ISSUE 4
June 2002
Part I
3 June to 9 June
2002
Compiled by
Richard Sherman
Edited by
Kimo Goree
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Contents
Independent
9 June 2002
Internet:
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/story.jsp?story=303552
John Prescott was urged yesterday to go round the world "in 80 days" to save
a summit on world poverty after vital talks collapsed The talks – the last
formal preparatory negotiations before the summit which meets in
Johannesburg at the end of August – broke up in Bali, Indonesia, with more
than 100 points still unresolved, largely due to American obduracy. The Bush
administration rejected any new targets for reducing poverty and, in effect,
refused to negotiate, stating its position and challenging the rest of the
world to take it or leave it. It blocked plans to halve the number of the
world's people without any sanitation – a situation that causes a child to
die every 10 seconds from water-borne disease – and to double those who have
electricity and other modern forms of energy. The negotiations at Bali were
made more difficult because of weak leadership of the developing countries
at the talks that allowed Opec, which opposed any
resolutions on energy, to set the tone. Europe was also ineffectually led by
Spain, the current holder of the EU presidency. The collapse throws the
summit – officially named the World Summit On
Sustainable Development – into jeopardy, amid fears that heads of government
will now stay away from it to avoid being associated with a failure. But
Tony Blair, the first prime minister to announce his attendance, is
committed to going, and Britain has led the international drive to get the
summit to produce results. The Johannesburg meeting was intended as the most
significant world summit on the environment and the problems of the
developing world since the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro 10 years ago.
The Johannesburg summit will review progress since Rio while turning the
spotlight on problems in the developing world and in particular the
eradication of poverty. But the American intransigence throws its future
into doubt. Derek Osborn, the head of Britain's main co-ordinating group for
the summit – the Stakeholder Forum For Our Common
Future – called on Mr Prescott to travel the world to save it from disaster.
The Deputy Prime Minister, who successfully brokered the Kyoto protocol on
global warming, has visited 30 prime ministers and almost 100 environment
ministers over the past two years, as Mr Blair's representative, to try to
prepare the way for a successful summit. But he has been scarred recently by
inaccurate press reports accusing him of wanting to go to Bali for a
"junket''. Mr Osborn said: "There is an awful lot to be done in a very short
time. There are just 80 days until the summit opens and someone is going to
have to go round the world a couple of times in those 80 days to pull it
off. We really need John Prescott.'' There are two remaining opportunities
at the end of this month to rescue the conference from disaster. A meeting
of a few heads of government in Rio arranged by the Brazilian President,
Fernando Henrique Cardoso – and the G8 summit which will see leaders of rich
countries meeting their counterparts from several African states. Experts
say, however, that there will have to be a sustained effort to mobilise key
leaders around the world if the summit is to succeed. Failure could put back
by decades the hopes of reducing world poverty. Margaret Beckett, the
Secretary of State for the Environment, tried to put a positive gloss on the
Bali summit, saying "a huge amount" had been achieved. "We have had a lot of
movement and achieved quite a lot of work," she said. “There was a bit of
disappointment because we didn't achieve quite as much as we could have
done, given the goodwill that exists, but we ran out of time. These are
complex negotiations that involve so many countries across the world, so it
is difficult." Mrs Beckett had been criticised for the £180,000 cost to the
taxpayer of sending a British delegation to Bali. Friends of the Earth
International criticised the outcome of the Indonesian talks as a "foul
result" that had produced too many voluntary agreements that benefited the
US and the World Trade Organisation.
Scotsman.com
8 June 2002
Internet:
http://www.news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=4791451
Environment
Secretary Margaret Beckett was today urged to explain to MPs why top level
international talks on help for the Third World had “apparently failed”. The
mini-summit of UN countries in Bali, described by Mrs Beckett as “tough”,
ended today with no agreement between nations on a number of crucial issues.
