations 15 June 2002)
33.
ENVIRON ASSESSMENT
REPORT NEXT WEEK (The Frontier Post 15 June 2002)
34.
EXECUTIVE SECRETARY CALLS FOR FINANCIAL COMMITMENT FOR THE
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION TO COMBAT DESERTIFICATION
(United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification and Drought 14 June 2002)
35.
NEW BOOK DOCUMENTS
GROWING COOPERATION BETWEEN UN AND BUSINESSES (United Nations 14 June 2002)
36.
PREPARATION
CONFERENCE FOR JOHANNESBURG FAILS ON NEW RENEWABLE ENERGY AND SANITATION
TARGETS (Edie weekly summaries 14 June 2002)
37.
SKEPTICS TAG
UPCOMING WORLD SUMMIT AS ANOTHER TALKSHOP (SABC News 14 June 2002)
38.
THE WORLD
SUSTAINABILITY SUMMIT TO PRACTICE WHAT IT PREACHES (Edie weekly summaries 14
June 2002)
39.
"FURTHER COMMITMENTS
IN THE WTO NEED TO ADDRESS NON-TRADE CONCERNS" (European Union 14 June 2002)
40.
ZAYED GREENERY DRIVE
PRAISED (Gulf News 13 June 2002)
41.
MCCONNELL ATTACKED
OVER SOLO VISIT (The Scotsman 12 June 2002)
42.
UN HUNGER SUMMIT A
WASTE OF TIME, BRITAIN SAYS (The Scotsman 12 June 2002)
43.
FINAL WSSD PREP
MEETING BREAKS DOWN OVER TRADE AND FINANCE (Bridges
Weekly Trade Digest Volume 6 Number 22
12 June 2002)
44.
STILL HOPE OF
SALVAGING SUMMIT, SAYS MOOSA (Independent Online (South Africa) 12 June 2002)
45.
NO EXTENSION TO
WORLD SUMMIT: MOOSA (SABC News 12 June 2002)
46.
ASEAN EAGER TO MAKE
SUCCESS OF ANTI-HAZE TREATY (The Straits Times 12 June 2002)
47.
PACT ON AGRICULTURAL
BIODIVERSITY GAINS 19 NEW ADHERENTS, UN REPORTS (United Nations 12 June 2002)
48.
UNANIMOUS APPROVAL
OF FINAL DECLARATION FOR WORLD FOOD SUMMIT: FIVE YEARS LATER 182 COUNTRIES
CALL FOR INTERNATIONAL ALLIANCE AGAINST HUNGER (Food and Agriculture
Organisation 11 June 2002)
49.
CIVIL SOCIETY GROUPS
UPSET BY SPLIT IN BALI ON TRADE AND FINANCE (Business Day via All Africa 11
June 2002)
50.
WORLD ENVIRONMENT
SUMMIT PREPARATIONS IN DISARRAY (New Scientist 10 June 2002)
51.
US ACCUSED OF
SINKING DEAL ON DEVELOPMENT (The Guardian 10 June 2002)
52.
CONSERVATION
ESSENTIAL FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (The East African Standard (Nairobi) via
All Africa 10 June 2002)
53.
TIME TO COME CLEAN
ON THE DIRTY SECRET OF STARVATION (The Guardian 10 June 2002)
54.
MBEKI ENCOURAGES
COMMITTED NORTH-SOUTH PARTNERSHIP (BuaNews via All Africa 10 June 2002)
55.
UNDP RESIDENT REP.
CALLS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL CONSCIOUSNESS (The Independent (Banjul) via All Africa
10 June 2002)
56.
DONOR-RECIPIENT
MODEL DOES NOTHING FOR THE POOR: MOOSA (BuaNews via All Africa 10 June 2002)
57.
NEPAD MUST SUCCEED
IN OVERCOMING POVERTY: PAHAD (BuaNews via All Africa
10 June 2002)
58.
UN DEVELOPMENT CHIEF
WARNS DISCORD THREATENS JOHANNESBURG SUMMIT (Associated Press 10 June 2002)
59.
'FAILURE' OF POVERTY
TALKS ANGERS ACTIVISTS (The Observer 9 June 2002)
60.
SUMMIT PREPCOM
CLOSES IN FRUSTRATION (Environmental News Service 8 June 2002)
61. THE
BATTLES OF BALI (SciDev.Net)
62.
REVISITING
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT CONCEPT (David Lascelles Business Day via All Africa
12 June 2002)
63.
THE BALI PARADOXES (Rémi
Parmentier, Political Director, Greenpeace International Greenpeace
International 11 June 2002)
64.
"DEFEATING HUNGER IS
POSSIBLE, AFFORDABLE AND IN THE WEST'S BEST INTERESTS" (Food and Agriculture
Organisation 11 June 2002)
65.
'WE STAND WITH AFRICA' – BUSH (The
White House via All Africa 20 June 2002)
66.
FINAL COMMUNIQUÉ - NINTH REGULAR SESSION OF THE CEC COUNCIL
(Commission for Environmental Cooperation 19 June 2002)
67.
LETTER FROM
PRESIDENT PRODI TO MR. AZNAR (European Commission 18 June 2002)
68.
THE
SECRETARY-GENERAL LETTER TO HEADS OF STATE AND GOVERNMENT OF THE GROUP OF
EIGHT (United Nations 17 June 2002)
69.
DEPUTY
SECRETARY-GENERAL STRESSES PIVOTAL ROLE OF GOVERNMENT IN ERA OF GLOBALIZATION
(United Nations 15 June 2002)
70.
ADDRESS BY UNITED
NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL MR KOFI ANNAN
71.
MS GRO HARLEM
BRUNDTLAND (DIRECTOR-GENERAL, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION - WHO)
72.
MS ANNA KAJUMULO
TIBAIJUKA (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, UNITED NATIONS CENTRE FOR HUMAN SETTLEMENTS -
HABITAT)
73.
HIS EXCELLENCY THABO M. MBEKI (PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF
SOUTH AFRICA)
74.
MR. MARK MALLOCH
BROWN (ADMINISTRATOR, UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME - UNDP)
75.
SOUTH AFRICA TO GET
TOUGH ON EARTH SUMMIT PROTESTS -(Reuters Via Planet
Ark 21 June 2002)
76.
EARTH SUMMIT MUST SET REAL TARGETS, SAY EXPERTS (Reuters
Via Planet Ark)
77.
SOUTH AFRICA'S MBEKI VOWS TO RESCUE EARTH SUMMIT (Reuters
Via Planet Ark)
78.
INTERVIEW - UN ENVIRONMENT CHIEF WANTS ACTION, NOT PROMISES
(REUTERS VIA PLANET ARK)
79.
UN MARKS 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF LANDMARK GREEN SUMMIT (REUTERS
VIA PLANET ARK)
80.
ANALYSIS - WORLD
EARTH SUMMIT ALL SET FOR MAJOR FLOP (Reuters via Planet Ark 17 June 2002)
81.
SOUTH AFRICA SAYS
FARM SUBSIDIES OBSTACLE TO UN SUMMIT (REUTERS VIA PLANET ARK 11 JUNE 2002)
82.
MINISTERS FAIL TO
AGREE EARTH SUMMIT PLAN (Reuters via Planet Ark 10 June 2002)
83.
UPDATE - CURTAIN
FALLS ON CONTROVERSIAL UN FOOD SUMMIT (Reuters via Planet Ark 14 June 2002)
84.
ANALYSIS - EARTH
SUMMIT RISKS FAILURE WITH VAPID PLEDGES (Reuters via Planet Ark 12 June 2002)
1. UNESCO FINALIZES PREPARATION
FOR THE WORLD SUMMIT ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
UNESCO
21 June 2002
Internet:
http://www.addistribune.com/Archives/2002/06/21-06-02/UNESCO.htm
Attended by around sixty
participants from Eastern Africa countries including Ethiopia, a three-day
workshop organized by the UNESCO Addis Ababa office in cooperation with Ethio-Education
Consultants (ETEC) is taking place at the Africa Hall, UNECA.
Aimed at forwarding UNESCO's
recommendations as an input to its position paper for the World Summit on
Sustainable Development (WSSD), which is to be held in Johannesburg, South
Africa, in August. The workshop is being conducted with the theme "peace,
governance and education for sustainable development." The theme emphasizes
the role of education as indispensable means of combating poverty. In
preparing for the Summit, according to Armoongum Parsuramen, UNESCO Director,
Regional Office for Education in Africa, UNESCO would build on its
considerable work to develop the holistic concept of "Education for
Sustainable Development." "It is through education that we can develop new
values, behaviors and lifestyles," Mr. Parsuramen said. He also noted that the
absolute sine qua non is
education for all and the overriding priority that must be given to helping
eradicate poverty by empowering people through education. The workshop would
also address how Africa or at least the Eastern Africa sub-region should
strive to have a better understanding of economic development in order to be
able to contribute efficiently to the WSSD, according to Mamody Lamine Conde,
UNESCO Cluster Office Director and Representative. He said the workshop will
adopt concrete recommendations that will occupy a place of high priority in
the deliberation of WSSD and in the activities of the government of Eastern
African sub-regions. "The importance of the workshop is reflected on
sustainable development that naturally covers actions on the burning issue of
our time, combating poverty," Mr. Mamody said. During the workshop,
participants would discuss issues, among others, promoting and applying
science for development and scientific basis for decision making, the role of
globalization, trade and access to markets in African countries. Consensus and
recommendations reached at the workshop, according to organizers, would be
forwarded to the UNESCO head office as a possible input to UNESCO's
contribution to the WSSD.
2. EXPECT TIGHT
SECURITY AT WORLD SUMMIT
SABC News
20 June 2002
Internet:
http://www.sabcnews.com/world/summit/0,1009,36842,00.html
South Africa's police
service (SAPS) has compiled a comprehensive plan to protect VIPs during the
World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) starting from August, the SA
Police Service said today. This strategy will also ensure that demonstrators
comply with the country's laws during protests, said Sean Tshabalala, the SAPS
VIP Protection Unit director. Tshabalala said barricades, metal and powder
detectors, and police officers would be in place at venues where the summit
will take place, including at summit delegates' residences. Maude Street in
Sandton will be closed between 5th Avenue and West Street. Anyone wanting to
use that road should have accreditation, he said, adding that these were some
of the inconveniences people will have to endure."If we're talking impact,
that's the impact. We are pretty confident that the summit will come, and go
without any major incident," he said. Thousands of security personnel
officers, most of them from the SA National Defence Force, will be deployed
around the summit venues to ensure that the United Nations hosts a successful
event. Tshabalala went further urging South Africans to co-operate with
authorities during the summit from August 26 to September 4. -Sapa
3. PRINCESS BASMA
LAUDS DEVELOPMENT ROLE OF UN AGENCIES
The Jordan Times
20 June 2002
Internet:
http://www.jordantimes.com/Thu/homenews/homenews7.htm
AMMAN (JT) - HRH
Princess Basma on Tuesday praised the work of several UN agencies charged with
instituting development programmes, saying their efforts have had a major
positive impact on the advancement of sustainable development, improved
quality of life, and the promotion of women as full contributors to societies.
The Princess was speaking in New York where she is participating in a two-day
meeting entitled, "Celebrity Advocacy for the New Millennium" at United
Nations headquarters.
Secretary General
Kofi Annan, brought together for the second time Messengers of Peace and
Goodwill Ambassadors to draw attention to their roles in supporting the UN's
work around the globe and to focus on the priorities member states have set up
in the Millennium Development Goals, which will guide the work of the
organisation for the coming years. "Your presence here today shows vividly
that when it comes to working together for a better world, there is no divide
between civilisations," said Kofi Annan at the opening session. Celebrity
advocates spoke out for the United Nations and nine of its offices, funds and
programmes on key issues ranging from fighting poverty to improving the status
of women and protecting children and refugees. Princess Basma, on behalf of
the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP), and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA),
said no single platform could take on today's challenges like the United
Nations could. One of the most challenging and inspiring aspects of her role
as a Goodwill Ambassador was to create a deeper understanding of the linkages
which exist between global policies and local realities. As an Arab Muslim
woman living in Jordan, she said she has seen firsthand the positive impact of
sustainable human development approaches promoted by the UNDP. UNIFEM has
assisted countless women in the region to become better decision makers and to
take control of their own lives, Princess Basma said. In addition, she said,
it was UNFPA which had made remarkable progress in affecting the quality of
family life in the Arab region. In the desperately troubled Middle East, it
was such efforts, said the Princess, that created opportunities, choices and
hope. The Millennium Development Goals were agreed upon two years ago as a
blueprint to improve people's lives in the 21st century, and calls for
reducing the proportion of people living on less than $1 a day to half the
1990 level by 2015. It was up to national leaders to put it in practice, but
governments could not do it alone, Princess Basma said. They needed to hear
the voices of people who insisted that their leaders would translate those
pledges into action, she said. Forty-four prominent United Nations Messengers
of Peace and Goodwill Ambassadors from the worlds of art, music, film, sports,
literature and public affairs, who help raise awareness of key United Nations
issues and activities, as well as diplomats, journalists, students,
representatives of NGOs, heads of United Nations agencies and the general
public visiting headquarters attended this meeting.
4. EU TRADE
COMMISSIONER PASCAL LAMY TO HOST ROUND TABLE ON TRADE, GOVERNANCE AND
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
20 June 2002
Internet:
http://europa.eu.int/rapid/start/cgi/guesten.ksh?p_action.gettxt=gt&doc=IP/02/904|0|RAPID&lg=EN;
EU Trade Commissioner
Pascal Lamy has invited experts on governance from around the world to a
seminar on Trade, Governance and Sustainable Development. The event will take
place in Brussels at DG Trade's headquarters on 24-25 June, and is accompanied
by an online forum open to the public. 'I want to make sure that the countries
that will gather in Johannesburg for the World Summit on Sustainable
Development in August decide on action that dovetails with what they will do
under the Doha Development Agenda to reduce poverty through trade
liberalisation. Our Brussels event should help us to make a difference to the
quality of world governance,' Commissioner Lamy said. Together with a small
group of European Commission officials, participants will examine the linkages
between trade, governance and sustainable development. The Commission sees
policy coherence between these three areas as key to getting a good result
from not only the trade liberalisation negotiations launched in Doha last year
but from the World Summit in Johannesburg which starts end-August and will
discuss core areas of sustainable development such as environment protection,
social and economical development. The trigger for the seminar was the
Commission's White Paper on European Governance (2001). The White Paper
included a set of action points on global governance and charged DG Trade with
looking for answers by:
* Improving dialogue
with countries outside the EU when developing policies with an international
dimension
* Promoting the use
of new tools such as benchmarking or corporate social responsibility to
complement 'hard' international law
* Promoting
discussion on how the EU can contribute to reforming multilateral institutions
to make them work more effectively.
The seminar will be
divided into three Working Groups. Each will examine one of the White Paper
action points with a particular emphasis on how to support sustainable
development.
The seminar will
involve some 70 external participants from over 20 countries including
ministers, ambassadors, parliamentarians and government officials, as well as
representatives of business, trade unions, NGOs and academia. The diversity of
participants is expected to lead to lively debate. In parallel, DG Trade has
opened a virtual forum on its website to discuss the same questions as seminar
participants. Anyone can take part in the virtual debate, which is open until
the end of June.
Conference programme:
http://trade-info.cec.eu.int/civil_soc/meet.php?action=consult&critere=52
To join the online
forum, go to:
http://trade-info.cec.eu.int/civil_soc/forum/index.php
5. SWEDEN URGED TO
TAKE 'VIKING SPIRIT' TO JOHANNESBURG MEET
BusinessWorld Online
20 June 2002
Internet:
http://bworld.net/current/TheEnvironment/envistory1.html
STOCKHOLM -- The
Earth Summit starting in late August in Johannesburg must focus on clear
timetables and concrete targets, said experts meeting in Stockholm ahead of
the huge global summit on poverty reduction and the environment. On Monday
and Tuesday, around 250 scientists, government officials and environmentalists
from 66 states met in Stockholm to mark 30 years since 114 nations agreed on a
common duty to protect the global environment. The participants gave a Viking
helmet to Swedish Environment Minister Kjell Larsson -- who has repeatedly
called for more action and fewer empty words on the environment -- and urged
him to take along some "Viking spirit" to the Johannesburg summit. "When you
meet in Johannesburg ... keep in mind it is your children and their children
that will suffer if action is not taken now," Afifa Raihana, president of
Bangladeshi environment youth organization STEP, told the conference. But
since a final preparatory meeting in Bali ahead of Johannesburg ended without
agreement on a draft action plan, conservationists have said the meeting's
draft text is on the contrary all talk and no action and the meeting is
shaping up to be a major flop. Mr. Larsson said he expected the main struggle
in Johannesburg to take place around finance and trade issues. He said in
Bali there was a logical demand from the developing countries' group, the G77,
for the United States to open up its markets for their products. "The
European Union is not a saint in this area," Mr. Larsson said, but he added
that the odds of the EU and the G77 countries striking agreement on trade
issues were much higher than the United States finding a common note with the
poorest nations. But Dianne Dillonridgley, director of US renewable energy
provider Green Mountain Energy, said the wording of the summit's final
declaration was not as important as bringing sustainable development into the
international limelight. "The real story of the Johannesburg Summit is not
about the text at all. It is to draw the attention of people and sectors who
haven't looked at sustainable development," she said. Sweden has for decades
been a world leader in environmental issues, making the initiative for the
world's first conference on the global environment which Stockholm hosted in
1972. It is also one of the few countries living up to a promise made in the
1992 Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit that states spend 0.7% of their gross
domestic product as development aid. "During the last 30 years, 15 developing
countries have halved the number of citizens living in extreme poverty,"
Sweden's Development Cooperation Minister Jan Karlsson said in the draft text
of his speech . "Never ever have so many people left poverty behind as during
these decades. But we can do more and we have to do it faster," he said. The
United Nations aims to halve the number of people living in poverty by 2015. –
Reuters
6. WORLD SUMMIT MUST
FIND WAYS OF HELPING POOR NATIONS
The Herald (Harare) via All Africa
19 June 2002
Internet:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200206190527.html
The World Summit on
Sustainable Development is to be held in South Africa in September this year.
Its aim is to bring out strategies and ways to help less developed nations
build their economies in order to sustain present and future generations,
particularly with sustainable development of their natural resources. However,
as has been written before by others in different media, there is a growing
gap between commitments and implementation, and the Earth Summit, is expected
to focus on delivery, this being a follow-up on the Rio environmental
sustainability summit held in Brazil in 1992. The archaic question is: How
does a summit of this magnitude deliver? Why has there been a growing gap
between commitment and implementation? Despite the efforts brought about by
the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation decade (1981-1990),
regional water shortages and deterioration of water quality is serious in many
parts of the world and are likely to worsen. Global studies show projections
of per capita all purpose water availability dropping from 1 000-5 000 cubic
metres per year today to less than 1 000 cubic metres of water per year by
2030 in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Afghanistan. Similar regression in per
capita total use water availability is forecast in developed countries such as
the US, the east European countries and European Russia, where the scale will
slide down from over 10 000 cubic metres of water per capita per year to
anywhere between 5 000 to 10 000 cubic metres of water per capita per year. In
summary, it appears the per capita water availability will be lessened by 35
percent due to population expansion alone, as compared to today's total use
water availability. The international drinking water supply and sanitation
decade programme does not appear to have come to grips with the fact that in
less developed countries of Africa, South Asia, and Latin America, though they
would approach their maximum developable drinking water supply by the year
2000, it would be quite expensive to develop the remaining water. In an
industrialised country which belongs to the IDC group, competition among
different uses of water - for increasing food production for new energy
systems such as production of synthetic fuels from coal and shale for
increasing power generation, and for increasing of other industries - will
aggravate drinking water shortages. How then should the Earth Summit tackle
the problem of deliverance? While many project proponents do seek public
input, it is often too little, too late. More and more, the successful project
must meet not only technical financial and regulatory criteria but must also
meet the criterion of public acceptability. Gaining public acceptance, also
referred to as informed consent, has become a critical objective in most
planning projects, thus initiating resource management planning process
emphasis on early and continued public comment. Why develop resource
management plans? As the values and interests of society change, many
different and often competing demands are placed on the country's land and
water resources. Resource management planning provides a process for making
equitable and efficient decisions about the future use of the resources. By
integrating public comments into the planning process, a plan that balances
varied public needs can be produced. Each of the resources management plans
will serve as a 10-year guide for making sound resource management decisions.
A challenging future? On a global level, the third millennium offers a chaotic
view when considering total use of natural resources available. Debates will
continue on natural resources management. History, however, teaches us that
deliberate listing of real and imaginary difficulties has rarely resulted in a
future collapse of society.
The World Summit on
Sustainable Development in Johannesburg should bring out deliverance to
sustain and develop the world economy for present and future generations.
7. TOUGH TALKS AHEAD
OVER POVERTY DEAL
The Mercury
18 June 2002
Internet:
http://www.itechnology.co.za/index.php?click_id=13&art_id=ct20020618202512615P630883&set_id=1
South Africa will lead two months of "hard-ball negotiations" and "trade-offs"
to resolve outstanding questions obstructing an international deal on poverty
eradication at the forthcoming World Summit on Sustainable Development.
Briefing parliament on the last WSSD preparatory commission meeting held in
Indonesia, environment director-general Chippy Olver said some "tough
negotiation processes" now lie ahead with just over 60 days left before the
summit starts in Johannesburg. Olver said the most important areas of
contention were around financing development programmes and the lifting of
trade barriers. President Thabo Mbeki said in his budget speech that the
failure of the Indonesia meeting to resolve efforts to link trade agreements
to the implementation of the outcomes of the WSSD "places increased
responsibility on South Africa to find a basis for agreement". Nearly 50
important issues are still in brackets in the final preparatory document,
reflecting a stand-off between the developed countries and the G77 developing
countries. Olver believes once there is agreement on trade and finance other
issues of contention will likely fall away.
8. MBEKI PUSHES EARTH
SUMMIT SUCCESS
CNN
18 June 2002
Internet:
http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/africa/06/18/earth.mbeki.glb/index.html
CAPE TOWN, South
Africa -- President Thabo Mbeki said he would launch a personal initiative to
avert the threatened failure of the Earth Summit in Johannesburg. Mbeki told
parliament he would lead the search for international agreement on a draft
declaration for the World Summit on Sustainable Development, often called the
Earth Summit. Last month ministers from more than 100 countries failed at
talks in Bali, Indonesia, to agree a draft plan for the world's most important
environmental summit, with rich and poor nations divided about the best ways
to promote sustainable growth and development. The August conference in
Johannesburg is being billed as the biggest-ever United Nations gathering.
More than 100 heads of state and 60,000 delegates are expected to attend the
summit and a parallel meeting of non-governmental organisations. Mbeki,
chairman of the Johannesburg summit, said the Bali meeting made some progress,
but left key decisions unanswered. "The failure to find consensus in Bali on
some of these issues places increased responsibility on the president, as
chairperson of the WSSD, to ensure that a basis for agreement is developed
between now and August. "We will be starting a process of consultation with
the major groupings in the United Nations system to explore the possibilities
of finding consensus," said Mbeki. Environmental groups and non-governmental
organisations have warned governments that the summit is heading for failure.
Environmental groups have largely blamed the U.S. for the failure of the Bali,
accusing it of being reluctant to commit to some targets for action at home in
the interests of business profits. The U.S. delegation has denied those
charges. The Johannesburg summit opens on August 26 and falls a decade after
the landmark Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, which put environmental issues on
the global political agenda.
9. AFRICANS URGED TO
TACKLE PROBLEMS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Xinhua News Agency
18 June 2002
Internet:
http://library.northernlight.com/FE20020618030000012.html?cb=0&dx=1006&sc=0#doc
LAGOS, Jun 18, 2002 (Xinhua
via COMTEX) -- South African Deputy Environment Minister Rejoice Mabudafhasi
Tuesday called on Africans to take advantage of the prevalent political will
of their leaders to tackle the continent's problems for sustainable
development. Mabudafhasi made the call in Nigeria's capital at the final
meeting of the preparatory committee for the Partnership Conference of the
African Process on Development and Protection of the Marine and Coastal
Environment in sub-Sahara Africa. Our leaders have demonstrated the political
will through new platforms like the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD)
, the African Ministerial Conference on Environment and the African Process,"
Mabudafhasi said. Identifying major African problems impacting on sustainable
development as poverty, food and economic insecurity, violent crises and
environmental degradation, the minister stressed that the challenge now is to
translate these blueprints to concrete actions. Mabudafhasi, also the
chairwoman of the preparatory committee for the African Process, said the
Partnership Conference will regard Africans as partners to shape a common will
aimed at sweeping out all impediments to sustainable growth. According to her,
the African Process is another opportunity for Africans to influence the
global agenda, especially on issues related to coastal and marine resources.
Speaking at the opening session of the final meeting on Monday, Nigerian
President Olusegun Obasanjo has challenged African leaders to make the
preservation of the continent's resource and environment a priority for food
security and a healthy populace. The president appealed to African nations to
take advantage of the NEPAD drive to work toward a better continent both
economically and environmentally. Because donor agencies and developed
countries have been making effective environmental policies a condition for
aiding developing nations, African countries should strive to meet such
requirements, he added. The three-day talks will witness contributions from
all African countries and international bodies such as the Economic Community
of West African States, the Organization of African Unity and the United
Nations. African leaders are expected to work out a final agreement on the
African Process later this year in Johannesburg at the World Summit on
Sustainable Development
10. AHEAD OF G-8
MEETING, ANNAN URGES SUPPORT FOR AFRICA, ACTION ON MILLENNIUM GOALS
United Nations
18 June 2002
Internet:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=3965&Cr=g-8&Cr1=
18 June - Welcoming
the decision of the world's leading industrialized nations to focus on
solutions to Africa's problems at their annual meeting later this month,
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called on the Group of Eight
countries also to act decisively on global concerns encapsulated in the
Millennium Development Goals, especially the fight against poverty. These "are
goals set by the world for the world, although it is in Africa that they
present the toughest challenge, and in Africa that their achievement will
depend most crucially on international solidarity," the Secretary-General says
in an open letter to the G-8 leaders who are scheduled to meet on 26 and 27
June in Kananaskis, Canada. In his letter, which was released today at UN
Headquarters in New York, Mr. Annan calls on the G-8 countries to stand by
commitments made last November at the World Trade Organization meeting in
Doha, Qatar, to conduct trade negotiations that would open markets to exports
from poor and developing countries. He appeals for them to follow-up on
commitments made in March in Monterrey, Mexico, for further increases in
development assistance and support international efforts to stem the spread of
killer diseases and to make primary education available to all children. The
Secretary-General also urges them to commit to ensuring a productive outcome
for the World Summit for Sustainable Development later this year in
Johannesburg, South Africa. The "peoples of the developing world would...be
bitterly disappointed if your meeting confined itself to offering them good
advice and solemn exhortations, rather than firm pledges of action in areas
where your own contributions can be decisive," the Secretary-General writes.
Mr. Annan is scheduled to attend the G-8 meeting to participate in the working
session on 27 June, which will feature presentations from five African Heads
of State who have initiated a New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD).
11. CONCERN HEADS OF
STATE MAY SHUN SUMMIT
SABC News
18 June 2002
Internet:
http://www.sabcnews.com/world/summit/0,1009,36663,00.html
With only 69 days to
go before the start of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, concern is
mounting among local politicians over whether heads of state from several key
industrialised nations will actually attend the event. MPs have also expressed
doubt as to whether without the attendance of leaders from the so-called
JUSCANZ bloc, comprising Japan, the United States, Canada, Australia and New
Zealand the summit will achieve its set goals. The Johannesburg Summit, the
biggest-ever international meeting of its kind, and aimed at negotiating a
global plan for the economic, social and environmental future of the planet,
is set to take place in Johannesburg from August 26 to September 4. Gwen
Mahlangu, the National Assembly environmental affairs and tourism committee
chairperson, today said MPs were "really worried" over whether heads of
government from the JUSCANZ bloc would actually attend the summit. At the
final summit preparatory conference, held in Bali, Indonesia earlier this
month, the bloc adopted a common stance on several contentious issues that
prevented agreement, particularly regarding finance and trade related matters.
Mahlangu, speaking after a briefing by Chippy Olver, the environmental affairs
and tourism director-general, on the outcome of the Bali conference, said the
overall feeling of her committee was that "we have very little time at our
disposal to bring these important countries on board". "How we are going to do
this is still a very big question mark because the summit is about heads of
state, and especially those from developed countries" she added. She also
said: "If we leave industrialised countries out I don't see the summit
achieving most of the issue that they want it to achieve."We are really
worried as to why, up to now, we still don't have a commitment to attend from
them, let alone a commitment to finance the processes, or at least for them to
say, yes we want to attend we want to participate." Earlier, Olver told a
joint meeting of three parliamentary committees that many heads of state had
held back on a final decision to attend the summit. Due to the outcome of the
Bali conference, "many of them will be keeping that decision in abeyance a lot
of them you will not know until the last minute". He also said those who
confirmed their attendance are a far smaller list of heads of state. It is
understood about 30 heads of state have, to date, said they will definitely
attend the summit. "The EU group is clearly making strong commitment to attend
while the JUSCANZ group has not done this. I suppose that was to be expected,"
he told members. Olver later stressed that by this he did not mean JUSCANZ
would not attend the summit, but that they had not, to date, confirmed they
would do so. According to a poll carried out by the US-based National
Resources Defense Council earlier this month, only 45 heads of state or
government have confirmed they will attend the summit. The NRDC said the
survey also showed a further 40 were "likely" to attend. The organisation said
the survey was "based on contacts with more than 150 country missions at the
United Nations in New York, and delegations at the final meeting in Bali." –Sapa
12. MBEKI VOWS TO
RESCUE WORLD SUMMIT
SABC News
18 June 2002
Internet:
http://www.sabcnews.com/world/summit/0,1009,36687,00.html
President Thabo Mbeki
said he would launch a personal initiative to avert the threatened failure of
the August World Summit in Johannesburg, which is set to be South Africa's
biggest international event. Mbeki said in an address to Parliament he would
lead the search for international agreement on a draft declaration for the
World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD). Ministers of more than 100
participating countries failed at preparatory talks in Bali, Indonesia,
earlier this month to agree a draft action plan for the world's most important
environmental summit, with rich and poor nations divided about the best ways
to promote sustainable growth and development. The conference in Johannesburg
is being billed as the biggest-ever UN gathering. More than 100 heads of state
and 60 000 delegates are expected to attend the summit and a parallel meeting
of non-governmental organisations. However, environmental groups and
non-governmental organisations have warned governments that the summit is
heading for failure. Mbeki, who will chair the Johannesburg summit, said the
Bali meeting made progress on some issues, but left key decisions unanswered.
"The failure to find consensus in Bali on some of these issues places
increased responsibility on the president, as chairperson of the WSSD, to
ensure that a basis for agreement is developed between now and August. "We
will be starting a process of consultation with the major groupings in the
United Nations system to explore the possibilities of finding consensus," said
Mbeki, who usually refers to himself in speeches as "we". Officials in Bali
said the meeting failed to reach agreement on "essential" areas in the action
plan such as timebound commitments and ways of financing pledges in the draft.
