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"Four days Before the End of the World Summit for Sustainable Development" Green Cross
Press Release, created on 1.9.2002 11:49 The 30.000 participants of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, delegates of government, of international organizations, representatives of corporates, NGOs will have to wait and see. The results of the first week of intense negotiations are still a far cry from the minimum hopes of civil society. The Plan of Implementation continues to be discussed and no agreement has been reached on energy, sanitation, trade or financial mechanisms in terms of objectives and time-bound targets. The responsible ministers are coming into the picture during the weekend, just before the arrival of Heads of State and Government. On the other side of Johannesburg, the participants of the Global Forum conscientiously elaborated a long list of essential commitments which need to come out of the Summit, and handed it to President Mbeki after the demonstration on Saturday. In the shantytowns of Soweto and Alexandra, poor people hear and speak about the Summit - but they are not included in the debate. Major Groups are invited for Multi-stakeholder dialogues with the delegates, but there is no link to the real negotiations and these dialogues are totally side-lined. In the WaterDome, water specialists organize their meetings. In Luxurious hotels, Parliamentarians, International NGOs, and Intergovernmental organizations and financial institutions organize their own meetings. The government representatives are largely unseen, locked up in endless, closed negotiations – many of which are breaking down or being passed up to the Ministers. All these worlds are living in parallel without any opportunities for exchange. The global management of the Planet is illustrated here. Many different worlds coexist in parallel, playing their own score without any interest in the others. Without a conductor, the orchestra can’t play. The World Summit has no conductor - and more importantly even the score does not exist. We bet that the Johannesburg World Summit will be the last one of its kind. The sustainability of the Planet cannot be decided in 10 days, and success is made even less likely when some influential Heads of State refuse to come, notably Mr. Bush and Mr. Putin. Strong leadership may emerge sooner or later – but only if the rules of sustainable development are clearly identified. New Global Ethics is necessary to canalize the development and orienting the future of the Planet. During the past week, the 18 Green Cross delegates focused their activities on four main domains: Energy and Climate change, Water resources, Earth Charter, and Environmental Emergencies Response. Energy: Launching of Solar Venture Fund of $50 billion. This fund will be financed by the transfer of subsidies allocated to fossil fuel energies. A legal proposal will by presented to the US Congress. Water Resources:
Consolidation of Water for Peace Programme in six international river
basins. Presentation of Green Cross water projects from Burkina
Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal, Swaziland, Okavango Basin, Argentina
and Brazil. Green Cross is particularly promoting the issue of transboundary
water security – which is now completely excluded from the Plan of
Implementation.
More information
at www.greencrossinternational.net |