Mrs Beckett, who was representing the UK at the talks, rejected claims by
Green pressure groups that it had been a failure and said the outcome “takes
us well down the road” to the World Summit on Sustainable Development in
September. But the Liberal Democrats claimed the lack of agreement in Bali
could lead to a “carve-up” by the United States at the milestone summit in
Johannesburg. Mrs Beckett said the UK and other EU states had achieved
“broad agreement” on the importance of providing adequate sanitation and
access to affordable and clean energy in eradicating poverty.
There was also a
“specific global focus” on the needs of Africa for the first time, she
added. But there was no agreement on setting a renewable energy target of a
15% share of the global market by 2010 and no consensus on the target to
halve the proportion of people without access to sanitation by 2015. Liberal
Democrat environment spokesman Malcolm Bruce said: “Margaret Beckett should
make a statement to the House of Commons about the apparent failure of the
Bali summit. “Participating NGOs have complained that no realistic agenda
was set for the earth summit in Johannesburg in August. “Poor countries will
be extremely angry that what is supposed to be a milestone 10 years on from
Rio could turn out to be a simple carve-up by the US to make the rich richer
and the poor poorer.”
The Jakarta Post
8 June 2002
Internet:
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaillatestnews.asp?fileid=20020608085329&irec=4
Nusa Dua, Bali (Agency): Ministers failed on Friday to agree a draft action
plan for a major U.N. summit in August that hopes to slash poverty and
protect the environment, with rich and poor nations divided, officials said
as reported by Reuters.
Officials made no attempt to hide their disappointment at the result of
preparatory talks on Indonesia's island of Bali, but insisted the setback
did not mean the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg was
headed for failure.
Dubbed Earth Summit 2, the conference in Johannesburg is being billed as the
largest-ever U.N. gathering. More than 100heads of state and 60,000
delegates are expected to attend. Environmental groups pinned much of the
blame on the United States, accusing it of being reluctant to commit to some
targets for action at home in the interests of business profits, charges
members of the U.S. delegation here have denied. "We came to Bali to seek
concrete agreement with timetables and targets that could save human lives,
eradicate poverty...We have not achieved that, or at least not been able to
achieve as much as we wanted," Spanish Environment Minister Jaume Matas told
reporters after negotiations ended near midnight. Some 120 ministers holding
environmental and development portfolios had met since Wednesday, following
10 days of inconclusive talks between government negotiators. 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. Room for debate. Emil Salim, a
former Indonesian environment minister and chairman of the Bali talks, left
open the way for further debate before Johannesburg, or said a deal could be
reached there. He said the meeting failed to reach agreement on "essential"
areas in the action plan such as time bound commitments and ways of
financing pledges in the draft. He gave no specific details. About 80
percent of the action plan was agreed, he added.
"This is not a disaster, of course personally I'm
disappointed. It's a battle, a conflict of interest between developed and
developing countries," Salim said. Even before the setback in Bali,
officials had struggled to kindle enthusiasm for Johannesburg amid a
never-ending cycle of summits and a draft action plan that covers everything
from poverty, water and energy to cleaning up the polluted planet. Aware of
the importance of getting key leaders to Johannesburg, U.N officials had
urged ministers to inject political clout into the preparations to ensure
Johannesburg avoids Rio's fate -- lofty goals, but few results.
Environmentalists were scathing, saying what had
been agreed at Bali would do little to help three billion people -- half the
world's population -- who live on less than $2 a day. "The U.S. and its
friends might as well come from Mars for all they care about the future of
our planet," said Daniel Mittler, head of the Friends of the Earth
delegation in Bali. Several European ministers briefed the media after the
talks ended, but U.S. officials were not available for comment.