Mbeki said key issues still outstanding included ways to link the decisions of
the Monetary Financing for Development Conference earlier this year with the
goals of the World Summit and mechanisms to differentiate the responsibilities
of different nations towards shared goals. Mbeki pushed that conference into
extra time, intervening personally to hammer out a partial accord which led
many international critics to call the summit a failure. Environmental groups
have pinned much of the blame for the failure of the Bali conference on the
US, accusing it of being reluctant to commit to some targets for action at
home in the interests of business profits, charges members of the US
delegation here have denied. The Johannesburg summit opens on August 26 and
falls a decade after the landmark Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, which put
environmental issues on the global political agenda. - Reuters
13. KEEP YOUR SUMMIT
PROMISES: TOEPFER
SABC News
18 June 2002
Internet:
http://www.sabcnews.com/world/summit/0,1009,36686,00.html
Klaus Toepfer, head
of the United Nations Environment Programme, said yesterday governments should
not make any new promises they cannot keep on sustainable development and must
concentrate instead on existing commitments. Toepfer added that poverty
reduction was the main tool in fighting environmental degradation, just as it
was three decades ago. However, despite promises at the previous summit in
1992 that industrial states would provide development aid of 0,7% of their
gross domestic product, aid flowing to poor countries has decreased in
relative and absolute terms, he said. "We cannot dare again disappoint people,
so we must be honest. We cannot give promises we really cannot deliver," said
Toepfer. Toepfer was speaking during a two-day meeting in Stockholm of
scientists, diplomats and environmentalists to mark 30 years since 114
nations, excluding the former Soviet bloc, agreed on a common duty to protect
the global environment. "Johannesburg must not be a summit of new declarations
and new programmes, it must really be a summit on implementation of concrete
action," Toepfer said. Global accords on biodiversity and greenhouse gas
emissions should now be put into force and actual results are needed more than
new rounds of speeches, he said. Fighting poverty, with the aim of halving the
number of people living in poverty by 2015, and reducing environmental damage
will also be the main topics when world leaders and non-governmental
organisations meet at the huge UN summit in Johannesburg at the end of August.
Optimistic about US participation The final preparatory meeting in Bali ahead
of the Johannesburg summit however ended without agreement, conservationists
have said the meeting's draft text is all talk and no action and the meeting
is shaping up to be a major flop. Environmental action group Greenpeace has
accused the US and other countries of systematically removing anything
smacking of action from the draft text. It is also still unclear whether
George W. Bush, the US President, who last year rejected the Kyoto Protocol on
global warming, would attend the 10-day summit with more than 100 heads of
state. However, Toepfer said he was optimistic that Bush would participate. "I
am still convinced that the United States too will be aware of the need for
their leadership. I am also realistically optimistic that the United States
will play their part and the decision (whether Bush will attend) will be very
carefully considered," he continued. The US focus on a war against terrorism
launched after the September 11 attacks last year should not prevent it from
trying to promote environmental conservation and poverty reduction in
developing countries, he added. "More than ever we have to fight all together
against terrorism, but we must also use this alliance against hunger and
hopelessness, and for globalisation with a human face," he said. – Reuters
14. MORE THAN 420
MILLION COULD LIVE IN EXTREME POVERTY BY 2015, UN WARNS
United Nations
18 June 2002
18 June - The number
of people living on less than $1 a day could exceed 420 million by 2015 if
current economic trends continue, a new report by a United Nations agency
focussing on trade and development issues warns. According to the "Least
Developed Countries Report 2002: Escaping the Poverty Trap," released today by
the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the number of people
living in extreme poverty has doubled over the past 30 years, and is currently
about 307 million. Such poverty can be dramatically slashed by simply
doubling the average household living standards of the most poor, the report
finds. However, international partnerships are essential if successful efforts
are to be made to address poverty in least developed countries. "Too many
impoverished countries are stuck in a trap of poverty that they will not get
out of through their own resources," Jeffrey D. Sachs, UN Secretary-General
Kofi Annan's Special Advisor on the Millennium Development Goals, explained at
a press conference yesterday to launch the UNCTAD report at UN Headquarters in
New York. "And unless there is truly international partnership, of the kind
that we profess but don't always act upon, the natural dynamics of
international market forces underway will not relieve the mass suffering
experienced by hundreds of millions of people," he added. Joining Mr. Sachs
at the press conference was Anwarul K. Chowdhury, the UN High Representative
for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small
Island Developing States. He said that the timing of the report's release was
particularly significant because of its proximity to the summit of the Group
of Eight richest and most powerful countries, scheduled for 26-27 June in
Kananaskis, Canada. As that meeting would be focusing on Africa's
development, the analysis in the report on Africa's least developed countries
would be important to participants, Mr. Chowdhury noted.
See Also:
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2002/TAD1930.doc.htm
15. GLOBAL WARMING
NOW A REALITY
The Yomiuri Shimbun
18 June 2002
Internet:
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/20020618wo74.htm
Mountaineer Ken
Noguchi, 28, recalls the moment when the Sherpas he was climbing with on the
Nepalese side of Mt. Everest began reciting a Lamaistic prayer that their
lives be spared. Having reached an elevation of 6,200 meters, Noguchi and his
group were suddenly confronted with the roaring sound of a nearby avalanche
and a huge icefall in front of them. The jagged icefall had been created by
the collapse of a glacier. Countless crevasses, most of them a few meters
wide, appeared in the glacier.
The group connected
several ladders to form a bridge that could be laid across the crevasses.
Walking over the bridge, Noguchi said, was frightening. "This year, (the
weather) was really unusual in the Himalayas," Noguchi said after returning
from Nepal in late May. Noguchi has been making trips to the country for
three years to collect trash left behind by climbers. He goes in the dry
season--April and May--when the weather is usually fine. However, Noguchi
said that this year, due to unseasonable snowfalls in the area, there were a
series of avalanches. He added that they disturbed his sleep many times. In
late April, a British mountaineer went missing in the Himalayas. On May 12,
Noguchi had a lucky escape after a 30-meter-high wall of ice collapsed in
front of him. According to meteorologists, the average temperature in the
southern Himalayas is increasing faster than the average temperature on the
Earth as a whole. Glaciers currently are shrinking at a rate of 70 meters to
100 meters a year. Such data points to the effects of global warming.
According to Assistant Prof. Tomomi Yamada of Hokkaido University, there are
350 glacial lakes in Nepal and the surrounding area. In the past 10 years,
rapid rises in water level caused such lakes to overflow their banks and
damage villages and a hydroelectric plant on three separate occasions. One
lake, Tsho Rolpa, is in danger of overflowing. Though water was drained from
the lake two years ago as a preventive measure, the risk of it floods remains
high. Akiko Sakai, a researcher from Nagoya University's graduate school who
has made five research trips to the Himalayas, said, "The study of glacial
lakes has shifted from science to civil engineering." She stressed that
irregularities in climate patterns have reached the point where they are
causing such damage that action is urgently needed. In August, the World
Summit on Sustainable Development will be held in Johannesburg with the aim of
implementing measures to restore the Earth's environment in the 21st century.
What can be achieved
at the summit? The future of the Earth is highly dependent on bearing the
following in mind: In the past 10 years, a series of natural disasters and
other irregularities believed to be the result of global warming have been
reported.
Global warming used
to be considered a hypothetical threat to humanity, but it has now become a
reality. Each spring in recent years, the ocean submerges part of the South
Pacific island of Tuvalu. Residents believe the flooding points to an overall
rise in sea levels, citing as evidence the increased frequency of unusually
high tides and cyclones in the past 10 years. Tuvalan Prime Minister Koloa
Talake has said his people were victims of global warming and were in danger
of losing their land due to rising sea levels. Talake has asked the New
Zealand government to provide relief by allowing Tuvalans to immigrate. Swiss
Re, a global insurer, has compiled statistics on compensation paid for natural
disasters in the past 30 years. Of the 32 highest payouts, 18 occurred after
1992. Meanwhile, a team led by Nobuyuki Tanaka of the Forestry and Forest
Products Research Institute has compiled a computer simulation, which
indicates that about 90 percent of the optimum land for Japanese beech trees
in the Shirakami-Sanchi mountain range will be lost by 2090 because of
decreasing snowfalls in the area. The mountain range in Aomori and Akita
prefectures has been added to UNESCO's World Heritage List. An Environment
Ministry committee has also pointed to the movement north of butterflies,
dragonflies, cicadas and other insects as well as the appearance in Japanese
Waters of tropical fish and crabs as signs of global warming. In the past 10
years, carbon dioxide emissions have increased 10 percent in Japan and 9
percent worldwide. According to some environmental experts, stopping global
warming would require a 60 percent reduction in the current level of carbon
dioxide emissions. The Kyoto Protocol requires developed countries to reduce
carbon dioxide emissions by 5 percent from 1990 levels. This is the first step
in controlling global warming. Nevertheless, the United States, which emits
more carbon dioxide than any other country, has refused to ratify the
protocol. U.S. President George W. Bush recently criticized a U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency report on the link between global warming and
human activity as bureaucratic. More than 70 countries have ratified the
protocol. However, in addition to the United States, several other developed
countries--including Russia, Canada and Australia--have yet to ratify the
protocol. To secure the basics necessary for the continued existence of
humanity and the restoration of the Earth's environment, the Kyoto Protocol
must be implemented.
16. AFRICAN MINISTERS
TO COORDINATE ENVIRONMENT POLICIES
The Namibian
18 June 2002
Internet:
http://www.namibian.com.na/2002/june/envirotalk/0269A9F67A.html
KAMPALA, June 18 (AFP)
- Africa's environment ministers and experts are to meet in the Ugandan
capital Kampala next month to map out a common strategy for the continent,
organisers said here Tuesday. Some 350 delegates are expected to attend the
five-day session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment, to
be opened by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, organiser Elizabeth Gowa told
Nampa-AFP. A report entitled African Environment Outlook will articulate
common environmental policy for the continent ahead of next October's World
Summit on Sustainable Development to be held in Johannesburg, aimed at helping
policy and decision-makers to develop national environment policies. The
conference will promote the coordination of African environment and
development policies with governments, non-governmental and international
organisations and the private sector, including business and industry, Gowa
said. The ministerial conference held its first session in December 1985 and
meets every two to three years. - Nampa-AFP
17. UNTREATED WATER,
A HEALTH HAZARD
This Day (Lagos) via
All Africa
18 June 2002
Internet:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200206180425.html
The Minister of State
for Water Resources, Chief Precious Ngelale has identified use of untreated
water as one of the greatest environmental threats to health in the developing
countries. He made this statement in his address at the just concluded
Pre-conference World Summit on Sustainable Development in Bali, Indonesia. He
said water had remained a major crisis which had not been seriously tackled by
the international community since the Rio Summit on environment held 10 years
ago. Quoting the United Nations Environmental Programme, Ngelale said about
one third of the world's population live in countries suffering from moderate
to high water stress while 80 countries representing 40 per cent of world's
population continue to suffer from serious water shortages. Ngelale noted that
in his recent environmental lecture, entitled "Towards a Sustainable Future",
the Secretary-General of UN had pointed out that more than one billion people
are without safe drinking water. Highlighting the critical importance of water
to Africa's socio-economic and environmental security, Ngelale said, "there is
an intimate link between the health of our planet and human health. The link
between poverty, health and the environment is nowhere close than with regard
to water issues. Water is the key to sustainable development and good health.
"Some two billion people lack the energy they need to pump water or light
their homes. Ironically, this energy can be harnessed through water resources
development. While over 70 per cent of the hydropower potentials of the
developed countries have been harnessed, only a mere five percent of Africa's
potentials have been developed. "75 per cent of the world's poor live in rural
areas. Sustainable agriculture depends on the proper use of the environment as
a common asset, avoiding water pollution, desertification and deforestation.
In addition, water supplies and irrigation must be managed efficiently to
ensure optimum results. "The importance of aquatic biodiversity to
socio-economic development and environmental management cannot be over
emphasized".
18. UN CALLS FOR
BACKING OF MULTIBILLION-DOLLAR ENVIRONMENTAL FUND
United Nations
17 June 2002
Internet:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=3954&Cr=environment&Cr1=facility
17 June - The head of
the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) today urged governments to
"swiftly and significantly" replenish a multibillion-dollar fund that has
proven to be an invaluable weapon in the fight against poverty and
environmental degradation. UNEP Executive Director Klaus Toepfer, speaking in
Stockholm at the 30th anniversary celebrations of the conference that led to
the creation of the UN agency, called on heads of State to make the
replenishment of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) a top priority and a
key outcome of the upcoming World Summit on Sustainable Development. The GEF
was established for a pilot phase in 1991 in the run-up to the Rio Earth
Summit of 1992 to focus on biodiversity, climate change, international waters,
land degradation, the ozone layer and, more recently, issues like the phasing
out persistent organic pollutants (POPs), according to UNEP. During its pilot
phase the Facility was given $1.2 billion, and subsequently was replenished
twice, for $2.02 billion and $2.75 billion, before it was re-structured in
1994. The third replenishment is due this year. The GEF has proven its worth
and the funds, given to it by developed nations, have been very well spent,
Mr. Toepfer said, noting that 16 independent auditors recently concluded that
the Facility was an innovative, unique and successfully run body for
sustainable development. "The GEF is not a new funding arm but an established
one," he said. "It has been agreed that it is now due for re-vitalization so
it can continue its excellent work. Let's now do this and give it the
financial resources needed to carry on with its important activities."
19. SUBSTANTIAL
BACKING FOR GEF RECIPE FOR SUCCESS AT WORLD SUMMIT ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
United Nations
Environment Programme
17 June 2002
Internet:
http://www.unep.org/Documents/Default.asp?ArticleID=3082&DocumentID=253
A multibillion-dollar
fund, which has proved itself an invaluable weapon in the fight against
poverty and environmental degradation, should be swiftly and significantly
replenished, the head of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) will
urge today.
Stockholm/Nairobi, 17
June 2002 - Klaus Toepfer, UNEP's Executive Director, will call on heads of
state to make the replenishment of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) a top
priority and a key, concrete, outcome of the World Summit on Sustainable
Development. The summit is scheduled to commence on August 26 in Johannesburg,
South Africa and comes after this month's G8 summit in Canada where the issue
of re-vitalizing the GEF is likely to be discussed. The GEF has, over the
past 10 years, committed more than US$ 4 billion and mobilized some US$ 9
billion for more than 1,000 projects in 162 countries. Successes include
helping developing countries to cope with the impacts of global warming to
ones that are assisting poorer nations to conserve wildlife, monitor and
improve the health of international waters and overcome land degradation. Mr
Toepfer, speaking in Stockholm, Sweden, at the 30th anniversary celebrations
of the conference that led to the creation of UNEP, will tell delegates that a
well-funded GEF must be made a priority. "The World Summit on Sustainable
Development (WSSD) will be a crucial test of the world's ability and its
enthusiasm for tackling the very pressing problems facing people and the
planet today. In April, in Monterrey, Mexico, developed countries including
countries in the European Union and the United States pledged to increase
overseas development aid significantly, reversing years of decline," he will
say. "This is a real turnaround and a good start. Now these pledges need to
be turned in concrete actions at Johannesburg in areas such as water, energy
and biodiversity. This year we also have the replenishment of the GEF. This
fund has proved its worth time and time again and the money, given to it by
developed nations, has in the main been very well spent. There are several,
funding options on the table. I would urge developed nations in the run up to
WSSD to make serious financial commitments to the fund so that all countries,
so that all delegates, leave Johannesburg satisfied that it has been a summit
of implementation and not another summit of promises, another meeting of
declarations. UNEP is not isolated in this. The overwhelming majority of
nations believe only a substantial replenishment is an acceptable outcome," he
told delegates. Mr Toepfer said it was not just the United Nations that
believed the GEF was an important funding mechanism for sustainable
development. Recently 16 independent auditors concluded that the GEF was an
innovative, unique and successfully run body. He added that the GEF was also
a unique partnership between UN organizations and the Bretton Woods
institutions as represented by the World Bank Group. Mr Toepfer was speaking
in the wake of the final preparatory meeting for WSSD which was held in Bali,
Indonesia. While some progress was achieved, in common with most delegates he
conceded that far more needs to be done to ensure that the Johannesburg summit
is a success. "Out latest Global Environment Outlook, the work of over 1,000
scientists and experts around the globe, gives us the hard facts and tough
choices that are needed to restore the health and natural wealth of this
wonderful blue planet. Unless action is taken now we face, in 30 years time,
the prospect of half the world's people living in water stressed areas, over
70 per cent of the Earth's surface impacted by roads, cities and other
infrastructure developments and concentrations of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere at 450 parts per million, on track for a doubling from
pre-industrial levels by 2050," he said. "But we do not need to look to the
future to see how the unsustainable life-styles of the richer parts of the
world, and the poverty of the poorer parts, are threatening the Earth's life
support systems. Around a third of the world's fish stocks are in a degraded
state as a result of over-fishing fueled by subsidies estimated at up to US$
20 billion a year, around half the world's rivers are seriously depleted and
polluted and some two billion hectares of soil, equal to an area the size of
the United States and Mexico combined, is classed as degraded. Our motto is
Environment for Development, for without the environment you can never have
the kind of development that can last. If we are to break the current impasse
we will have to balance the needs and aspirations of both developed and
developing countries. The GEF, which is administered by a secretariat in
Washington DC, is not a new funding arm but an established one. It has been
agreed that it is now due for re-vitalization so it can continue its excellent
work. Let's us now do this and give it the financial resources needed to carry
on with its important activities," he said.
Note to Editors: The
Global Environment Facility was established for a pilot phase in 1991 in the
run up to the Rio Earth Summit of 1992. It has three implementing agencies.
These are UNEP, the United Nations Development Programme and the World Bank.
During its pilot phase the facility was given US$1.2 billion. It has had two
replenishments of US$2.02 billion and US$ 2.75 billion and was re-structured
in 1994. The third replenishment is due this year. The GEF's key focus areas
have been biodiversity, climate change, international waters, land
degradation, the ozone layer and more recently issues like the phasing out
Persistent Organic Pollutants. It is also the financial mechanism for, for
example, the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.
20. ANNAN URGES
FOUNDATIONS TO SUPPORT UN MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS
United Nations
17 June 2002
Internet:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=3956&Cr=annan&Cr1=millennium
17 June - United
Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today urged representatives of
philanthropic foundations to support the implementation of the Millennium
Development Goals adopted in 2000 by world leaders at a landmark UN summit.
"It is my hope that this initial meeting will lead to the creation of new
partnerships, and - in cases where we are already working together - to a
strengthening of our collaboration in the years ahead," the Secretary-General
told a gathering in New York of representatives of several high-profile,
multimillion dollar foundations. "As we in the United Nations seek to broaden
and deepen coalitions for change around the Millennium Development Goals, we
know that we can only do this with your full participation and support." The
targets set in 2000 include halving extreme poverty and hunger, achieving
universal primary education and gender equity, reducing under-five mortality
and maternal mortality by two-thirds and three-quarters respectively,
reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS, halving the proportion of people without
access to safe drinking water and ensuring environmental sustainability.
"These goals are inextricably linked to each other and to the broader purposes
of this Organization," the Secretary-General said. While acknowledging that
the challenges appeared immense, he pointed to a growing global momentum
towards a change in priorities. "The horrors of September 11 strengthened our
sense of a common destiny, and people around the world are looking for
strategies and solutions to the challenges that we as one human family face
together," he said. Among those attending the meeting were representatives of
the Rockefeller Foundation, the Open Society Institute, the Gates Foundation,
the Markle Foundation and the Ford Foundation. Other attendees included those
from the MacArthur Foundation, the UN Foundation, the Rockefeller Brothers
Fund, Riksbankens Jubileumffond, and the European Foundation Centre.
21. GLOBAL CLIMATE
SHIFT FEEDS SPREADING DESERTS
Environment News
Service
17 June 2002
Internet:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/oneworld/20020617/wl_oneworld/1032_1024347333
NEW YORK, New York,
June 17, 2002 (ENS) - Over the next 20 years some 60 million people in
northern Africa are expected to leave the Sahelian region if desertification
there is not halted, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today.
June 17 is the day set aside each year by the UN as World Day to Combat
Desertification and Drought, twin problems that must be solved if world hunger
is to be relieved, Annan said. "The fight against desertification is
fundamentally a fight against poverty," said Hama Arba Diallo, executive
secretary of the eight year old UN Convention to Combat Desertification and
Drought. Desertification, environmental degradation and poverty are closely
linked, and now an Australian scientist has found that air pollution may also
play a role in the Sahel drought, by hampering the northward movement of the
tropical rain belt. Desertification and land degradation are worldwide
phenomena with most severe effects on communities in the poorest rural areas.
More than 110 countries are affected, and the livelihood of over 1.2 billion
people are threatened by desertification, with 135 million around the world at
risk of being displaced. In northeast Asia, "dust and sandstorms have buried
human settlements and forced schools and airports to shut down," Annan said,
"while in the Americas, dry spells and sandstorms have alarmed farmers and
raised the specter of another Dust Bowl, reminiscent of the 1930s." In
southern Europe, "lands once green and rich in vegetation are turning barren
and brown," he said.
"Every year, an
estimated $42 billion in income and six million hectares of productive land
are being lost because of desertification, land degradation and declining
agricultural productivity," Annan said today. The secretary-general urged
countries to support the UN Convention to Combat Desertification and Drought -
the only legally binding treaty to address desertification and drought with a
focus on sustainable development. Diallo said that most of the 179 countries
that are Parties to the convention are hosting activities today such as
roundtable discussions, field trips and media campaigns at the national and
local levels and involving government and nongovernmental organizations, the
media, and other stakeholders. But raising awareness of the problems is not
enough - funds are needed to solve them. Diallo called on the international
community to make financial commitments to enable countries affected by land
degradation to implement the treaty. "In order for the convention to move
from preparation to the implementation of national action programs,
predictable financial resources are imperative," he said from the
secretariat's office in Bonn, Germany. He urged leaders of the international
community who will be meeting at the Johannesburg World Summit for Sustainable
Development in August and September to back up their pledges made 10 years ago
at the UN Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. Australian government researcher
Dr. Leon Rotstayn has evidence that air pollution is likely to have
contributed to the what he terms the "catastrophic drought in the Sahel," a
region of northern Africa which borders the fringe of the Sahara Desert. Tiny
atmospheric particles, known as sulfate aerosol, have contributed to a global
climate shift, he says. "The Sahelian drought may be due to a combination of
natural variability and atmospheric aerosol," says Dr. Rotstayn. "Cleaner air
in future will mean greater rainfall in this region. The majority of sulfate
aerosol comes from the burning of fossil fuels and metal smelting. Smaller
amounts come from the burning of vegetation in the tropics, and natural
sources such as marine plankton. Atmospheric aerosol concentrations are far
greater in the northern hemisphere, cooling the atmosphere there more than in
the southern hemisphere. It is this imbalance that affects the tropical rain
belt. "Global climate change is not solely being caused by rising levels of
greenhouse gases. Atmospheric pollution is also having an effect," says Dr.
Rotstayn, who is affiliated with CSIRO, the Australian government's research
branch. CSIRO's research into aerosol and climate is in part supported by the
Australian Greenhouse Office and involves collaboration with the University of
Michigan in the USA and Dalhousie University in Canada. The findings on air
pollution and the tropical rain belt have just been published in the
international "Journal of Climate." The researchers ran sophisticated global
climate simulations on a supercomputer. They found that sulfate aerosol
particles, which are concentrated mainly in the northern hemisphere, make
cloud droplets smaller. This makes the clouds brighter and longer lasting, so
they reflect more sunlight into space, cooling the Earth's surface below. As
a result, the tropical rain belt, which migrates northwards and southwards
with the seasonal movement of the sun, is weakened in the northern hemisphere
and does not move as far north. The main impact of the weaker rain belt is in
the Sahel. Since the 1960s, this region has experienced a devastating drought.
Rainfall was 20 to 49 percent lower than in the first half of the 20th
century, causing widespread famine and death. Scientists also believe that
air pollution over China has affected their summer monsoon rainfall belt.
Northern China had successive droughts in the summers of 1997, 1998 and 1999.
A reduction in the severity of the Sahelian drought during the 1990s may be
linked with emission controls in Europe and North America that lowered
atmospheric aerosol concentrations during that decade, Dr. Rotstayn says.
Tropical and eastern Australia have experienced an increase in rainfall over
the 20th century, and this may be related to the same effect. "We are not yet
seeing reductions in aerosol emissions in Asia," says Dr. Rotstayn. "It is
possible that other forms of aerosol in the air, such as black soot emitted
from Southeast Asia, could affect Australia's climate."
22. ENVIRONMENTAL
EXPERTS HOPE FOR CONCRETE ACTION AND A CLEAR MESSAGE FROM SUMMIT IN
JOHANNESBURG
Associated Press
17 June 2002
Internet:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020617/ap_wo_en_po/sweden_environmental_conference_1
STOCKHOLM, Sweden -
Environmental officials and experts meeting on the 30th anniversary of a
landmark U.N. conference expressed hope on Monday that an upcoming summit on
the environment in South Africa will result in concrete action and a clear
message. Delegates said much progress has been made since the first U.N.
Conference on the Human Environment was held in 1972 in Stockholm but many of
the same challenges remained - including the use of fossil fuels that are
blamed for recent global warming, a growing population and increased
industrial activity. "We must acknowledge that despite notable progress on
many fronts ... we have still not made the fundamental transition to a secure
and sustainable future for the human community," United Nations
undersecretary-general Maurice F. Strong said in a statement that was read at
the two-day conference."And I am afraid that we will not do so unless we take
the decisions and actions that will break the inertia that continues to propel
us along a course that is not sustainable," he said. The Aug. 26 to Sept. 4
World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg is a follow up to the
1992 Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro. It is expected to focus on reshaping
the world economy to make it less environmentally harmful and more socially
equitable. Swedish Environmental Minister Kjell Larsson told some 300
scientists, diplomats and activists gathered in Stockholm that the challenge
will be to bridge the gap between commitment and action. "We need an ambitious
political declaration with a clear and unambiguous message from world leaders,
an action with clear and achievable targets defined in time, means of
implementation and clearly defined responsibilities," Larsson said in opening
remarks. Diane Dillon-Ridgely, director of Dallas-based Green Mountain Energy
Co., said the public needs to be more involved in protecting the environment.
"Whatever we do at any industrial level, at any level, has a much greater
impact than it did because there are more of us doing it on the planet," she
said. "And if (the public) can pressure their governments, their governments
would have to change what they are doing." The 1972 conference in the Swedish
capital launched a new era of international cooperation in environmental
issues, with participants from 113 countries, including former U.S. Secretary
of Defense Robert McNamara who was then head of the World Bank. The Soviet
Union and other former communist countries boycotted the meetings because East
Germany, which was not a U.N. member, was not allowed to take part
23. WORLD EARTH
SUMMIT ALL SET FOR MAJOR FLOP
Times of Malta
17 June 2002
Internet:
http://www.timesofmalta.com/core/article.php?id=10268
The "Earth Summit" in
South Africa in August is shaping up to be a major flop with politics in the
driving seat and science hardly to be seen, scientists and environmentalists
say. Just days after the final preparatory meeting for the World Summit on
Sustainable Development ended without agreement, Friends of the Earth (FOE)
activists said last Friday the draft text was all talk and no action. "This
draft plan is weak in the extreme," FOE spokesman Mike Childs said. "Without
firm targets, finance and enforcement mechanisms, it threatens to be no more
than hot air." FOE said the planning meeting on the tropical paradise island
of Bali failed even to agree whether globalisation was good or bad for the
sustainable development the whole discussion process was supposed to support.
Childs's comments echo the fears of some scientists as a forecast 65,000
delegates prepare to descend on Johannesburg from August 26 in a supposed bid
to drive forward world development while saving the planet. Kelly Rigg, of
Greenpeace, accused the United States and other countries of having
systematically removed anything smacking of action from the draft text.
"Governments are walking away from their responsibilities. Now, more than
ever, there is a need to work together. Now is the time to save the planet,
but it is just not happening," she told Reuters from Amsterdam. The
Johannesburg summit was originally intended to review progress since the first
Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and plot the path to a future free of
the grinding poverty that grips large portions of the world's population. The
United Nations Environment Programme said in its annual report last month the
world was at a crossroads where it had to chose between greed and humanity -
with a disaster awaiting the wrong choice. "We need a concrete action plan...
concrete projects... and above all a clear political declaration," UNEP head
Klaus Toepfer said presenting the report. But critics say the Bali draft for
Johannesburg contains none of that and could not even decide whether to
mention the Kyoto protocol on limiting carbon dioxide emissions - a treaty the
United States has refused to adopt. Emil Salim, chairman of the Bali talks,
said there could be further debate before the summit, but also said the
meeting had failed to reach agreement on aspects such as time commitments and
ways of financing pledges. Scientists are dubious that Johannesburg will
achieve anything other than a restating of the deep divide between the rich,
mostly northern hemisphere, developed nations and the poor southern countries
struggling under mountains of debt. "It is really very depressing. It doesn't
look like there will be any science at Johannesburg," Professor Georgina Mace,
director of science at the Zoological Society of London, told Reuters.
"Everything is stuck
in politics. That is why so few scientists are actually going there. They know
nothing will come of it. There will be no targets set and no initiatives
taken. We need movement and we will not get it at Johannesburg," she added.
Some scientists point to the recent replacement of Robert Watson, who
aggressively pushed conservation, as head of the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change in a move largely instigated by the United States as an
indication of attitudes towards environmental concerns. "He was a thorn in the
side of the US energy lobby which is extremely powerful and has the ear of
President Bush, so they got rid of him," Chris Rapley, director of the British
Antarctic Survey told Reuters in a recent interview. "I think that speaks
volumes about the US position on climate change. It is not even certain if
Bush will go to Jonhannesburg," he added.
24. CONFERENCE ON
MARINE ENVIRONMENT OPENS IN ABUJA
UN Integrated
Regional Information Networks via All Africa
17 June 2002
Internet:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200206170066.html
A three-day
conference on the protection and development of the coastal and marine
environment in sub-Saharan Africa opened in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, on
Monday. Organised under the auspices of the African Ministerial Conference on
Environment (AMCEN), its agenda was to work out a programme for a partnership
conference to be held at the World Summit for Sustainable Development (WSSD)
to be held in South Africa in September. The conference was jointly organised
with the Super Preparatory Committee of the African Process for the
Development and Protection of the Coastal and Marine Environment (APDPCME). A
statement by Nigeria's Ministry of Environment said the conference would seek
to "integrate socio-economic as well as scientific and technical
considerations into proposed interventions for addressing leading causes of
degradation in the marine and coastal environment" in Africa. Participants in
the proceedings, declared open by Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo,
included Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, Klaus
Topfer, and representatives of African governments and international
organisations. During the meeting, approval of 33 projects proposed to deal
with problems of coastal and marine environments in Africa is to be
considered. The projects were identified during the final deliberations of the
working group of APDPCME in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, in May. They cover
pollution, modifications to the ecosystem, climate change, over-exploitation
of fishery resources and eco-tourism.
25. WATER, WATER
EVERYWHERE, BUT...
Independent
17 June 2002
Internet:
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/environment/story.jsp?story=306067
The shortage of fresh
water in the developing world is reaching critical levels. And a new dam in
Brazil only serves to highlight the environmental problem. Later this year,
the construction of the world's latest dam is due to be finished. As dams go,
the one being built at Castanhão, in Brazil's arid north-eastern state of
Ceará, is not the biggest nor the most controversial, and, in many respects,
its completion will go largely unnoticed by the millions of Brazilians who
stand to benefit from it. Yet the fact that the Castanhão dam needs to be
built at all is testament to the growing worldwide crisis in the supply of
fresh water. The latest study by the United Nations Environment Programme,
which was published last month in its Global Environment Outlook 3 report,
identifies water shortages as one of the most pressing problems facing the
developing world. The report points out that one-third of the world's
population is currently living in countries of moderate-to-high water
shortages. Within the next 25 years, this is due to rise to two-thirds of the
human population living in "water-stressed" regions. By 2020, the demand for
water is expected to increase by 40 per cent, and 17 per cent more water will
be needed to irrigate the crops that will have to be cultivated to feed a
growing population. Yet already in the world today, nearly 20 per cent of the
world's population do not have ready access to drinking water, while 40 per
cent lack adequate sanitation. This is despite the attempts to fulfil one of
the main goals of the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, which identified a
long-term aim of guaranteeing access to clean water and sanitation for
everyone. Water, and the lack of it, is also on the agenda of the forthcoming
World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg this August. In
addition to improved sanitation and pollution control, the summit will
inevitably have to confront the need to control even more rivers, using dams
such as the one at Castanhão. In many respects, the Castanhão dam exemplifies
how a dam should be built. It involved detailed planning, and extensive
consultation with the people whose homes in the nearby city of Jaguaribara
were to be flooded. The planning also involved an assessment of the dam's
environmental impact. Preliminary studies were carried out in the early 1980s,
and the work itself began at the end of 1995, with the help of funding from
the World Bank. The new city of Jaguaribara was built to replace the old one
that was flooded. The street plan of Jaguaribara "Nova" precisely matches the
layout of the old, flooded city, even down to the position of the local
churches. Each of the 12,000 residents was consulted about their new home, and
they were given the opportunity to choose whether they would like to live next
to their old neighbours - most said they would. Even the dead at the local
cemetery were exhumed and reburied in new graves to match the ones that were
to be flooded. An ecological park has been set up adjacent to the flood site
in order to preserve the native plants and animals, while three seismological
stations will monitor any seismic movements related to the build-up of the 4.5
billion cubic metres of water behind the dam's concrete walls. Engineers say
that the local rock and soil conditions will ensure that the dam will not silt
up in the way that has affected other dams, such as the Aswan dam in Egypt.
