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WSSD
Info. News ISSUE 4 June 2002 Part I 3 June to 9 June 2002 Compiled by Richard Sherman Edited by Kimo Goree |
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United Nations Press Release,
7 June 2002 A clear, forceful and comprehensive commitment to concrete action in implementing Agenda 21 was called for this morning by speakers in Bali, as the ministerial segment of the fourth and final Preparatory Committee for the upcoming World Summit for Sustainable Development began its interactive dialogue on elements for a political declaration to be issued by heads of State at that Summit. "No stone must be left unturned" in a comprehensive vision for sustainable development, the representative of Mauritius said. But the function of the political document itself should be to bind States to the actions that would be spelled out in detail by the implementation plan. For that purpose it must be short and to the point. He said the Rio Declaration, which launched Agenda 21, should not be overshadowed by the new document. Instead, the declaration should reaffirm the Rio text, while also reflecting the new world economic order caused by globalization. The political declaration of the World Summit was described in General Assembly resolution 55/199, which calls for a concise and focused commitment to a global partnership to implement Agenda 21. According to the Assembly, the document should also address the main challenges and opportunities faced by the international community in that regard, and it should reinvigorate, at the highest political level, commitment to a North-South partnership, with a higher level of integrated solidarity towards an accelerated implementation of sustainable goals. During the course of the fourth preparatory meeting thus far, the declaration was the subject of one plenary meeting and various informal discussions. Initial inputs for the discussions included the outcomes of the second and third preparatory meetings, information provided by the Vice-Chairs from Egypt and Canada on relevant discussions, outcomes of the multi-stakeholder dialogue and input from the Secretary-General's panel. This morning, the representative of the Philippines said that the General Assembly resolution described the political declaration clearly, and it should not be reworked unduly. Heads of State could speak volumes of commitments, but it would not necessarily affect the lives of the poor. Instead, he said, a declaration should clearly support a concrete implementation plan that included a solidarity fund, time-bound targets, food security efforts, the end to trade-distorting subsidies, the engagement of civil society, an accounting of indigenous peoples and communities, and other means to accomplish Agenda 21 goals. Through that document, everyone should be mobilized to create a sustainable future for all mankind. Many speakers today stressed the need for the political declaration to provide an ethical basis for the actions to be called for in the implementation plan, following a statement by the representative of Romania, who said that there was too much negotiation on the issues at hand based on cost/benefit analysis. The Earth Charter, he said, set forward a set of ethical principles for sustainable development; those principles should be integrated into the document under discussion. Sometimes, he said, it was necessary to look to the skies and to ethics. Statements were also made by the representatives of Cuba, Cyprus, Russian Federation, Thailand, Namibia, Kenya, Mozambique, Spain (for the European Union), Tunisia, China, Indonesia, Dominican Republic, Chile, Mexico, Costa Rica, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Finland, Uganda, Canada, Ukraine, Colombia, Bolivia, Bhutan, Lesotho, Sudan, Syria, Gabon, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nepal, Cote d'Ivoire, Iraq, Barbados (for the Caribbean Community) and the Netherlands. The observer for Palestine also made a statement. Also taking the floor during the debate were representatives of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). Emil Salim (Indonesia), Committee Chairman, made opening remarks. The ministerial segment of the fourth Preparatory Committee meeting will meet again at 3:00 p.m. today. BACKGROUND The fourth and final Preparatory Committee for the upcoming World Summit on Sustainable Development this morning continued its ministerial segment, during which Ministers were expected to discuss the follow-up to the Bali implementation plan, partnership initiatives and elements for the political declaration to be adopted at the Johannesburg Summit. The focus of this morning's discussion was the political declaration to be adopted at the Johannesburg Summit. STATEMENTS EMIL SALIM (Indonesia), Preparatory Committee Chairman, said an informal meeting had been held prior to this morning's session at which two options for the political document had been put forward. The first option was for it to be "short, punchy and crisp". It must be understandable, action-oriented and linked to the implementation plan without repeating all the plan's elements. The second option was to have a longer document with an assessment of what had happened since the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio. It would incorporate lessons learned and list all issues in the implementation plan. An opening inspirational statement that would induce people to read it could be included, he said. Reaffirmation of the Rio principles and renewed commitment to its outcome could be made. Reference could be made to all the agreements since Rio. A specific link to the implementation plan could be made, and priority issues could be included. The representative of Mauritius said for the declaration to be forceful and credible, it must be short and succinct. It must leave no stone unturned to implement Agenda 21. The Rio Declaration should not be overshadowed by the new document. Instead of "reinventing the wheel", the declaration should reaffirm the Rio text. Some new clauses should be included, to reflect the new world economic order caused by globalization. It should, among other things, recognize the vulnerability of Small Island developing States (SIDS). The representative of Cuba said the process needed a firm and effective political statement. Clear, dynamic language was essential. It should contain sufficient vision to remain in force until the world could look back over the sustainable development agenda as a whole. All the commitments since Rio had been insufficient to prevent the ongoing deterioration of the economic and environmental situation around the planet, caused in large part by neo-liberal globalization. He stressed the importance of observing the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities for the developed and developing world. The declaration should contain an explicit condemnation of the use of unilateral coercive measures, which ran counter to the United Nations Charter, and impeded sustainable development. The representative of Romania said that there was too much negotiation on the issues at hand based on cost/benefit analysis. Sometimes it was necessary to look to the skies and to ethics. The Earth Charter set forward a set of ethical principles for sustainable development; those principles should be integrated into the political declaration. The representative of Cyprus said that a global partnership was essential to achieve the still-elusive global good. In the Mediterranean region, agreements had shown that consensus was possible in sustainable development. Policies adopted needed to be flexible enough to accommodate improvements in health, water, trade liberalization, resource depletion, biological diversity and other areas. The means were available; political will was required to develop an international ethic of mutuality. The representative of the Russian Federation said that genuine efforts for sustainable development were costly and required institutional investment, relief for foreign debt, global ecological services and other mechanisms. Until those problems were resolved, sustainable development would not be a reality. He expressed readiness to work on meeting all the necessary challenges. A representative of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) noted that a paradigm shift might be in order to achieve sustainable development. The three-fold nature of sustainable development must be reinforced by the outcome of Johannesburg. Clear priorities must be set in a careful and stakeholder-oriented way. The overall strategy to achieve sustainable development needed careful preparation. Implementing sustainable development on all levels could reflect a "dimensionality for all of us". A representative of the International Labour Organization (ILO) said the ILO was deeply concerned that it had not been possible to better reflect the social pillar of sustainable development in the draft implementation plan. He stressed the importance of promoting health, education and employment. The social dimension required attention at all levels, especially at the workplace level. The ILO would like to see the promotion and protection of employment represented in the declaration. In that regard, he highlighted the special importance of youth employment. The representative of Thailand said all had believed that through the outcome of the Rio summit, sustainable development could be achieved. That had not happened. It was necessary to look to the future. "We cannot afford to lose another 10 years", she said. A time frame for implementation of goals was key. The declaration must contain some elements of definite time-bound targets. "We must learn from our mistakes", she said, calling for forward movement with unity of purpose. The representative of the Philippines said the General Assembly resolution described the political declaration clearly, and it should not be reworked unduly. Heads of State could speak volumes of commitments, but it would not necessarily affect the lives of the poor. An implementation plan that included a solidarity fund, time targets, food security efforts, an end to trade-distorting subsidies, the engagement of civil society, an accounting of indigenous peoples and communities, and the ethics of the World Charter would begin to accomplish that goal. Everyone should be involved in creating a sustainable future for all mankind. The