Associated Press via the Washington Post
8 June 2002
Internet:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15788-2002Jun8.html
BALI, Indonesia, June 7 -- Key talks on how to raise living standards
worldwide and protect the environment broke down today over several issues,
including a U.S. demand that countries do more to fight corruption before
receiving more Western development aid. More than 6,000 delegates, including
118 environment and finance ministers, met on Bali to debate a development
blueprint to be voted on in August at a U.N.-sponsored summit in
Johannesburg. "The meeting has failed to reach a compromise on essential
issues . . . due to the lack of good faith and spirit of constructive
dialogue and compromise," chairman Emil Salim
said. "We have tried until the last hour to bridge the gap, including
through engaging the heads of delegations and the ministers." He said
wealthy nations were blocking proposals to commit to binding agreements for
implementing environmental programs. Other sticking points included free
trade, agricultural subsidies and the amount of aid to be given to poorer
nations. The United States was criticized for insisting that development
funds be conditioned 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. Salim said that unresolved issues would be
taken up in August at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in
Johannesburg
The News International, Pakistan
8 June 2002
Internet:
http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/jun2002-daily/08-06-2002/world/w2.htm
BALI: Ministers struggled on Friday to wrap up vital talks aimed at
providing a political springboard for a UN summit in August that hopes to
slash poverty and save the environment. Officials have said preparatory
meetings on the Indonesian resort island of Bali might fail to reach full
agreement on a draft plan for the World Summit on Sustainable Development in
South Africa, putting off some thorny issues for the main event. With a
number of items still unresolved, debate might last into the early evening
before concluding, they said. Dubbed Earth Summit 2, the conference in
Johannesburg is being billed as the largest-ever UN gathering. More than 100
heads of state and 60,000 delegates are expected to attend. Officials have
struggled to kindle enthusiasm for Johannesburg amid a seemingly
never-ending cycle of UN summits and with an agenda that covers everything
from poverty, water, health, energy and biodiversity to cleaning up the
polluted planet. "I think Bali and Johannesburg (amount to) global
indigestion, but I think we'll get there," Mark Malloch Brown, head of the
United Nations Development Programme, told Reuters. "We'll hopefully drink
lots of stomach settlers between now and Johannesburg and synthesise and
crystallise this, but it's very ambitious," he added. Ministers have been
meeting since Wednesday. The Johannesburg meeting opens on August 26 and has
been timed to fall a decade after the landmark Earth Summit in Rio de
Janeiro, which put environmental issues on the global political agenda.
Aware of the importance of getting key leaders to Johannesburg, UN officials
have urged 120 ministers holding environment and development posts meeting
here to inject political clout into the preparations to ensure Johannesburg
avoids Rio's fate -- lofty goals but little implementation. Earlier in the
week UN officials said most of the draft plan had been agreed following 10
days of debate by negotiators, but key differences have proved difficult to
resolve. Some have been between developing nations and the United States
over financing pledges being drawn up in the plan. Poor nations have said
they wanted additional aid that was pledged at a summit on financing
development in Mexico's Monterrey in March to be linked to Johannesburg, but
that the US was seeking detailed conditionality. Washington raised its aid
at Monterrey in return for poor nations doing things such as fighting graft
and opening markets. Environmental groups taking part in the Bali talks have
been scathing in their criticism. They have predicted Johannesburg would
flop and do little to help three billion people -- half the world's
population -- who live on less than $2 a day. But officials here have said
there was too much at stake politically to let Johannesburg
fail, arguing world leaders would get on board,
even at that last moment. Nevertheless, some doubted US President George W.
Bush would show. "I think Bush's support for issues is indispensable to a
world view on anything," said Malloch Brown. "I have to tell you it will be
a happy surprise if he was there but I certainly am not expecting him to be
there." Some officials have said Bush might not want to get boxed in by
criticism of Washington's decision to reject the Kyoto Protocol and recent
moves, such as hiking agriculture subsidies.