They insist that every effort has been made in its construction to minimise
the dam's environmental impact. Although much of Brazil benefits from heavy
rainfall, the state of Ceará in the north-east suffers badly from drought.
Flying west by helicopter from Fortaleza, Ceará's capital city on the Atlantic
coast, the effects of the drought quickly become apparent. Although the
coastal region is relatively green and lush, the land quickly dries out as you
leave the climatic influence of the ocean. After about 15 minutes of flying,
you cross the line in the vegetation that marks the point at which the aridity
of the hinterland becomes clearly visible. From here, hundreds of miles
inland, the ground is brown and parched. After another hour or so of flying
and the arid landscape is broken up by the glistening lake that is already
building up behind the new dam built at Castanhão. Local Brazilians view the
dam as vital to the irrigation of vast tracts of potentially fertile farmland
in the state of Ceará. Brazilian engineers estimate that the dam will be able
to irrigate 43,000 hectares of crops, as well as supply the needs of the two
million inhabitants of Fortaleza, with its important tourism industry. The dam
will also control the flooding that regularly plagues Ceará's river basins -
about half of the annual rainfall of the state falls in just two months, often
in torrential downpours that can sweep away crops and buildings. If Ceará
needs anything, say Brazilian officials, it is a regular and reliable water
supply. The state typifies the problem with water - the planet's most abundant
substance is often not where you need it most. Even when water does arrive in
the form of rain, it frequently comes suddenly, causing widespread and
destructive flooding. It is somewhat ironic that Brazil, famous for its
rainforest, also sits on one of the largest underground water sources on
Earth. But the Guarani aquifer system, covering some 1.2 million square
kilometres and holding a stupendous 48,000 cubic kilometres of fresh water, is
in the south-east of the country, many hundreds of miles from Ceará in the dry
north-east. Just extracting 20 per cent of the amount of water that drains
into the Guarani aquifer each year would be enough to supply 300 litres of
fresh water per day to 360 million people - if only it could be distributed
across this vast, continent-sized country. Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and
Uruguay are working together on an integrated approach to developing a
sustainable method of extracting water from the Guarani aquifer. The project
is being closely watched by various international bodies, including the World
Bank, which is helping to fund the initiative. "Success would be an important
step towards ensuring long-term availability of freshwater and aquifer
resources for people in these countries," says the GEO-3 report of UNEP. The
Castanhão dam and the Guarani aquifer system, along with the truly giant Three
Gorges Dam in China, represent the traditional ways of meeting the worldwide
water crisis caused by population growth, industrial development and expanding
agriculture. But UNEP believes that other approaches to water management will
have to be considered in the future. "Planners have always assumed that
growing demand would be met by taming more of the hydrological cycle through
building more infrastructure," says the UNEP report. "This infrastructure has
provided important benefits in the form, for example, of increased food
production and hydroelectricity. There have also been major costs. Over the
past 50 years, dams have transformed the world's rivers, displacing some 40-80
million people in different parts of the world and causing irreversible
changes in many of the ecosystems closely associated with them." As important
as dams have been in the past, planners and politicians are now having to
think of other ways to meet the problem of water shortages. "Policy makers,"
the report says, "have now shifted from entirely supply solutions to demand
management, highlighting the importance of using a combination of measures to
ensure adequate supplies of water for different sectors." Greater water
efficiency and better controls on water pollution are two obvious improvements
that could result in real benefits. The poor management of water resources -
such as over-irrigation - has already resulted in the salinity levels of about
20 per cent of irrigated land rising to a point where agriculture becomes
difficult or impossible to sustain. Over the past 30 years, the pollution of
groundwater sources has become a significant problem in many parts of the
world. Many rivers are now suffering from high nitrate levels, caused by the
use of agricultural fertilisers. And even some once-pristine rivers, such as
the Amazon and Orinoco, are seeing rising levels of artificial nitrates. For a
planet that is mostly water, it may seem ironic that water shortages are
becoming such a limiting factor in human development. Yet only 2.5 per cent of
the Earth's water is fresh water, and less than 1 per cent of this can
actually be used for drinking. Even this limited natural resource is dwindling
quickly, as encroaching human settlements contaminate and overexploit newly
discovered sources of water. The point may soon come when, even on such a
watery planet as Earth, there is water everywhere but not a drop to drink.
26. PRIME MINISTER
CONSULTS YOUNG PEOPLE AHEAD OF 2002 UN EARTH SUMMIT
United Kingdom
17 June 2002
Internet:
http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/Page5343.asp
The Prime Minister
Tony Blair has met school pupils to discuss environmental issues in advance of
the World Summit on Sustainable Development. The Summit will be held in
Johannesburg in August and September. Tim Green aged 10 from England, Peter
Burton 10 from Northern Ireland, Stephanie Wiseman, 11, Scotland and Rhys
Davies 17 from Wales made intelligent suggestions to Tony Blair and Margaret
Beckett on how to make the back garden at Number 10 more sustainable. The four
pupils have been nominated as WWF (World Wildlife Fund) "Earth Champions"
after their original thinking on sustainable development issues won them
acclaim. They are particularly concerned about renewable energy, world
poverty, quality of species and habitats and access to fresh water. Prime
Minister Tony Blair said: "I am pleased to have the opportunity today to hear
young people's concerns about the future of the planet. These young Earth
Champions are doing important work in raising awareness of key challenges for
the World Summit on Sustainable Development." "We share their concerns about
poverty, quality of species and habitats and access to clean energy and water.
That is why we have taken action in the UK to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,
increased our support to developing countries to reduce poverty and increase
access to clean water." Later the youngsters provided Number 10 with a bat box
to cater for the remote possibility that stray bats in Downing Street may be
looking for a comfortable home
27. MESSAGE ON WORLD DAY TO COMBAT
DESERTIFICATION AND DROUGHT
United Nations
17 June 2002
Internet:
http://www.unccd.int/publicinfo/june17/sgmessage-eng.pdf
Desertification and drought pose a
worldwide threat with serious economic, environmental and socio-political
implications. Every year, an estimated $42 billion in income and 6 million
hectares of productive land are being lost because of desertification, land
degradation and declining agricultural productivity, and 135 million people
who depend primarily on land for their livelihood are at risk of being
displaced. The fallout is felt on all continents. In Africa, over the next 20
years some 60 million people are expected to move from the Sahelian region to
less hostile areas if the desertification of their land is not halted. In
northeast Asia, dust- and sandstorms have buried human settlements and forced
schools and airports to shut down. In the Americas, dry spells and sandstorms
have alarmed farmers and raised the spectre of another "Dust Bowl",
reminiscent of the 1930s. And in southern Europe, lands once green and rich in
vegetation are turning barren and brown. The United Nations Convention to
Combat Desertification (UNCCD), adopted eight years ago today, integrates
environmental and developmental concerns and thus is a key instrument not only
in protecting ecosystems and resources, but also in alleviating poverty.
However, a lack of predictable financial resources has hampered
implementation. I urge developed countries to follow through on the
commitments they made both in adopting the Convention and at the "Earth
Summit" ten years ago in Rio de Janeiro -- including the provision of
financial support through the Global Environment Facility (an alliance of the
UN Development Programme, the UN Environment Programme and the World Bank),
which should serve as a financial mechanism of the convention. Desertification
will be among the most important issues to be discussed at the World Summit on
Sustainable Development, which opens in less than three months. We need to
find ways to halt land degradation, and to manage land more responsibly. We
need to reverse the decline in agricultural productivity, especially in
Africa, so that food production keeps pace with the number of mouths to feed.
We need, in short, to implement the UN Convention to Combat Desertification as
a key element in the world's quest for sustainable development.
28. ANNAN URGES
COUNTRIES TO BACK TREATY AIMED AT STEMMING DESERTIFICATION
United Nations
17 June 2002
Internet:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=3943&Cr=desertification&Cr1=
17 June - Marking the
World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, United Nations
Secretary-General Kofi Annan said these twin scourges posed a worldwide threat
and urged countries to support an international pact designed to stop land
degradation. "Every year, an estimated $42 billion in income and 6 million
hectares of productive land are being lost because of desertification, land
degradation and declining agricultural productivity, and 135 million people
who depend primarily on land for their livelihood are at risk of being
displaced," Mr. Annan said in his message on the occasion. Over the next 20
years some 60 million people in Africa are expected to leave the Sahelian
region if desertification there is not halted, he said. In north-east Asia,
"dust and sandstorms have buried human settlements and forced schools and
airports to shut down," while in the Americas, dry spells and sandstorms have
alarmed farmers and raised the spectre of another "Dust Bowl," reminiscent of
the 1930s. "And in southern Europe, lands once green and rich in vegetation
are turning barren and brown," he noted. The Secretary-General called on
States to implement the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, which
integrates environmental and developmental concerns. "I urge developed
countries to follow through on the commitments they made both in adopting the
Convention and at the 'Earth Summit' 10 years ago in Rio de Janeiro -
including the provision of financial support," he said. Looking to the
upcoming World Summit on Sustainable Development, which will review progress
since the Rio conference, he called for delegates to grapple with how to halt
land degradation. "We need to reverse the decline in agricultural
productivity, especially in Africa, so that food production keeps pace with
the number of mouths to feed," he said. "We need, in short, to implement the
UN Convention to Combat Desertification as a key element in the world's quest
for sustainable development." In his message on the Day, the President of the
General Assembly, Han Seung-soo of the Republic of Korea, also underscored the
value of the treaty. "The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
is a cooperative quest of the human community to address the environmental and
social causes of desertification and its consequences, in particular poverty,
food insecurity and forced massive migrations," he said. "I urge all countries
to join their efforts to stop desertification, which will help secure [a]
healthy and green Earth for us and our future generations."
29. MOUNTAIN PEOPLE
SUFFER MORE MALNUTRITION AND DISEASE
Food and Agriculture
Organisation
16 June 2002
Internet:
http://www.fao.org/english/newsroom/news/2002/6763-en.html
ADELBODEN,
SWITZERLAND, 16 June 2002 -- A disproportionately high number of the world's
hungriest and chronically malnourished people reside in mountain regions, Dr.
Jacques Diouf, Director-General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO), said today. In a statement delivered on his behalf by Jacques Eckebil,
FAO Assistant Director-General for Sustainable Development, at the
International Conference on Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development in
Mountains, held in Adelboden, Switzerland (16-20 June 2002), Dr Diouf said
malnutrition and food insecurity in mountain regions contribute to increased
disease and disability and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people
who flee drought and famine. Mountains are crucial to life. In addition to
hosting more biodiversity than any other eco-region on earth, mountains
provide most of the world's freshwater. More than 3 billion people rely on
mountains for water to drink and to grow food, produce electricity and sustain
industries. However, policies and decisions concerning the management of those
resources are made often from afar, leaving those who live in mountain
communities with the least amount of influence and power. There are 815
million chronically undernourished people in the world, according to FAO.
Although mountain people represent about 12 percent of the world's population,
mountain communities may carry a much larger portion of the burden. Millions
of people in the Andes, Himalaya and other large mountain areas of the world
suffer from goitre and cretinism, because glaciation, melting snow and heavy
rainfall regularly leach fragile mountain soils of their iodine content. At
the same time, in many mountain communities, Vitamin A deficiency is the
leading cause of preventable blindness in children, while raising the risk of
disease and death from severe infections. According to FAO, the high levels of
malnutrition and hunger in mountain areas have much to do with the
inaccessibility, complexity and fragility of mountain environments, and the
extent to which mountain people are often marginalized. In the Ethiopian
highlands as well as in the Upper Rwaba watershed of Burundi, for example,
inequities of land distribution coupled with population growth have increased
poverty and food insecurity. In the Peruvian Andes, two of every three
households don't possess enough arable land to grow the foods required to meet
their nutritional needs. Every day, mountain people face immense physical
barriers -- rugged terrain, poor communications systems and inadequate roads.
Heads of State and Government attending the World Food Summit: five years
later held in Rome from 10 to 13 June this year, renewed their global
commitment to reduce the number of hungry in the world no later than 2015. The
Summit's Declaration recognised in particular the extent of poverty in the
mountain zones and emphasised the vital role of mountain zones and their
potential for sustainable agriculture and rural development in order to
achieve food security. The need to build partnerships between developing
countries in this regard was stressed. The United Nations declared 2002 the
International Year of Mountains to increase awareness of the global importance
of mountain ecosystems and the challenges faced by mountain people. The
conference in Adelboden is one of a series of major global events scheduled
for the Year. The opportunity to address mountain issues evolved from the 1992
United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro,
where mountains became the singular focus of Chapter 13 of Agenda 21, the
blueprint for sustainable development. It is expected that the Adelboden
conference will help set the stage for policies and laws meant to protect
mountain ecosystems and to create the conditions in which mountain people can
thrive. This Adelboden declaration will be presented at the World Summit on
Sustainable Developmentto be held in Johannesburg at the end of August this
year, as well as at the Bishkek Global Mountain Summit to be held in
Kyrgyzstan in October. FAO is the lead United Nations agency for the
International Year of Mountains. FAO's partners include other United Nations
agencies, non-governmental organizations, Mountain Forum, mountain people's
organizations and more than 67 national committees representing countries
around the world, with many more countries preparing to join. FAO's priority
is to stimulate long-term, on-the-ground action by supporting the creation and
ongoing efforts of national committees dedicated to the International Year of
Mountains.
30. BROWN TRIES TO
HELP 67 MILLION CHILDREN
Independent
16 June 2002
Internet:
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/story.jsp?story=305760
Gordon Brown, the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, is today making a fresh attempt to tackle poverty
in the Third World, after the failure of negotiations in Bali a week ago. He
is urging his fellow finance ministers from the world's richest countries, who
are meeting in Halifax, Canada, to launch a campaign to provide schooling for
67 million children who cannot get any education. He also hopes to persuade
them to take steps to reduce hunger and disease, and to provide more aid. On
Wednesday in London he privately met Paul O'Neill, the US Treasury Secretary,
to try to get him to sign up to a "Marshall Plan" for the world's poorest
countries - after first seeking advice from the rock star Bono. Mr Brown
acknowledges that the U2 singer - who has helped to convince President Bush to
increase aid, and has recently accompanied Mr O'Neill on a tour of Africa - is
particularly "effective" in persuading the US administration to take action.
Mr Brown, who has a long-standing personal commitment to tackling Third World
poverty, accepts that the failure of the talks in Bali - the final
negotiations to prepare for a special Earth Summit in Johannesburg in August -
was a serious setback. But he insists there is an unprecedented opportunity
for "a new deal between the developed and developing world". Under the deal,
he says, rich countries would provide "vastly increased resources" in aid to
poor countries in return for measures to tackle corruption and poverty and to
open up their markets to trade and investment. "This generation has the power,
resources, technology and science to deliver the world from poverty," he said
before his meeting with Mr O'Neill last week. "But, at the end of the day, it
is going to come back to the political will of individual countries to take
action." At today's meeting, Mr Brown will urge his colleagues to back a new
World Bank plan to fast-track aid to 23 countries - containing more than half
of the 113 million children now out of school in the Third World - in return
for plans to increase primary education. He also wants them to take similar
steps to tackle avoidable diseases - mainly from drinking dirty water - that
kill 10 million children in poor countries every year, one of the main issues
that will be on the table in Johannesburg. And he wants rich countries to make
long-term commitments to double their aid.
31. AFRICAN NATIONS
FACE TOUGH WAR AGAINST DESERTIFICATION
Xinhua News Agency
16 June 2002
Internet:
http://library.northernlight.com/FB20020616710000019.html?cb=0&dx=1006&sc=0#doc
LAGOS, Jun 16, 2002
(Xinhua via COMTEX) -- To African countries, the celebration of the 8th World
Day to Combat Desertification and Drought due on June 17 means that they face
a more tough war against the scourge for sustainable development on the
continent. According to the United Nations Convention to Combat
Desertification and Drought (UNCCD), desertification is land degradation in
arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas resulting from various factors,
including climatic variations and human activities. United Nations
Secretary-General Kofi Annan has warned that desertification now threatens the
livelihood of more than a billion people living in over 110 countries
worldwide. "Every year, an estimated 42 billion U.S. dollars in income and 6
million hectares of productive land are being lost because of desertification,
land degradation and declining agricultural productivity," Annan said. Annan
pointed out that desertification will be among the most important issues to be
discussed at the World Summit for Sustainable Development in August-September
2002 in South Africa. Desertification has its greatest impact on the African
continent. A UNCCD report said that 325 million African people, representing
nearly half of the African population are threatened by desertification.
Racked by frequent and severe droughts, two thirds of the continent's land is
desert or dry lands. Many African countries are land-locked, have widespread
poverty, need external assistance, and depend heavily on natural resources for
subsistence, the UNCCD said. Africa's desertification is strongly linked to
poverty, population and food security. In many African countries, combating
desertification and promoting development are virtually one and the same due
to the social and economic importance of natural resources and agriculture.
"There is a complex cause-effect relationship between desertification,
population growth and poverty. Poverty is both a cause and a consequence of
land degradation, and the poor are both agents and victims of the process,"
the UNCCD report said. Food security also is put at risk when people already
living on the edge of facing severe droughts and other calamities. In the last
year alone, thousands of people in eastern Africa had to abandon their lands
when drought rendered farming unsustainable. In west Africa due to growing
population every year, local residents have little choice but to over-exploit
the land along the southern fragile fringe of the Sahara desert to meet their
domestic needs. As an aftermath, the desert is fast encroaching. Studies
indicated that Nigeria is yearly losing about 350,000 square meters of its
productive land mass to desert encroachment. Local experts warned that if
urgent and drastic measures are not taken to fight the headache, it will be
too late when the catastrophe crops up one day in Africa, where more than half
of the continent's arable land has been lost to desertification. Serving as
the foundation for desertification control initiatives, affected African
countries have evolved National Action Programs (NAP) respectively for
sustainable development with the participation of non-governmental
organizations (NGOs). To ensure the NAPs against desertification as top
priority, many countries have done their utmost to promote an enabling
environment by adopting appropriate, legal, political, economic, financial and
social measures. These countries include Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde,
Chad, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Mali, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, Swaziland, Tanzania,
Tunisia, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Under the NAP in collaboration with the UNCCD,
Nigeria has financed the shelter belt project, which involved the planting of
some 150 million trees along a length of 1,500 kilometers and a width of 1
kilometer as green "Great Wall" against further desertification. Recognizing
the importance and necessity of international cooperation and partnership in
combating desertification, sub- regional Action Programs have also been
launched. The sub-regional projects include the Permanent Inter-State
Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS) for the West, the
Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) for the East, and the
Southern African Development Community (SADC) for the South. African nations
are also developing a regional action program for establishing networks so as
to promote the integrated management of Degradation prone lands on the
continent. Meanwhile, the African nations called for the developed countries
to offer the poorest continent capacity building and financial support against
desertification at all levels within the framework of sustainable
development. Analysts also say it is time for the international community to
use the opportunity provided by this year's theme of "Land Degradation" to
drum up international support for the institutionalization of a global fund on
desertification. "The fight against desertification is fundamentally a fight
against poverty said Hama Arba Diallo, executive secretary of the UNCCD
secretariat. As Africans look forward to a successful celebration, the real
work still lies ahead though it has a good start. "We will continue out war
against the scourge of desertification by taking careful and friendly actions
which each of us must take and then address ourselves to our common task of
preserving our planet," said one African leader.
32. BALI PREPCOM
HIGHLIGHTS NEED FOR STRONGER POLITICAL LEADERSHIP TO PUT SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT INTO ACTION
United Nations
15 June 2002
Internet:
http://www.johannesburgsummit.org/html/whats_new/feature_story15.html
15 June, New York
Round-the-clock negotiations during the Bali PrepCom produced agreement on
three quarters of the final implementation document for the World Summit on
Sustainable Development, yet special efforts will be needed to bridge the
remaining differences to make the Summit a success. Speaking at the closing
plenary session, representatives from developing and developed countries vowed
to continue to work toward a satisfactory outcome at the Summit, which will be
held in Johannesburg from 26 August-4 September. Calling the negotiations a
complex, difficult, and stressful process, Venezuelan Minister of Environment
and Natural Resources, Ana Elisa Osario, said the Group of 77which represents
more than 130 developing countrieshad made significant compromises and
concessions in order to reach agreement in Bali, but in the end, felt there
was a lack of reciprocity from its negotiating partners. In particular, she
said the G-77 would not allow a rollback of earlier commitments, had not lost
hope for the Summit. "We still have the willingness to work toward
Johannesburg." The European Union also said it would remain engaged in the
Summit process. Spanish Environment Minister Jaume Matas said the European
Union was prepared to table new proposals to break the remaining impasse. "We
are committed to moving from words to action." Although Matas said there were
significant agreements that were already reached, and the number of disputed
provisions had been reduced, the talks in Bali had not met expectations. "We
have come to Bali to seek concrete agreements with targets and timetables that
could save lives and guarantee sustainable development. We have not achieved
that, or as much as we wished." United States Under Secretary of State for
Global Affairs, Paula Dobriansky, said the difficulties of the deliberations
should not be a surprise, considering the task at hand. "Even though we have
not been able to agree on every part of the text, I welcome the fact that we
have not tried to paper over differences of opinion or avoid tough issues by
adopting vague and what could constitute "diplomatic" language." Planned as an
"implementation Summit," the Johannesburg Summit is intended to find ways to
generate actions that bring about real improvement in peoples lives and the
natural ecosystems that support them. The plan of action under negotiation in
Bali will be only one of the Summit's outcomes, and will be accompanied by a
political declaration that will be adopted by world leaders, and by
partnership initiatives by and between governments, citizen groups, and the
private sector to carry out the commitments that governments agree upon. It
was a bittersweet ending for the Bali PrepCom, where countries had already
agreed on a host of actions needed improve living conditions for billions of
people and to protect the environment, but could not agree on a range of
provisions concerning time-bound targets and the means of implementation for
the programme of action, which include contentious trade and finance issues.
Johannesburg Summit Secretary-General Nitin Desai said the Bali PrepCom had
actually achieved a great deal, pointing out that far more of the outcome
document for the Summit has been agreed upon that ten years ago at this stage
for the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. But he said the negotiations has gone
as far as they could in Bali, and that the remaining differences were over
difficult issues that required political solutions at a higher level. He urged
countries to work, between Bali and Johannesburg, to create "the political
space" that is needed in order to resolve the outstanding issues. PrepCom
Chairman Emil Salim, who tried to forge a completed consensus in Bali, said he
was disappointed that agreement on a finalized text could not be reached, but
noted that significant agreements had been reached in Bali. "This is not the
end of the road," Salim said. "It is the beginning." He noted that
negotiations for most major international conferences, with the exception of
the International Conference on Financing for Development in Monterrery,
Mexico, are almost never completed before the event. In the Bali negotiations,
countries agreed to "strongly reaffirm" their commitment to the Rio Principles
and the implementation of Agenda 21, the results of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit.
Countries also committed themselves to achieving the goals of the United
Nations Millennium Summit, which include, among others, a commitment to halve
the proportion of people living on an income of less than $1 a day by 2015.
But there are still many areas of disagreement. While most countries have
called for the establishment of new targets and timetables for a host of
issues, such as for providing proper sanitation, increasing the share of
renewable energy, reducing the use of toxic chemicals, and restoring fish
stocks, other countries maintain that present efforts should be geared to
meeting the targets and timetables that are presently outstanding. There are
also disagreements over the use of the phrase "common but differentiated
responsibilities," a term adopted in Rio to delineate the idea that although
all countries shared the same goals and objectives, they had vastly differing
capabilities and resources to achieve them. Resolution of the outstanding
issues including official development assistance, the elimination of
subsidies, follow-up of Monterrey and Doha, and further replenishment of the
Global Environment Facility have been left for Johannesburg.
33. ENVIRON
ASSESSMENT REPORT NEXT WEEK
The Frontier Post
15 June 2002
Internet:
http://frontierpost.com.pk/home.asp?id=20&date1=6/15/2002
ISLAMABAD: Country
Assessment Report for the forthcoming World Summit on Sustainable Development
(WSSD) to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa from August 26 to September 4
this year is being finalized by the Ministry of Environment, Local Government
and Rural Development, said a press release on Friday. The WSSD is being
billed as the largest UN gathering and more than 100 heads of state and 60,000
delegates are expected to attend. The entire global community is preparing
for the summit, which aims to provide a workable agenda for sustainable
development to the World. Pakistan Government also attaches great importance
to this summit and a high level delegation led by Barrister Shahida Jamil,
Federal Minister for ELGRD would be participating in the meeting and
presenting the country assessment report of Pakistan which take stock of the
progress made in Environment and development since Rio, 1992 and suggest
future strategies for sustainable Development in Pakistan. A National Steering
Committee under the chairpersonship of the Minister of Environment is
supervising and guiding the preparatory process for WSSD. An executive
committee for monitoring and in house preparation comprising of relevant
stakeholders in the public, private and civil society representatives is also
working on the regular basis. The next meeting of the steering committee is
scheduled for the coming week, and the representatives of all the important
civic organizations and NGO's working on environment will be participating in
it to give their input for the country assessment report. Meanwhile, a high
level delegation led by Barrister Shahida Jamil, Federal Minister for
Environment would participate in the "World Summit on Sustainable Development"
(WSSD) to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa from August 26- September 4.
The Minister will present the country assessment report of Pakistan summit
which will take stock of the progress made in Environment sector since Rio,
1992 and suggest future strategies for sustainable Development in Pakistan.
34. EXECUTIVE
SECRETARY CALLS FOR FINANCIAL COMMITMENT FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE UNITED
NATIONS CONVENTION TO COMBAT DESERTIFICATION
United Nations
Convention to Combat Desertification and Drought
14 June 2002
Internet:
http://www.unccd.int/publicinfo/pressrel/showpressrel.php?pr=press14_06_02
Bonn, 14 June 2002 - On the eighth anniversary of the adoption of the United
Nations Convention to Combat Desertification and Drought (UNCCD), Mr. Hama
Arba Diallo, executive secretary of the convention's secretariat, called on
the international community to make financial commitments to enable countries
affected by land degradation to implement the UNCCD. "In order for the
convention to move from preparation to the implementation of national action
programmes, predictable financial resources are imperative," he noted. He
pressed the leaders of the international community meeting at the World Summit
for Sustainable Development (WSSD) in August-September 2002, to follow on
their pledges made ten years ago at the United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro. "Desertification will
be among the most important issues to be discussed at the World Summit on
Sustainable Development,"said Mr. Kofi Annan, the United Nations Secretary
General. The Draft Plan of Implementation for the World Summit on Sustainable
Development called on the Second Assembly of the Global Environment Facility
(GEF) to consider "making GEF a financial mechanism of the United Nations
Convention to Combat Desertification." As the only convention to stem
directly from a recommendation of Agenda 21, the United Nations Convention to
Combat Desertification is a key instrument in addressing both poverty
alleviation and environmental protection within the framework of sustainable
development. "The fight against desertification is fundamentally a fight
against poverty," said Mr. Diallo. It is the only legally binding universal
convention to address desertification and drought with a focus on sustainable
development, which has since reached maturity and become truly global in
reach. A fifth regional annex for Central and Eastern Europe, adopted in 2000,
entered into force in September 2001, complementing the existing four annexes
for Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia, and the Northern
Mediterranean. Desertification affects over 110 countries. "Every year, an
estimated $42 billion in income and 6 million hectares of productive land are
being lost because of desertification, land degradation and declining
agricultural productivity," Mr. Annan said. Over 135 million are at risk of
being driven from their land as a result. The World Day to Combat
Desertification and Drought will be celebrated worldwide on June 17. Most of
the 179 countries Parties to the convention will launch activities such as
round-table discussions, field trips and media campaigns, at the national and
local levels involving governmental and non-governmental organizations, the
media, and other stakeholders
35. NEW BOOK
DOCUMENTS GROWING COOPERATION BETWEEN UN AND BUSINESSES
United Nations
14 June 2002
Internet:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=3936&Cr=global&Cr1=compact
14 June - "Building
Partnerships" - a new book which documents the growing cooperation between the
UN and the business community in tackling a range of development challenges -
was launched today by the United Nations and the Prince of Wales International
Business Leaders Forum. The new publication "offers the most comprehensive
review of collaborative arrangements between the entire UN system and the
business community that we have undertaken so far," Shashi Tharoor, the
Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, told a
press briefing held in conjunction with the launch. "It is not only a source
of rich information about particular projects and initiatives that are
increasingly taking shape throughout the UN, it is also a handbook for
practitioners explaining what can be done and how it can be done in
cooperation to implement broader UN goals." Mr. Tharoor said the book told the
story of how the UN was learning to work with the private sector while
developing innovative ways to make business part of the solution to the kinds
of problems faced by the world - a priority of Kofi Annan's tenure at the
Organization's helm. "I would go so far as to say that the Secretary-General
has made this a central theme of his efforts to renew the Organization, and
this book shows that a great deal is happening," the Under-Secretary-General
said. Georg Kell, Executive Head of the Global Compact, agreed. "Kofi Annan's
leadership has been crucial; right from the beginning of his first term he has
made very clear that opening up the Organization to non-State actors -
business, labour, NGOs [non-governmental organizations], civil society at
large - is essential if we are gain relevance in the twenty-first century."
Mr. Kell said managing the UN's new involvement with businesses had presented
numerous challenges, not least safeguarding the world body's integrity and
image. "We also had to learn how to distinguish between different forms of
engagement... to distinguish between philanthropy on the one hand and
strategic engagement around values - both of which require totally different
approaches and both of which, we believe, should be separated by a firewall,"
he said. The book's author, Jane Nelson of the Prince of Wales International
Business Leaders Forum, pointed to the "growing focus on corporate
citizenship, good corporate governance, and corporate responsibility." The
book, she said, documented innovative approaches to tackling global problems.
She cited the example of MTV, "which reaches millions of young people around
the world, [and] has a big programme working with UNAIDS about getting
messages out about HIV/AIDS from the young people themselves."