representative of Namibia said that humanity was at a crossroad to the future. A commitment must be made to move in a direction that would ensure prosperity and the improvement of the lives of millions of people, particularly in developing countries. The political declaration should be a firm basis for the full implementation of Agenda 21. It should provide visionary guidelines. But he reiterated a call for action, throughout the twenty-first century, to make the dream a reality, with poverty eradication the primary focus, and access to markets and other measures supporting that focus. The representative of Kenya said that mutual global partnership was essential in line with the principle of common but differentiated responsibility. The political declaration should support a concrete implementation plan with special attention to Africa and the kind of partnerships developed through the New Programme for African Development (NEPAD). Poverty was an impediment to sustainable development; the Millennium Goal of halving poverty must be met, and additional resources must be provided to meet it. The results of all other conferences since Rio must be built on as well. The representative of Mozambique said it was necessary to reaffirm the principles of the Rio Declaration and Agenda 21, including common but differentiated responsibilities. The problem was not reworking those principles, but agreeing on means to carry them out. He agreed on the Secretary-General's five key areas of primary focus and said the political declaration should be a commitment to concrete action in those areas. Provision of adequate official development assistance (ODA) was particularly important in those areas, but a participatory approach at all levels was a necessity. The representative Spain, for the European Union, said the declaration should contain an assessment element. It should reaffirm Agenda 21 and other agreements for sustainable development. The political foundations for sustainable development were peace and security, good governance, respect for human rights, among others. Sustainable development should be confirmed as the overall goal for the international community. The three pillars of sustainable development should be integrated in a balanced way, he said. There was a strong link between poverty and environmental degradation. The role of women in promoting sustainable development must be emphasized and must permeate the whole outcome of the Summit. Poverty eradication should also be highlighted in the declaration. The new opportunities presented by globalization should be strengthened and the importance of changing patterns of consumption and production should be stressed. The Union strongly supported development efforts under way in Africa, such as NEPAD. The observer for Palestine said he hoped the final step of the meeting would be a great success. He said his delegation had been unable to attend the proceedings because of the situation in Palestine. Little had been done since Rio to eliminate the constraints to sustainable development. An era of ethnic cleansing carried out by the occupying forces of Israel was being witnessed in Palestine. Foreign occupation should be placed ahead of such issues as malnutrition in the political declaration. The issue was of the highest importance. He called for the help of the international community to help stop the violence against Palestinians. The representative of Tunisia said there could not be sustainable development unless all forms of poverty, marginalization and exclusion were eliminated. He noted the formation of a national solidarity fund, which had greatly helped in alleviating poverty in his country. He called for an international solidarity fund to help the poor around the world. He attached great importance to the anti-desertification, climate change and biological diversity treaties. He asked whether the current international trade and finance system was equitable. The growing digital divide must be bridged and clean technologies must be transferred to the developing countries. There could be sustainable development without peaceful settlement of disputes. In that regard, he cited the case of Palestine. Occupation or unilateral sanctions undermined sustainable development. The declaration should reflect those ideas as clearly as possible. The representative of China said the political declaration should be a fresh point of departure in implementing Agenda 21. It should be terse and clear, reiterating the basic principles of the Rio Conference. Common but differentiated responsibilities were basic to those principles. It should stress, in addition, its full concern over the inequitable distribution of the benefits of globalization. Developed nations should take the lead in transfer of technology and assistance in capacity-building in the developing world, however all nations should formulate their own development policies. The representative of Indonesia said that poverty eradication, unsustainable patterns of production and consumption, good governance, foreign occupation and other priority areas should be priorities in the political declaration. It supported Romania's call for integration of the Earth Charter into the Declaration, in particular in the preamble of the document. A change of attitude was called for; hence the use of the Earth Charter as an ethical base. The representative of the Dominican Republic said that the language of the declaration should be strong, clear, short and action-oriented. For a model of that kind of format, similar documents that had already been created at the regional level could be seen as a model. The representative of Chile said the declaration should be "short, easy to understand and inspiring". It should set out "what we want and how we're going to achieve it". Emphasis should be placed on the need to eradicate poverty. The need to be action-oriented must be clearly and strongly set out in the declaration. Economic development must be worked on, and policies for sustainable development must be set out. Sincere efforts must be made to refine and increase democracy. Building capability for follow-up was also key. The representative of Mexico said the structure of the declaration should be divided into several main chapters. Her country had made a huge effort to comply with Agenda 21 and the Rio Declaration. There must a renewed commitment with clear goals to fulfill those agreements. Clear commitments for support to countries vulnerable to climate change should be made in the declaration. She noted that a number of like-minded countries had adopted the Cancun Declaration, in which a common agenda for sustainable development and biological diversity had been set out. The representative of Costa Rica said the eradication of poverty, environmental education and protecting water basins were among the elements that should be included in the declaration. The time had come to move from talk to action and to improve institutions promoting sustainable development. His country combated corruption, which it believed was "an evil that must be overthrown". He appealed for all to act together for the success of the Johannesburg Summit, with serious commitments to promote the various aspects of sustainable development. The representative of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea said that political commitment and will were of primary importance in achieving the goal of sustainable development. Mutual respect and the avoidance of unilateralism were essential in that regard. Financial assistance and transfer of technology to developing countries were other important elements in the implementation of Agenda 21. The representative of Finland supported the statement of Spain on behalf of the European Union. The Declaration should express priorities as well as commitments and send new, future-oriented messages, with a respect for biological as well as cultural diversity. Peace and security and human rights should be stressed as pre-requisites for sustainable development, along with women's integrated decision-making at all levels. The link must be broken between economic growth and environmental degradation -- developed countries must take the lead in that effort with technology transfer and changes in patterns of consumption and production. The representative of Uganda said the declaration should be short, concise and to the point, reiterating the Rio goals but with supporting timetables, means of implementation and additional resources required to reach those goals. Importance should be placed on the areas emphasized by the Secretary-General, giving prominence to poverty eradication and access to markets by developing countries. It should support environmental agreements that have already been reached. The representative of Canada said the declaration should be "high-level, brief and inspirational". It should endorse the plan of implementation but not be an executive summary of it. It must assert the interdependence of humanity and should recommit governments to sustainable development. None could underestimate the challenges, which could not be met alone. The declaration should therefore promote partnerships and assert that sustainable development was "everybody's business". Trade-offs between the three pillars of sustainable development were no longer acceptable -- balance was essential. The representative of Ukraine said his delegation supported, as a whole, the view of the Chairman on the declaration. A critical assessment of progress over the past 10 years must be included, along with the main reasons for failure. The declaration must reflect lessons learned. It should clearly indicate the political willingness to establish a mechanism to effectively implement the outcome of Johannesburg. The representative of Colombia said the declaration should be brief, clear and action-oriented, and it should discuss follow-up. The principles of sustainable development must be reconfirmed. It should make reference to the obstacles encountered and lessons learned -- that was extremely important. A vision of sustainability must be affirmed, while bearing in mind cultural and biological diversity. Reference should be made to the plan of implementation and follow-up mechanisms. The representative of the Commonwealth of Independent States said the declaration must describe the technologies that would be used to implement the commitments, to avoid implementation