The Jakarta Post
8 June 2002
Internet:
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailheadlines.asp?fileid=20020608.@01&irec=0
Two weeks of talks on an action plan for sustainable development in Bali
ended on Friday at midnight, and failed to reach a deal over a disagreement
on whether developed countries should pledge more aid and trade to finance
the plan. "There's no agreement, it's a deadlock," said Slamet Hidayat, a
member of the Indonesian delegation, late on Friday. He added that
negotiations on the action plan would continue in the three months before
the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa,
slated to begin in late August. Delegates from around the world descended on
Bali in the fourth and last leg before the Johannesburg Summit to align
economic development with social and environmental interests under a 10-year
action plan to be known as the Bali Commitment. But talks at the United
Nations (UN) fourth preparatory committee meeting here were slow from the
onset and fell into a deadlock on Friday. Delegates remained divided between
North and South over the issue of finance and trade. Negotiations went on
until the early morning over the past few days, with pressure from the
Indonesian side to get delegates to come to an agreement in Bali. A last
attempt to salvage the negotiations with a compromised document by South
African environment and tourism minister M.V. Moosa failed to bridge the
differences. Slamet said that the negotiation block of Group 77 plus China,
in which Indonesia is a member, had accepted the document, which only
revised Chapter IX on the means of implementation covering finance and trade
issues. Also accepting the document was Norway of the European Union and New
Zealand. New Zealand is part of the JUSCANZ (Japan, United States, Canada,
Australia and New Zealand) negotiation block, which had been adamantly
objecting the proposed document. "The U.S. and other members of JUSCANZ were
against Moosa's proposal while EU countries were mixed about it, Slamet
said, adding that the U.S. appeared to have the most objections. He said
that developing countries were pushing for more aid from developed
countries, reasoning that without funding, the action plan could not be
implemented. The decision to end talks and freeze the action plan until
Johannesburg had yet to be approved by the plenary meeting, which should
have been held late on Friday night. Since Wednesday, the meeting was joined
by 118 ministers who took part in the preparation for the political
declaration for the Johannesburg Summit but was not directly involved in the
negotiation of the action plan. In his speech for the political declaration,
the U.S. representative to the UN Economic and Social Council and a senior
delegate member, Ambassador Sichan Siv, stressed the importance of trade,
domestic and foreign investment as development resources, while omitting the
word aid. A delegate member of Venezuela, which leads the negotiation block
G-77 plus China, said Moosa's proposal was non-negotiable and that it came
under the rule "take it or leave it". She said the U.S. and the EU began to
negotiate it paragraph by paragraph since Moosa's proposed document was
handed out. If delegates could not agree on Moosa's document, she said, the
G-77 plus China block would return to the original chapter IX of the action
plan drafted on June 2 and bring the remaining contentious issues to
Johannesburg. The June 2nd draft plan of implementation for the World Summit
on Sustainable Development is the outcome from the first week of talks in
Bali. Negotiations in Bali began with the Chairman's Text, which is a
summary of the three previous preparatory meetings in New York made by the
meeting's chairman, Emil Salim. The former Indonesian environmental minister
said he wanted the Bali Commitment to contain definite targets, measured by
time and actions. But what started out as a 39-page Chairman's Text covering
100 points, grew to a 158-point, 78-page draft plan, weakening the plan with
political rhetoric, a number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) said.
Various international and local NGOs have joined protests and accused the
JUSCANZ negotiation block of watering down the Chairman's Text with words
like "promote", "encourage" and "explore". Greenpeace managed to stage a
late night protest inside the conference building, which was effectively
under UN control since the meeting began. It urged governments to prepare
themselves better for Johannesburg, taking the three months to commit
themselves to including the concrete time targets and action under the Bali
Commitment.
Voice of America
8 June 2002
Internet:
http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=C316E1D4-C931-4AD6-A4BAEFC044B7462E&title=Bali%20Development%20Conference%20Ends%20Without%20Agreement%20on%20Key%20Issues&catOID=45C9C785-88AD-11D4-A57200A0CC5EE46C
Delegates at an international development conference in Bali, Indonesia have
failed to agree on key issues. But officials are playing down their
inability to reach a consensus. The chairman of the talks, former Indonesian
minister Emil Salim, says the meeting failed to reach agreement in
"essential" areas, such as finance and timing commitments. He says, however,
that 80 percent of the action plan had been agreed upon. The 6,000 delegates
at the two-week Bali talks drew up a development blueprint that will be
debated and voted on by world leaders at the United Nation's Summit on
Sustainable Development. That conference will be in August in Johannesburg,
South Africa. Key issues divide rich and poor nations, especially finance,
trade, and environmental protection. Environmental delegates were critical
of the United States and other rich nations, who they say are acting in the
interests of multi-national companies. The Johannesburg Summit comes a
decade after the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. It is billed as one of the
largest U.N. gatherings ever, with more than 60,000 delegates and one
hundred heads of state expected to attend. The summit's goals include
cutting the number of people in the world living on less than one dollar a
day by half and halving the number of people who don't have access to safe
drinking water by the year 2015. The U.N. says more than three million
people die yearly because of unsafe water, and 815 million go hungry.