See Also:
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2002/pi1425.doc.htm
36. PREPARATION
CONFERENCE FOR JOHANNESBURG FAILS ON NEW RENEWABLE ENERGY AND SANITATION
TARGETS
Edie weekly summaries
14 June 2002
Internet:
http://www.edie.net/gf.cfm?L=left_frame.html&R=http://www.edie.net/news/Archive/5628.cfm
The fourth and final
preparation conference (Prep Com IV), held in Bali in the run up to the World
Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg in August, consisted
of a minority of nations blocking firm commitments on issues such as renewable
energy and sanitation, according to enraged environmentalists. Governments and
the UN, however, are more optimistic about the prospects for a positive
outcome at Johannesburg. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has stated that the
Johannesburg Summit should have five main themes: increasing access to
drinking water, energy, agriculture, biodiversity and ecosystem management,
and health. According to Annan, these are issues which the world has the
technology and the resources to solve, and therefore, governments just need to
show the political will, a UN spokesperson told edie. On emerging from three
days of international ministerial talks in Bali, the final part of a
conference in which 5,000 people from 170 nations took part, UK Secretary of
State for the Environment Margaret Beckett was upbeat about the results of the
discussions. "Both developed and developing countries are now well on the way
to a successful Earth Summit in Johannesburg," she said. "Much has been
achieved here in Bali. The talks at times were tough. We were close to
achieving more," said Beckett. "We are building a global partnership to manage
the forces of globalisation so that its benefits are available to all. This is
not an easy task, as these negotiations have shown. We have to bring everyone
with us and that takes time and, frankly, a lot of talking." Non-governmental
organisations (NGOs), however, were deeply disappointed with the outcome of
the talks. "From the NGO perspective, there was considerable disenchantment,"
Stephen Turner of WaterAid - who was at the Bali conference - told edie. He
stated that Canada, Australia and Japan, led by the US had effectively blocked
any new agreements. These include an agreement on halving the proportion of
people without access to sanitation by 2015, a target to increase renewable
energy's share of the global energy market to 15% by 2010, and targets on
reducing biodiversity loss. According to Turner, the US has reasoned that
there should be no new agreements as there has been insufficient movement on
existing agreements, particularly from the governments of countries suffering
from the problems. "It's alarming that a small number of governments can block
the wishes of the majority of countries on what is such a basic human need,"
said Turner. However, the UN spokesperson pointed out to edie that there is
already a goal for increasing access to safe drinking water, agreed at the
Millennium Summit two years ago, as well as a great number of agreements also
worked out in the run-up to Johannesburg, including those on river basin
management, and increased participation in water infrastructure management on
the local level. On the final day of the two-week conference, President of
Indonesia Megawati Soekarnoputri called for international co-operation to help
developing countries utilise resources in a sustainable manner. She pointed
out that there is a tendency to blame one another, which has become part of
any discussion on sustainable development, resulting in conflicts and
instability. Closely co-operative endeavours are the only answer, she said.
According to Nitin Desai, Secretary General of the World Summit, the process
had been 'decision by exhaustion', but a great deal had been achieved.
However, political will to find common ground on the outstanding issues is
needed. That is the challenge between now and Johannesburg, he said.
37. SKEPTICS TAG
UPCOMING WORLD SUMMIT AS ANOTHER TALKSHOP
SABC News
14 June 2002
Internet:
http://www.sabcnews.com/world/summit/0,1009,36429,00.html
The WSSD takes place
in Jo'burg later this year. As South Africa prepares for the World Summit in
August, more and more skeptics are viewing the upcoming summit as a fruitless
talkshop, which will produce no real action plan to save the environment and
to eradicate poverty. The Summit is already billed as the biggest UN summit
ever and meant to gather more than 100 heads of states and 60 000 delegates -
all there with one goal - to help save the planet and at the same time half
the number of people living in hunger by 2015. Critics, however, are not
convinced that countries are serious about reaching that goal. At the last
preparatory talks held in Bali, Indonesia, negotiations ended in a deadlock on
the last day when ministers could not agree on key issues such as trade and
finance. Rich countries like the US, Canada and Australia are accused of
stalling environmentally friendly policies. Environmentalists say no solution
will be reached in Johannesburg while countries try to selfishly protect their
own interests. Jessica Wilson, an environmentalist, says: "I do not think
there is a serious commitment." Environmentalists also disagree with the
content of the so-called Bali commitment. This document forms the basis of the
action plan for future sustainable development. They question the emphasis on
increased production and favour a more localised, people-centred approach. The
South African government members will be using various global meetings over
the next few weeks to promote the Johannesburg Summit.
38. THE WORLD
SUSTAINABILITY SUMMIT TO PRACTICE WHAT IT PREACHES
Edie weekly
summaries
14 June 2002
Internet:
http://www.edie.net/gf.cfm?L=left_frame.html&R=http://www.edie.net/news/Archive/5632.cfm
This summer, South
Africa will showcase the largest environmental clean-up scheme to tens of
thousands of business leaders, government officials and members of
non-government organizations from around the world. The "Zero Waste" event
will take place at the Johannesburg World Summit, which will be supported by
The United Nations as well as the World Summit on Sustainable Development
(WSSD) and the South African Government. The primary aim of the campaign is to
divert 90% of the waste from being sent to landfills and to make sure none is
sent to incinerators in order to eliminate POPs, such as dioxin and furans.
The city will demonstrate South Africa's and the U.N. Environment Programme's
leadership, setting an example of an eco-conscious society and educating
thousands of its citizens and visitors alike in concepts of sustainability and
how to implement minimisation, reuse, recycling and composting practices in
their everyday life. The campaign will be led by The Global Alliance for
Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) and Earthlife Africa. "We congratulate the
WSSD sponsors and organizers for committing to Zero Waste. Holding the
decade's premier environmental gathering as a Zero Waste event provides a real
life example of the kind of solution needed to save the global environment at
this critical time," said Ann Leonard, GAIA's international co-coordinator.
Along with the measures to minimize waste from the venue, the campaign aims to
boost employment in the environmental sector, as penetration of reuse,
recycling and composting in society produces far more jobs than more
traditional forms of waste management. In addition, training to realise the
greening of the event will be provided to everyone involved in the scheme
including catering services and restaurant businesses. Although the summit has
been criticised for causing the emission of large amounts of greenhouse gas,
for example through delegates travel to Johannesburg, its organisers aim that
the event should be carbon neutral. Companies are being asked to offset their
emissions through funding the development of sustainable projects throughout
South Africa.
39. "FURTHER
COMMITMENTS IN THE WTO NEED TO ADDRESS NON-TRADE CONCERNS"
European Union
14 June 2002
Internet:
http://europa.eu.int/rapid/start/cgi/guesten.ksh?p_action.gettxt=gt&doc=IP/02/867|0|RAPID&lg=EN&display=
The Doha Ministerial Declaration includes the provision that non-trade
concerns will be duly covered in the WTO negotiations on agriculture. The
participants in the Ministerial meeting held in Rome on 14th June stressed
their determination that this commitment will be fully honoured. Every country
has a legitimate right to pursue non-trade objectives such as strengthening
the socio-economic viability and development of rural areas, food security and
environmental protection. These objectives cannot be achieved by market forces
alone. In the modalities for further commitments that will be established next
March in the WTO Agricultural Negotiations, non-trade concerns of both
developing and developed countries are elements of vital importance to be duly
taken into account in order to establish an agricultural trading system which
is fair as well as market oriented. Each country must therefore be able to
accommodate such concerns through a variety of instruments. 54 Ministers and
Representatives from Members and Observers of WTO gathered in Rome to
coordinate their views on the part that non-trade concerns should play in the
WTO negotiations on agriculture. The meeting was organised by the European
Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr. Franz Fischler, Mr. Tsutomu Takebe, Minister
of Agriculture of Japan, Mr. Kim Dong-Tae, Minister of Agriculture from the
Republic of Korea, Mr. Anil Kumarsingh Gayan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and
Regional Co-operation of Mauritius, Mr. Lars Sponheim, Minister of Agriculture
of Norway and by Switzerland, and attended by another 48 Ministers and
representatives from Members and Observers comprising developed countries,
economies in transition, custom territories and developing countries including
least-developed countries, land-locked countries and small island developing
states, all of whom have a keen interest in securing their systems of
agriculture in the context of the multilateral trading system. After the
adoption of Doha Ministerial Declaration, the negotiations on agriculture have
now entered the crucial phase of the establishment by 31 March 2003 of the
modalities for further commitments on market access, domestic support and
export competition. In this context, Ministers focused their discussion on
policy measures and instruments to address non-trade concerns, in particular
rural development, food security and protection of the environment, as well as
the scope of modalities which should be designed to duly cover non-trade
concerns, building on the outcome of the NTC Conferences held in Ullensvang,
Norway in July 2000, in Mauritius in May 2001 and in Doha in November 2001.
Ministers underlined the diversity of situations both with respect to their
priorities and production conditions, and that a one-size-fits-all approach
will not be appropriate to address non-trade concerns, but shared their
genuine interest in ensuring that further trade reform should be pursued in
harmony with the safeguard of legitimate non-trade concerns. On rural
development, while the priorities of various countries are diverse, all the
countries need to preserve or develop the economic and social environment
necessary to maintain rural population. Agricultural activity plays an
important role in this endeavour. On food security, all countries have to
ensure food security for their people, through a mixture of domestic
production, imports and, where appropriate, public stockholding. On
environment all countries reaffirmed the importance of agriculture for issues
such as conservation of biological diversity, maintenance of farmed
landscapes, clean energy and protection against disasters. Reaffirming their
commitment to strengthening the multilateral agricultural trading system
through the continuation of the reform process as foreseen in Article 20 of
the Agreement on Agriculture and the Doha Declaration, Ministers emphasised
that these non-trade concerns cannot be adequately addressed without domestic
agricultural production, and that the multilateral rules need to acknowledge
and secure, through a variety of instruments, the continued coexistence of
various types of agriculture in both high- and low-potential areas based on
each country's specific conditions and historical and cultural background. It
was also recognised that addressing non-trade concerns calls for resources and
that, for vulnerable developing countries, in particular least-developed
countries, land-locked countries, small island developing states and
vulnerable economies in transition, preferential market access is a key means
to obtaining these resources.
40. ZAYED GREENERY
DRIVE PRAISED
Gulf News
13 June 2002
Internet:
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=54217
A senior United
Nations official has praised the UAE for its environmental protection
initiatives and programmes. Dr Klaus Topfer, Executive Director of United
Nations Envi-ronment Programme (UNEP), who presented President His Highness
Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan with a memento on Tuesday, said UNEP is
impressed by UAE's initiatives for the protection of the ecology. The memento
was presented to him in recognition of his greenery drive and his efforts to
protect the environment. The UN official also visited the Environmental
Research and Wildlife Development Agency (ERWDA) offices in the capital and
held talks with the officials on the various issues. He also discussed the
partnership between the UNEP and ERWDA on the Abu Dhabi Global Environmental
Data Collection Initiative with Mohammed Ahmed Al Bowardi, ERWDA's Managing
Director. The meeting discussed the issues relating to the launching of the
initiative at the 'World Summit for Sustainable Development' scheduled to be
held in Johannesburg, South Africa from August 26-September 4. The ERWDA-UNEP
partnership will be seeking to identify other partners and collaborating
agencies, including academia and NGOs. They will also be seeking to finalise
an agreement on the mechanism for implementing the initiative and make
agreements with the funding agencies and partners. The mechanism for operation
will include the identification of collaborating centres, establishment of a
management board and the setting up of a secretariat for the initiative in Abu
Dhabi. Dr Topfer described the Abu Dhabi Initiative as bold and fundamental in
understanding the global environmental situation and in decision and policy
making with respect to environment issues, and stressed he strongly supports
the initiative and that UNEP puts its resources at its disposal. "The Abu
Dhabi Initiative is set to lay the foundations of an environmental data
collection, classification and analysis regime to be used by decision-makers
and other interested bodies." He said that during his meeting with Sheikh
Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Deputy
Chairman of ERWDA, he conveyed to him UNEP's appreciation of efforts being
exerted by the country and the President personally to achieve sustainable
development not only at the local level but at the level of developing
countries as well. The initiative serves as an innovative catalyst to mobilise
worldwide action to provide high-quality and comprehensive environmental data
that policy and decision-makers need at the macro (global/intergovernmental),
mezzo (country/regional), and micro (local) levels. It will also enhance the
co-operation and coordination between decision-makers, planners and
policy-makers at macro, mezzo and micro levels of the global community. Dr
Topfer said the initiative is the answer to all the problems the UAE has been
facing with international environmental agencies. The initiative also aims at
providing a value-added service to the world community by working with, and
building on the good works of several development and developing countries to
fill an important gap in the global structure of environmental collaboration
and decision-making for policy-makers, planners, business and NGO leaders
across countries," he added. The initiative outcomes are expected to be:
easily accessed regional environmental quality data sets, annual environmental
reports and regional review meetings, tools to facilitate discovery,
integration, assessment, transaction cost reduction, and use of the
environmental data sets, searchable and interactive manuals, data catalogues
and Internet websites, shared information on data quality and finally tools to
reduce transaction costs. The anticipated benefits to be derived from the
initiative are: better foundations for critical environmental decision-making,
enhanced quality and usability of environmental data and indicators, concise
and rational understanding of the global, regional and national environmental
context, improved capacity building and cooperation for environmental data
collection and analysis, ability to do comparative analysis and to identify
environmental best practices and strengthened environmental data systems and
policy making around the world.
41. MCCONNELL
ATTACKED OVER SOLO VISIT
The Scotsman
12 June 2002
Internet:
http://www.thescotsman.co.uk/index.cfm?id=639862002
JACK McConnell, the
First Minister, came under attack for pulling rank last night after it emerged
he has decided to go to the world environment summit in Johannesburg, South
Africa, this summer, leaving his environment minister and external affairs
minister at home. The Scottish Executive announced that Mr McConnell will fly
to South Africa in August to take part in the World Summit on Sustainable
Development as part of a big British delegation. His decision to travel to
the event with Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, and British Cabinet ministers
represents a major development for the Scottish Executive because it is the
first time a First Minister will have represented Scotland at an international
summit of such importance. But Mr McConnell's visit was ridiculed by
opposition parties, who claimed he had deliberately elbowed aside two senior
Liberal Democrats to secure the trip for himself. Jim Wallace, the Deputy
First Minister, is also the minister responsible for external affairs, but
will not join the First Minister in Johannesburg.
Ross Finnie, the
other Liberal Democrat in the Cabinet, is the minister with responsibility for
the environment, but he will not be going either. A spokesman for the Scottish
Conservatives said: "It would be nice to think that Jack has just realised
that the Liberal Democrats have achieved nothing in the Executive and this is
why he has elbowed them aside. "But it is far more likely that he just wants
to hog the limelight for himself by going on jaunts around the world." An SNP
spokesman added: "This is another example of the First Minister sidelining his
Liberal Democrat coalition partners, it just shows how little power they
really have." However, a Scottish Executive spokeswoman insisted last night
that both Mr Finnie and Mr Wallace had agreed that Mr McConnell should go. She
said that the event was a major world summit and it was appropriate for the
First Minister to represent Scotland . The spokeswoman said: "In February,
Jack McConnell made a major environment speech when he said he wanted Scotland
to be represented at the highest level at the summit. "He is going because of
the importance he attaches to the environment. As part of that, he also now
chairs the Cabinet sub-committee on sustainable development. "Both Ross Finnie
and Jim Wallace said he should go to the summit. They have agreed to it," she
added. The Executive realise that Mr McConnell's decision to join a major
British delegation for the first time at such a big international event will
raise questions about the cost to the taxpayer. The Executive spokeswoman
stressed, however, that Mr McConnell will be travelling with a small number of
officials - probably just one or two - and no other ministers, in an effort to
keep the cost to the taxpayer as low as possible. The exact details have yet
to be sorted out between the Department for the Environment and Rural Affairs,
the Foreign Office and Downing Street. However, it appears at this stage as if
the Prime Minister will lead the delegation which will also include Jack
Straw, the Foreign Secretary, Margaret Beckett, the Rural Affairs Secretary,
and Michael Meacher, the environment minister. The London-based ministers are
expected to take between 30 and 40 officials with them for the ten-day summit,
but probably only Mr Meacher and Ms Beckett will stay for the whole time. Mr
McConnell is expected to stay for just two or three days, but one of his
officials may stay for the duration.
TRAVEL COSTS
EXECUTIVE TO FOOT BILL
THE Scottish
Executive will be expected to meet the cost of Jack McConnell's trip to
Johannesburg - probably about £5,000. This will include flights to
Johannesburg from London for the First Minister and his two officials with the
rest of the UK delegation, accommodation and expenses. The British government
will almost certainly charter a plane to take the 40 or 50-strong delegation
plus the media to the summit. This will keep the cost of return flights down
to about £700 or less per person. The Sandton Sun Hotel is the best in
Johannesburg and if Mr McConnell is not staying in the British High Commission
with the Prime Minister and other senior ministers, he and his officials may
end up there. The hotel usually charges about £100 a night for accommodation
but is expected to triple its prices for the duration of the conference.
42. UN HUNGER SUMMIT
A WASTE OF TIME, BRITAIN SAYS
The Scotsman
12 June 2002
Internet:
http://www.thescotsman.co.uk/index.cfm?id=640602002
BRITAIN has condemned
a United Nations' World Food Summit as a waste of time and said the
international body would have to get its act together if it was serious about
reducing global hunger. Yesterday's broadside followed UN dismay at the
failure of top world leaders to attend this week's summit, which was called to
to urge governments to honour a 1996 pledge to halve world hunger by 2015.
While dozens of developing world leaders have poured into Rome for the
conference, most wealthy Western countries only sent their agriculture
ministers. Britain did not even do that, only dispatching a junior official to
watch proceedings. "I'm not sending a minister because I don't expect it to be
an effective summit," said Clare Short, the International Development
Secretary, laying into the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). "It's
an old-fashioned UN organisation and it needs improvement," she said in an
interview with BBC radio in London on the second day of the four-day UN
meeting. UN officials said Western powers did not send top level delegations
because they were indifferent to the hunger issue. But summit's standing has
not been helped by the appearance of Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwe president,
demanding help to deal with rising hunger while brazenly ignoring the impact
of his own regime's assault on commercial farms. The FAO hopes the Rome
gathering will encourage wealthy nations to open the purse strings and work
harder to cut the number of hungry people to 400 million by 2015 from today's
estimated figure of 800 million. But while delegates renewed their pledges to
this goal, they have failed to old arguments over how to go about it. A senior
UN official urged leaders yesterday to stop talking about hunger and start
fighting it, warning that up to 13 million people faced starvation in southern
Africa without emergency food aid. "This crisis, coinciding as it does with
the summit, challenges us right now to demonstrate to those suffering across
the region that we will not forget them," said James Morris, head of the UN
aid agency, the World Food Programme (WFP). The WFP says a mix of drought,
poor government and the AIDS pandemic has wrought havoc with harvests in six
African countries. "This is the largest single food crisis in the world
today," Mr Morris told a news conference. He added that the best and cheapest
way of tackling the problem of global hunger was to target the estimated 300
million children who go to bed each night underfed. "We can feed a child in
school for 19 US cents [13p] a day. For a very small investment we can change
a child's life," he said. Ms Short said, by contrast, that if the UN body
improved food management in developing nations the hunger problem would ease,
arguing that many hungry people lived in countries that had enough food. "The
FAO needs to tighten up its act," she said. The results of the Rome summit
will go forward to the agenda of the World Summit on Sustainable Development
in Johannesburg in August, dubbed "Earth Summit Two". But the failure last
week to agree to a draft action plan for the South African event only added to
scepticism over grand gatherings where actions rarely seem to live up to the
ideals. Led by Cuba, developing countries yesterday demanded greater access to
international markets and an end to export subsidies in rich countries, saying
free, fairer trade was the only way to end hunger. They called on the United
States, the EU and other exporting nations to give poor farmers a chance. "We
are poor. You are rich. Level the playing field!" said Teofisto Guingona,
foreign minister of the Philippines. "Do not impose subsidies for exports. Do
not dump products that kill our farmers and fisherfolks," he said. "Do not in
the name of free trade deny us time to integrate our resources, and deny us
access to your rich markets." The issue of freer markets has dominated the
summit's official agenda. The EU pushed for the summit to consider food a
human right. Despite Ms Short's approach, several EU leaders have acknowledged
that high export subsidies, in the EU and elsewhere, were part of the world's
hunger problem.
43. FINAL WSSD PREP
MEETING BREAKS DOWN OVER TRADE AND FINANCE
Bridges Weekly Trade Digest Volume 6 Number 22
12 June 2002
Internet:http://www.ictsd.org/weekly/02-06-12/story1.htm
Delegates at the
fourth and last official preparatory meeting (PrepCom IV, 27 May - 7 June,
Bali, Indonesia) for the forthcoming World Summit on Sustainable Development
(WSSD, 26 August - 1 September) fell far short of their intended goal to
finalise the Plan of Implementation for WSSD, with issues related to trade and
finance, globalisation and the relationship between multilateral environmental
agreements and WTO rules proving to be some of the biggest stumbling blocks
(see BRIDGES Weekly, 4 June 2002). Many civil society groups, however,
welcomed delegates' failure to finalise the text, saying that an unfinished
text was better than a bad deal. Trade and finance discussions move behind
closed doors In an effort to broker agreement on the remaining bracketed (i.e.
unresolved) sections of the Plan of Implementation, negotiations for most of
the second week were conducted in a 'Friends of the Chair' contact group in
which the so-called "Vienna rules" were applied. These procedures held that
only one person spoke on behalf of each interest and/or regional group,
including, inter alia, the US, EU, and G- 77/China. New Zealand and
Switzerland alternated, as did Canada and Australia This format was introduced
following strong protest from New Zealand, Switzerland, Canada and Australia
who had reportedly not been invited to some sessions. NGOs were not permitted
to attend these meetings. Discussions on section V (Globalisation) and trade
and finance issues in section IX (Implementation) were held in a separate
group involving the US, EU and G-77/China and other countries, which was also
closed to NGOs.Trade and finance discussions end in deadlock Several attempts
were made to find compromise language on trade and finance in the
Implementation section, including a facilitator's text put forward by chair of
the contact group on trade and finance John Ash on 5 June, a compromise text
prepared jointly by EU and G-77/China ministers on 6 June and a text compiled
by Mohammed Valli Moosa (South Africa) on 7 June. While the Moosa text was
tentatively accepted by the G-77/China and supported by Mexico, Norway and New
Zealand, the EU objected to the provision on subsidies, favouring language to
"encourage reform of subsides" rather than "to reduce or phase out, as
appropriate". For its part, the US rejected the Moosa text as it was,
proposing over a dozen amendments. The G-77/China, however, refused to enter
into further negotiations, arguing that the text already represented the
bottom line and that they were not prepared to make any more concessions.
Following the collapse of the talks, discussions in the lead-up to and at WSSD
will be based on the 5 June facilitator's text. NGOs largely blamed the
intransigent position of the US, Australia and Canada -- in particular their
refusal to move beyond the agreed language of Doha and Monterrey -- for the
failure to reach a compromise, with some describing these three countries as
the "Axis of Environmental Evil". Others also speculated that developing
countries held out for so long because they had considerably more bargaining
power in the WSSD context than during negotiations in Doha and Monterrey. That
is, developing countries had little to gain from an agreement that imposed
additional environment-related obligations and conditions on how to use ODA
and conduct trade, but did not provide additional financial support and/or
increased trading opportunities. Some furthermore noted that the lack of
progress reflected the difficulties in integrating the three pillars of
sustainable development, with little coordination between those dealing with
trade (Doha), finance (Monterrey) and environment/foreign affairs (PrepCom
IV). One small gain on fisheries Civil society groups claimed one small
victory in the area of trade and environment when delegates agreed to
"eliminate subsidies that contribute to illegal, unreported and unregulated
fishing and to over- capacity". As some pointed out, this language goes far
beyond the mandate on fisheries subsidies agreed at Doha which simply
instructs WTO Members to begin negotiations with the "aim to clarify and
improve WTO disciplines on fisheries subsidies". These negotiations are
currently underway in the WTO Negotiating Group on Rules (see BRIDGES Trade
BioRes, 16 May 2002) Some movement on WTO-MEA relationship While delegates
succeeded in finalising the use of the contentious term 'coherence' in most
paragraphs of section X on an "Institutional Framework for Sustainable
Development" (see BRIDGES Weekly, 4 June 2002, referenced above), they failed
to agree on a formulation in the context of the relationship between
multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) and WTO rules. In the end,
various options remained in the text, including coherence, complementarity,
coordination, no hierarchy and mutual supportiveness between the rules of the
multilateral trading system and MEAs. Delegates did, however, agree on a
formulation with regard to the Convention on Biological Diversity and
agreements related to trade and intellectual property rights, settling on
"enhancing synergy and mutual supportiveness". The MEA-WTO issue will again be
taken up in Johannesburg as part of the implementation text and is also
expected to be proposed as an element in the political declaration by the EU.
Where to go from here? Informal talks on trade and finance issues are expected
to be held in New York in July. Also, a pre-summit meeting -- most likely
symbolic rather than substantive -- has been scheduled for the end of June in
Brazil to muster political support for WSSD (see BRIDGES Weekly, 4 June 2002,
referenced above). In addition, PrepCom Chair Emil Salim (Indonesia) was
nominated to conduct further informal consultations in the lead-up to WSSD,
including preparing elements for a political declaration to be released later
this month. With less than three months to go until WSSD, much work remains to
be done to resolve the last outstanding issues. In the final plenary, the EU,
supported by Mexico, stressed the importance of a "substantial chapter on
globalisation" while G-77/China named new and additional financing and
increased market access in their list of priorities for WSSD. Some suggested
that the current impasse might be resolved by taking the trade and finance
provisions out of the implementation document and moving them into the
political declaration. One observer also suggested that countries should not
try and cover all trade and finance issues, but rather restrict themselves to
their key priorities, focusing in particular on the relevant provisions in
Agenda 21 that have not yet been implemented. In the lead-up to WSSD, civil
society groups are likely to use the current deadlock to step up their efforts
to raise awareness amongst delegates and the general public regarding the
'limits' of globalisation. As several NGO sources noted, PrepCom IV has
highlighted a growing awareness among the sustainable development community
that the "blind pursuit" of trade liberalisation needed to be checked. A
number of sources agreed that the added value of WSSD and its influence on
related discussions in other fora, including the WTO, might not lie in the
details of the texts to be adopted in Johannesburg, but rather in encouraging
the questioning of the underlying paradigms of globalisation and the
legitimisation of anti-globalisation concerns through the intergovernmental
process of WSSD.
44. STILL HOPE OF
SALVAGING SUMMIT, SAYS MOOSA
Independent Online
(South Africa)
12 June 2002
Internet:
http://www.itechnology.co.za/index.php?click_id=31&art_id=ct20020612103946954W230247&set_id=1
Environment Minister
Valli Moosa said there was still hope of salvaging the World Summit on
Sustainable Development after preparatory talks failed to come up with a draft
action plan. Pinning his hopes on informal talks to resolve differences
between parties before the major UN summit on poverty and the environment
begins in August, Moosa said South African ministers would lobby their global
counterparts hard behind the scenes to ensure the summit's success. "Of course
I'm disappointed that an agreement has not been reached," he said. "The formal
talks are over but there is much that can be done informally between now and
Johannesburg... There will be lots of political discussion." Ministers meeting
last week on Indonesia's tropical resort island of Bali failed to agree on a
draft action plan for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), to
be held in Johannesburg from August 26 to September 4. 'There is far more
consensus than disagreement' Dubbed Earth Summit 2, the conference will seek
to find ways to slash poverty and narrow the north/south income gap without
inflicting irreparable harm on the environment. The key areas in focus will
include water access and sanitation, energy use, food security, health and
biodiversity. Moosa said he was satisfied that "the broad outline is in place.
There is far more consensus than disagreement". "It is very, very usual for
preparatory committees of big UN conferences not to reach agreement
beforehand, especially taking in mind that this will be such a big summit," he
said. South Africa says more than 100 heads of state and 60 000 delegates are
expected to attend the WSSD and related meetings in Johannesburg. "I am
reasonably confident. The mood is one of wanting to reach an agreement," Moosa
said. Profits ahead of the planet's health He added that in Bali countries may
have been less compromising because it was not a "do-or-die" setting, but the
pressure in Johannesburg could force negotiators to be more accommodating and
forge a deal. Moosa said the broad lines of disagreement were between the
developed and developing world, but he did not single out any individual
country. Environmentalists have accused the US in particular of diluting the
action plan in a bid to put profits ahead of the planet's health and the fight
against poverty. On Monday Moosa slammed rich countries for subsidising their
own farmers at the expense of those from the Third World, saying the issue was
a major bone of contention ahead of the summit. "The place to negotiate this
is at the World Trade Organisation... But surely a summit on poverty
eradication should mention the lack of market access for developing world
agricultural products," he said in a statement.
45. NO EXTENSION TO
WORLD SUMMIT: MOOSA
SABC News
12 June 2002
Internet:
http://www.sabcnews.com/politics/government/0,1009,36301,00.html
Valli Moosa, the
environmental affairs minister, says he sees no need for an earlier start or
later finish to the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), set to
take place in Johannesburg later this year. Briefing the media at Tuynhuys in
Cape Town after Cabinet's fortnightly meeting today, Moosa said the WSSD,
which runs from August 26 to September 4, had "an entire week before heads of
state and government arrive". Coming 10 years after the Rio Earth Summit, the
WSSD is widely seen as a vital opportunity for international leaders to commit
their respective countries to meaningful environmental and poverty alleviation
targets.
Moosa was replying to
a question on whether the volume of work carried over from the United Nations'
final preparatory meeting for the WSSD, which finished in Bali on June 8,
would make such an extension necessary. Negotiations at the Bali conference
broke down on several key issues, with no agreement reached on large portions
of the sustainable development action plan that the UN was hoping would be
largely decided on before the WSSD started. Major sticking points included,
issues related to trade and finance, particularly access to markets and
subsidies. Moosa said he was "reasonably satisfied" with the progress made in
Bali. "It is unrealistic to expect agreement on all issues, three months
before the summit. South Africa will now continue engaging the rest of the
world in informal processes," he said. World leaders who gather in
Johannesburg in August will have the task of finishing off and ratifying the
158-point plan, which aims to achieve goals set by a UN summit in 2000. These
include cutting in half by 2015 the number of people living on less than one
dollar a day, as well as the number who are unable to reach, or afford safe
drinking water.
46. ASEAN EAGER TO
MAKE SUCCESS OF ANTI-HAZE TREATY
The Straits Times
12 June 2002
Internet:
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/asia/story/0,1870,125543,00.html?
JAKARTA - Asean
countries, fresh from signing a landmark deal to battle haze, made clear
yesterday that they would not pay lip service to the treaty, with several
member states riding on the momentum to come up with new initiatives to fight
cross-border pollution. During the Asean Ministerial Meeting on Haze in Kuala
Lumpur, member nations agreed on these proposals to tackle the pollution
problem. But environmentalists doubted whether the treaty would have any
effect on Jakarta, which because of problems of corruption and law
enforcement, has done so little to address problems of forest and land fires
that choked the region with haze over the last decade. This did not, however,
quell regional optimism in a binding agreement, signed in Kuala Lumpur on
Monday, that for the first time sets out the obligations of member states and
details the preventive measures and responses expected of them. Member states
were eager to set things in motion even though the treaty had yet to be
ratified by individual parliaments.
For the agreement to
come into force, six out of the 10 Asean countries had to ratify it. Thailand,
which has had its fair share of the haze problem over the years, was working
out contingency plans to prevent forest fires during the dry season. Sources
said that the measures are believed to include improvement in irrigation
methods, enlarging water-catchment areas, and imposing a ban on illegal
logging and encroachment by villagers into the forests. Bangkok was also
expected to streamline government agencies to better handle the problem in a
coordinated manner. A Thai official told The Straits Times: 'In the past, haze
was seen as an Indonesian problem. There is growing recognition in Asean now,
including Indonesia, that it is a problem with far-reaching regional impact.'
That appears to be reflected in some of the measures outlined in the treaty.
Under the agreement, a coordinating body - the Asean Coordinating Centre for
Trans-boundary Haze Pollution Control - will be set up to monitor air
pollution. The signatories also agreed to help the transit of personnel and
equipment through their territories to help combat haze-inducing fires in
other countries. Countries where the pollution originates must 'respond
promptly' to requests for information and consultations sought by another
country threatened by the haze. Ms Rosnani Ibarahim, the director of
Malaysia's Environment Department, said Asean countries are serious about the
pact after suffering through the haze crisis in 1997 and 1998. Perhaps an
indication of the seriousness of the discussions was the number of
unconventional ideas thrown up at the two-day ministerial meeting.
The Philippines
suggested the formation of a regional 'quick-action squadron' of fire fighters
that could be quickly sent to hot spots.
Indonesia, meanwhile,
is looking into peat soil research, as its forest fires sometimes lasted for
weeks due to the presence of a deep layer of peat on the forest floor.
Environmentalists in Jakarta maintained, however, that it was unlikely the
Indonesian government would play ball. 'The treaty is necessary for high-level
leverage against the government but in practical terms it is not significant,'
said Mr Agus Setyoso, the Deputy Director for Forestry Programmes from the
World Wide Fund for Nature.