problems that had beset Agenda 21 during the past 10 years. Knowledge was often available at a great lag, but it could be a tool to fight problems that were growing rapidly. The role of ongoing education for sustainable development was underestimated. Quality education, universally provided, must be a priority, and the latest technologies must be made available globally. The representative of Bolivia said that the declaration should be short but very specific and reflect strong political will, with an emphasis on poverty reduction. Poverty should be fought with a variety of economic measures, such as the opening of markets and access to new technologies. Countries that were combating drug trafficking must be supported in those efforts, as those activities had adverse moral and economic effects. The representative of Bhutan said the Declaration should be short and precise and support Agenda 21. The vulnerable situation of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) must, in addition receive priority attention. The representative of Lesotho said political declarations were the most important element of any summit. The current statement should contain a commitment to a specific timetable for the implementation of Agenda 21. It should promote protection of fragile ecosystems and support combating disease. It must commit to strengthening the international financial architecture. Peace and democracy were indispensable for sustainable development -- that should be reflected in the document. The representative of the Sudan said the declaration should stress the need to implement the plan of implementation, above all in developing countries. A spirit of peace should be developed -- war should be ended, and foreign occupation should be ended. In that regard, he cited the situation in Palestine and other areas of the Middle East. Civilians must be protected during occupation. The political declaration should touch upon the fundamental cause of the refugee problem. It should also reflect the principle that partnerships should be fair without strings attached. The representative of Syria said the declaration should include clear, unambiguous text on the need to end foreign occupation in conformity with international law. In that context, he cited the situation in the Middle East. An end must be put to any form of siege or bilateral measures. Efforts for disarmament must be undertaken to ensure a safe world. The digital divide between the North and the South must be bridged and trade barriers facing developing countries should be taken down. The representative of Gabon said that for Bali to make a difference in the future of the planet, the political declaration must be clear, take stock of Agenda 21 and the Millennium Declaration, and include priorities such as poverty eradication and equitable treatment of all countries. Conflict prevention, technology transfer and other elements that made that possible should all be taken into account. The representative of Bosnia and Herzegovina stressed the importance of reaching consensus on commitments for the Johannesburg Summit. However, he warned of interest-driven interpretations of the commitments made and activities that would defy the goals and actions set forth in any agreement. He called for measures that would anticipate and counter such activity. The representative of Nepal, supporting the statement of Spain on behalf of the European Union, agreed with the need for a clear document with targeted goals in a range of areas. He emphasized taking into account the problems of mountain countries, as well as countries which had been marginalized in various ways. The representative of Cote d'Ivoire stressed the need to move from promises to implementation. An enabling environment at the national and international levels must be established. He stressed the importance of regional and subregional mechanisms. Resources for the developing countries should be increased by replenishing the Global Environment Facility (GEF). He also called for concrete measures to apply the anti-desertification convention. Human rights and democracy should be respected. Further impetus should be given to international cooperation. The representative of Iraq said the declaration should call for an end to the Palestinian occupation, and he stressed the need to put an end to sanctions. The Middle East should be made a nuclear weapons-free area. Developing countries must be able to have access to sophisticated technology to help with sustainable development. A representative of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) said AIDS affected all three pillars of sustainable development. She stressed the need for early action to slow or halt the spread of the disease. The declaration should draw attention to the declaration of commitment adopted at the landmark United Nations General Assembly session on AIDS. Action was needed on many fronts to combat the disease. The representative of Barbados said the declaration should reaffirm the Rio Principles, along with regional and international agreements that had been reached in past years. Language that recognized the vulnerability of SIDS should be included. She mentioned other important elements such as the inclusion of all stakeholders, a linkage to a concrete implementation plan, and an emphasis on the primary responsibility of governments in sustainable development. The representative of the Netherlands gave a report on the ministerial roundtable discussion on Agriculture for Food Security that was held yesterday. He noted that a number of proposals had been put forward for the political declaration and the plan of implementation 13) BALI COMMITMENT IN LIMBO AS TALKS NEAR END The Jakarta Post, 7 June
2002
Uncertainties continued to cloud the fate of the Bali Commitment in the final hours of negotiation, as its draft plan on sustainable development remained clogged with unresolved issues, leading to either weaker commitments, or more negotiation in Johannesburg, South Africa. The Indonesian delegation reiterated on Thursday that the talks would end in Bali despite statements by senior UN officials indicating otherwise. Several non-governmental organizations urged delegates not to compromise in Bali for a weaker document. Indonesian delegate Makarim Wibisono said that as long as talks were still going on, there should not be fear of a weak Bali Commitment. "There haven't been any discussions at all to extend the negotiation (to Johannesburg)," Makarim said. "The mood here is that everyone wants to finalize it." Delegates have been in Bali since May 27 for the drafting of the Bali Commitment -- an action plan that will set the tone for the global development over the next 10 years by balancing economic development with social and environmental interests. The upcoming world summit on sustainable development in Johannesburg in August is expected to attract over one hundred heads of state who will endorse the Bali Commitment with a political declaration. Yet the long-standing North-South division in the world reared its ugly head in Bali. Developed and developing countries disagree on whether or not the Bali Commitment should get the backing of new financial resources. Debates on the financial commitments remained tough, said Lowell Flanders a senior United Nations official tracking progress on the negotiation. He said talks centered on demands to link developed countries' aid commitments during the conference on financing development at Monterrey, Mexico, with programs under the Bali Commitment. Earlier this year, developed countries pledged to set aside US$30 billion in aid by the year 2006 to help combat poverty. But Monterrey left open the question of how and where developed countries would distribute the aid. A number of activists raised concerns that some of the money would come in the form of foreign investments and trade incentives rather than pure grants. They also pointed out that agricultural subsidies were six times the amount of the Monterrey aid, and was harming developing countries, yet developed countries refused to cut back the subsidies. The Group 77 plus China, which is the developing countries' negotiation block, demanded that developed countries raise their aid levels. They also want the funds pledged at Monterrey to help finance sustainable development programs under the Bali Commitment. Debates now focus on whether developed countries should go beyond Monterrey or whether the Bali Commitment should merely endorse the Monterrey pledge. An Indonesian delegate, who refused to be named, said that the country would not settle for anything less than "beyond Monterrey." According to Flanders, as of Thursday neither side showed signs of backing down from their positions, while in other contentious issues, compromises were being made. Among them is the debate on ocean affairs, where delegates agreed to emphasize the exploitation of marine life on conservation instead of sustainable use. But other outstanding issues, marked by bracketed and bold paragraphs in the negotiated draft plan, continue to dominate the draft plan. "At the rate that we are proceeding at this stage, we may not have a lot to include," Flanders said. Given the slow progress, he said, delegates might decide to continue negotiations in Johannesburg, possibly discussing finance and trade. "It's very possible that countries would like to keep things open until Johannesburg," he said. United Nations Development Program (UNDP) administrator Malloch Brown echoed the NGO's calls not to be afraid to "take the brackets to Johannesburg." NGO member Antonie Hill of Oxfam International urged delegates to resume talks in Johannesburg, saying talks on finance and trade were going nowhere. "Everybody is waiting for the finance and trade thing, until that is resolved or unless some movements happen there, the other step is meaningless. It's not real commitment, it's not something that's implementable," he said. The Indonesian People's Forum of local NGOs and groups representing among others women, youth and indigenous people took a harder stance, rejecting the Bali Commitment and boycotting the Johannesburg summit altogether. They charged governments with excluding their interests in the draft plan in favor of business interests. He said outstanding issues in the draft plan of implementation for the Bali Commitment, had gone nowhere, and were overwhelming given the tight deadline on Friday.