One-point-one billion people lack access to safe drinking water, and 2.4
billion lack adequate sanitation.
United Nations
Press Release
8 June 2002
Internet:
http://www.johannesburgsummit.org/html/bali/pressreleases/envdevb21-e.pdf
The fourth and final Preparatory Committee for the upcoming World Summit on
Sustainable Development concluded its session early this morning by deciding
to entrust its Chairman, Emil Salim (Indonesia), to facilitate agreement on
all outstanding issues in a draft plan of implementation to be transmitted
to the Summit. The draft implementation plan -- the subject of extensive
negotiations during the two-week session -- was not finalized. The text's
introduction reaffirms the validity of Agenda 21 -- the comprehensive plan
of action adopted at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development (UNCED), which embraced economic growth, social development and
environmental protection to achieve sustainable development in the
twenty-first century. Agenda 21, the text says, establishes the fundamental
principles and programme of action for achieving sustainable development. In
addition to the introduction, the draft text contains chapters on, among
others: poverty eradication; changing unsustainable patterns of consumption
and production; and protecting and managing the natural resource base of
economic and social development. Also tonight, a document was circulated
during the meeting summarizing the informal meetings held during the session
on partnerships (see document A/CONF.199/PC/CRP.4). Jan Kara (Czech
Republic) and Diane Quarless (Jamaica), Committee vice-chairpersons,
introduced the report. In other business tonight, the Committee adopted an
orally revised draft decision setting out the organization of work for the
Summit (see document A/CONF.199/PC/L.7) and a report on its work for the
session (see document A/CONF.1999/PC/L.6). It decided that reports on the
multi-stakeholder dialogue segment, the ministerial segment and the
Committee's discussion on partnerships would be annexed to the report. Ms.
Quarless (Jamaica), in her capacity as Committee rapporteur, introduced the
report. The Committee also adopted a draft decision, sponsored by the "Group
of 77" developing countries and China, by the terms of which it expressed
its appreciation to Indonesia for having made it possible for the meeting to
be held in Bali, Indonesia, and for the excellent facilities, staff and
services placed at its disposal. The Committee also decided to transmit the
elements of a political document to the Summit for consideration. Lowell
Flanders, a senior official with the United Nations secretariat, noted
several minor editorial changes to be made to the draft implementation plan.
Maria Luiza Viotti (Brazil), Committee vice-chairperson, also noted an
editorial change to be made to the text. Kiyotaka Akasaka (Japan), Committee
vice-chairperson, also spoke regarding editorial changes. Statements were
made during the discussion on editorial changes by the representatives of
India, Egypt, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Spain (for the European Union),
Belgium, Switzerland, Australia, United States and Nigeria. Other statements
were made by the representatives of South Africa, Spain (for the European
Union), Venezuela (for the "Group of 77" developing countries and China),
Japan, United States, Lebanon, Belgium, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Nitin Desai, Secretary-General of the World Summit, made closing remarks, as
did, Mr. Salim (Indonesia), Committee Chairman.
Highlights of the Preparatory Meeting Much of the session was given over to
negotiations on the draft plan of implementation, with delegates working
until late at night in an effort to reach agreement on the text. In addition
to the negotiations on the plan of implementation, a three-day ministerial
segment was held during which representatives discussed implementation of
the Bali commitments, partnership initiatives, and elements for the
political document to be adopted in Johannesburg. Opening the segment,
Megawati Soekarnoputri, President of Indonesia, called for international
cooperation to help developing countries utilize resources in a sustainable
manner. The tendency to blame one another had become part of any discussion
of sustainable development; conflicts and instability had often resulted.