He added that it
would not be effective on the ground given that Jakarta still had not met many
of the requirements such as supplying equipment and funding positions for the
1997 Regional Haze Action Plan. Local forestry departments in both Sumatra
and Kalimantan admit they do not have the tools or the people to fight
large-scale fires. Another problem is law enforcement. Plantation and
industrial forest owners use fires illegally to clear land and are rarely
prosecuted. Although Indonesia has access to satellite mapping showing fire
locations, under existing Indonesian laws no fire starter can be prosecuted
until the police have proven that the fire was deliberately lit by the
landowner. Indonesia's representative to the meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Ms Liana
Bratasida, who is a deputy minister for environment conservation, said that
Jakarta will 'slowly come around to doing things'.
'It will involve a
mindset change for the government, bureaucrats and people that start the
fires,' she said. 'We will have to do what other Asean countries are doing
whether we like it or not.' Singapore's Environment Minister Lim Swee Say,
voicing optimism that the treaty will work, told reporters in Kuala Lumpur:
'It is a clear expression of the political will and commitment in wanting to
strengthen our partnership within Asean to prevent the regional haze from
happening again.'
CLEARING THE AIR
During the recent
Asean Ministerial Meeting on Haze in Kuala Lumpur, member nations agreed to:
Þ
To ratify the Asean
Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution signed on Monday as soon as
possible.
Þ
To agree on a set of
interim arrangements to conduct cross-border fire and haze-disaster simulation
exercises among some member countries.
Þ
To intensify
early-warning efforts and surveillance programmes, and consider banning open
burning and strict enforcement of controlled burning in anticipation of a
slight to moderate haze between July and October due to the El Nino
phenomenon.
Þ
To set up
sub-regional firefighting arrangements in other areas besides those in Sumatra
and Borneo.
Þ
To appreciate support
provided by international organisations to its efforts in preventing and
monitoring forest fires.
Þ
To urge the World
Summit on Sustainable Development to demonstrate strong political commitment
to combat land and forest fires worldwide.
Þ
To call on the Global
Environment Facility to continue supporting its regional efforts in addressing
transboundary haze pollution through a full-sized regional programme.
47. PACT ON
AGRICULTURAL BIODIVERSITY GAINS 19 NEW ADHERENTS, UN REPORTS
United Nations
12 June 2002
Internet:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=3910&Cr=biodiversity&Cr1=
12 June –
Representatives of 19 countries attending the World Food Summit in Rome have
signed a treaty that aims to protect genetic resources for food and
agriculture, the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), which organized
the conference, announced today. The International Treaty on Plant Genetic
Resources for Food and Agriculture now has 45 signatory countries, plus the
European Community. Canada, Cambodia, Eritrea, Guinea, India, Jordan and the
Sudan have all ratified the pact, which requires ratification by 40 countries
to enter into force. Genetic resources for food and agriculture are essential
in the development of sustainable agriculture and food security, according to
FAO, which estimates that throughout history 10,000 species have been used for
human food and agriculture, while today only about 150 plant species make up
the diets of the majority of the world's people. The treaty will provide
incentives to continue conserving and developing genetic resources, which FAO
warns are being lost at an alarming rate. Covering all plant genetic resources
for food and agriculture, the treaty establishes a multilateral system for
access and benefit sharing for 64 major crops and forages important for global
food security. Together these provide around 80 per
cent of the world's
energy intake.
48. UNANIMOUS
APPROVAL OF FINAL DECLARATION FOR WORLD FOOD SUMMIT: FIVE YEARS LATER
182 COUNTRIES CALL
FOR INTERNATIONAL ALLIANCE AGAINST HUNGER
Food and Agriculture
Organisation
11 June 2002
Internet:
http://www.fao.org/english/newsroom/news/2002/6142-en.html
ROME, 11 June 2002 --
A total of 182 countries renewed their commitment to reduce by half the number
of hungry people in the world no later than 2015, according to the final
declaration of the World Food Summit: five years later. Heads of State and
Government unanimously approved the Declaration on the opening day of the
four-day Summit, calling on governments, international organizations, civil
society organizations and the private sector "to reinforce their efforts so as
to act as an international alliance against hunger." These efforts are aimed
at ending the tragedy of more than 800 million people going hungry around the
world. The countries invited the Council of the UN Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) to "elaborate, in a period of two years, a set of voluntary
guidelines to support Member States' efforts to achieve the progressive
realization of the right to adequate food." The Declaration said, "With a view
to reversing the overall decline of agriculture and rural development in the
national budgets of developing countries, in official development assistance
(ODA) and in total lending in international financial institutions, we call
for an adequate share for those sectors of bilateral and multilateral ODA,
lending by International Financial Institutions and budgetary allocations of
developing countries. "We urge developed countries that have not done so to
make concrete efforts towards the target of 0.7 percent of gross national
product (GNP) as official development assistance to developing countries." The
Declaration stresses that a "speedy, effective and full implementation of the
Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative, which should be fully
financed through additional resources, is critical." In addition, all
countries are urged to implement the outcome of the Doha Conference regarding
the reform of the international agricultural trading system. The President of
South Africa, Thabo Mbeki, said in his address that " all issues blocking the
access of developing countries into the markets of developed countries have to
be addressed. Speedy movement on this matter would yield early dividends with
regard to the achievement of the goal of sustainable food security. We cannot
go back on the gains of the Doha Development Round." The Prime Minister of
Spain, José M. Aznar López, said on behalf of the European Union that "the
time has come for a new association between governments, civil society and the
private sector aimed at the reduction of hunger in the world." A favourable
political, social and economic environment is an essential requirement in the
pursuit of food security and in combating poverty, he said. Good governance
and the rule of law should be strengthened within a democratic framework. "We
understand that the responsibility for assuring food security is primarily
incumbent on national governments, with the participation of civil society and
the private sector." The President of the European Commission, Romano Prodi,
said that the European Union is in favour of greater open markets for
agricultural products. Measures that are distorting agricultural imports
should be reduced, he said. He expressed his concern about the recently
approved United States 'Farm Bill'. The Prime Minister of Italy, Silvio
Berlusconi, said that industrialized countries have to open their markets for
developing countries. No country should be excluded from the global economy,
he said, adding that Italy has proposed a new programme to the G8 countries.
The initiative would help developing countries reform their public
administration, fiscal system, national statistics and judicial, public health
and educational systems. Countries implementing the programme could achieve a
high degree of transparency, democracy and efficiency. The President of
Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, said: "Unless significant and fundamental changes
occur in our countries, disparities in income levelsand economic growth rates
are likely to continue and to lead to social unrest. There is, however,
considerable opportunity to accelerate income growth rates in the slow-growing
countries, especially those of sub-Saharan Africa, and to raise per capita
incomes." He pointed out that Uganda not only produces enough food, but "we
also have plenty for export." Mr Museveni said that the main causes of food
shortages are wars, protectionism in agricultural products in Europe, the US,
China, India and Japan and protectionism in value-added products. The
President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, said that the international community
needs to assist developing countries in dealing with problems of food
security. Increased efforts and capacity building in agricultural research and
extension, biotechnology, pests and disease control, disposal of expired
agrochemicals and environmental conservation will help developing countries to
increase their agricultural production and productivity. The US Secretary of
Agriculture, Ann Veneman, said that the United States "is well on its way to
cutting hunger at home by half by the year 2010." She said that the United
States is the world's largest food aid donor and the leading donor responding
to the food crisis now facing southern Africa. "Today we reaffirm the US
commitment to ending global hunger," she said. "Open markets will do a far
better job of getting food to people than excuses for unnecessary trade
barriers can ever do," she said. The goal of ending hunger could be achieved
with the help of both longstanding and new technologies, including
biotechnology. The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, said
that the World Trade Organization's Agreement on Agriculture still does not
sufficiently take into account the concerns of the poor and vulnerable. "A
right-to-food approach to the Agreement would stress the human rights
principle of non-discrimination and consequently encourage affirmative action
for the poor, allowing certain special trade rules for the protection of
vulnerable people."
49. CIVIL SOCIETY
GROUPS UPSET BY SPLIT IN BALI ON TRADE AND FINANCE
Business Day via All
Africa
11 June 2002
Internet:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200206110098.html
GOVERNMENT was not
phased yesterday by the failure in Bali last week of delegates and ministers
from a string of countries to agree on key aspects of the World Summit on
Sustainable Development. But organisations representing civil society were
"disheartened", saying failure to reach agreement at the last preparatory
meeting before the summit, "raised questions" about the summit. If the
disagreements are not resolved in Johannesburg in August, it will mean that
the much-vaunted summit could well turn out to be yet another talk shop. "This
means it is imperative that civil society attends the summit to help drum up
global support for the struggle against environmental and social injustice,"
said Earthlife Africa representative Muna Lakhani.
On Saturday in Bali,
ministers and civil society representatives of more than 170 countries did not
agree on financial details of future trade and financing provisions after the
summit. They agreed only that the Johannesburg summit should focus on social
and economic development and environmental protection, remaining vague on
financing commitments and target dates.
The stalemate on
trade and financing provisions boiled down to developing nations insisting
that strategies to reduce poverty should not ignore "the basic causes of
poverty", such as unfair trade. World Conservation Union director Saliem Fakir
said a bloc of developed nations felt that Monterrey, rather than the
Johannesburg summit, was the appropriate forum for trade issues. "The US, in
particular, says don't bring the World Trade Organisation into this summit."
Environmental affairs and tourism department spokesman Onkgopotse Tabane said
developing nations insisted in Bali that to halve poverty by 2015 a resolution
taken at the Rio Summit a decade ago the causes of poverty must be heeded.
These included unfair terms of trade and lack of international market access
for agricultural products. But he said the lack of agreement was of no real
consequence for the summit. Environmental Affairs and Tourism Minister Valli
Moosa attended the summit with three other SA ministers. Fakir said lack of
agreement on a key issue could lead to "watering down of the text" at the end
of the summit for the sake of consensus. Earthlife Africa branch co-ordinator
Richard Worthington warned that pressure on heads of states at the summit was
now "much greater than before. It is very disappointing that such important
detail couldn't be settled (in Bali). It will now become a major area of focus
in August."
At the heart of the
dispute in Bali lay the developing world's contention that to bring down
poverty in the world it was necessary for developed nations to indicate "who
and how the good intentions would be financed". Worthington said since the
lofty ideals at Rio a decade ago, the US had "not come close to a quarter of
undertakings made at the time. The four developed countries have been
resisting setting targets and committing to specific programmes all along."
Lakhani, who attended part of the Bali proceedings, said the attitude of the
US, Canada, Australia and Japan was: "We don't care what happens to people, as
long as we continue to make a profit." "This is particularly shortsighted. It
is this very profit drive to the exclusion of all else that got the world in
the mess it is in at the moment in the first place." The aim of the
preparatory Bali meeting, which began two weeks ago, was to wrap-up an
official agenda and draw up a consensus document to show the need for global
partnerships to achieve sustainable development. Other aims were to
"reconfirm" the need for an integrated and focused approach and to pinpoint
the main challenges faced by the international community regarding sustainable
development. SA would continue with "informal consultations" with other
nations on the areas of disagreement in the next three months before the
summit. The setback in Bali would make for "very interesting" debate,
Worthington said.
50. WORLD ENVIRONMENT
SUMMIT PREPARATIONS IN DISARRAY
New Scientist
10 June 2002
Internet:
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992381
Preparations for the
giant World Summit on poverty and the environment later this summer are in
disarray after the failure of two weeks of pre-conference negotiations. Talks
concluded on the Indonesian island of Bali late on Friday 7 June could not
break the deadlock between rich and poor nations over how to reconcile
conflicting goals of global trade, cutting poverty and protecting the
environment. "We came to Bali to seek concrete agreement, with timetables and
targets, that could save human lives and eradicate poverty. We have not
achieved that," said Spanish environment minister Jaume Matas, representing
the European Union.
The World Summit on
Sustainable Development will take place in Johannesburg, South Africa, at the
end of August. Billed in advance as the largest ever intergovernmental
gathering, it is intended as a follow-up to the Earth Summit, held ten years
ago in Rio de Janeiro. Commitments under discussion, but not agreed in Bali,
include restoring ocean fish stocks and halving the number of people without
access to sanitation by 2015, and cutting subsidies for polluting energy
sources in rich countries by 2007. Other programmes discussed include bringing
electricity to the two billion people currently "unplugged".
NO TIMETABLES
But leading
industrial nations, led by the US, opposed all mention of global targets and
timetables. And they have refused to pledge aid money for summit programmes
without action by poor countries to fight corruption and open markets to
international trade - issues the US lumps together as "good governance".
Meanwhile, green groups charged that, in the fight between trade and aid, the
environment was being left out of the picture. "The US and its friends might
as well come from Mars for all they care about the future of the planet," said
Friends of the Earth's Daniel Mittler. Conference officials put on a brave
face. They said that 80 per cent of the plan of action, the main intended
outcome of Johannesburg, was agreed. Summit secretary-general Nitin Desai, a
veteran of eight UN conference negotiations, including Rio, said: "We are
going to the final stage with more agreed than in any of the others."
And the independent
conference newsletter, Earth Negotiations Bulletin, noted that green groups
complaining about the breakdown had earlier urged that no deal in Bali was
better than a bad deal. "By collapsing the negotiations around some of the
more emotive issues, negotiators have done the NGOs [non-government
organisations] a favour by providing a focus for their campaigns on trade,
globalisation, debt and finance for the environment and development," it said.
51. US ACCUSED OF
SINKING DEAL ON DEVELOPMENT
The Guardian
10 June 2002
Internet:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/bush/story/0,7369,730606,00.html
Urgent attempts are
to be made by the UN to try to resuscitate the world's largest ever meeting on
poverty and the environment, following the collapse of preparatory talks in
Bali at the weekend. There are less than ten weeks to go until the start of
the Johannesburg World Summit on sustainable development, which is expected to
attract more than 100 world leaders and 60,000 delegates. But the chances of
agreement between rich and poor countries before the start of the meeting is
unlikely, and governments are expected to be embarrassed by their perceived
failure to address the most pressing poverty and environmental issues.
Yesterday, the blame for the collapse of the talks was put on rich countries,
led by the US, who refused to compromise in several key areas including trade
and finance. "The US came with more than 200 delegates and tried to water
down or rewrite agreements already made and to avoid all binding commitments,"
said Oxfam International. "The grouping of poor countries was hopelessly
fragmented." Friends of the Earth International accused the US of "hijacking"
the meeting, with the help of Australia, Japan and Canada, and "trying to
force through a free-trade agenda and doing all it could to prevent
commitments." Other groups, including Greenpeace, issued a joint statement
calling the meeting "a disaster for the poor and the environment." The August
meeting in Johannesburg, a follow-up to the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, is
intended to set a development path for the world over the next decade. No new
international treaties are expected to be signed, but it is considered vital
to help reduce poverty, which in some parts of the world is on the increase.
Kofi Annan, the secretary general of the UN, has argued that the summit should
address basic areas such as water, housing and energy. At present, 800 million
people do not get enough to eat, 1.1 billion lack access to safe water, 2.4
billion have no basic sanitation, and a similar number have no electricity.
The US, by far the world's largest aid giver, continued its post-September 11
agenda in Bali by insisting that aid from rich countries should be conditional
on "good governance". Rich countries also refused to make any binding
commitments for transnational companies to become more socially responsible,
or to reform the world's trading system. But the UN and developed countries
refused to accept that the Bali talks had failed. The environment secretary,
Margaret Beckett, said: "There are many who will think that we could have done
better, and that is a view that I completely share. The differences are real -
but there is a tremendous will to close the gap. "We are building a global
partnership to manage the forces of globalisation so that its benefits are
available to all. I am confident that what we have achieved takes us down the
road to a successful summit in Johannesburg." However, many observers now
believe the best result possible from Johannesburg would be a new focus on
Africa and a series of government initiatives, backed by industry, to
introduce new technologies like solar power and computers to poor countries.
52. CONSERVATION
ESSENTIAL FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
The East African
Standard (Nairobi) via All Africa
10 June 2002
Internet:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200206100118.html
The environmental
movement has come a long way from the days when Greenpeace activists hugged
trees to demonstrate their commitment towards preserving forests. However, the
job of harmonising economic growth with social progress, protection of the
environment and natural resources remains a daunting one. Said UN Secretary
General Koffi in his World Environment Day message last week: "In 1992 at Rio
de Janeiro, the international community achieved a conceptual breakthrough. No
longer, it was hoped, would environmental issues be regarded as a luxury or
afterthought. Rather, they would become a central part of the policy making
process, integrated with social and economic development." Malawi's President
Bakili Muluzi did not attend the Rio meeting to hear the message. Had he done
so, he may have found ways of managing famine and the vagaries of weather
patterns that are now afflicting his country. Instead, he blamed the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a food crisis and a reform agenda that
has failed to improve the lives of his people. Muluzi was echoing comments
made by two of his ministers who claimed the IMF asked his government to sell
maize from strategic reserves to enable the state food agency to meet
obligations on a commercial loan. "If the IMF policies had not failed, we
would not be where we are," said Muluzi. Too bad he missed Rio and its message
regarding the need to integrate environmental issues like rainfall patterns
with policies that address social and economic development. Former Prime
Minister of Norway Gro Harlem Brundtland defined Muluzi's predicament more
concisely in her report, Our common future. Africa, she said, tragically
illustrated the ways in which economics and ecology interact destructively.
However, she added, triggered by drought, its real causes lay deeper. "They
are to be found in part in national policies that gave too little attention
too late to the needs of smallholder agriculture and to the threats posed by
rapidly rising populations." Brundtland's report mooted the sustainable
development concept. It noted that in the end, sustainable development was not
a fixed state of harmony but rather, a process of change in which the
exploitation of resources, the direction of investments, the orientation of
technological development and institutional change are made consistent with
future as well as present needs. Painful choices have to be made but in the
final analysis, the report notes, sustainable development must rest on
political will. In the political will department, Muluzi could probably have
done better for his people. When bargaining with IMF, he probably should have
been more pragmatic. When states and stakeholders come together at the World
Summit on Sustainable Development to be held in South Africa later this year,
he should be there aggressively negotiating a position for his country. So too
should other African leaders.
Many of the
environmental problems Africa faces today are unlike the ones which confronted
the continent at independence. However they are of concern when one realises
how since the 1950s and 1960s more people have fewer resources and are living
out increasingly poverty riddled scenarios. It used to be that rapid
world-wide economic development realised over the past 200 years was based on
classic economic concepts which assumed air and water were free resources and
land together with minerals were inexhaustible. Today, it is said that the
increasing toxicity of the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the earth
we walk on is so critical to the lives and well being of all of us that
political bargaining is nothing less than an exercise in negotiating the
survival of society. Several stumbling blocks loom in the path towards
sustainable development. Says Gunnar Sjostedt of the Swedish Institute of
International Affairs, Stockholm. One has to do with the rise in potential for
mass destruction- overtly through military means and, subtly, through the
effect that economic development can have on environment. A second drawback
says the editor of a book, International Environmental Negotiation, lies in
the growing disparity in social, political, economic and technological
disparity between the North and the South. If this trend continues, within 50
years, 80 per cent of the world1s population will live in grossly
underdeveloped areas. The remaining 20 per centy will be morally choking on
human poverty and physically choking on a degraded environment. The main
actors in international negotiations are national government and their agents.
It is true that African governments could not actively negotiate with colonial
powers in establishing development patterns focused mainly on economic growth,
with the export of key commodities and natural resources as a major feature.
It is also true that reinforcement in a post independence era came in the form
of aid programmes from industrialized countries and the lending policies of
the World Bank and IMF. However, in the year 2002, African governments should
be capable of developing sustainable national environment policies. They
should take advantage of their right to participate in treaty-making processes
which codify measures that control the process. While the basic treaty making
elements usually involve lawyers, it is scientists who ring the alarm when new
threats to the environment manifest themselves. In the year 2002, Africa has
many who can make valuable inputs at the pre-negotiation phase. Can Muluzi
along with other African leaders make use of these resources? Can they make
their presence felt at the forthcoming World Summit on Sustainable
Development? Political will is critical. Can they muster enough to negotiate a
way forward that takes Africa beyond famine, drought, poverty, HIV/Aid and the
range of chronic environmental problems beleaguering this continent? It is not
good form to complain and blame others after the fact.
53. TIME TO COME
CLEAN ON THE DIRTY SECRET OF STARVATION
The Guardian
10 June 2002
Internet:
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,9115,730514,00.html
This week's World
Food Summit will once again avoid the real issues If you want to see a hideous
sight in the next few days, head for Rome where the second World Food Summit
will be taking place. Held over from last year following September 11, it will
feature 60 heads of state and thousands of bureaucrats and politicians. Even
as they pledge yet again to feed the 800 million people who go hungry every
year, they will be tucking into the world's finest produce. Parma hams, wild
salmon and canapes are a world away from the roots and berries that S, a
Malawian woman I met last month, will be eating this week. She, like tens of
thousands of people in southern Africa, has completely run out of food through
no fault of her own; her life, from now until next April at the earliest,
depends on northern governments and charities sending their surplus food
across the world. The UN believes that 11 million people now face severe
malnutrition if not starvation in the region. They say four million tonnes of
grain will be needed but so far governments have pledged less than 100,000
tonnes. Thousands have already died, tens of thousands more inevitably will.
The global food
situation has barely improved since 1996 when the first food summit was held
and politicians hollowly pledged to halve the proportion of hungry people by
2015. If present trends continue, 122 million people will have died of
hunger-related diseases by then, and the UN admits it will take 60 years to
reach even that modest target. Governments, in short, have utterly failed to
address one of the world's greatest scandals. The first paradox is that the
world has never grown so much food; there is no overall scarcity and food has
seldom been so cheap. The simple equation in the politics of food today is
that hunger equals poverty. What we see now is the relatively new phenomenon
of increasing hunger amid ever-greater plenty. Just because a country produces
more food does not mean it has no malnourished people. The US grows 40% more
food than it needs, yet 26 million Americans need handouts. India's grain
silos have been bursting for the past five years and a record surplus of 59
million tonnes has been built up, yet almost half of all Indian children are
undernourished, tens of millions of people go hungry and many hundreds of poor
farmers have committed suicide. The second paradox is that farmers in poor
countries are, in this time of global plenty, abandoning agriculture because
they just cannot compete with the heavily subsidised foods which are flooding
into their countries on the back of world trade rules and IMF conditions that
force them to open up their markets. Farmers in Indonesia have been queuing to
sell their rice even as the government imports it from Vietnam. In Pakistan,
many farmers have reportedly burnt their harvests in desperation because the
prices they can command are too low. The local rice market in Ghana has
collapsed under US and Thai imports. From Haiti to Mexico and Mozambique to
Tanzania, small farmers are selling up, unable to compete with the barons of
world agriculture and unable to take advantage of the increasingly global
trade in food. The US has recently introduced a farm bill which will increase
subsidies to the largest agri-businesses by $18bn a year for 10 years. The
effect this will have on third world farmers in incalculable. It is easy to
foresee the slanging match which will take place in Rome. Much of the talk
will be how to "feed the world" and increase food production; the spectre of
more than two billion more people to feed within 30 years will be raised and
out will come all the arguments for miracle GM technologies and the further
intensification of farming. Rich countries will be admonished for not having
increased international or domestic resources for agriculture in the past five
years and for having presided over a steep decline in official aid for farming
in poor countries. Some of the most food- insecure countries will in turn be
accused of governing badly and doing little to help their people while at the
same time increasing their military expenditures. But all this will be
peripheral to the main agenda which is being pushed massively in all global
talks these days, and which led directly to last week's collapse in Bali of
the final meeting before the Johannesburg summit on sustainable development.
The US, EU and other OECD countries will ruthlessly use Rome to push the case
for further and faster economic liberalisation of markets. When it comes to
food, this means countries are being forced to surrender their food security,
to sell off their emergency stocks and to dismantle the state marketing boards
which traditionally control prices in times of need. What will not be up for
discussion in Rome, at least in the main meeting, will be the alternative to
the present system which has led to this mess. Governments will pay little
attention to the potential of fairer trading systems. No commitment will be
made to remove food and agriculture from the World Trade Organisation or to
end the dumping of cheap food in poor countries which undermines small farmers
and local markets.
No attempt will be
made to end the trading cartels which dominate the world food market and no
money will be pledged to stimulate local food production. Traditional,
publicly funded plant breeding techniques will continue to be starved of cash.
The right to food will not be addressed and the dirty secret that rich
countries profit handsomely from the daily hunger of hundreds of millions of
people will be ignored. But the delegates might like to chew on one of the
thousands of initiatives which are taking place around the world to help the
poor help themselves. In northern Darfur, one of the most drought-prone areas
of Sudan, 14,000 households have learned to increase the yields of a wide
range of crops and vegetables just by collecting water in a different way and
by introducing simple donkey ploughs and better manuring techniques.
Households have doubled the area they farm and yields have exceeded
traditional cultivation methods by up to 400%, reports the Inter-mediate
Technology Development Group. It did not take much money, it did not need
expensive new technologies or any global agreement, just a little education, a
recognition that hunger is caused by poverty and a commitment to help the
poor, rather than the rich.
54. MBEKI ENCOURAGES
COMMITTED NORTH-SOUTH PARTNERSHIP
BuaNews via All
Africa
10 June 2002
Internet:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200206100673.html
Pretoria- President
Thabo Mbeki says countries of the North and the South should work together in
solving problems to effect the necessary changes, as represented by the
continent's recovery plan, the New Partnership for Africa's Development
(Nepad).
The President was
addressing delegates at the World Food Summit in Rome, Italy, today. 'The
premise of this partnership must be an unambiguous commitment to solving
problems together, in a spirit of joint responsibility among governments and
between them and the private sector and civil society,' he said. President
Mbeki commended the United's Nation's Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO)
for its cooperation with Nepad's institutions. 'The partnership provided
technical support to help elaborate the programme of action with regard to
African agriculture,' he said. He said Africa had established a framework
through Nepad within which the World Food Summit plan of action would be
implemented. 'Nepad,' President Mbeki said, 'identifies agriculture as a
priority sector.' The move would ensure that the area is extended under
sustainable land management and reliable water control systems, increased
levels of investment in agricultural research and increased food supply while
reducing hunger.
One other aspect
includes improving rural agriculture and market access. Complimentary to this,
all issues blocking access into the markets of the developed world had to be
addressed, the President noted. 'Speedy movements on this matter would yield
early dividends with regard to the achievement of the goal of sustainable food
security.' The three-day Summit, which kicked off today, will see President
Mbeki holding bilateral talks with UN secretary-general Kofi Annan. It will
focus on reviewing advances made since the last summit held in the same venue,
six years ago. It also coincides with the envisaged food shortage in the
Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. Last week, the UN warned
of starvation in six SADC countries, including Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Zambia,
Mozambique, Malawi and Swaziland. President Mbeki said the continent was
convinced that the world had capital, technology and the human skills to
achieve the critically important goals set in the 1996 summit and the 2000
Millennium Declaration. 'What is called for is bold leadership, informed by
the noble principle of human solidarity,' said President Mbeki.
Moreover, he urged
that what was agreed upon at this year's summit must strengthen the
Johannesburg Declaration and Plan of Action of the World Summit on Sustainable
Development (WSSD) to be held in Johannesburg from 26 August to 4 September.
'The Johannesburg
Summit should affirm the centrality of agriculture and food security to the
objective of sustainable development in a meaningful way,' Mr Mbeki said.
55. UNDP RESIDENT
REP. CALLS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL CONSCIOUSNESS
The Independent
(Banjul) via All Africa
10 June 2002
Internet:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200206100192.html
The UNDP Resident
Representative has expressed an overriding need to rekindle efforts with a
view to integrating environmental issues into the development process.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of a four-day sensitization workshop on
'Sustainable Development and Multi-lateral Environmental Agreement' at the
Kairaba Beach Hotel, as part of activities commemorating World Environment
Day. Dr. John O. Kakonge said ten years after Rio Summit, it is an opportune
moment to take stock of our achievements and failures not only to improve on
future performance but also prepare for the World Summit for Sustainable
Development slated for August in Johannesburg, South Africa. He remarked that
a successful implementation of Agenda 21 presupposes a simultaneous move on
all fronts by all actors, including women, farmers, youths, civil society and
scientists. He said such efforts has to take account of the daunting
environmental challenges, including deforestation, soil erosion, the poaching
of animals, overgrazing and the concomitant loss of bio diversity.
Highlighting some areas of importance in the implementation of Agenda 21 (The
development agenda of the world for the 21st century), Dr. Kakonge expressed
the need to understand the relationship between Agenda 21 and the World Summit
for Sustainable Development (WSSD), environmental awareness campaign,
traditional environmental knowledge and the additional financial resources for
its implementation. In her keynote address, the Secretary of State for Natural
Resources, Fisheries and the Environment, Susan Waffa Ogon, said the National
Environment Management Act (NEMA) was enacted in 1994 to control and manage
environmental issues, which makes it a duty of every Gambian to maintain a
descent environment. She said the Rio Summit had helped trigger the world
community to take cognizance of the fact that sustainable management of
natural resources is a key to poverty reduction. According to her, The Gambia
Environment Action Plan (GEAP) was adopted in 1992 and it forms the main
policy framework for environmental planning and decision making. The workshop
was organised by The Government of The Gambia, The UNDP and the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP). The recommendation emanating from the workshop
will constitute an essential imput into the country paper, which will be
presented in Johannesburg.
56. DONOR-RECIPIENT
MODEL DOES NOTHING FOR THE POOR: MOOSA
BuaNews
10 June 2002
Internet:
http://library.northernlight.com/FE20020610670000090.html?cb=0&dx=1006&sc=0#doc
Pretoria, Jun 10,
2002 (BuaNews/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) -- The donor-recipient
paradigm in which the rich give handouts to the poor does nothing for real
economic development, says environmental affairs minister Mohammed Valli
Moosa.
'It is therefore not
a sustainable poverty eradication strategy,' the minister said in a
statement. He said by allowing poor countries to sell their agricultural
products in rich countries, one of the biggest obstacles to poverty would be
eradicated. 'While aid is important and must be expanded, what is far more
important is for rich countries to do business with poor countries or at least
allow producers in poor countries a fair opportunity to compete with producers
in rich countries,' he said. Minister Moosa has returned from the fourth and
final Preparatory Committee-PrepComIV- meeting in Bali, Indonesia, where
ministers from developed and developing countries had assembled. The meeting,
also attended by representatives of civil society, was aimed at providing
greater clarity on the final agenda for the upcoming World Summit on
Sustainable Development (WSSD) that will take place in Johannesburg from 26
August to 4 September. By Saturday, consensus was not reached on the 'Draft
Plan of Implementation for the WSSD'. According to Minister Moosa, main areas
of disagreement revolved around the 'economic platform'- the trade and
financing provisions of the Plan. 'Developing countries insist that a poverty
eradication strategy should not ignore the most important causes of poverty,'
he said, adding that some of those included unfair terms of trade and, in
particular, the lack of market access for agricultural products from poor
countries. He said South Africa was of the view that a summit on sustainable
development that had poverty eradication as its theme must deal with those
issues. However, Minister Moosa said it was pleasing that there was a global
consensus on the main framework for the Summit. The Summit must focus on all
three pillars of sustainable development, namely, social development, economic
development and the protection of the environment, the minister said. The
overall target of the Summit is the Millennium Development Goal of halving
poverty by 2015 and the need to agree on a concrete programme of action in the
areas of water and sanitation, energy, health, agriculture and food security,
education and biodiversity. Others include the need to agree on a global
partnership between rich and poor countries, and between governments, business
and civil society for sustainable development. 'It is becoming clearer that
the outcome of the WSSD has the potential of constituting a message of hope to
the world,' he said.
57. NEPAD MUST
SUCCEED IN OVERCOMING POVERTY: PAHAD
BuaNews via All Africa
10 June 2002
Internet:http://allafrica.com/stories/200206100679.html
Pretoria - Foreign
affairs deputy minister Aziz Pahad says it is imperative for the New
Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad) to succeed or there will be no
poverty eradication in Africa. Briefing journalists in Pretoria today on
President Thabo Mbeki's visit to Rome, Italy, to attend the World Food Summit,
Mr Pahad said the President would review South Africa's developments on food
security. President Mbeki, foreign affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma,
public enterprises minister Jeff Radebe, deputy minerals and energy minister
Suzan Shabangu, and agriculture and land affairs minister Thoko Didiza are
attending the conference.