14) EARTH CHARTER PRINCIPLES OFFER NEW BEGINNING, SAYS PRINCESS BASMA The Jordan Times, 7 June
2002
AMMAN (JT) - HRH Princess Basma brought the Earth Charter to the attention of the Bali PrepCom IV delegates on Thursday, emphasising the need for all governments to give serious consideration to the use of the charter as appropriate and to express their moral and political support for the initiative. In a keynote address entitled: "Towards a Common Vision for Sustainable Future," the Princess said effective international and cross-cultural collaboration urgently needs to build a shared vision of basic values that can provide a framework for worldwide partnership and an ethical foundation for the emerging world community. Speaking on behalf of the Earth Council and Earth Charter Commission, Princess Basma said: "In our troubled region, we yearn to heal the suffering with which we have lived for so long by nurturing a culture of tolerance, non-violence and peace ... as never before in history, common destiny beckons us to seek a new beginning. Such renewal is the promise of the Earth Charter The Earth Charter declaration articulates a consensus on the fundamental values that is taking form in the emerging global civil society, while giving expression to the basic concerns of both developing and developed nations. Governments who have already supported the Earth Charter Initiative so far are: Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, Japan, Niger and Jordan. This event, held on the sidelines of the World Summit for Sustainable Development PrepCom IV, was organised by the minister of environment of Indonesia in cooperation with the Earth Council, and was attended by representatives and ministers of various governments, as well as heads of the Arab delegation who are in Bali. Later that evening, Her Royal Highness addressed the official launching ceremony of the Capacity 2015 initiative. The event, hosted by the Indonesia government in collaboration with UNDP, was also held during the ministerial segment of the PrepCom IV, leading up to WSSD, aims to address the real challenges to sustainable development that developing Capacity 2015 will assist communities in developing their capacities to nurture healthy local economies, societies and environments; effectively face the challenges of globalisation; and derive the greatest possible benefit from actual and emerging global trends. This platform aims to help the global community meet the Millennium Development Goals, especially the halving of poverty by 2015, within the framework of Agenda 21. Highlighting the necessity for Capacity 2015 to be a flexible process-driven approach with a sensitivity to local culture, politics and context, Princess Basma said: "My own experience in this area has shown me that change has its own momentum, and is more readily fostered when internally-motivated, than when externally-imposed. While donor contributions are a lifeline to sustainable development projects, their approaches need to show sensitivity and consideration to the varying local cultures which dictate the pace and modes of implementation, as well as building on existing knowledge, rather than replacing it." Capacity development has been at the heart of all UNDP's activities since the Earth Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, which gave UNDP a mandate to help countries develop their capacities to implement the summit's Agenda 21. UNDP Administrator, Mark Malloch-Brown also addressed the high-level gathering, which was attended by ministers and representatives from donor and developing countries, the private sector, academia, UN agencies, and civil society.. 15) EARTH SUMMIT PLAN TALKS EXTENDED Business Day , 7 June 2002
JAKARTA - A UN meeting to hammer out a strategy to protect the planet stretched into a sixth day on Saturday as the United States baulked at new targets and timetables for issues such as renewable energy sources, officials said. "The US does not want to add new targets or set timetables. Their position is that there are already many goals that have been set on issues such as food, water and access to education," said UN spokeswoman Pragati Pascale. "In September 2000 the Millennium Summit agreed on several specific targets. so the US says better take action to achieve those targets before we set new ones," she told AFP from the Indonesian island of Bali, where the conference is being held. The UN Millennium Summit called for a halving, by 2015, the number of people living on less than one dollar a day and the number of people who have no access to clean water. Thousands of officials and activists are meeting in Bali to try to reach agreement on various issues before the World Summit on Sustainable Development, dubbed Earth Summit II, in Johannesburg. The European Union and many developing countries want the Johannesburg summit to adopt a proposal that 15% of all energy consumption worldwide to come from clean, affordable and renewable sources within eight years. But the United States opposed the proposal. The delegates' meeting which began Monday will be followed by a ministerial-level gathering from June 5 to 7, which will focus on a declaration to be adopted in Johannesburg from August 26 to September 4. Talks on the draft action plan were supposed to end late Friday. A member of the Indonesian delegation, Effendy Soemardja, said delegates could see eye-to-eye on most issues but talks were slowed down by disagreement on matters such the degree of commitment and time-bound measures. "We hope the discussion can be concluded today. If not, there's still tomorrow," he said. Griffin Thomson, a member of the US delegation, was quoted by Saturday's Jakarta Post as saying that the time targets proposed were difficult to achieve owing to technological constraints. "When the people of the United States commit to any target, they take it seriously. I'd like to require the European delegates to tell me how they're going to achieve their targets," he said. The draft text calls for poverty eradication, changing harmful patterns of consumption and production, protection of natural resources and ecosystems and development initiatives for Africa and Small Island developing states. The UN says 1.2 billion people live below the poverty line while 1.1 billion people lack access to clean drinking water and power. 16) MIRACLE' NEEDED TO RESOLVE BALI LOGJAM Mail and Guardian, 7 June
2002 Delegates discussing how to develop the world without destroying it will need a "miracle" to reach agreement on key issues before the United Nations conference ends on Friday, a senior UN official said on Thursday. Issues dividing some developed nations from developing countries - such as trade and finance - will probably get carried over to the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in August, Lowell Flenders said. "There's a very good possibility. There will be a fair amount of (issues) in the text (to be carried over to Johannesburg) unless a miracle occurs between now and tomorrow, which could happen in terms of an all-night session", he told a press conference. "There seems to be a logjam on the issue of trade and finance." More than 3 000 government officials and activists from 173 countries are meeting on Bali Island to try to bridge differences before the Johannesburg Summit. They have been meeting since May 27 to discuss the action plan or "Bali Commitment" but have yet to reach agreement. The UN says a deal in Bali is crucial for the success of Johannesburg. On Wednesday 118 ministers from around the world began a parallel three-day meeting to discuss ways to implement an action plan and a political declaration to be endorsed in Johannesburg. The action plan focuses on water and sanitation, energy, agriculture, biodiversity and ecosystems and health. Officials say the United States is reluctant to commit new financial aid for programs to reduce poverty and protect the environment in addition to what it pledged at the development finance summit in the Mexican city of Monterrey. The US also argues that the Bali meeting is not supposed to discuss new money but should focus on implementation. But the European Union and developing countries maintain that the previous commitments do not come close to what is needed to tackle poverty and protect the environment. Athena Ronquilla of the Eco Coalition, which groups international activists from Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and Consumer International, accused the US and its allies in the developed world of trying to scuttle any agreement in Bali. "I think over the last couple of days we've already heard of serious attempts by particular countries to shamelessly hijack the Bali process," she said." Countries led by the world's major polluter are in fact quietly and slowly making this process arrive at a stalemate. "They are coming to Bali with no mandate to negotiate new money, no targets, no timetables and yet after almost two weeks of negotiation they still manage to arrive at a conclusion that it is the developing world who is to blame for the lack of progress in this negotiation," she said. The head of the United Nations Development Program, Mark Malloch Brown, urged governments to narrow their differences. "Obviously we are concerned about the continued political and intellectual differences that appear to separate delegates," Brown told AFP. Developing countries have called for stronger references to ways of financing sustainable development and a greater commitment by developed countries to open their markets wider to trade and to transfer technology. Among other proposals at the meeting, the EU and many developing countries want the Johannesburg summit to adopt a proposal that 15% of all energy consumption worldwide should come from clean, affordable and renewable sources within eight years. The US and some other developed states, including Japan, Australia and Canada, have been reluctant to add new targets and set timetables. They said many targets had already been set at the UN Millennium Summit in September 2000 that called for the halving, by 2015, of the number of people living on less than one dollar a day and the number with no access to clean water. The UN says 1,2 billion people still live below the poverty line while 1,1 billion people lack access to clean drinking water and power. Daily Despatch, 7 June