But, she said, closely cooperative endeavours were the only answer.
Interdependence, in the global village, was real. Also speaking at the
opening of the segment, Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette noted that
Secretary- General Kofi Annan had proposed five key areas for particular
focus -- water and sanitation, energy, agriculture, biodiversity and
ecosystem management and health. It was important to have firm goals and
targets in those areas and specify concrete commitments so that real
progress could be made in the implementation of Agenda 21 and the Millennium
Declaration. During the discussion on the political declaration, many
speakers asserted that a concise, forceful, action oriented document should
be adopted by the heads of State and Government in Johannesburg. Committee
Chairman Emil Salim (Indonesia) suggested that interdependence,
sustainability, participation, equity and an enabling political environment
were concepts that declaration might wish to promote. Speakers during the
dialogue on implementation stressed, among other things, the need to move
from ideals to actions to achieve sustainable development. When the segment
took up partnerships, it was underlined that such initiatives should
complement, not replace government negotiated declarations and plans of
action. Another important aspect of the session was the "multi-stakeholder"
dialogue. The three-day segment allowed a wide range of civil society and
government actors to express their views on issues crucial to sustainable
development, which included the importance of good governance, the role to
be played by civil society at all levels of the process, and the importance
of capacity-building and partnerships in promoting the social, economic and
environmental pillars of development. "Major groups" representing women,
youth, indigenous peoples, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), local
authorities, trade unions, scientists and farmers participated in the
deliberations, as did representatives of national governments. Also during
the session a large number of "side events" promoting sustainable
development were held by representatives of civil society, the private
sector and government. Nearly 5,000 people, including government
representatives, civil society participants, and United Nations staff
attended the session. More than 170 countries were represented with some 120
Ministers in attendance. Emil Salim (Indonesia), chaired the Preparatory
Committee. Committee vice-chairpersons were Kiyotaka Akasaka (Japan), Maria
Luiza Viotti (Brazil), Richard Ballhorn (Canada), Ihab Gameleldin (Egypt),
Goran Engfeldt (Sweden), Ositadimna Anaedu (Nigeria), Jan Kara (Czech
Republic) and Diane Quarless (Jamaica) who also served as rapporteur.
ACTION ON CHAIRMAN'S PAPER
LOWELL FLANDERS, senior official with the United Nations Summit secretariat,
called attention to editorial changes in the draft plan of implementation
for the World Summit on Sustainable Development, which contained an account
of the negotiations conducted in Bali on that plan (document
A/CONF.199/PC/L.5 and add.1 to 5). MARIA LUIZA RIBEIRO VIOTTI (Brazil) then
read a bracketed paragraph (one on which consensus had not been reached)
emphasizing the role of ethics in sustainable development. Representatives
of India, Egypt, Canada, Norway, Spain (on behalf of the European Union),
Belgium, Switzerland, Australia and Venezuela then commented on the revised
text. KIYOTAKA AKASAKA (Japan) explained that some of the language under
discussion was subject to further negotiation. The representative of the
United States explained that country's opposition to language on the Kyoto
Protocol. The representative of South Africa expressed hope that her
Government and the Chairman could continue to work closely on preparation
for the World Summit. The representative of Spain, on behalf of the European
Union and associated countries, said the Union welcomed the fact that the
United Nations welcomed progress towards consensus on work programmes to
eradicate poverty, sustainable consumption and production, protection of
natural resources and strengthening institutional arrangements in all those
efforts. The Union remained committed to a global partnership to be agreed
upon in Johannesburg as a cornerstone of the global deal between developing
and developed countries. The representative of Venezuela, for the "Group of
77" developing countries and China, said she stood in solidarity in seeking
consensus to implement Agenda 21. Despite all efforts made and the
flexibility shown by the Group, consensus had not been achieved. Major
concessions had been made by the Group. She underlined the principle of
common but differentiated responsibilities. Eradicating poverty and moving
to sustainable patterns of consumption and production were very important to
the group, as was the struggle to achieve a healthy environment. The
representatives of the United States and Canada then sought clarifications
regarding editorial changes.