The delegation will
also attend the meeting of the Nepad Implementation Committee. Mr Pahad said
the delegation would hold discussions pertaining to their departments' crucial
roles towards Nepad and poverty eradication. 'South Africa is still an
exporter of agricultural products, and what we are doing with Nepad is to use
this conference to promote South Africa's development in investment,
agriculture and rural development,' Mr Pahad said. He said the conference was
timely and important because the World Food Programme (WFP) estimated that
about 13 million people in Africa were facing starvation. Mr Pahad said the
conference also indicated internationally that the African leadership was
committed to eradicating poverty, achieving food security and promoting
sustainable development. Among the Southern African Development Community
(SADC) countries heavily affected by starvation are Malawi, Zimbabwe, Lesotho,
Swaziland and Mozambique, and according to the WFP, the problem is set to
worsen by the end of the year. Deputy Minister Pahad said about 2.3 million
faced starvation in Zambia, 355 000 in Mozambique, 144 000 in Swaziland, 3.2
million in Malawi and 444 000 in Lesotho. 'This matter should be given special
attention at the food conference in Rome and the position of Nepad on
agriculture is also of paramount importance,' said Mr Pahad. He said the event
was crucial for South Africa, as it would lay the basis for the forthcoming
World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) Conference and what Africa
'must do on food security in the next five years.' The World Food Summit,
which kicked off today, and ends on Thursday, is also expected to discuss
issues around market access for agricultural products, water control systems
and the increase of investment levels in agriculture.
58. UN DEVELOPMENT
CHIEF WARNS DISCORD THREATENS JOHANNESBURG SUMMIT
Associated Press
10 June 2002
Internet:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020610/ap_wo_en_po/italy_un_development_2
VENICE, Italy - An
upcoming U.N. summit on sustainable development is in danger of collapsing in
discord unless governments act quickly to ensure political commitments, a U.N.
official said Monday. World leaders plan to meet in Johannesburg, South
Africa, in August to craft a blueprint seeking to cut poverty and protect the
environment. But a preparatory session in Bali, Indonesia, ended last week
with delegates from rich and poor nations deadlocked on key issues including
aid money and how it should be spent.
"Bali was a fire
alarm for Johannesburg, but the building has not yet burned down," said Mark
Malloch-Brown, head of the U.N. Development Program. "If ... people quickly
don't regroup and start pulling some plans together, then we're going to be in
trouble," said Malloch-Brown, who joined religious leaders, scientists and
environmentalist at the final port call of a five-day voyage around the
Adriatic Sea. "We're about to enter the summer, where government officials
have shown themselves almost incapable of agreeing on anything," he said,
adding that the summit "has been timed in an unfriendly way for European
holidays."
Among the goals:
cutting in half by 2015 the number of people living on less than one dollar a
day or unable to reach or afford safe drinking water. In Bali, developing
nations complained that rich countries have not kept financial commitments
made at the U.N. Earth Summit in 1992. Wealthy nations, in turn, were wary of
setting new objections with many from the Rio summit's meeting still
unfulfilled. "That difference of opinion, if left unsolved, can blow up at
Johannesburg," Malloch-Brown said. The United States, some European nations
and the G-7 countries - the world's seven leading industrial countries - need
"a push" to make new international commitments, he added. Malloch-Brown's
agency has urged for a "credible action plan" in Johannesburg to deal with
problems in five sectors: water, energy, health, agriculture and biodiversity.
"That's going to be the real measure of success," he said.
59. 'FAILURE' OF
POVERTY TALKS ANGERS ACTIVISTS
The Observer
9 June 2002
Internet:
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/foreignaffairs/story/0,11538,730149,00.html
Crucial talks aimed
at tackling world poverty ended in anger last night, with environmentalists
branding them a 'fudge'.
The UN international
conference in Bali, designed to produce a global development blueprint for the
next decade, was condemned as a wasted opportunity that had failed the world's
poor. Negotiations were aimed at securing an action plan for the Earth Summit
in Johannesburg in August, billed as the most important environmental talks
for 10 years and expected to draw the largest-ever gathering of world leaders.
The Friends of the Earth described the outcome of the Indonesian talks as a
'foul result' for the global environment and accused governments of ignoring
Third World poverty while bowing to the demands of multinational companies.
At risk of becoming
lost are proposals to cut by half the total of 1.1 billion people without
access to safe drinking water and those living on less than $1 a day by 2015.
Craig Bennett, spokesman for Friends of the Earth, said: 'If the governments
of the world cannot work together to make the Earth Summit a success, we will
all suffer the consequences - with climate change, forest destruction, water
shortages and increasing world poverty.' However, Environment Secretary
Margaret Beckett denied the meeting had been a failure. But speaking before
her first-class flight back to the UK after a fortnight's stay at the Grand
Hyatt Hotel, she admitted: 'We didn't achieve quite as much as we could have,
given the goodwill that exists. We ran out of time.' The moves will put
further pressure on the Government to justify sending a 28-strong delegation
to Indonesia, costing the taxpayer at least £180,000. Negotiations broke down
over how to cut poverty and protect the environment, with delegates from rich
and poor nations deadlocked on issues such as aid money and how to spend it.
Former Indonesian Environment Minister Emil Salim, who chaired the conference,
said: 'The meeting has failed to reach a compromise on essential issues.'
More than 6,000 delegates, including 118 environment and economic Ministers,
had been tasked with preparing a development blueprint to be voted on in
Johannesburg.
Environmental groups
pinned much of the blame on the US, accusing it of being reluctant to accept
targets that would hit US business profits and for blocking proposals aimed at
providing money for development programmes.
60. SUMMIT PREPCOM
CLOSES IN FRUSTRATION
Environmental News
Service
8 June 2002
Internet:
http://ens-news.com/ens/jun2002/2002-06-08-01.asp
BALI, Indonesia, June
8, 2002 (ENS) - Ministerial level negotiations on the political declaration
for the World Summit on Sustainable Development have failed to yield an
agreement, particularly on issues relating to trade and finance. The remaining
unresolved text will be forwarded to Johannesburg to be dealt with at the
Summit which opens August 26. WWF, the international conservation
organization, expressed disappointment with the outcome of this last
preparatory meeting. "Conflict and disinterest has been apparent as different
nations and blocs pursue their own narrow interests at the expense of the poor
and the planet's future," the group said. Emil Salim of Indonesia who chaired
the 10th Session of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development,
known as PrepCom IV, said that 80 percent of the text has been agreed, but key
contentious issues remain.
Finance, trade,
globalization and implementation top the list of outstanding issues, along
with climate and labor standards.
"This meeting shows
we must wake up, something is not well," Salim told tired delegates in the
early hours this morning. "There are still important differences between North
and South, principal disagreements between developed and developing
countries."
"Can we close these
differences?" Salim asked. "These are the main troubles that will dictate
whether we will meet in Johannesburg and reach for consensus or not."
Ministerial level negotiations continued throughout the day behind closed
doors where discussions stalled. In his closing statement, delivered well
after midnight, Summit Secretary-General Nitin Desai of India said decisions
were being made "by exhaustion" or "by asphyxiation" in the crowded conference
rooms. U.S. chief negotiator Dr. Paula Dobriansky called for implementation
of concrete actions but came in for much criticism from environmentalists.
Agreement foundered on the question of whether or not the rich nations would
pay for implementation of pledges made 10 years ago at the UN Earth Summit in
Brazil. A deal between the European Union and the G-77/China group of
developing nations appeared likely, that would have trumped objections raised
by the United States, Canada and Australia. But even that deal stalled on the
issue of subsidies for agriculture. While contentious issues remain, Desai
reminded delegates of what they had achieved. "I have participated in eight UN
negotiations," Desai said. "We are going to the final stage with more agreed
than in any of the others."
"What is left is very
difficult and will take a great deal of work to resolve," said Desai, "work at
finding political space for compromise. What it requires is the political will
to find common ground. That is the challenge between now and Johannesburg to
find that space in the areas that have not yet been agreed." The
environmental organizations blame the industrialized countries for the failure
to reach agreement at the preparatory conference. "Bullying by rich nation
blocs has rarely been so heavily employed in international negotiations, and
seldom has so little been produced by way of concrete results," the WWF said
today.
"This meeting could
have been a step to a better world but, instead, the governments showed
neither leadership nor vision," said Kim Carstensen, head of the WWF
Delegation to Prepcom IV. "In particular the United States, Australia and
Canada have employed systems of horse trading and corridor deals," he said.
Effigy of the U.S., Canada and Australia called the "Axis of Environmental
Evil" was the focus of a protest demonstration on the beach Thursday.
Greenpeace International political director Remi Parmentier said, "The
shameful hypocrisy of the rich countries have brought this unfortunate episode
to a close, but all of the key issues are still in play for Johannesburg. It's
not too late for governments to take their responsibilities seriously and
agree a meaningful action plan in Johannesburg. They must seize the next 80
days." Greenpeace launched its Countdown to Johannesburg today, to urge a real
action plan, "which tackles poverty and the environment, and climate change,
with concrete goals, time-tables and means of implementation," the group said.
The WWF is calling on the powerful nations to re-examine the way they do
business and to take concrete action on key issues including clean water and
energy access. The group said, "There is an urgent need to move towards clean
and affordable energy for the world's poor, and to secure their access to
clean water through sound management of river basins."
61. THE BATTLES OF
BALI
SciDev.Net
June 2002
Internet
http://www.scidev.net/archives/editorial/comment20.html
Tough negotiations
during preparations for the forthcoming World Summit on Sustainable
Development suggest that science may benefit from a search for areas of
consensus. But wider, more problematic, areas must not be ignored. The
prospects are dwindling fast that any significant international agreement will
emerge from the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), which takes
place in Johannesburg later this year. In one sense, science could in
principle be a beneficiary of the political deadlock; as political leaders
look around for issues on which they can agree, the importance of science and
technology in achieving sustainable development is an obvious and attractive
one. But it would be naïve to believe that science and technology can prosper
in isolation from the broader political issues that will be on the agenda of
the World Summit, and are proving so difficult to make progress on. For these
broader issues contain the key to successful implementation of efforts to
boost the role of science and technology. There is certainly a practical need
to address urgent topics, ranging from the search for cost-effective sources
of renewable energy to the pursuit of environmentally-sustainable ways of
increasing food production. To that extent, Calestous Juma of Harvard
University, in his article '
Think locally, act locally', is right to stress the need to
ensure that, in our preoccupation with global issues affecting the fate of the
planet, we do not ignore the fact that sustainable policies will only work if
they address problems as they exist at the local level. At the same time,
however, as Juma insists, we must keep the global picture in mind. For it is
at this level that, within a globalised economy, both the incentives for and
constraints on action tend to determine the gap between principles and
practice.
GLOOM OVER PROSPECTS
The main reason for
despondency about the outcome of the WSSD is that fact that, at the end of the
final preparatory meeting for the Summit in Bali, Indonesia, over the past two
weeks, several large industrialised countries, led by the United States,
remained locked in dispute with the developing world over precisely these
broader issues. The former, for example, are insisting on a commitment to
good governance and the reduction of corruption, while the latter remain
focussed on issues such as the need for more generous financial support and
technology transfer agreements. Faced with the prospect of a major public
relations flop that could undermine the whole credibility of the United
Nations as a negotiating forum, its secretary general Kofi Annan was rumoured
at one stage to be contemplating shifting the whole focus of the Johannesburg
meeting. Rather than end up with a meeting that merely endorsed previous
commitments, some of his advisers were recommending that the meeting should,
instead, focus on that part of the WSSD preparations that does seem to be
moving forward relatively smoothly. This is the section devoted to so-called
'Type 2' partnerships, made up largely of ad hoc agreements involving a
selection of partners devoted to pursuing specific goals.
DIVERTING ATTENTION
The attraction of
this approach is obvious; focussing attention on the success of practical
projects that address achieve sustainable development could provide a
convenient smokescreen for any failure to achieve significant commitment to
change at the political level. Science could well benefit from such a shift in
focus. It is already striking, for example, that the draft recommendations for
Johannesburg that proved to be relatively uncontroversial in Bali include a
number of general clauses underlining the importance of science and technology
in the promotion of sustainable development, as well as some specific
proposals about how this should be achieved. The draft 'plan of
implementation' for Johannesburg that was the main focus of negotiations
between government representatives endorses a number of ways of improving
policy and decision-making through, for example, enhanced collaboration
between natural and social scientists, and between scientists and policy
makers. Other statements agreed by the negotiators in Bali include the need to
establish partnerships between scientific, public and private institutions,
and to integrate scientists' advice into decision-making bodies "in order to
ensure a greater role for science, technology development and engineering
sectors".
In the specific case
of Africa, which is likely to be a key focus of attention in Johannesburg, the
draft proposals commit those signing the declaration at the end of the WSSD to
"support African countries to develop effective science and technology
institutions as well as research activities capable of developing, and
adapting to, world-class technologies".
SQUARE BRACKETS
All well and good,
particularly if these commitments can be turned into viable and effective
programmes. But even these sections of the draft plan have their share of
square brackets the indicator of contentious proposals that have not yet
been agreed because of differences of opinion between negotiators. For
example, many of the specific proposals on science and technology, such as the
need for research into cleaner production and product technologies, will
require extra funding. But there is no commitment to this in the draft, which,
when it describes the need to provide resources for public funding of such
research, continues to carry square brackets around the proposal that these
should be "new and additional" to what is already available. Similarly in the
passage on helping African countries adapt to the impact of climate change,
there remains a split between those who feel that signatories to the document
should agree to provide such countries with adequate resources do to this, or
merely "assist" them "in mobilizing" such resources. Elsewhere in the draft
proposals, similar disagreements continue to cloud statements on issues
ranging from intellectual property rights to the terms of technology transfer,
topics that tend to recur (and create a stumbling block) in all international
negotiations of this nature.
THE LARGER
PICTURE
Discussions over the
outcome of the WSSD will inevitably intensify to fever pitch over the two and
a half months remaining before the conference opens. There is much that the
scientific community can do in this period to capitalise on the consensus that
already appears, in principle, to surround its demands for a greater role in
the sustainable development debate. One such task, for example, will be to
ensure that an effective display of its potential to play this role is made
during the 'science summit' that, it has just been announced, will take place
on the margins of the main meeting (See 'Science
forum planned for World Summit').
But it is also
important not to ignore the bigger picture. Science in general and science
for sustainable development in particular is one of those 'public goods'
whose fate (as even the United States has long accepted, even if it is
reluctant to accept the term) cannot be left to market forces alone. Indeed
the whole sustainable development debate has highlighted the inadequacies of
market forces and international trade agreements, both of which focus
primarily on increasing trade rather than meeting social need (or protecting
the natural environment). If the political outcome of Johannesburg is to make
any impact, it must find ways of establishing a consensus, both in principle
and in practice, on how these inadequacies can be remedied, not just on
practical palliatives. That is the real challenge of the few weeks that are
left.
62. REVISITING
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT CONCEPT David Lascelles
Business Day via All
Africa
12 June 2002
Internet:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200206120363.html
David Lascelles is a former Resources Editor of the Financial Times, for whom
he covered the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.
Environmentalists
worldwide march under banner of idea that is, in fact, flawed IT's hard to
contest the virtues of sustainable development, the banner under which
environmentalists march these days: it's good for the planet, it's ethically
correct, and it's now irreversibly rooted in the policies of the industrial
world. However, since we shall have our brains washed with the concept over
the coming weeks with the Johannesburg Earth Summit, it behoves us to treat it
with caution. Not least of the many problems associated with it is that it
does not brook dissent: sustainable development is so self-evidently "good"
that it escapes rigorous scrutiny. But sustainable development is a flawed
concept. First of all, what do we actually mean by it? A handy definition is
organising human activity so that it does not impoverish the planet for future
generations. But, by its very nature, human activity consumes resources. To be
sure, you can consume less of things, or replace them with renewables.
However, you can never make sustainable development anything more than a
relative concept. Humanity will always leave its mark. The vagueness of the
concept also raises questions about the value of events like the forthcoming
summit. Where is the line drawn on sustainable development? At environmental
issues (managing of resources), economic issues (placing a value on
sustainability)? Are human rights, poverty and globalisation included? If so,
where do you stop? The agenda has got so wildly out of hand it has lost any
sharpness. Come August, Johannesburg will be packed with activists confusing
the debate. One reason for the modest results of the original Earth Summit in
Rio in 1992 was that the "action plan" it produced was so vast it gave little
spur or guidance. However, even narrowing the concept down to the core issues
of economics and the environment, does it make sense to strive to make the
world more "sustainable"? Somewhere within the sustainable development
movement there lurks, I suspect, a fear of change and an absence of trust in
the ability of nature and humankind to adapt. To press for sustainability is
to try and slow the process of change.
Some may say that
that is not a bad thing. But change is deeply rooted in nature, it lies at the
heart of evolution. We should not fear it, but view it as a driver of
progress. Despite all the fears one hears about "the day the oil runs out",
that is the last thing that will ever happen. The world will have moved on
from oil long before the last drop is sucked out of the ground. To try to stop
change will create greater distortions and damage than allowing change to
happen. My other main reason for doubting the value of sustainability is it
does not engage man's true nature. We are all willing to support its goals,
but the great majority of us will not make the personal sacrifices necessary
to achieve them. How many of this newspaper's readers are driving their cars
less, turning off the tap while they brush their teeth, or buying electricity
off wind farms? More especially, sustainability will fail to engage the
business community. That is a bold prediction because, at the moment, things
seem to be moving the other way. More and more companies are committing
themselves to "corporate social responsibility" and adopting "sustainable"
practices. The ethical stock indices are proliferating, ethical funds are
growing in size. But much of the activity is driven by public relations rather
than real commitment. And many of the companies taking that route have not
fully thought through the implications if sustainable practices conflict with
the creation of value for shareholders, which they frequently do. When that
crunch comes, those companies will face tough choices. By the same token,
investors will have to think hard if investment in "ethical" companies fails
to deliver superior returns. And so far, there is little evidence it does.
Companies with a high ethical reputation do not enjoy any "green premium" on
the markets, and the performance of ethical indices is patchy. But there is
another sense in which sustainability is incompatible with business. There is
a belief in the sustainability movement that businesses move along a fixed
track: that makers of piston engines will always make them, light bulb makers
will always make light bulbs, and so on. This produces the argument that
piston engine makers and light bulb makers will one day wake up to find that
their markets have been killed off by global warming.
The real business
world is rather different. Far from operating on a fixed track, it is in a
constant process of adaptation and change. Business success comes from
spotting new opportunities and shutting off ones that look to be dying. The
reality of the stock market is investors are looking out for companies that
can make better mousetraps, or develop keener strategies than rivals, not
necessarily ones that can go chugging on for ever. And if "sustainable" firms
earn no reward in the stock market, why should they bother? The danger in the
drive for sustainability is that it will impose huge costs on society in the
form of additional taxes and regulation that will produce only marginal gains.
It has been calculated, for example, a tenth of the money needed to fight
global warming would solve global health and sanitation problems. If our aim
is to make the world a better place to live in, let us get our priorities
right. Sustainability is neither practical nor desirable as it would entail
devoting vast sums to a vague and unachievable concept. If Johannesburg is to
make any contribution to this debate it can by bringing some hard-nosed
realism to our environmental priorities, and how we should confront them: a
brief and practical plan. To conclude with yet another giant action programme
to satisfy the burgeoning sustainability agenda would be little more than a
waste of time.
63. THE BALI PARADOXES by Rémi
Parmentier, Political Director, Greenpeace International
Greenpeace International
11 June 2002
Internet:
http://www.greenpeace.org/earthsummit/docs/bali_outcome_oped.pdf
The choice of the Sheraton and
Hilton hotels to host government delegations at last
week's Bali conference on the eradication of poverty and environmental abuse
was not the only paradox. The Bali conference organised by the United Nations
to prepare the Johannesburg
Earth Summit
of August 2002less than three
months awaywas profoundly contradictory on at least three accounts. Bali
Paradox 1: Failure can be the key to success. No consensus was reached in Bali
amongst the 173 countries represented, an obvious failure of governments to
make good on the promises they made at the Rio
Earth Summit
ten years ago. But the failure to
find consensus on a very weak negotiating text was a far better outcome from
Bali than would have been the case
had the document been endorsed.
The Bali conference revolved around a draft "action programme" prepared in
advance by the chairman of the Preparatory Committee for the
Earth Summit, Dr. Emil Salim, a
former Indonesian Environment Minister. It was called an "action programme"
despite the fact that most of the "action" had been removed. The UN
bureaucracy and many governments actively campaigned for the adoption of this
document despite its weakness. Up to the last minute, the possibility of the
rejection of the Chairman's text was considered unrealistic and irresponsible
by UN officials because it would represent "a failure". In contrast,
Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) opposed the weak agreement. They were
critical of the Chairman's proposal because it contained no clear targets or
time-tables or adequate means of implementation, and generally failed to live
up to the UN General Assembly mandate for Johannesburg adopted by the member
states in December 2000. The main problem was that Dr. Salim tried too hard to
please everyone. The result was that his proposal was merely the expression of
the lowest common denominator.
As the United States had announced in advance that they would oppose clear
targets or any binding
time-table, these were absent from the Chairman's proposal. In other words, he
took a don't make waves
approach, which is fine if one only wants to go through the motions, but not
if one wants a real action programme. When the negotiations collapsed on
Friday night, NGOs were not, of course, happy about the failure to agree plans
to accelerate the drive for sustainability. But at the same time, there was an
air of optimism because the "failure" of Bali means that all options are open
for consideration in Johannesburg. "Failure" has opened the possibility of
success. A proposal to increase by 2010 to 15% the share of new renewable
energy, for example, is now on the table and can be adopted in Johannesburg if
there is the political will to do so. Bali Paradox 2: Europe and the US
sacrifice the "free"-trade mantra they impose on the rest of the world The
Bali negotiations broke down ultimately because the United States and the
European Union continue to promote economic
double standards that undermine
developing countries' confidence in the multilateral trade regime. Whilst they
demand from developing countries total obedience to the World Trade
Organisation's free trade
mantra, the United States and the European Union continue to maintain their
own subsidies in sensitive sectors, and the US have even increased them
recently (steel, agriculture). Repeating their February 2002 Monterrey
commitment to put an extra US $ 30 billion on the table for financing
development (conditioned by a strict obedience to free trade) is not enough.
The US and the European Union are obviously doing their best to look like
good guys. But developing
countries are right to point out that the Monterrey package represents only
one sixth of the agriculture subsidies in rich countries. Unless the European
Union and the US put an end to their own unsustainable subsidies and give
developing countries an honest chance to compete on the famous
"level playing field", confidence
in the multilateral trade regime will continue to erode.
The rich few have very little
time to show that they acted in good faith with the WTO Doha commitment of
November 2001. Unless they agree in Johannesburg to put an end to their
hypocritical subsidies, Seattle is likely to pale in comparison with the 5th
WTO Ministerial in Cancun, in September 2003.
Bali Paradox 3: Leaders are not
expected to lead
One reason the UN bureaucracy pushed so hard for the adoption of the
Chairman's text, despite its faults, was the fear that Heads of State and
Government would shy away from Johannesburg unless agreement on the action
programme had been reached in Bali. Is this fear an admission of the
inability, or unwillingness of our "leaders" to lead? What kind of leaders do
we have, if they are afraid to show up in the absence of a pre-cooked (and in
this case half-baked) deal? Real leaders will see the absence of a ready-made
deal as an opportunity for them to shine. A not-to-be-missed opportunity to
lead the way (isn't this in their job descriptions, after all?) as opposed to
rubberstamping
what others have agreed on their
behalf. In this sense, the Earth Summit
will be a test – if they don't
come to Johannesburg, perhaps it is time to elect some
real leaders.
In a few short days, European leaders will hold a summit in Seville, Spain,
and the G8 summit will take place in Kananaskis, Canada. These meetings will
give us a taste of what is to come. Will the Europeans demonstrate that they
are able to lead? Will they agree to play a stronger, more action-oriented
role in Johannesburg (in contrast to Bali, where they sat too quietly and were
ready to watch their key positions get negotiated away)? Will they take the
opportunity to confirm the presence of the Fifteen in Johannesburg at the
highest level? And will G8 leaders then follow their lead in sending Heads of
State and Government to Johannesburg? Are George Bush, Jean Chrétien of
Canada, Junichiro Koizumi of Japan and Vladimir Putin prepared to personally
appear and be accountable for the outcome of the Summit? When the Bali
conference came to a close, Greenpeace launched its Countdown
to
Johannesburg
to mobilise civil society and
empower governments in the eighty days left before the
Earth Summit
(www.greenpeace.org/earthsummit). That governments would not even seriously
consider acting on some of the key societal challenges without vigorous
prompting by NGOs is nothing new. But in the aftermath of September 11, when
leaders promised a new 'global deal' to address the inequities between rich
and poor countries, it is deeply disappointing.
64. "DEFEATING HUNGER
IS POSSIBLE, AFFORDABLE AND IN THE WEST'S BEST INTERESTS"
Food and Agriculture
Organisation
11 June 2002
Internet:
http://www.fao.org/english/newsroom/news/2002/6361-en.html
Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs brings academic perspective to symposium on FAO's
proposed Anti-Hunger Programme
Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs was recently named Director of the Earth Institute
at Columbia University in New York City. Special adviser to the UN
Secretary-General on the Millennium Development Goals, Dr Sachs came to Rome
to address a symposium on "Building a Consensus on Action against Hunger"
during the World Food Summit: five years later at FAO headquarters. Below he
shares some of his views on the subject.
FAO has identified
lack of political will as one of the reasons for inadequate progress against
hunger since the 1996 World Food Summit. Political leaders must cope with a
world in which much is beyond their control. What are the key factors for
success?
I think there are
many complex factors that will need to be taken into account. Serious analysis
shows that hunger can be conquered and at a really modest cost compared to the
benefits. The background study that FAO has done, the Anti-Hunger Programme:
Reducing hunger through agricultural and rural development and wider access to
food, shows that an extra US$24 billion spent annually on rural
infrastructure, research, emergency food assistance and other rural priorities
would make a tremendous difference in the reduction of poverty and hunger. If
that incremental expense could be divided roughly in half between the rich and
poor countries, it would come to additional donor assistance of a mere 0.05 of
one percent of the GNP of the rich countries. It is certainly an achievable
objective. I think that FAO's study, while preliminary, is very well done. It
shows what can be done, it is encouraging, and it demonstrates that these
actions are affordable.
Any solution to world
hunger must involve increased aid flows, yet official development assistance
to agriculture declined by almost 50 percent during the 1990s. Do you see any
sign of increased generosity on the part of Western governments that might
eventually reverse this trend?
The declining trend
in development assistance for agriculture has been dramatic and is part of a
downward trend in development assistance for all sectors. It is alarming and
has been going on now for the past 20 years. It explains why we haven't met
the goals of reducing hunger and poverty. But the rich countries are waking
up. At the Monterrey Conference on Financing for Development in March, for the
first time in a generation, there was a clear commitment by the US and Europe
to reverse this downward trend with their pledge of an additional US$12
billion in annual assistance. This is not enough money to realize the
Millenium Development Goals, but it is a turning of the corner and shows a
commitment to face up to the real challenges. I think we have to keep pressing
to reach the magnitude that we need. At least we have on the agenda the need
to increase the assistance for poverty alleviation.
Most people in most
developing countries depend on the food and agriculture sectors for their
livelihoods. FAO's position is that in order to defeat poverty and hunger,
these sectors must be bolstered first. Yet, others make the same case for the
health, education and trade sectors. What do you think should be the first
priority and why?
I believe there needs
to be a comprehensive, multisectoral approach. FAO is absolutely right that
agriculture must be stressed, especially in Africa where it makes up such a
large part of the economy. But we also want to make sure children are in
school and that people are healthy so they can be healthy farmers. It is also
true that over the next 30 years, increases in world population will be
largely in urban areas. So we need to concentrate on both rural and urban
areas. My job as special adviser to the United Nations Secretary-General on
the Millennium Development Goals is to look across the sectors and to help
meld together a strategy that will achieve the eight goals. One part will be
to work with FAO to address the problem of hunger.
An International
Alliance against Hunger would involve very different constituents: the private
sector, non-governmental organizations, the UN system, development banks,
governments, academia and private individuals. Practically speaking, do you
think such disparate entities can work together?
I do. More
importantly, they are going to have to. The problem of hunger can't be solved
by any one set of actors. There is no question that government must play a
role, but this won't work if it is all top down. Local NGOs in the community
health and farm sectors play a key role in the delivery of services. At the
international level, there has to be donor financing, assistance from FAO and
other organizations, scientific input from the CGIAR system (Consultative
Group on International Agricultural Research) and other scientific bodies. The
private sector must be involved in order to make technology available at low
cost or free to developing countries -- just as the pharmaceutical companies,
who were holding patents on important drugs, have agreed to make them
accessible through differential pricing. Agricultural companies that produce
vital inputs like high-quality seeds and other products need to make a
long-term commitment to do the same. My job is to work with all of them to
push partnerships forward in a productive way. I should also mention my own
sector, academia, which also has a lot to offer.
Is it possible to
think of money spent on development assistance as an "investment" in the
normal sense of the word, and how does one calculate return on such an
investment?
Of course it is.
Monetary value is only one part of our values. It is important not to put
everything in economic terms. Still, in my work with the World Health
Organization, we studied the economic costs of disease burden and calculated
that an additional US$66 billion put into health services would yield a return
of US$360 billion in benefits. I stress, however, that calculating these
economic benefits should not deflect from the huge humanitarian element in
these issues.
See Also:
http://www.fao.org/english/newsroom/news/2002/6385-en.html
65. 'WE STAND WITH
AFRICA' - BUSH
The White House via
All Africa
20 June 2002
Internet:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200206210001.html
Remarks by President Bush to the 3rd Biennial Leon H. Sullivan Summit Dinner,
Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, Washington, D.C.
I'm so honored to be
with you all to pay tribute to an exceptional man and to further a great
cause. Leon Sullivan understood an important principle: If we want to live in
a world that is free, we must work for a world that is just. (Applause.) The
free people of America have a duty to advance the cause of freedom in Africa.
American interests and American morality lead in the same direction: We will
work in partnership with African nations and leaders for an African continent
that lives in liberty and grows in prosperity. I want to thank Andrew Young
for his service to our great country. I appreciate his friendship. I also want
to welcome my friend, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on the
stage, and I want to congratulate him on receiving the prestigious Leon H.
Sullivan Summit Award. You have picked a good man. (Applause.) I want to thank
Jack Kemp for supporting this organization. I appreciate his -- (applause.) It
has been my honor tonight to meet the Sullivan family, headed by a fantastic
lady, Grace Sullivan -- (applause) -- who has raised beautiful children,
people who are willing to follow the example of their dad. We were -- Hope and
I were talking about that we had a lot of common. You know, we both have got
famous fathers and strong mothers. (Laughter.) I appreciate very much Julie
and Howard and meeting the grandkids. It's a thrill to be here. Your dad and
your grandfather was a great American. It's the only way to call it.
(Applause.) I appreciate so very much members of my Cabinet and my inner
circle being here. Of course, the great Secretary of State, Colin Powell.
(Applause.) Secretary of Treasury, Paul O'Neill. (Applause.) The National
Security Advisor, Condoleezza Rice. (Applause.) I see the Deputy Director of
HUD, my friend, Alfonso Jackson. (Applause.) I also appreciate members of
Congress who are here tonight; members of the Diplomatic Corps. It's good to
see the ambassadors from the African nations, many of whom I've had a chance
to spend some quality time with. It's great to see Coretta Scott King here, as
well. (Applause.) Thank you all for coming and supporting this important
dinner. Thank you for giving me the chance to talk about my administration's
plans for the continent of Africa. I'm really grateful, though, that the
Secretary of State and Treasury are here. See, it was last May that Secretary
Powell became the first member of my Cabinet to travel to Africa. And this
May, Secretary O'Neill was the latest member of my Cabinet to travel to
Africa. (Applause.) He and Bono were quickly dubbed "The Odd Couple."