2002 BALI, Indonesia -- Only 45 national leaders have confirmed their attendance at the upcoming Earth Summit in Johannesburg in August, a survey disclosed yesterday. While most European Union leaders have already confirmed their plans to join the summit, the United States, China, India and Russia remain uncommitted, said Jacob Scherr, director of the Natural Resources Defence Council. The Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development is deemed an important follow-up to the first such Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992. "We are very concerned that, at this late stage of the preparatory process, so many national leaders still have not yet announced their intent to go to the World Summit," said Scherr. "Making promises in Rio a decade ago was easy. Now the question is whether the world's leaders have the courage to go to Johannesburg to really take action," he added. He noted that former United States president George Bush senior, the father of President George W Bush, didn't make his decision to join the Rio summit until the last minute. "If President (George W) Bush does go to Johannesburg, it will be because he is urged to go by other nations," said Scherr. 18) DON'T BOYCOTT PREPCOM IV OUTCOME, DELEGATES PLEAD The Jakarta Post , 7 June
2002 Government delegates called for local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and civil society groups not to boycott the results of the ongoing UN meeting in Bali and instead keep on voicing and fighting for the welfare of the common people through to the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. Canadian delegate Angela Keller-Herzog said during the last open dialog at the Indonesian People's Forum on Thursday that she was impressed with the quality and analysis of the statements delivered by representatives of the major groups voicing disappointment and disagreements over the negotiating process at the Bali meeting here. "All of us at times feel that we're not heard and that we're being marginalized," said Keller-Herzog, senior economist from the Canadian International Development Agency. She said that the Indonesian People's Forum had produced a level of analysis that was "very impressive." "I think that's exactly the kind of approaches and tools that are useful for constructive engagements," Keller-Herzog added. Other senior delegates also voiced the same sentiment, saying that NGOs should not boycott either the results of the current meeting in Bali or the upcoming World Summit in Johannesburg in August and September. Other delegates attending the open dialogue included Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Social Affairs Jusuf Kalla, the Netherlands' Environment and Development Department director Sweder van Voorst tot Voorst, director general of the Danish Environmental Protection Agency Steen Gade, and Finland's Environmental Committee chairman and member of parliament Pentti Tiusanen. Local NGOs and civil society groups had voiced their rejection of all the results of the current preparatory committee (PrepCom) meeting for the World Summit on Sustainable Development, including the Draft Plan of Implementation -- previously called the Chairman's Text. They even called for a boycott of the World Summit in Johannesburg in August and September. They claimed that government delegations at the meetings were working in the interests of industrialized countries and multinational corporations, at the expense of developing countries. Denmark's Gade said that it would not be good for progress if NGOs boycotted the dialogues between governments and civil society groups. "They should instead see it as a struggle and to continue voicing their concerns from one conference to another," he said. Furthermore, the role of the NGOs must be stronger in Johannesburg than it was here in Bali, or even at the WTO meetings, said Finland's Tiusanen. NGOs should not boycott the meetings but force the governments to hear their demands, he said. The Netherlands's Voorst said that the ongoing negotiations were a difficult process because of the many complex subjects being negotiated, and were complicated by the rules and procedures applied within the United Nations. He also said that the number of countries involved in the process was huge. "It certainly could not please everyone, everybody, not all societies, not all governments, but that's part of the deal," he said, adding that NGOs as well as governments should continue to fight to get a more favorable outcome from the negotiations. 19) ENVIRONTMENTAL DAMAGE 'CAUSES PEOPLE MISERY' The Jakarta Post , 7 June
2002 High population growth, industrialization and inefficient lifestyles have damaged the environment greatly in the last 30 years, bringing misery to people, according to a report by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). If there was no commitment or concrete action by all stakeholders of the earth, especially the governments, to deal with the deteriorating environment, more devastating impacts to both the earth and its people could occur in the next 30 years, according to a UNEP report presented on Thursday at the preparatory committee (PrepCom) meeting for the World Summit on Sustainable Development here. The report, entitled Global Environment Outlook-3 (GEO-3), provided an assessment of environmental trends since 1972, the year the Stockholm Conference on Environment was held. The report followed two other reports GEO-1 and GEO-2000, which were launched in 1997 and 1999 respectively. The GEO-3 report accused human activities, including expansion of agricultural land, over-harvesting of industrial wood and illegal logging as the main culprits in rapid deforestation. During the 1990s, a net loss in global forests was about 94 million hectares. Forests, which cover around one third of the Earth's land surface (3,866 million hectares), have declined by 2.4 percent a year since 1990. Deforestation has long been blamed for various environmental problems, as deforestation adversely affects water catchment, and often leads to flooding, drought and oversiltation of rivers, not to mention the increase in greenhouse gases. Due to climate change and environmental degradation, people have experienced more natural disasters in the last decade. It is estimated by the report that the number of people affected by disasters jumped from an average of 147 million a year in the 1980s to 211 million a year in the 1990s. Global financial losses from natural disasters were, in 1999, estimated to cost over US$100 billion. According to the report, the failures to mitigate and to tackle the damage could lead to catastrophe in the future, as more people would be affected by the damage. Klaus Toepfer, executive director of UNEP, said that what would happen in the coming decades would depend on "what we, especially the government, are doing now." "The scenarios do clearly show that today's policy decisions will have an impact long into the future. Different decisions can lead us towards very different futures and the future is very much in our hands," he said. Toepfer demanded parties negotiating in the preparatory committee meeting to produce concrete action plans, concrete time tables and an iron will from all sides to turn the promises made in Rio into reality. The UNEP report said that if world governments continued to give priority to short-term economics, or, in the words of the report "market first," then, environmental destruction would continue unabated. Failure to stop deforestation could lead to major destruction and disturbance of habitats and wildlife by 2032. Over 70 percent of the world's land could be affected with the highest impact in Latin America and the Caribbean. Meanwhile, failure to meet the ever increasing population's demand for clean water could also increase the number of people living in areas with severe water stress. It is estimated by the report that 55 percent of the global population could be affected by a water crisis by 2032, up from around 40 percent currently. Despite the bleak outlook, the report said that concrete measures to sustain the development and to protect the environment could curtail this devastating scenario of the environment, which UNEP called "sustainability first." Under the sustainability first scenario, most regions in the world in 2032 would see the areas under water stress remaining more or less constant at 40 percent, as more efficient management of water reduces water withdrawal, especially for irrigation. Deforestation could also be held in check, especially in Latin America and the Caribbean. 20) CAPACITY 21 PROJECT LAUNCHED The Jakarta Post , 7 June
2002
