© AFP - Jo'burg 4/9/02 7:08 AM
by Hugh Nevill
Negotiators at the UN World Summit on Sustainable Development in
Johannesburg early on Wednesday adopted a lengthy action plan to alleviate
poverty and protect the environment, clearing the way for its presentation
to world leaders later in the day.
The last-minute adoption, which came shortly after 1:00 am local time,
capped haggling which began even before the 10-day summit opened on August
26, but which produced a string of compromises that environmentalists say
gutted the document.
The last major sticking point was over the inclusion of a reference to
human rights in a clause on health, which mentioned "cultural and religious
values".
Canada and the European Union, along with Switzerland, Australia and New
Zealand, had demanded inclusion of the human rights reference to ensure
women's right to contraception and abortions. It was opposed by the United
States and the Vatican.
The committee finally accepted a neutral text proposed by South African
Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
Representatives of 189 countries, around 100 of them heads of state or
government, are expected to adopt the Plan of Implementation when they meet
on Wednesday, the last day of the summit.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell arrived on Tuesday evening to represent
President George W Bush.
Powell is expected to have several one-on-one meetings on the sidelines,
notably to discuss Washington's aim of toppling Iraqi President Saddam
Hussein.
Bush's decision to snub the summit infuriated the environmentalists here,
who saw it as an indication of US disdain for the environment and the
opinion of the rest of the world.
Powell told journalists during the flight that the United States had "a
very, very good record" on sustainable development, the theme of the summit.
"We're always trying to find ways to do more," he said, "but I think we've
done a lot.
"Sustainable development is not just aid ... it is training, it is opening
up economies, it is good governance, it is the rule of law, it is ending
corruption. All of these things have to be taken into account.
"I will also be making the point to the summit participants, but they have
to bear in mind that 80% of the resources that are available to help
developing nations are in the private sector, not in the government sector.
That reinforces the importance of partnerships."
A pact to reduce the warming of the Earth's atmosphere moved forward on
Tuesday as Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov announced Moscow's
intention to ratify the Kyoto Protocol "in the very near future".
It is designed to reduce the emission of "greenhouse gases" which prevent
heat from radiating out into space, causing temperatures to rise worldwide,
with resultant droughts and the melting of the ice caps, causing the sea
level to rise.
Ratification by Russia will ensure it takes effect, despite US opposition
to it.
"The Johannesburg World Summit will go down in history as a missed
opportunity to deliver energy to the two billion people on this planet with
no access to energy services, and as a failure to kickstart the renewable
energy revolution that is required to protect the climate," said a
statement issued by WWF, Oxfam and Greenpeace.
"Nothing for the poor, nothing for the climate."
French President Jacques Chirac said that despite limited results, he
believed the summit was "a step in the right direction".
"The texts have a limited range, perhaps," he said at a press
conference, "but they undoubtedly demonstrate an awareness, and an advance."
The plan covers action for providing fresh water, sewerage and electricity
for the very poor and slowing the planet's loss of biodiversity and
depletion of fisheries and forests.
But only a few of these goals have a deadline attached to them, and details
about how they will be achieved -- the funds, skills and transfer of
technology -- are sketchy.
A coalition comprising the United States and oil-producing countries shot
down the European Union's demands for a timetable to give renewable sources
a bigger share of the global energy market.
Representatives of big business said they recognised the need for corporate
accountability but regarded national, not global, reporting as the way
forward.
"The best form of rules for reporting is at a national level," said Richard
Holme, deputy chairman of international Business Action for Sustainable
Development (BASD).
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