(Laughter.) But they soon found out that the rock star could hold his own in
debates on real growth rates and that the Secretary of Treasury is second to
none in compassion. (Applause.) I knew that the trip had had an effect on our
Secretary when he showed up in the Oval Office wearing blue sunglasses.
(Laughter.) Here's what we believe. Africa is a continent where promise and
progress are important. And we recognize they sit alongside disease, war and
desperate poverty -- sometimes even in the same village. Africa is a place
where a few nations are havens for terrorism, and where many more -- many more
-- are reaching to claim their democratic future. Africa is a place of great
beauty and resources, and a place of great opportunity. So tonight I announce
that in order to continue to build America's partnership with Africa, I'll be
going to the continent next year. (Applause.) Can I come to your place -- I
think the President has in mind a particular stop. (Laughter.) Put me on the
spot here, right with all these cameras. (Laughter.) I look forward to the
trip, I really do. It's going to be a great trip. And I look forward to
focusing on the challenges that we must face together. Everyone in this room
is joined by a common vision of an Africa where people are healthy and people
are literate. A vision that builds prosperity through trade and markets. A
vision free from the horrors of war and terror. America will not build this
new Africa, Africans will. (Applause.) But we will stand with the African
countries that are putting in place the policies for success through important
new efforts such as the Millennium Challenge Fund. And we will take Africa's
side in confronting the obstacles to hope and development on the African
continent. One of the greatest obstacles to Africa's development is HIV/AIDS,
which clouds the future of entire nations. The world must do more to fight the
spread of this disease, and must do more to treat and care for those it
afflicts. And this country will lead the effort. (Applause.) My administration
plans to dedicate an additional $500 million to prevent mother-to-child
transmission of HIV. (Applause.) And as we do so, we will work to improve
health care delivery in Africa and in the Caribbean. This will allow us to
treat one million women annually and to reduce the mother-to-child
transmission by 40 percent within five years or less in the countries we
target. Every year -- it's important for my fellow Americans to understand
this statistic -- every year, approximately 2 million HIV-infected women give
birth. More than one in three will pass the virus on to her baby, meaning that
on the continent of Africa there are close to 2,000 more infected infants
every day. We will begin to save many of these young lives by focusing our
efforts on countries where the problem is most severe, and where our help can
have the greatest impact. We will pursue proven and effective medical
strategies that we know will make a difference. And when the lives of babies
and mothers are at stake, the only measure of compassion is real results. In
places with stronger health care systems, we'll provide voluntary testing,
prevention, counseling, and a comprehensive therapy that we know is highly
effective in reducing virus transmission from mother to child. We know it
works. In places with weaker health care systems, we'll provide testing and
counseling, and support one-time treatment programs that reduce the chances of
infection by nearly 50 percent. Most importantly, we will make a major
commitment to improve health care delivery systems in these countries. We will
pair hospitals in Africa with hospitals in America; we will deploy volunteer
medical professionals to assist and train their African counterparts; and we
will recruit and pay African medical and graduate students to provide testing
and treatment and care. As health care delivery systems improve in these
nations, even more progress will be possible. And as we see what works, as
we're confident that our money will be well spent and results will matter, we
will make more funding available. (Applause.) I want to thank the members of
Congress who have supported this initiative. I particularly want to thank
Senators Helms and Frist and Congressman Jim Kolbe of Arizona. I'm also
pleased that organizations exercising on -- exercising leadership on this
issue will join our efforts, particularly the Pediatric AIDS Foundation,
headed by Elizabeth Glaser. And I will call upon other industrialized nations
and international organizations to join as well, so that we can bring the hope
of life to hundreds of thousands of African children. This $500 million
commitment is the largest initiative to prevent mother-to-child transmission
of HIV by any government in history. (Applause.) It's important for you to
know that this funding will complement the nearly $1 billion we already
contribute to international efforts to combat HIV/AIDS; the money will
complement the $2.5 billion we plan to spend on research and development of
new drugs and treatments; and it will complement the $500 million we've
committed to the Global Fund to fight AIDS and other infectious disease. Lack
of education is the second great barrier to progress in Africa. Tonight I
announce that my administration plans to double -- to $200 million over five
years -- the funding devoted to an initiative I put forward last year to
improve basic education and teacher training in Africa. (Applause.) Here's
what we believe we can achieve. With that money we will train more than
420,000 teachers; provide more than 250,000 scholarships for African girls --
(applause); and partner with historically black colleges and universities in
America to provide 4.5 million more textbooks for children in Africa.
(Applause.) As we do so, we'll make sure the school system is more open and
more transparent, so African moms and dads can demand needed reform. Education
is the foundation of development and democracy -- in every culture, on every
continent. And we'll work to give Africa's children the advantages of literacy
and learning so they can build Africa's future. The third great obstacle to
Africa's development is the trade barriers in rich nations -- and in Africa,
itself -- that impede the sale of Africa's products. The African Growth and
Opportunity Act is a tremendous success. My administration strongly supports
efforts in Congress to enhance AGOA. And to encourage more U.S. companies to
see Africa's opportunities firsthand, I propose holding the next AGOA Forum in
Africa to coincide with my visit. (Applause.) We will continue to explore a
regional free trade agreement with the Southern African Customs Union. Africa
also stands -- also stands to gain even greater benefits from trade if and
when we lower trade barriers worldwide. And so I'm committed to working in
partnership with all the developing countries to make the global trade
negotiations launched in Doha a success. (Applause.) And we look forward to
advancing all of our development priorities with African countries at the
upcoming World Summit in Johannesburg. Expanding global trade in products and
technologies and ideals is a defining characteristic of our age -- capable of
lifting whole nations out of the cycle of dependency and want. In this country
we will work to ensure that all Africa -- all of Africa is fully part of the
world trading system and fully part of the progress of our times. It is
important for my fellow citizens to know we will build trade with Africa
because it is good for America's prosperity; trade is good for building
prosperity in Africa, and it is good for building the momentum of economic and
political liberty across that important continent. (Applause.) And, finally,
for Africans to realize their dream of a more hopeful and prosperous future,
Africa must be free from war and free from terror. (Applause.) Many African
nations are making real contributions to the global war on terror --
particularly my friend, President Obasanjo. I can remember his phone call
right after September the 11th and, Mr. President, I want to thank you for
your condolences and your support. I've asked Congress this year to provide an
additional $55 million in funds to help African nations on the front lines of
our mutual war to defend freedom. The United States is committed to helping
African nations put an end to regional wars that take tens of thousands of
lives each week. We will help African nations organize and develop their
ability to respond to crises in places such as Burundi. We'll work closely
with responsible leaders and our allies in Europe to support regional peace
initiatives in places such as the Congo. And we will also continue our search
for peace in Sudan. My policy towards Sudan seeks to end Sudan's sponsorship
of terror and to promote human rights and the foundations of a just peace
within Sudan itself. My envoy for peace in Sudan, former Senator John
Danforth, has made progress toward a cease-fire and improved delivery of
humanitarian aid to such places as the Nuba Mountain region of Sudan. Since
September the 11th, there's no question the government of Sudan has made some
useful contributions in cracking down on terror. But Sudan can and must do
more. And Sudan's government must understand that ending its sponsorship of
terror outside Sudan is no substitute for efforts to stop war inside Sudan.
(Applause.) Sudan's government cannot continue to talk peace but make war,
must not continue to block and manipulate U.N. food deliveries, and must not
allow slavery to persist. (Applause.) America stands united with responsible
African governments across the continent -- and we will not permit the forces
of aggression and chaos to take away our common future. We jointly fight for
our liberty; we chase down cold-blooded killers one at a time, and we do so
for the common good of all people.
Leon Sullivan wrote
and spoke of a vibrant partnership between America and Africa that, in his
words, would help mold Africa into a new greatness, glorious to see. Tonight,
his vision must be our mission. Together, we can chart a new course for
America's partnership with Africa and bring life and hope and freedom to a
continent that is meeting the challenges of a new century with courage and
confidence. May God bless the people of Africa, and may God continue to bless
America. Thank you for having me. (Applause.)
66. FINAL COMMUNIQUÉ
- NINTH REGULAR SESSION OF THE CEC COUNCIL
Commission for Environmental Cooperation
19 June 2002
Internet:
http://www.cec.org/news/details/index.cfm?varlan=english&ID=2485
Ottawa, Canada, 19 June 2002 -- We, the environment ministers of Canada,
Mexico and the United States, members of the Council of the Commission for
Environmental Cooperation (CEC or "the Commission"), met for our annual
regular session on 18 and 19 June 2002. We reviewed activities of the
Commission over the past year and received input and advice from the Joint
Public Advisory Committee (JPAC) and the public. As nations prepare for the
upcoming World Summit on Sustainable Development, we uphold the North American
Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC) and the CEC as examples of
successful regional
environmental cooperation supporting sustainable development in our three
countries. Our discussions centered on continuing to collaborate through the
CEC, and particularly with JPAC, to address environmental priorities in the
areas of energy and environment, environment and human health, and
partnerships for sustainable development.
ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT
Protecting our environment as we seek to expand the generation, distribution,
and trade of energy between our three countries is a
complex challenge. We received a briefing on the activities of the North
American Energy Working Group and agree to pursue our efforts in a
complementary fashion to those of the Working Group. We thank the CEC
Secretariat and the Electricity and Environment Advisory Board for their
timely and useful study of the opportunities and challenges associated with
North America's evolving electricity market. Our three countries are already
working to address these challenges through the CEC and other bilateral and
trilateral efforts. We have given serious consideration to the recommendations
of the Secretariat, the Advisory Board, issues raised by the public, and to
the question of how the CEC can contribute most effectively to meeting these
challenges. We also
look forward to receiving further JPAC input on this issue. Based on these
considerations, we have agreed to:
* Establish a North American Air Working Group to provide guidance to the
Council and facilitate future cooperative work on air related issues.
* Conduct a comparative study of the air quality standards, regulations,
planning, and enforcement practices at the national,
state/provincial, and local levels in the three countries, building on
previous research and work undertaken by the CEC on air management systems of
the three countries.
* Conduct a survey to obtain information on the comparability of North
American environmental standards governing construction and operation of
electricity generating facilities.
* Identify, explore and address issues related to barriers, challenges,
opportunities and principles under which emissions trading systems might
evolve.
* Continue the Secretariat's work on renewable energy, including continuing
the dialogue on the transparency and scientific and technical basis of
renewable energy definitions.
* Support further analysis related to the environmental aspects of
development of renewable energy markets; public awareness and education;
consistency of databases; emerging renewable low-impact energy technology
development and commercialization; transmission and distribution of emerging
renewable electricity; and promotion of energy efficiency and combined heat
and power.
* Make further progress toward a shared North American emissions inventory by
producing a shared emissions inventory for electricity generating stations, a
summary report of emissions, and an analysis of the availability and
comparability of additional useful data by the end of 2004.
ENVIRONMENT AND HEALTH
Children's Health and the Environment. Nowhere are the links between
environment and health more important than
when we look at children. We remain committed to integrating children's
environmental health considerations throughout the work of the CEC and have
asked for continued advice from JPAC in this area. Based on advice from the
public and JPAC, and following discussion with the Expert Advisory Board on
Children's Health and the Environment, we have agreed to a cooperative agenda
to protect children from environmental risks. Over the next two years, we will
focus on the following elements of this long-term agenda:
* Selecting and publishing a core set of children's environmental health
indicators for North America;
* Advancing understanding of risk assessment approaches with a view to
increasing collaboration on addressing potential risks posed by toxic
substances; and
* Enhancing the understanding of the economic impacts of children's
environment-related illnesses in partnership with other international
organizations.
We welcome the offer of the Expert Advisory Board to take a leadership role in
focusing attention on children's environmental health in the education and
training of health care professionals in North America, and stand ready to
work with our health counterparts to support this initiative. Moreover, we
join the health and environment ministers of the Americas, as well as the G?8
environment ministers, in calling for partnerships to exchange information and
develop international indicators on children's health and the environment.
SOUND MANAGEMENT OF CHEMICALS
Since 1995, the Sound Management of Chemicals (SMOC) program has helped
protect our environment and health with a focus on reducing persistent toxic
substances, notably DDT, PCBs, mercury and chlordane. SMOC is a highly
successful working example of the implementation of Agenda 21 through regional
partnerships and cooperation, including capacity building. Building on success
of the SMOC program, we have agreed to develop a new North American Regional
Action Plan (NARAP) targeting lindane. A persistent organic pollutant--one of
the most abundant and pervasive insecticide contaminants in our
environment--lindane is known to have a number of harmful effects. These are
of particular concern in colder northern climates and for children who are
placed at increased risk through direct application of lindane-containing
products for head lice and scabies control.
In order to better understand pathways of exposure and assess our progress in
controlling pollution, we have adopted a new environmental monitoring and
assessment NARAP in support of the SMOC initiative. Data gathered and assessed
in the implementation of this NARAP will also provide critically important
information to support other CEC programs
and the national programs of the three CEC partners. We acknowledge the
contributions made by the public in the areas of
education and capacity building for the SMOC initiative, look forward to
additional JPAC advice, and encourage the SMOC Working Group to take these
considerations into account.
HAZARDOUS WASTE
Last year, we directed that a continental approach be developed for the sound
environmental management and tracking of transboundary hazardous waste
movements. Based on recommendations from the Enforcement Working Group and
Hazardous Waste Task Force, we have agreed to:
* Continue development of a common North American approach for environmental
sound management of hazardous waste;
* Proceed with a pilot project to track hazardous waste movement between
Canada and the United States by means of an electronic notification system;
and
* Conduct a feasibility study for a pilot project on electronic tracking of
hazardous waste movements between Mexico and the United States, with
particular attention to capacity building in Mexico and starting with a
prioritized list of substances.
NORTH AMERICAN POLLUTANT RELEASE AND TRANSFER REGISTERS (PRTRS)
We consider improved comparability among our respective national PRTRs to be
of great importance, since these provide everyone--the public, industry and
governments alike--with a better understanding of the sources, management, and
opportunities to reduce pollutants affecting the environment and human health.
We commend Mexico for the efforts it is making to implement a mandatory and
publicly accessible PRTR. We have approved the Action Plan to Enhance the
Comparability of North American PRTRs, including measures to:
* Adopt the North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) codes for
the national PRTR reporting systems of Mexico and the United States;
* Pursue comparability in the manner in which data on persistent,
bioaccumulative, toxic substances--particularly, mercury, dioxins and furans
and lead--are collected in the three national PRTR programs, subject to the
technical, economic, and regulatory capacities of each country.
* Use activity-based reporting thresholds that are nationally determined to
ensure consistency of approach across the three systems.
* Support Mexico's
efforts to operationalize a mandatory PRTR reporting system and provide public
access to data on a chemical-specific and facility-specific basis.
NORTH AMERICAN PARTNERSHIPS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Partnerships among governments, the private sector and civil society are key
to advancing sustainable development. It is important that we draw on the
energy, enthusiasm, and potential of all--in particular, that of local
communities and the private sector. We have reviewed a number of key
partnerships and initiatives supporting cooperation on sustainable
development:
NORTH AMERICAN BIRD CONSERVATION INITIATIVE (NABCI)
Birds are a key indicator of the health of our continent's ecosystems. More
than a thousand species of birds are found in Canada, Mexico and the United
States. Many use habitats in more than one country as they migrate. Over the
past century the populations of many birds have declined significantly, often
because of habitat loss or deterioration. NABCI seeks to foster greater
cooperation among the nations and peoples of the continent to achieve
regionally based, biologically driven, habitat-oriented
partnerships--delivering the full range of bird conservation across North
America for all birds and all habitats. We have reviewed NABCI's progress and
reiterate the CEC's continued support for this initiative. We acknowledge the
importance of regionally based partnerships for project delivery and the use
of networks and databases that promote conservation delivery and projects that
demonstrate NABCI
principles. We look forward to working closely with the Biodiversity
Conservation Working Group to strengthen the CEC's Conservation of
Biodiversity program.
TRADE AND ENVIRONMENT
We remain committed to engaging civil society in understanding the complex
links between trade and environment. We welcome the establishment of the
Advisory Group on Assessing the Environmental Effects of Trade and the Call
for Papers for a second symposium on assessing the environmental effects of
trade in North America. We have agreed to:
Examine links between trade and the environment through a second symposium on
the subject, to be held in early 2003. The Council views the symposium as
providing an opportunity to compare approaches underway at the national and
international levels on environmental assessments of trade in North America,
further engage the public in this work, and identify opportunities for policy
integration in support of sustainable development. Take the necessary steps to
facilitate public input on the work on Chapter 11 of the North American Free
Trade Agreement (NAFTA) underway by the Chapter 11 Experts' Group of the NAFTA
Free Trade Commission. We agreed to work with our trade counterparts to
arrange a forum where interested parties can express their views on the
operation and implementation of the Chapter. As we approach the tenth
anniversary of NAFTA and the NAAEC, we have
decided to undertake, by 2004, in collaboration with JPAC and a wide selection
of organizations and institutions, a retrospective of our achievements over
the past ten years, including the environmental effects of NAFTA, with a view
to charting our path for the next decade. We reiterate our support for the
CEC's work on the environmental assessment of trade in the agricultural and
energy sectors. We look forward to further work in these areas, particularly
analysis of emerging policy issues.
FINANCE AND THE ENVIRONMENT
The Council considered the status of current work in the area of finance and
environment. Its discussion was framed by a general overview of the
broad-ranging interrelation between finance and environment. In light of
this, we have decided to:
* Encourage efforts, in cooperation with the private sector and other
institutions, to develop methodologies and information links to provide
environmental information in a form more useful to financial institutions and
to encourage the use of environmental information in credit, investment and
asset risk management decisions;
* Consider how to advance work on existing requirements regarding disclosure
of environmental information pertaining to financial
reporting;
* Encourage further
development of the concept of a North American Green Procurement Initiative;
and
* Through a sustainable agriculture fund, encourage small and medium-size
sustainable agricultural enterprises.
* We look forward to the results of the JPAC workshop on finance and
environment, to be held in Monterrey in December 2002.
CORPORATE ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP
We believe public-private partnership, which includes governments at the
national, state/provincial and local levels, is the best way to promote the
widespread adoption of pollution prevention and the use of environmental
management systems. To that end, we discussed the role of corporate
environmental stewardship programs in recognizing and rewarding environmental
leaders in business and government who make public, verifiable commitments to
a high level of environmental protection.
We also discussed the role of our respective pollution prevention roundtables
in advancing pollution prevention in North America, and we reviewed an update
from the Parties on environmental management systems.
Following these discussions, we have agreed to:
* Recognize and support the concept of partnership amongst pollution
prevention roundtables or with other relevant organizations in North America;
* Identify further work in the area of pollution prevention, focusing on
where the CEC can add value to activities proposed by the pollution prevention
roundtables;
* Explore, as appropriate, collaboration with the pollution prevention
roundtables as well as other relevant organizations on the
implementation of the information network for pollution prevention in North
America; and
* Sponsor a CEC workshop in 2003 on the implementation of environmental
management systems in small and medium-size enterprises to identify and draw
on regional experiences and lessons learned.
WORLD SUMMIT ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
The World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) presents a crucial
opportunity for the international community to reaffirm its commitment to
integrating the economic, social and environmental goals of sustainable
development. We affirm the importance of the international consensus reached
at the WTO Ministerial in Doha and the Monterrey meeting on Financing for
Development as a foundation for sustained growth and development, and express
our commitment to provide constructive and substantial input to the WSSD. We
have agreed to share with the Summit some of the relevant results and
experiences gained through the CEC as an example of regional environmental
cooperation in the context of economic integration. We have also explored our
mutual
interests in the importance of partnership initiatives at the WSSD.
JOINT MEETING WITH THE INTERNATIONAL JOINT COMMISSION AND INTERNATIONAL
BOUNDARY AND WATER COMMISSION
We held discussions with representatives of the (US-Canada) International
Joint Commission (IJC) and (US-Mexico) International
Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC) for the first time. We shared related
concerns and discussed a number of areas where coordination could be useful to
enhance collaboration between these institutions. We have instructed the
Secretariat to strengthen its working relationships with the IJC and IBWC at
the staff level and explore possibilities for collaborative activities.
CEC BUDGET AND NEXT MEETING OF COUNCIL
The Parties will continue to support the CEC at the level of US$9 million for
the year 2003. We will meet in June 2003, in Washington, DC, for the next
Regular Session of Council. The CEC was established by Canada, Mexico and the
United States to build cooperation among the NAFTA partners in implementing
the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC), the
environmental side accord to the NAFTA. The CEC addresses environmental issues
of continental concern, with particular attention to the environmental
challenges and opportunities presented by continent-wide free trade. The
Council, the CEC's governing body, is composed of the federal environment
ministers (or equivalent) of the three countries, and meets
at least once a year. Attending this ninth session of Council were Canadian
Environment Minister David Anderson, Mexican Secretary for Environment and
Natural Resources Victor Lichtinger, and US Environmental Protection Agency
Administrator Christine Todd Whitman. The Joint Public Advisory Committee
(JPAC) is a 15-member, independent, volunteer body that provides advice and
public input to Council on any matter within the scope of NAAEC.
For more information on any of the topics reviewed by Council, visit
http://www.cec.org
67. LETTER FROM
PRESIDENT PRODI TO MR. AZNAR
European Commission
18 June 2002
Internet:
http://europa-eu-un.org/article.asp?id=1452
In just a few days we
will meet in Seville. We will have the opportunity to address to take
decisions on three key priorities: immigration, enlargement / institutional
reform, and the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development.
Action now in each of
these areas will reinforce the prospects for long-term prosperity, peace and
stability for the European Union and for our partners around the world over
the years to come. I set out below some reflections on each of these points.
IMMIGRATION
At the beginning of
June I wrote to you offering my strong support for your decision to push the
issue of illegal immigration to the top of our agenda in Seville.
Immigration-related issues have increasingly become, in the eyes of the
majority of our citizens, associated with questions of security; questions
which our citizens expect Europe to answer as we builds an area of freedom,
security and justice. We must address these concerns...Detailed and often
complex work on legal immigration and asylum has been underway for a number of
years. It is part of the balanced set of objectives that we agreed in Tampere
in autumn 2000. Yet that work risks getting bogged down unless we are seen to
be responding in a determined way to widespread public concern about illegal
immigration. There is much we can do if we act together and mobilize our
considerable assets, both internally and externally, to tackle this problem.
However, focusing on illegal immigration must not lead us to neglect other
equally important aspects of the migration question, particularly the issue of
ensuring the harmonious integration of our existing immigrant population. We
must send a clear message to our citizens. We will be tough on illegal
immigration and the trafficking of human beings it so often entails because
this is a crime and an affront to human rights. But legal immigration is good
for Europe. It is source of vitality and energy which an ageing Europe needs.
The multicultural nature of our societies is now a reality and we must be
willing to embrace all the adjustments necessary to make multiculturalism and
ethnic diversity succeed, respecting the fundamental values of our free and
democratic societies.
ENLARGEMENT AND
INSTITUTIONAL REFORM
In Seville we will
take stock of the considerable progress made under your Presidency in the
enlargement negotiations. We must now give the process a further push as the
home strait of the negotiations comes into view. This includes deciding in due
course on the issue of direct payments under the Common Agricultural Policy
where I believe the Commission's approach offers the best prospects for
success. Ensuring that enlargement is a lasting success is a key goal of the
Convention on the future of Europe. However, the results of its work will
depend on Treaty changes, flowing from the Inter-Governmental Conference,
which will take effect only after enlargement has happened. This poses a
challenge. The Nice Treaty has introduced the institutional reforms needed for
enlargement to happen, but many practical issues affecting our day to day work
remain. How will responsibilities be divided in a Commission from 2004 of
between 25 and 30 Members? How will Council or even our Summits function
effectively when a "tour de table" may take up to four hours? How can we
ensure a strategic direction and coherent action within an enlarged Union?
Each Institution is
starting to address these issues. The report of Mr. Solana and the
Presidency's proposals, which I very much support, are launching the Council
on this path. Equally, the Corbett report opens interesting avenues for the
European Parliament.
This provides us with
a unique opportunity to get things right in time to welcome the new Member
States, providing we work together to ensure a common and coherent logic
underpins whatever we may propose individually. As far as the Commission is
concerned, I believe that we need to reorganize responsibilities within the
College around a limited number of essential tasks and rationalize our
decision-making process. Such steps can ensure that better organization can go
hand in hand with a better, more effective and democratic form of governance
at a European level. The Commission brings to this its experience of reshaping
its administration and its efforts to improve European Governance, most
recently through the Action Plan on Better Regulation, which, I sincerely
hope, will prompt us in Seville to set ourselves the target of concluding an
interinstitutional agreement before the end of 2002. Thus we would improve the
quality of Community legislation and the relevant procedures for its adoption.
Only a concerted action will allow us to achieve both "better organization"
and "better regulation" of all institutions.
JOHANNESBURG
The European Council
must give a renewed boost to the preparation of the World Summit on
Sustainable Development in Johannesburg if we are to achieve the ambitious
objective that we set a year ago in Göteborg. We cannot allow the multilateral
agenda to derail because of the US farm bill and developing countries' doubts
about European sincerity in granting market access, finance and to reduce our
trade distorting subsidies. The recent FAO World Food Summit in Rome was a
disappointment. A failure in Johannesburg could have wider repercussions on
growth and trade. I welcome the fact that several of us already decided to go
to Johannesburg. The large number of European companies participating in this
Conference and taking part in initiatives in support of sustainable
development in the third World will be encouraged by our presence. We should
together spell out clearly our firm determination to live up to our
commitments. I would underline three key messages in this respect. First, we
have to reassure the world that we are serious in implementing the commitments
taken in Monterrey and Doha, although the WSSD cannot be a parallel
negotiation about trade and finance. Second, we should ensure that a strong
Political Declaration which would support the Doha Development Agenda process
is agreed and indicate how the increased funds pledged in Monterrey will be
used in a sustainable manner. Thirdly, strong emphasis has to be put on
implementation. The European Union is ready to follow the priorities of
Secretary-General Kofi Annan, namely water, health, energy, agriculture,
biodiversity. Trade and globalization is also a key factor. The European Union
should combine forces to put on the table in Johannesburg credible EU-wide
initiatives on water and energy, with particular emphasis on Africa. Finally,
I would like to take the opportunity of this letter to congratulate you, along
with Council and the European Parliament, on the remarkable progress that you
have made towards closing the "delivery gap" that we had identified within the
Lisbon strategy. We have had real successes - key measures within the
financial services action plan agreed, a new Community R&D programme worth
more than EUR17 billion over four years and the ratification of the Kyoto
Protocol are just a few of the highlights. I very much believe that our recent
work, for example, on getting the right framework for quality public services,
and initiatives such our eEurope 2005 Action Plan will help to consolidate
those successes. Nevertheless, despite real progress, better economic
prospects and a stronger euro, many people still find themselves facing
considerable uncertainty as the effects of last year's sharp economic slowdown
continue to cost jobs and hurt businesses. Our response must be to hold steady
to the commitments taken in Barcelona. The adoption of the Broad Economic
Policy Guidelines for 2002 must send a reassuring signal as regards the
credibility of economic policy co-ordination that supports our single
currency, as well as enabling us to envisage the dynamic development of our
policies over time. It is the process of long-term, structural change,
combining economic, social and environmental reforms, alongside stable
economic conditions, which has actually helped the Union to cope better with
recent shocks and will ensure high growth and employment. It is against this
background that I am looking forward to our discussions at the end of this
week. I can assure you that the Commission will be working with you ensure
that our meeting is a success.
68. THE
SECRETARY-GENERAL LETTER TO HEADS OF STATE AND GOVERNMENT OF THE GROUP OF
EIGHT
United Nations
17 June 2002
Internet:
http://www.un.org/News/dh/g8/sgletterg8.htm
Excellencies, I would
like to thank you for inviting me, along with five African Heads of State, to
join you for a working session during your Summit meeting in Kananaskis later
this month. I am much looking forward to that meeting. Your decision to focus
on Africa's problems is particularly welcome, at a time when Africans
themselves have devised a New Partnership for Africa's Development that
reflects at once their determination to tackle their own problems and their
acute need for international support. The special needs of Africa were clearly
recognised by world leaders in the Millennium Declaration, and the United
Nations system as a whole is firmly committed to supporting African efforts.
And yet, as Secretary-General of the United Nations, I also have wider
concerns, which I know you will share. All of us must be concerned by the
struggle against international terrorism, which requires the active
cooperation of all States, using the machinery of the United Nations to ensure
that they give each other all necessary support in upholding the rule of law.
And all of us must be concerned to see the world economy return to a path of
sustainable economic growth. Both those objectives concern humanity as a
whole, and not least the peoples of the developing world. They have suffered
disproportionately from the slowdown in the world economy, and they are also
the primary victims of terror and violence. Equally, even the richest and most
powerful countries, such as those represented at your meeting, are unlikely to
achieve lasting security, either in the economic or the physical sense, so
long as billions of people in other countries are denied those benefits. I
therefore hope that your meeting will bear in mind the objectives set by the
Millennium Summit two years ago, and in particular the eight Millennium
Development Goals, all of which are aimed at dramatically reducing the amount
of extreme poverty and human misery on our planet during the first 15 years of
this century. These are goals set by the world for the world, although it is
in Africa that they present the toughest challenge, and in Africa that their
achievement will depend most crucially on international solidarity. All of us
have a vital interest in seeing these goals achieved, and I trust we can all
accept them as the common framework for measuring our progress. Our prospect
of achieving them depends first and foremost on the peoples of the developing
countries, and above all on their leaders. Those peoples clearly recognise
that, unless they themselves have the will to resolve their conflicts,
eliminate corruption, uphold the rule of law, give priority to the needs of
the poor, create an investment-friendly climate, and use their natural
resources in a sustainable manner, no one else will be able to do these things
for them. But even the best efforts of these countries to break out of the
cycle of poverty, ignorance, disease, conflict and environmental degradation
are likely to be insufficient unless they can count on the support of the
international community. And it is to your countries that they look most
urgently for that support. The peoples of the developing world would
therefore be bitterly disappointed if your meeting confined itself to offering
them good advice and solemn exhortation, rather than firm pledges of action in
areas where your own contribution can be decisive. They would hope, in
particular,
1- That you would
commit yourselves to help them resolve conflicts and build peace, both by
strengthening their capacities and institutions and, when appropriate, by
contributing to UN peacekeeping operations.
2- That you would
hold firmly by the commitments you made in Doha last November, to conduct a
round of trade negotiations offering real benefits to developing countries,
notably by giving full access to your own markets for their textiles and
agricultural products - both raw materials and processed goods - as well as
helping the poorest countries develop their capacity to export. This requires
that you take care neither to allow the political will manifested in Doha to
dissipate, nor to derail the negotiations by adopting protectionist measures,
whether barriers to imports or subsidies to domestic producers.
3- That you would
build on the recent success of the Monterrey conference by working towards the
additional $50bn a year of official development assistance that is the minimum
needed if the Millennium Development Goals are to be met - and by ensuring
that that money is spent in a coherent and coordinated fashion, so as to have
maximum impact.
4- That you would
also make sure that sufficient resources continue to be devoted to helping
heavily indebted countries - so that their external debt can be reduced to,
and maintained at, genuinely sustainable levels.
5- That you would
make specific commitments to implement the report of your Task Force on
Education for All, and would make sure that this applies to girls as well as
boys.
6- That you would
continue and strengthen your support for the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS,
Tuberculosis and Malaria, as well as other efforts to combat endemic or
epidemic diseases, including through access to affordable drugs, and through
the research and development of ways to prevent and treat diseases that
particularly affect tropical countries.