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) launched here on Thursday evening its Capacity 21 project to empower the people in fulfilling their own basic needs for water and energy, and in fighting against poverty. UNDP administrator Mark Malloch Brown said that dealing with local communities was the best way forward for sustainable development as the local community or people served as "the front line of the battle." "That is why we have to invest in the fundamental line. The local community is the frontline in turning around natural degradation," Brown said during the launching of Capacity 21 here on Thursday. The project goal is to deal directly with the local communities in empowering them to build partnerships with other groups in the effort to provide access to water and energy, and eradicate poverty. Capacity 21 is designed to support developing countries in meeting the Agenda 21 on sustainable development that was agreed at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro ten years ago. The project is also meant to achieve the Millennium Goals, agreed in 2000, of halving the number of people lacking access to clean water and energy by the year 2015. Over the past ten years, the UNDP had been working with 2,600 NGOs in 35 countries in carrying out various sustainable development programs. It would continue to work with those NGOs in implementing its Capacity 21 projects so that sustainable development projects would continue to improve the world even if the upcoming World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg failed to produce something beyond the Rio declaration. "The real application happens at the local community level. The people are the means to win the battle of sustainable development," Brown said. Separately, the UNDP environment and sustainable development group chief, Alvaro Umana, told The Jakarta Post that the Capacity 21 project would educate the people so that they could organize themselves in obtaining their basic needs of energy and water. He underlined that when people had the knowledge, they could address their own problems with water or energy access and improve the quality of their lives. Umana stressed that although the program promoted partnerships, it would not encourage any privatization of water and energy supplies for the ordinary people. "This partnership is not something that considers privatization as we all agree that energy and water should not be for making profits," Umana said. 21) PRONK TELLS LEADERS TO COME TO JOHANNESBURG The Jakarta Post, 7 June
2002
When traffic jams clog the streets of Johannesburg, when hotels are overbooked for weeks, when thousands of people from around the globe descend on the city, South Africa will have Jan Pronk to thank. Pronk is the Netherlands' environment minister, as well as the former chairman of the now-defunct International Consultative Group on Indonesia. And as the United Nations' special envoy for the World Summit on Sustainable Development, he has been touring the globe since late last year, calling on world leaders to attend the summit in Johannesburg in August and September. The Jakarta Post's Berni K. Moestafa caught up with him in Bali. Question: What is your task as the UN's special envoy for the World Summit? Answer: To get as many heads of government to Johannesburg, to discuss the political context of the whole conference. There is a representative group of countries which I was able to establish contact with, either by going to the countries or by making contacts in a different framework. I also went to many international conferences in order to meet with representatives of countries, because physically it is a bit difficult to go to all the countries. CAN YOU DISCUSS SOME OF THE VISITS YOU MADE AS A SPECIAL ENVOY? It started with a visit to President Megawati (Soekarnoputri of Indonesia), and later on I departed to many countries in the world, both in the North as well as in the South. Everybody was very anxious to ask about the conference. Speaking about Johannesburg, quite a number of world leaders, prime ministers, heads of state want to come. The whole process, to a certain extent, has already had some success -- the Monterrey conference. You may say the downward trend in international resources has now reversed into an upward trend. The commitments are different, they are surprisingly good. Of course not yet adequate, but we need more money and it is very important, the whole setting of the sustainable development conference. Not only governments but also other stakeholders, businesses, will play a role. I have also had quite a few discussions about the political situation. At the moment, the major international conflict, that is in relation to the Middle East and Afghanistan, will not result in paralysis in governments dealing with social, economic and developmental issues. But many governments, in their discussions with me, also said that they understand that the conference also offers an opportunity to deal with such problems. WHAT HAS BEEN THE RESPONSE TO YOUR VISITS? Developing countries in particular say, 'Put your money where your mouth is. You have made many promises in the past, and you did not deliver on your promises,' and they are right. That's why in Bali we are not drafting a complete new text, but are drafting a plan to implement what has been promised in the past. If there is no implementation, then you should not have a conference at all. That is why action is important. There is an increase in the ratification of the Kyoto protocol, many biodiversity treaties. Governments are asking parliaments to ratify in order to have a clean slate when we start the meeting in Johannesburg. WHY DO YOU THINK THE TREND FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IS RISING? There are a number of factors. You may say there is a globalization trend, which is meeting with a lot of criticism, and the criticism in particular refers to the fact that many people or countries seem to be excluded from the benefits of globalization. The criticism is being listened to now, and capitals understand that something has to be done in order to make globalization indeed serve the people. They also understand that it is politically necessary, otherwise there is too much criticism against globalization, which may lead to violence. These are the reasons why you see more positive reactions toward the preparations for the conference; you see it in all parts of the world. Secondly, we have had a surprising number of positive outcomes at major international conferences in the past. The climate negotiations are a good example, producing the Kyoto protocol which is being ratified by a number of countries. Monterrey was the third factor. Nobody expected that the downward trend would be reversed there. You can say that Johannesburg will be seen as a kind of umbrella of international negotiations. At the same time it is very realistic, you may say, that conferences are betting on two horses. As far as the political situation is concerned, we have an anti-terrorism policy, a security policy, a coalition against terrorism, and that is taking shape and some countries are very strongly oriented toward that. Betting on two horses means that at the same time, countries are also interested in taking away possible causes of violence, are willing to approach the backgrounds of violence, are willing to ask serious questions in regard to inequality and injustice. That is betting on two horses. It is not certain how long that will last, and that is the reason it is necessary to have some success as far as the second track is concerned, that is Johannesburg, in order to keep it attractiveness to governments. There is momentum, but momentum can fade very easily 22) INDONESIA GOVT TOLD NOT TO FORCE THROUGH BALI COMMITMENT The Jakarta Post, 7 June
2002
The Indonesian government, currently hosting the UN meeting on sustainable development here, should not insist that the final document, called the Bali Commitment, be completed since there are too many contentious issues blocking negotiations, NGOs say. Martin Kohr, who represented NGOs at the multidialog meeting with ministers on Thursday, said that forcing the completion of the document could damage the image and the reputation of Indonesia as the draft plan of implementations contain "bad things." "We understand that the Indonesian government would like to have the name of Bali (on the document), but it would be better to stick to the principles and to leave everything in bold rather than have a Bali Commitment that contained unfavorable things," he told The Jakarta Post after the meeting. The Indonesian government is required by UN resolution to seal the draft plan of implementation for the World Summit on Sustainable Development during the current ministerial meeting in Bali. Since negotiations have met with so many stumbling blocks, Indonesia has been approaching opposite groups to ensure that the draft plan of implementations is finalized in Bali before the meeting ends on Friday. Khor suggested that the unresolved points in the draft plan of the implementation be left in bold or brackets and be brought to Johannesburg, where world leaders will have their summit in August and September. "The name of Bali would be worse. There is no harm in having a few square brackets in Johannesburg," he said. The meeting lasted for more than an hour, with not that many ministers attended the session, and only a few of them responded to the major groups' statement. The meeting was attended by representatives of the nine major groups: NGOs, Youths, Women, indigenous people, scientists, local governments, workers, farmers and businesses. These groups also requested that the draft plan incorporate measures to demand corporate accountability and review the Bretton Woods institutions (the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund). Youth, Women's, NGOs and indigenous people's groups are demanding that business communities consider the environmental impacts when conducting their activities. Khor further added that the Bali meeting would be meaningful if it could promote an alternative economic paradigm that opposed current ones, now dominated by the World Bank, the IMF and the World Trade Organization (WTO). The problems at the World Summit of Sustainable Development would remain the same, that is, that the implementation of sustainable development would again be overshadowed by the World Bank, the IMF and the WTO, he remarked. The Bretton Woods institutions had stronger influence in the world as their agreements and policies as independent bodies were compulsory and legally binding. These institutions are considered to represent the interests of multinational corporations and developed countries like the United States. On the other hand, the United Nations' conventions and summits, like the next one in Johannesburg, which favor developing countries do not enjoy the same kind of authority as the Bretton Woods institutions. Khor also said that the groups had asked developed countries to support developing countries, especially in dealing with their mounting debts. "We also warn the governments not to take the partnerships issue as a substitute for political commitments of the developed countries," he remarked. 23) FEWER PARTICIPANTS MAY SHOW UP AT JOBURG SUMMIT The Jakarta Post, 7 June
2002
Only three months left to the World Summit on Sustainable Development, but the majority of world leaders have yet to confirm their attendance at the Summit, scheduled to be held from August to September this year in Johannesburg, South Africa, according to a survey. The survey, conducted by U.S.-based non-governmental organization The Natural Resource Defense Council, revealed a grim picture. It said that leaders from key countries in the United Nations such as the United States, China, India and Russia had not yet confirmed their presences at the upcoming summit. "Making promises in Rio a decade ago was easy. Now, the question is whether the world's leaders have the courage to go to Johannesburg to take real action to ensure a sustainable future?" Jacob Scherr, international program director of the Council, told journalists at a press conference on Thursday. The Council's finding were based on the results of a survey it carried out with the 175 country missions at the United Nations headquarters in New York and delegations at the current preparatory committee meeting for the World Summit in Bali. The survey, which was started in March this year, found that only 45 national leaders had confirmed their attendance at the World Summit in Johannesburg. Another 40 countries said that their heads of state would "likely" participate in the meeting. Indonesia is included in this second "likely" category. The figure is worrisome, compared to the previous Rio Summit a decade ago. As of March 1992 -- three months before the summit -- 64 presidents, prime ministers and heads of state had confirmed their attendance at the Rio Summit. And no less than 110 leaders finally gathered at the first Earth Summit in June 1992. 24) EARTH SUMMIT DEBATE DEALOCKED Associated Press, 7 June
2002 KEY talks on how to raise living standards worldwide and protect the environment were deadlocked today, with delegates saying they were unlikely to agree on several key issues. More than 6000 delegates, including 118 environment and economic ministers, are meeting on Bali Island to debate a development blueprint to be voted on in a major UN-sponsored summit in August in Johannesburg, South Africa. The main unresolved issues centre on the United States' insistence that more aid to poor countries be conditional on reducing corruption and promoting good governance. "Both conflicting groups have not moved from their position. There was no meaningful progress," said Djumala Darmansjah, an Indonesian delegate involved in the financing talks. Delegates said it appeared likely that some issues would have to be debated in Johannesburg. The Bali talks were scheduled to end later today. The European delegation said last night it had proposed new ideas to "unblock the stalemate," but was ready to accept that some of the most important points be discussed later. "Some issues might have to be left to Johannesburg," said European Union Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstrom. Delegates are working on an ambitious 158-point plan to be called the Bali Commitment, which includes ways to achieve goals agreed to in the UN Millennium Summit in September 2000. One of the poverty reducing programs is to halve the number of people living on less than $US1 a day by 2015. Another is to halve the number of people who are unable to reach or afford safe drinking water by 2015. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has proposed five key areas to focus on: water and sanitation, energy, agriculture, biodiversity, and ecosystem management and health. Ministers are also scheduled to produce parts of a political declaration stating their governments' willingness to carry out the action plan. World leaders will later vote to adopt both texts in Johannesburg. That summit is expected to be the largest gathering of world leaders with some 50,000 delegates invited. Dubbed "Earth Summit 2," it will coincide with anniversary of a 1992 summit in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. However, critics say the landmark meeting produced the first global agreements on environmental protection, but it failed to force governments to carry them out. 25) LITTLE HAS CHANGED THESE PAST 10 YEARS Bangkok Post, 7 June 2002
A question that has been asked in recent days as we mark the World Environment Day is whether the environment has improved during the past decade. The timeframe of a decade is used apparently in reference to a major environmental landmark, the World Summit on Sustainable Development that will take place from Aug 26 to Sept 2. The event, in Johannesburg, South Africa, is being held 10 years after the Rio Earth Summit ended with a plan of action to try to arrest the environmental degradation that had spread around the world at an alarming pace. The agreement, known as Agenda 21, has since been the topic of discussion in many forums, especially in recent months, in preparation for the Johannesburg summit. Meanwhile, most people on the street are going about their business unaware of these two events. This is hardly surprising. The events seem far from their everyday concerns which are mainly economy-related. The world after 1997 has not been the same, thanks to Thailand, a seemingly economically insignificant country, which set the ball of economic crisis rolling. The crash which has since been referred to as the Tom Yam Kung Effect has reverberated around the world. Even the mighty United States has succumbed. To economists, industrialists, business executives and government leaders, the phenomenon must be nothing short of calamitous. Here it was, the world was enjoying what must have been the greatest growth spurt ever known to mankind, and it seemed as if there were no end in sight. It was the triumph of consumerism and free enterprise. But then the Thai bubble burst, and with it the whole facade of the new economic order came tumbling down. It was most distressing to people the world over. A lot of dreams were crushed and hearts broken. It will be a long time before the pieces are put back together. The world will never be the same again. This could be good or bad, depending on what lessons we have learned and how willing we are to apply them. I think one of the key lessons is that natural resources are not infinite in spite of our technological advances. Yes, technological advancement may stretch the usefulness of certain things. But pretty soon, it will hit the limits imposed by physical and natural laws. Just like with economics, you cannot have the kind of growth we experienced in the 1980s and '90s forever. Soon you will have to come down and, in most cases, the higher you go, the harder you land. One of the most-repeated catch phrases when the environment is discussed is sustainable development. This refers to the type of development that has the least impact on the environment. Much has been proposed to achieve this lofty goal. The efforts, however, have focused largely on technology and management. This merely sidesteps the real issue, which is the ever increasing consumption of natural resources. Few nations, if any, are willing to discuss this, let alone do anything about it. A survey by the United Nations Environment Programme and Consumers International bears this out. It found that very few governments have implemented the United Nations guidelines for sustainable consumption. Many governments were not even aware of the existence of these guidelines, which are meant to help them formulate and strengthen policies and legislation for more environmentally-responsible consumption and production patterns. Changing the pattern of consumption is impossible however as long as most nations continue to subscribe to the dominant economic system that preaches the virtue of ever-increasing consumption. So the answer to the question whether the environment has improved is obvious because the condition for its improvement has been by and large absent. 26) BALI ACTION PLAN FOR EARTH SUMMIT ON THE ROPES Islamic Republic News
Agency, 7 June 2002