7- And that you would
commit yourselves to making a success of the World Summit for Sustainable
Development, which must mark a real step forward in implementing the
commitments given in Rio ten years ago - notably in the five priority areas of
water and sanitation, energy, health, agricultural productivity (especially in
Africa) and biodiversity - as well as the pledge in the Millennium Declaration
"to free all of humanity, and above all our children and grandchildren, from
the threat of living on a planet irredeemably spoilt by human activities, and
whose resources would no longer be sufficient for their needs". In conclusion,
Excellencies, let me say that this historic summit, at which the most
privileged countries in the world will focus on the plight of the poorest,
represents a historic opportunity for progress. I am sure all of you will be
mindful of the heavy responsibilities that that implies. Please accept,
Excellencies, the assurances of my highest consideration. Kofi A. Annan
69. DEPUTY
SECRETARY-GENERAL STRESSES PIVOTAL ROLE OF GOVERNMENT IN ERA OF GLOBALIZATION
United Nations
15 June 2002
Internet:
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2002/dsgsm166.doc.htm
Following is the
address by Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette to Carleton University,
Ottawa, on 15 June:
I am delighted to
join you for this wonderful occasion, and I am honoured to receive an honorary
degree from one of Canada's great universities. I want first to congratulate
the graduates of the Faculty of Public Affairs and Management. This is your
day, and I am very pleased to salute all of you for the work you have done,
and for the service I know you will render to society in whatever career you
choose. My own choice to enter public service -- which, by the way, was
accidental -- taught me, first of all, to trust my instincts. But I also
made that choice at the time when government was considered central to a
society's future, and was an exciting place, full of ideas and opportunities.
You are about to apply your skills and knowledge in a world that recently has
grown again more aware and more appreciative of the role that government can
play in meeting the basic needs of the citizenry. After a period in which
government was considered less an enabler of progress than an obstacle to it
-- a period in which many were tempted to think that technology, the free
market and the New Economy held all the answers -- we have been cruelly
reminded of the value of government in providing the most basic condition for
human progress, namely, security. The institutions of State -- policy,
defence forces, courts of law -- have rarely been more appreciated, and their
neglect rarely more rued. As the president of a minor American college --
Harvard -- recently reminded us: the people running up those stairs in the
Twin Towers on September 11th were public servants. We have, in short, come to
recognize that there are things that only government can do -- including
creating rules, setting policies, upholding laws and contracts. This is true
for the developing world as much as for the developed one. In fact, for every
country suffering from an intrusive or authoritarian State, there is another
country suffering from too little government. There, the consequence is often
the kind of chaos and anarchy which not only prevents lasting peace or
development, but provides the breeding ground for violent or terrorist groups.
The answer, therefore -- in the developing and the developed world -- is not
more or less government, but enough government -- enough to protect citizens
from arbitrary violence, and to create the rules and societal framework that
allows each of us to pursue our hopes and aspirations. That is why
the United Nations has made good governance a key element of all our work for
peace and development. Where bad governance has taken root, the effects have
been devastating. Where the rule of law is replaced by arbitrary rule; where
civil society is denied full participation in public life; where minorities
face official discrimination; where States cannot assure the provision of such
fundamental public goods as roads, education and health; or where corruption
instead of contracts is what spins the wheels of commerce -- these are some of
the hallmarks of bad governance. They rob people of choice and opportunity
and render development difficult, if not impossible.
Good governance, by
contrast, whether national or global, is based on shared values: on the
universal values found in the United Nations Charter, in all the major
religions and in the constitutions and founding documents of many nations
around the world. Such values are no mystery to anyone: they include
equality, tolerance, dignity, freedom, justice and the peaceful resolution of
differences. Good governance is for all of us. It follows from these values
that good governance is honest, accountable and trustworthy. It is competent
and effective, with transparent institutions. It is local and decentralized,
so that it can reflect as closely as possible the needs and aspirations of
ordinary men and women. It promotes -- and, in turn, depends on -- democracy,
the rule of law and respect for human rights, from freedom of speech to the
advancement of women. Most of all, good governance is based on the will of
the people: on the legitimacy gained through regular, free and fair
elections; on popular participation in decision-making; and on
consensus-building throughout society. As I said at the beginning, I have
spent my entire career in public service, and I have been privileged to serve
Canada in many capacities before assuming my present post at the United
Nations. But that also means that I have gained as strong an appreciation of
the limits of public service as of its rewards and satisfactions. I have
learned a great deal about the importance of opening the public sector to the
ideas and initiative of the private sector, and about better connecting
government and the public sector to the citizens they serve. That is why I
believe strongly in opening the doors of opportunity in the public sector to
people from the private sector, non-governmental organizations and academia --
and vice versa. To reinvent government -- to make it more effective, more
accountable, and bring it closer to the citizens it serves -- requires
energetic and educated people such as yourselves. Remember that public
service is not about bureaucrats protecting the bureaucracy. Good public
policy requires values, commitment, care for what you do, and a sense of
responsibility to the greater public which relies on government to create the
framework for the private pursuits of prosperity and security. You may be
thinking -- Aha! She is trying to persuade us all to go into government
service. That is not -- or not only -- what I am saying. Government can't --
and shouldn't -- do it all. Each part of society has a responsibility to the
public interest, and in every profession you can find ways of contributing to
the welfare of your community. We live in an age where boundaries of many
kinds are coming down -- in culture, in politics, between peoples and among
all sectors of society. It is no longer meaningful to speak of the private
sector as if it does not bear responsibility for developments in the public
sphere, nor to speak of the role of government as if it can continue without
responding and adapting to the energy and creativity of the private sector.
In this age, a society's success will, in large part, be measured by its
ability to combine ideas from the public and private sectors, simultaneously
strengthening the role of the State and the role of private enterprise and
civil society. This new understanding of the role of government must be
applied at the global level in this era of globalization. Today, insularity
is less and less of an option. Cooperation between governments in pursuit of
common aims has never been more vital. Today's interdependence -- of people
and products, information and ideas -- means that more and more of the
challenges we face can no longer be addressed at the national level alone.
More and more, the forces of modern life escape the control of national
governments. We need to manage common affairs in common -- we need to arrive
at common principles with which to address challenges that all peoples have in
common. In a world without walls, we can no longer think and act as if only
the local matters, as if we only owe solidarity and allegiance to those within
our own city or State. This poses a real challenge not only to political
leaders, but to all of us as citizens and, in particular, you in the younger
generation. We need to rethink what belonging means and what community means
in order to be able to embrace the fate of distant peoples and share our
wealth and privilege with them, as well. This may sound idealistic, but it is
really a basic matter of realism. Of course, it will not be easy. We all feel
a deeply rooted sense of loyalty to those closest to us -- families, friends,
fellow citizens of city and country. To say that we -- and here I think, in
particular, of those of us privileged to live in the developed world -- should
include citizens of poor and distant countries in our circle of concern -- to
suggest that we have an obligation to help them achieve their rights and
opportunities -- is to ask a lot. But I believe the era we live in leaves us
with little choice. Either we help the poor and developing countries today,
out of a sense of moral obligation and enlightened self-interest, or we will
find ourselves compelled to do so tomorrow, when their problems have become
our problems, in a world without walls. September 11th , among other terrible
lessons, taught us this one, too. If I have focused today on the role of
government and the privilege of public service, it is not only because that
has been the career that I chose for myself. I have shared with you some
ideas about the role of the State in this new age, because I believe the
transformation in our societies wrought by globalization has made the State
more important, not less; more necessary to our prosperity and security, not
less. Ultimately, however, the quality of life in our societies depends not
only on the dedication and motivation of those who choose public service as
their careers, but also on the commitment of all citizens to respect and serve
the public good -- whether they find themselves in the private sector, NGOs or
academia. The choice, in other words, is yours, and I am confident that you
will discover that serving the public good is a wonderful way of enriching and
improving your own lives.
SPEECHES FROM THE
WORLD FOOD SUMMIT
Food and Agriculture
Organisation
10-13 June 2002
For more information
on the World Food Summit please visit:
http://www.fao.org/worldfoodsummit/english/index.html
For more speeches
made at the World Food Summit please visit:
http://www.fao.org/worldfoodsummit/top/podiumfull.asp
70.
ADDRESS BY UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL MR KOFI ANNAN
Internet:
http://www.fao.org/worldfoodsummit/top/detail.asp?event_id=12672
Prime Minister
Berlusconi, Heads of State and Government, Director-General Diouf,
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen.
At the World Food
Summit here in Rome in 1996, the international community set the goal of
cutting by half the number of hungry children, women and men by 2015. Nearly a
third of that time has already passed and progress has been far too slow. We
have no time to waste if we are to reach our target, which is also, one of the
Millennium Development Goals agreed by world leaders in September 2000. Every
day, more than 800 million people worldwide - among them 300 million children
- suffer the gnawing pain of hunger and the diseases or disabilities caused by
malnutrition. According to some estimates, as many as 24 000 people die every
day as a result. So, there is no point in making further promises today. This
Summit must give renewed hope to those 800 million people by agreeing on
concrete action. There is no shortage of food on the planet. World production
of grain alone is more than enough to meet the minimum nutritional needs of
every child, woman and man. But while some countries produce more than they
need to feed their people, others do not, and many of these cannot afford to
import enough to make up the gap. Even more shamefully, the same happens
within countries. There are countries which have enough food for their people
and yet many of them go hungry. Hunger and poverty are closely linked. Hunger
perpetrates poverty, since it prevents people from realizing their potential
and contributing to the progress of their societies. Hunger makes people more
vulnerable to diseases. It leaves them weak and lethargic, reducing their
ability to work and provide for their dependents. The same devastating cycle
is repeated from generation to generation and will continue to be so until we
take effective action to break it. We must break this cycle and reduce hunger
and poverty over the long-term. About 70 percent of the hungry and poor of the
developing world live in rural areas. Many of them are subsistence farmers or
landless people seeking to sell their labour, who depend directly or
indirectly on agriculture for their earnings. We must improve agricultural
productivity and standards of living in the countryside by helping small
subsistence farmers and rural communities increase their incomes and improve
the quantity and quality of locally available food. For that, we must give
them greater access to land, credit and relevant technology and knowledge that
would help them grow more resistant crops, as well as ensuring plant and
animal safety. But success will also depend on developments beyond the farm
gate, such as improvements in rural health care services and education and in
rural infrastructure, which includes roads, supply of irrigation water and
food safety management. Such improvements would also do much to stimulate
private sector investments in downstream activities, such as food processing
and marketing. We must secure a central place for women, who play a critical
role in agriculture in developing countries. They are involved in every stage
of food production, working far longer hours than men, and are the key to
ensuring that their families have adequate supplies of food. Nowhere are
strategies for sustainable agriculture and rural development more important
than in Africa, where nearly 200 million people - 28 percent of the population
- are chronically hungry. Indeed today, for the first time in a decade,
several countries in the southern African region face a risk of outright
famine over the coming months.
We must, therefore,
bring all our innovative thinking to bear on helping Africa fight hunger. The
African-owned and led New Partnership for Development must be supported as a
potentially important tool in that fight. We must also fulfil the promise
given at last November's meeting of the World Trade Organization in Doha and
make sure that the new round of trade negotiations removes the barriers to
food imports from developing countries. For instance, the tariffs imposed on
processed food, like chocolate, make it impossible for processing industries
in developing countries to compete. We must also evaluate carefully the impact
of the subsides that are now given to producers in the rich countries. By
lowering food prices in the poorest countries, they may help alleviate hunger
in some cases and in the short-term only. But, dumping surpluses can also have
devastating long-term effects - ranging from disincentives for national
production to unemployment - while making it impossible for the developing
countries to compete on the world market. However, even if markets in
developed countries were opened further, these countries would still need help
to take advantage of these opportunities, especially in the agriculture
sector. The application of some international norms and standards cannot be
met without technical assistance and further investment. The fight against
hunger also depends on the sustainable management of natural resources and the
ecosystems, which contribute to food production. With world population
expected to reach well over seven billion by 2015, pressure on the environment
will continue to mount. The challenge of the coming years is to produce enough
food to meet the needs of one billion more people, while preserving the
natural resource base on which the well-being of the present and future
generations depends. But the hungry poor also need direct help today. Food aid
can make a big difference, both in emergencies and in situations of chronic
hunger. Direct nutritional support to pregnant and nursing women helps their
babies grow into healthy adults. School feeding programmes not only feed
hungry children but also help to increase school attendance - and studies show
that educated people are best able to break out of the cycle of poverty and
hunger.
My dear friends, if
we want to reverse the current trends and reduce hunger by 50 percent by the
year 2015, we need a comprehensive and a coherent approach that addresses the
multiple dimensions of hunger by pursuing simultaneously wider access to food
and agricultural and rural development. We need an anti-hunger programme that
could become a common framework around which global and national capacities to
fight hunger can be mobilized. We know that fighting hunger makes economic and
social sense. It is a key step towards achieving all the development goals
that we agreed to at the Millennium Summit. It is fitting, therefore, that
this Summit comes in the middle of a crucial cycle of conferences aimed at
helping us improve the lives of people everywhere - from trade in Doha, via
the financing for development in Monterrey, to sustainable development in
Johannesburg. Hunger is one of the worst violations of human dignity. In a
world of plenty, ending hunger is within our grasp. Failure to reach this goal
should fill every one of us with shame. The time for making promises is over.
It is time to act. It is time to do what we have long promised to do -
eliminate hunger from the face of the earth.
71. MS GRO HARLEM
BRUNDTLAND (DIRECTOR-GENERAL, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION - WHO)
Internet:
http://www.fao.org/worldfoodsummit/top/detail.asp?event_id=12734
Food insecurity,
hunger and malnutrition dominate the health of the world's poorest nations.
Alleviation of hunger and malnutrition is a fundamental pre-requisite for
poverty reduction and sustainable development. More than 570 million of the
world's women suffer from anaemia. Their babies are small, they are weakened
and tired, and their lives are at risk. Some 60 percent of the 11 million
childhood deaths in developing countries each year are associated with
malnutrition: 160 million children under five are stunted due to protein
energy malnutrition; 740 million people suffer from iodine deficiency
disorders; 250 million children under five suffer from vitamin A deficiency.
The results are more than the deaths: hundreds of millions of children have
lower defences against infectious diseases; children who do not develop to
their physical and mental potential. As a result, they lose out at school, in
the work place and, ultimately, in life itself. Through the Millennium
Development goals, we have committed ourselves to cut abject poverty by half
by 2015. We will only achieve this if we can drastically reduce malnutrition.
This will involve serious agricultural reforms and changes in trade. It will
involve new policies and distribution systems that will make this food
available to the poorest.
It will involve
tackling the wasting diseases, including HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria. It will
involve fortification of basic food products at a price that is affordable for
the poorest. It will involve more scientific research and better stewardship
and governance by national leaders. The dual scourge of hunger and
malnutrition will be truly vanquished not only when granaries are full, but
also when people's basic health needs are met and women are given their
rightful role in societies. The other major causes of malnutrition, not only
food shortage, must feature prominently in the way we move ahead. Malnutrition
is also a matter of food safety. Contaminated food is a major cause of
epidemic diarrhoea, substantially contributing to malnutrition and killing
about 2.2 million people each year, most of them children. Investing in food
safety carries big returns. It reduces the expenses of food-borne disease. It
contributes to poverty alleviation through increasing the quality and length
of life, while augmenting people's productivity, and improves global health
and global trade. We should also focus on the other side of the malnutrition
coin: the negative health effects connected with an unbalanced diet, too high
an intake of calories and not enough exercise. Obesity, diabetes and heart
diseases are no longer reserved for the affluent and over-privileged. The
rapidly growing epidemic of non-communicable diseases, already responsible for
some 60 percent of world deaths, is clearly related to increased consumption
of industrially-processed fatty, salty and sugary foods. In the slums of
today's mega-cities, we are seeing non-communicable diseases caused by
unhealthy diets and lifestyle, side-by-side with undernutrition. This double
burden of disease is rapidly becoming a serious brake on the development
efforts of many countries. But the rapidly changing global dietary patterns
have wider consequences. Increasing meat consumption is also affecting our
environment and the nature of agricultural production. Economic development
and globalization need not be associated with increasing inequity, hunger and
chronic disease. On the contrary, we can harness the forces of globalization
to reduce inequity, to reduce hunger and to improve health in a more just and
inclusive global society. But for that we need new thinking and new action. We
need a longer-term perspective that places the health of people and the health
of our planet at the centre. We have the knowledge. We know how to enable the
poor to get the food they need. We know how to avoid micronutrient
deficiencies. We know how to encourage breast-feeding of infants. We know how
to ensure safe food from farm to plate. We know what constitutes healthy
diets. We have the tools to make changes. From this Summit, I also hear that
we have the will. Let us now work for a world where all can eat and live
healthy lives in dignity.
72. MS ANNA KAJUMULO
TIBAIJUKA (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, UNITED NATIONS CENTRE FOR HUMAN SETTLEMENTS -
HABITAT)
Internet:
http://www.fao.org/worldfoodsummit/top/detail.asp?event_id=12770
Excellencies, Heads
of State and Government, Dr Jacques Diouf, Director-General of FAO, Honourable
Ministers, Ambassadors, Distinguished Participants, Ladies and Gentlemen. It
is a great honour and pleasure for me to address you at this important event,
World Food Summit: Five years later. As you are all aware, Excellencies, food
security is multifaceted in character and therefore necessitates concerted
action by stakeholders at all levels. From the perspective of UN-HABITAT,
whose principal mandate is that of promoting the sustainable development of
cities and other human settlements, both urban and rural, promoting food
security remains a central challenge in delivering the Habitat Agenda. Why is
this so? Simply because from time immemorial, the availability of food has
always influenced the wellbeing of settlements, and even dictated their
viability. Food is clearly an important consideration in the sustainability of
human settlements. How we plan our cities and towns, and how we provide
socio-economic infrastructure, particularly as regards food distribution, is
one of the key concerns in the implementation of the Habitat Agenda.
In the United Nations
Millennium Declaration, world leaders committed themselves to improving the
lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers by the year 2020. They renewed
this commitment at the Special Session of the General Assembly for an overall
review and appraisal of the implementation of the Habitat Agenda, Istanbul+5,
in June 2001 and accepted that the implementation of the Habitat Agenda is an
integral part of the overall fight for the eradication of poverty. Poverty as
we all know is a state in which basic needs, namely food, clothing and shelter
are not adequately met. It is normally exacerbated by ill health, inadequate
income and education, as cause and effect. If this is accepted, the
implementation of the Habitat Agenda, as regards providing adequate shelter
for all and sustainable human settlements development in an urbanizing world,
is relevant to this Summit. Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen. In most of the
developing world, poverty might be predominantly a rural phenomenon, but as
you know, we are living in an urbanizing world. People are on the move to
cities. As we prepare ourselves for the World Summit on Sustainable
Development (WSSD), the UN Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, has recently
observed that the "future of humanity is in cities". Of the world's 6 billion
people, 50 percent are now in the urban areas. In Europe and North America,
urbanization is more or less completed at about 80 percent. In Latin America,
over the last 25 years, urbanization has also been very rapid, and is now
above 75 percent. In Asia and Africa, urbanization stands around 36 and 37
percent respectively. Thus, contrary to common belief, (primarily as a result
of rural conflicts) Africa is already relatively more urbanized than Asia.
These realities have great implications on food security, and on strategies to
achieve it. The planning of our cities and other human settlements has to be
borne in mind, if we are to secure food security at national, community and
household level. Partly because we have not been prepared for this dramatic
demographic shift, rapid urbanization has been accompanied by what is now
referred to as the "urbanization of poverty". As we might all be aware, a
substantial proportion of the urban poor, not only lack decent shelter but are
also usually unable to satisfy their food and nutritional requirements. Many
are usually near nutritional deprivation due to severely limited ability to
procure adequate food requirements. As a result, where and when they can, a
number of urban households are turning to urban agriculture not only as a
hobby but as an important means to supplement their food supplies or as a way
of augmenting declining purchasing power of the formal earnings. Unable to
find part time employment, housewives have also found gardening a useful way
to supplement household income. While there might be some immediate benefits
in urban farming as a coping strategy, it is not without serious challenges to
sustainable development of settlements. For, to accommodate urban and
peri-urban agriculture will require allocation of more land. Obviously, this
will have implications not only on the size of cities but also on the value of
food produced on expensive urban land. The problem of providing adequate
infrastructure to sprawling cities is well known, not to mention high
transportation costs, and associated pollution. Furthermore, given the
relatively higher pollution rate in urban areas, the levels of contamination
in horticultural products, for example, ought to be carefully investigated.
The same is the case for urban livestock production, which also, because of
high population concentrations, could increase risks for disease epidemics.
From this perspective, the apparent opposition and at times hostility from
municipal planning and by-laws to urban agriculture should not be dismissed
offhand but warrant more careful analysis and consideration. We, at
UN-HABITAT, believe that the practice of urban agriculture could make
significant contributions to urban food security, provided the above urban
planning and health concerns are taken into consideration. In this regard, we
have started to cooperate with FAO on how to promote safer and more
sustainable urban and especially peri-urban agriculture and agricultural
practices. We would like to work towards an integrated city development
strategy which takes into account a city and its hinterland, the link between
the rural and urban development dimensions in the sustainable development of
settlements. I am pleased to inform you that work in this direction has
already started and is being supported by a number of donors. For example, in
preparation for the Summit, with support from the European Union and the
Government of The Netherlands, workshops on food security were organized for
African Parliamentarians in Yaounde, Cameroon and in Nairobi, Kenya in
collaboration with the Coalition of African Organizations for Food Security
and Sustainable Development (COASAD). The International Development Research
Centre (IDRC) of Canada has also supported a follow-up workshop on the topic
of "Urban Policy Implications of Enhancing Food Security in African Cities"
organized jointly by UN-HABITAT, FAO and SIUPA (the Strategic Initiative on
Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture). These workshops focused on examining
aspects of urban policies that impact on food production, supply and
distribution in cities and how to make these policies more enabling of food
security. The aim was to sensitize national and local leadership, as well as
stakeholders at all levels, of what is possible and what is not, and create
awareness among them on the necessity to review and revise relevant laws,
by-laws and regulations, as appropriate.
The importance of
agricultural marketing was particularly emphasized. It was concluded that the
growing importance of urban agriculture is living testimony that urban
migrants have given up farming as an occupation, but simply have moved closer
to markets for their produce. In many countries, more efficient agricultural
marketing services to farmers could go a long way to reduce the rapid rate of
rural urban migration. Excellencies, one of the conclusions of the First World
Urban Forum hosted by UN-HABITAT last month in Nairobi was that policy-makers
and planners need to focus on managing urbanisation rather than fighting it.
And that development policies and strategies should deal with urban and rural
areas, together, as essential components of a well-functioning economic
region, considering their inter-linkages and mutual benefits. In this context,
UN-HABITAT promotes and advocates integrated development planning of
settlement systems (urban and rural) to facilitate easier transportation and
distribution of food between and within cities, towns and rural areas. Let us
hope that through cooperation between our countries, cities and organizations,
we will succeed in solving the problem of food security, as well as the
problem of slums and poverty.
Excellencies,
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen. I assure you that UN-HABITAT is fully
committed to promoting sustainable development of human settlements, including
food security for all people at all times, according to the principles adopted
in the Habitat Agenda, the goals of the Millennium Declaration and in line
with the recommendations and commitments of this Summit.
I wish this Summit
great success and I thank you for your kind attention.
73. HIS EXCELLENCY
THAB0 M. MBEKI (PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA)
Internet:
http://www.fao.org/worldfoodsummit/top/detail.asp?event_id=12683
Chairperson, your Majesties, your Excellencies, Heads of States and
Governments, His Excellency, Mr Kofi Annan, His Excellency, Jacques Diouf,
Ministers and Distinguished Delegates. This important meeting in Rome is a
declaration of hope to the peoples of the world that the leadership on our
common universe is committed to eradicate poverty, to achieve food security
and promote sustainable development as we advance to a fully inclusive and
equitable global economic system. The experience of the past five years
indicates that there has been some progress albeit slow towards the
achievement of the vision contained in the Rome Declaration on World Food
Security. The current situation is that we are reducing the number of hungry
people by six million against a target of 22 million per annum, as mentioned
by the Director-General. The key shortfall is the decline of investments in
agriculture and rural development, relating both to domestic and foreign
resources. Furthermore, civil strife, conflicts, migration, natural disasters
and unfair trade practices and an unfavourable economic climate have resulted,
particularly in Africa, being faced with a real threat of famine. If we are to
achieve the targets set in the 1996 Plan of Action and confirmed in the
Millennium Declaration, we have to recommit ourselves both individually and
collectively to the full implementation of the programmes agreed in 1996, to
eradicate poverty and hunger. In our country level assessments it was clear
that in cases where there was strife and other problems, institutions for
implementation could not be established. Where peace prevailed time was needed
to adopt the necessary policies, the programmes and institutions, as well as
to attend to such matters as gathering the necessary baseline information for
purposes of effective planning of implementation and monitoring. This has
given us the necessary foundation for us to move forward faster during the
period ahead of us. As a continent, we have established a framework through
the new partnership for Africa's development, NEPAD, within which the World
Food Summit Plan of Action will be implemented. NEPAD identifies agriculture
as a priority sector. In this regard, we want to ensure that we extend the
area under sustainable land management and reliable water control systems; to
improve rural agriculture and market access; to increase levels of investment
in agricultural research; and increase food supply while reducing hunger.
Complementary to this, we urge that all issues blocking our access into the
markets of the developed world have to be addressed. Speedy movement on this
matter would yield early dividends with regard to achievement of the goal of
sustainable food security. Of great importance, we must all commit to a
partnership of mutual accountability between the north and the south to effect
the necessary changes as represented, for instance, by NEPAD. The premise of
this partnership must be an unambiguous commitment to solving problems
together, in a spirit of joint responsibility among governments and between
governments and the private sector and civil society. We would like to take
this opportunity to thank the Director-General of the FAO and his colleagues
for working so well in partnership with the NEPAD institutions, providing
technical support to help elaborate the Programme of Action with regard to
African agriculture. The mission that has brought us here today started in
earnest at the 1996 World Food Summit where we stated that: "We reaffirm the
right of everyone to have access to safe and nutritious food, with an
immediate view to reducing the number of undernourished people to half the
present level, no later than 2015." In the Millennium Declaration in 2000, we
stated that: "We are committed to making the right to development a reality
for everyone and to freeing the entire human race from want." We are convinced
that the world has the capital, it has the technology and the human skills to
achieve the critically important goals we set ourselves both in the Rome and
the Millennium Declarations. What is called for is bold leadership, informed
by the noble principle of human solidarity. We cannot go back on the gains of
the Doha Development Round. Rather, we should break the impasse caused by
differences about what needs to be done to attain food security. We have to
realize fair trade, new resource mobilization, and ensure that the objective
to defeat underdevelopment and poverty permeates our intervention strategies.
What we agree here must strengthen the Johannesburg Declaration and Plan of
Action of the World Summit for Sustainable Development. The Johannesburg
Summit should affirm the centrality of agriculture and food security, to the
objective of sustainable development in a meaningful way. I trust that all of
us will pay the necessary attention to this matter in the interest of the
thousands of millions in the world who are hungry. We therefore look forward
to welcoming you in Johannesburg in August and September this year. I thank
you very much Mr Prime Minister.
74. MR. MARK MALLOCH
BROWN (ADMINISTRATOR, UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME - UNDP)
Internet:
http://www.fao.org/worldfoodsummit/top/detail.asp?event_id=12769
Mr President,
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen. As we gather here to review the progress
achieved since the World Food Summit of 1996, we are forced to face the fact
that more than 800 million people in the world go without enough food every
day. While the total number of undernourished people dropped in the 1990s, the
rate of decline was far too slow to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of
halving by 2015, the proportion of people suffering from hunger. Despite
progress in several large countries such as China, Indonesia, Nigeria and
Thailand, many others are lagging. This is especially true of Africa. In about
half of the countries south of the Sahara, the proportion of undernourished
people continues to affect one-third or more of the population.
Combating hunger and
achieving the other United Nations Millennium Development Goals are closely
intertwined. A malnourished person cannot fulfil his or her individual
potential; a nation of undernourished people cannot develop. Take the issue of
gender equality; women's status in society has a very important bearing on the
nutrition of the family; empowering them through education, greater control
over resources and genuine participation in decision-making will be essential
to reduce hunger. Or look at the relentless spread of HIV/AIDS, which is
having a devastating impact on food production in the worst affected
countries, trapping many people in a vicious cycle of hunger, poverty and
disease. Simply put, from providing universal primary education to reducing
maternal mortality, all the MDGs are at risk if we cannot successfully tackle
the hunger goal. But that target should similarly not be tackled in isolation:
if we are to meet it, we will have to make progress in other areas as well
from reducing poverty to improving access to clean water. The
Secretary-General has asked me as Administrator of UNDP and Chair of the UN
Development Group to act as "scorekeeper and campaign manager" for the MDGs,
working closely with the UN Funds, Programmes and Agencies, the International
Financial Institutions, OECD/DAC and other partners from civil society to the
private sector, to build a coherent plan of action in support of these
ambitious but very achievable goals and targets. There are four key dimensions
to this effort.
First, working
through UNDG, UNDP has been helping integrate the MDGs into all aspects of the
UN system's work at country level. A dedicated UNDG working group is now
working to ensure these are reflected in all future programming and
operational instruments with the aim of better aligning the programme work of
the UN with the priorities set out in the Millennium Declaration. As a first
step, the MDGs are being addressed through revised guidelines for the CCA and
UNDAF. Second, while the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs is
leading an effort to monitor global progress, UNDG, working through UN
Resident Coordinators, is helping publish regular reports on the status of
each MDG at country level. These are helping to trigger vigorous public debate
on key priorities of human development at the national and sub-national
levels. The first nine pilots are already complete, and preliminary work has
begun on another 40. We intend for every country covered to have completed at
least its first MDG Report by 2004. Third, those reports will be complemented
by new research led by Professor Jeffrey Sachs, the special adviser to the
Secretary-General on MDGs, working with agencies from across the UN system and
scholars and policy-makers across the world in their areas of expertise, to
help flush out just what policies, resources and partnerships will be needed
to meet the MDGs by 2015. On the hunger goal, this effort will be anchored by
FAO, with strong support from WFP and IFAD; and we hope and expect that this
work, building on the strong existing analysis by FAO prepared for this
conference, will help guide similar efforts on the other MDGs as well as
driving critical follow-up research at country level. Fourth and finally, all
this work will provide critical information to drive a series of advocacy and
awareness-raising campaigns across the world; in developed countries targeted
on increasing support through aid, trade and debt relief; in developing
countries to help build a national consensus on the urgent need for action on
the MDGs through policies, programmes and resource allocations. Working
primarily through partners; civil society, the media and government; these
campaigns will be driven at the country-level by local actors based on local
priorities but linked to the same underlying goals. Through these interlinked
initiatives, therefore, we hope to not only spread awareness about the MDGs
among policy-makers and general public alike, but also accelerate progress
towards meeting them. By doing so, the aim is to make them the linchpin of the
global deal which emerged in Monterrey under which sustained policy reform,
more and better spending on basic social services, and better governance
capacity in the developing world are matched by direct support from the rich
world in the form of trade, aid and investment and technology transfer in
areas from health to information and communications technologies. Because the
fact is we simply cannot bequeath to future generations a world that is so
rich, yet offers so wretched an existence to so many of its people. Unless we
act resolutely to reverse this trend; unless we shatter the complacency that
blinds the world to the fact that so many of its citizens are left deprived of
not only their rights and dignity but any prospect of lifting themselves and
their families out of hunger and poverty; unless we take firm and resolute
action to achieve all the Millennium Development Goals, then future
generations will rightly condemn the selfishness and short-sightedness of
their forebears. Thank you.
75. SOUTH AFRICA TO GET TOUGH
ON EARTH SUMMIT PROTESTS -(Reuters Via Planet Ark 21 June 2002)
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/16510/story.htm
76. EARTH SUMMIT MUST SET REAL
TARGETS, SAY EXPERTS (Reuters Via Planet Ark 19 June 2002)
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/16473/story.htm
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/16478/story.htm
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/16463/story.htm
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/16466/story.htm
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/16442/story.htm
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/16373/story.htm
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/16346/story.htm
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/16429/story.htm
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/16382/story.htm
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