Bali, Indonesia, IRNA -- The fourth preparatory meeting for the upcoming Earth Summit in Johannesburg moved into its final day of negotiations on Friday amid signs that delegates would fail to complete their action plan in Bali, an outcome which non-governmental organizations would welcome, the German news agency, DPA reported from Bali, Friday. The two week preparatory meeting's chief task has been to complete the "Bali Commitment," to be used as a foundation for a second Earth Summit scheduled to be held in Johannesburg in late August to early September. The first such summit was held in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992, with dubious follow up results. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) session attending the Bali meeting, which is expected to drag on until late Friday night, said no agreement from the resort would be preferable to a water-downed one without fixed timetables and targets to be passed on to Johannesburg. "Millions of people are going to die if we do not do get a good, strong action plan," said Remi Parmentier, political director of Green Peace. He added, "We think it's better if there is no deal, than a bad deal." Negotiations in Bali over the past two weeks have bogged down on numerous "bracket" clauses in the action plan, which remained unresolved by mid-Friday, the final day of the meeting. European Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstrom told a press conference Thursday night that it was likely that some highly politicized issues such as trade and finance for sustainable development would need to be settled at the Johannesburg summit in August. ”We said before that we even anticipated that we might end up with a situation that we might have to defer decisions on to Johannesburg, and we're not afraid of that because we want a good agreement, not an agreement at any price," Wallstrom said. The E.U. tabled a compromise paper on trade and finance issues Thursday night in an effort to break the deadlock between developed countries, led by the US, and poor countries, who want more financial commitments for sustainable development. But the proposal was rejected by the U.S. delegation, which insists that Bali is not the right forum for discussing financial assistance for development. NGOs attending the meeting have been widely disappointed with the results thus far, and have pegged their hopes on the debate being carried forward to Johannesburg. "It's been a profoundly disappointing process so far," said Matt Phillips of Friends Of the Earth. "I think if there is one thing the NGOs feel, it's that the governments haven't listened." In particular, attending NGO caucuses have bemoaned signs that the Bali Commitment had failed to nail down proposals on sustainable production and consumption, had scrapped a framework on big business accountability and liability and had secured no new financial commitments from the developed nations to support sustainable development among poor countries. "We are tremendously unhappy. The best scenario now is if some of these items don't get decided now," said Jennifer Morgan of World Wildlife Fund (WWF). In general, NGOs have been critical of the E.U. for caving in negotiations to the "dirty three" - the US, Canada and Australia. One exception may be in terms on energy, where the E.U. has insisted on setting a global target of 15 percent use of renewable energy by the year 2010, albeit including hydro-energy. Wallstrom brushed off the criticisms. "We haven't abandoned any of our firm demands and firm wishes on how to proceed on these important things, especially on targets and timetables to make this a complete agenda for change," Wallstrom said. 27) NEW UNDP DRIVE TO SUPPORT DEVELOPING COUNTRY EFFORTS TO MEET 2015 MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS United Nations Press Release,
6 June 2002
BALI, Indonesia- Prepared to follow-up on the commitments made at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, the United Nations Development Programme tonight unveiled a new initiative, a platform to help developing countries build their own capacities for sustainable development, and meet the Millennium Development Goals. The new initiative, Capacity 2015, builds on the programme launched after the 1992 Earth Summit, "Capacity building is the key to this process of sustainable development," according to UNDP Administrator Mark Malloch Brown. Calling sustainable development something that has to happen at the local level, Malloch Brown said Capacity 2015 "takes our thinking a great big step forward." The new initiative, he said, is "a much profounder vision of what capacity building is," adding that, "it is not about imposing outside models of development." With an emphasis on beefing up the ability of local communities to take charge of their own development, Malloch Brown said it was "enormously important" that the Millennium Development Goals-a set of eight targets that include a pledge by governments to reduce by half the number of people living in poverty by 2015-remain at the center of the new programme's objectives. Malloch Brown said "real success" in the follow-up to Johannesburg lies in the partnership initiatives that can support the commitments made by governments in Johannesburg. There should not, however, be a rush to finalize a weak document. "It is better for those of us working is sustainable development that they get this right." With two important pieces in place-solid commitments and partnership-Malloch Brown said, "We can have a real architecture for sustainable development underpinned by the resources that were promised in Monterrey." Countries have agreed, in the Bali negotiations on the implementation programme, "to significantly strengthen" support for UNDP's capacity building programmes in developing countries, "building on the experience gained from Capacity 21." Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hassan Wirajuda said UNDP, through Capacity 2015, had strengthened its role in capacity development activities. "It is, I am convinced, only through such partnerships that the WSSD will be able to make a difference in ensuring the achievement of sustainable development objectives under Agenda 21 and the Millennium Development Goals." According to Fevzi Aytekin, Minister of Environment for Turkey, UNDP's Capacity 21 had helped Turkey's own Local Agenda 21 programme, which has brought public institutions, local authorities and citizen groups together to address local problems. "We believe the Capacity 2015 initiative will be a step forward," he said, " to strengthen local, national and global partnerships and synergies for achieving the goals of the 21st century." Jordanian Princess Basma bint Talal applauded the new initiative, calling it an attempt to address the real challenges. "By launching this initiative, UNDP is taking the lead to find innovative approaches that will allow local communities to develop their own capacities." In addition to meeting the Millennium Development Goals, UNDP expects Capacity 2015 to result in a review of national and local policies and legislation in order to eliminate bottlenecks and ensure proper incentives for local sustainable development. It hopes to support learning networks, civic engagement, and responsible local leadership, while also mobilizing resources to help communities compete successfully in a globalized world. 28) ASIAN NATIONS MAP OUT JOINT PLAN TO TACKLE REGIONAL WATER CRISIS OneWorld South Asia , 6
June 2002
Faced with an ongoing water crisis, a group of Asian nations is joining forces to press for a new approach to the problem at upcoming world conferences on poverty alleviation, economic development, and environmental protection, according to information obtained Thursday from a global water research body. Ministers from 10 nations in the region--from South Asia and Indochina to Southeast and East Asia--have signed a joint statement calling for moves to stop water wastage as a means of helping to place a higher value on the commodity. The statement will be presented at the World Summit for Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg, South Africa, in August, and at the Third World Water Forum in Kyoto, Japan, next March. "This evaluation would not mean raising a tax on water," said Michael Devlin, a spokesman for the Sri Lanka-based International Water Management Institute. "When we speak of the evaluation of water, we mean encouraging people to use it sparingly. If the value of water is high, people make better use of it." The need for a fresh approach was underscored at a meeting last month organized by IWMI and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. Ministers pointed out that cycles of droughts and flooding, and access to clean water were common areas of concern in the region, where one in two of the population does not have adequate sanitation facilities and where some 500,000 infants die each year because of dirty water and poor sanitation. The water crises, they said, should be tackled with regional cooperation, including technology sharing, and exchange of expertise, research, and training. "We firmly believe that integrated water management is an appropriate direction to solve water problems," said Thailand's deputy prime minister Pitak Intrawityanunt. "Regional cooperation in transfer of knowledge among countries will definitely support our work." A statement issued May 23 from the meeting said Asian ministers at the Johannesburg "Earth Summit" would emphasize that publicly accountable and open methods by governments in the region would help to deal with the widespread water problems. "The water crisis is mainly a crisis of governance not of water scarcity," said IWMI's director-general Frank Rijsberman. "We believe that good governance of water resources requires openness of information about water supplies and demands, accountability of public agencies...community empowerment, and the rule of law." According to IWMI, water-related problems were some of the major obstacles to successful economic development, of the kind which will be the focus of discussions in Johannesburg. Tackling those problems would therefore also help some of the most impoverished communities in the region. "People who are the poorest and stand last in the line of development are the hardest hit by water crises," said IWMI's Devlin. "If you resolve the problem of water, you help reduce poverty."
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