The Preparatory Committee then decided to entrust the Chairman to facilitate
agreement on all outstanding issues on the "Draft plan of implementation for
the World Summit on Sustainable Development" for transmittal to the World
Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg for further consideration.
The representative of Nigeria made a statement of an editorial nature. The
representative of Japan thanked Indonesia for hosting the Conference.
Considerable progress had been made on the plan of implementation, he noted.
Utmost efforts should be exerted to finalize the plan and the other Summit
outcomes. The representative of the United States said all could say it had
been an arduous but productive two weeks. All could look back with
satisfaction on the success that had been achieved. She appreciated the fact
that tough issues had not been avoided -- rather, they had been confronted.
She noted the importance of the Doha trade summit and the International
Conference on Financing for Development held in Monterrey. She underlined
the challenges ahead that must be met to ensure sustainable development.
POSSIBLE ELEMENTS FOR A POLITICAL DOCUMENT
Mr. SALIM (Indonesia) then drew the Committee's attention to document
A/CONF.199/PCC or the working paper, which contained some possible potential
elements for the political declaration. The Committee then decided to
entrust the Chairman to prepare the paper containing potential inputs for a
political declaration for transmittal to the World Summit on Sustainable
Development in Johannesburg.
REPORT ON PARTNERSHIPS
The Committee then decided to annex the three Chairman's summaries from the
Multi-stakeholder Dialogue Segment, the High-level ministerial segment and
partnerships ("type 2" outcomes) to the report of the fourth session of the
preparatory committee.
SUMMIT ORGANIZATION OF WORK
LOWELL FLANDERS, senior United Nations official with the Summit secretariat,
called attention to editorial changes in the draft decision submitted by the
Chairman on behalf of the Bureau of the Preparatory Committee, entitled,
"Matters related to the organization of work during the World Summit on
Sustainable Development" (document A/CONF.199/PC/L.7). The Preparatory
Committee then decided to adopt the draft decision as contain in
A/CONF.199/PC/L.7, as orally revised. The representative of Lebanon thanked
the Government of Indonesia for hosting the Summit. He reconfirmed that the
continued occupation of part of its land by Israel represented a breach of
international law and negatively impacted the future development of the
region. Occupation should be combated within the framework of international
law. The Group of 77 would remain a fundamental platform working to achieve
development for its members, he stressed. The representative of Spain (for
the European Union) proposed an amendment to the decision on the
organization of work of the Summit. NITIN DESAI, Secretary-General of the
Summit, responding to the proposed amendment, said the specialized agencies
would be invited to the Summit, by the terms of the text as it now stood.
The representative of Belgium sought a clarification regarding Spain's
proposed amendment. Mr. DESAI reconfirmed what he had said. The
representative of Spain said he was referring to participation by heads of
specialized agencies, and Mr. Desai said he had confirmed that they would.
The representative of Venezuela, on behalf of the Group of 77, then
introduced a draft decision entitled
"Expression of thanks to the people and Government of Indonesia", which
expressed gratitude to that country for hosting of the fourth Preparatory
Committee. The Committee then adopted the draft decision. The representative
of Indonesia, responding to that expression of thanks, expressed gratitude
for the work that went into the Preparatory Committee and its
accomplishments. The problem of sustainable development, he said, was a
global one and it must be solved together or all would be buried together.
In addition, all three pillars of sustainable development must be tackled
together. A decade of experience with Agenda 21 had shown that political
will was needed for progress, he said. He hoped that the achievements of
Bali would be built upon in Johannesburg, for the good of this generation
and future generations. He expressed gratitude for the opportunity to host
the Preparatory Committee and for the hard work of everyone involved. The
representative of Saudi Arabia asked how delegations could help best with
the process leading up to the Summit. Mr. DESAI said a "decision by
exhaustion" had been taken and the full pleasures of Bali had not been
enjoyed. A great deal had, however, been achieved -- that should be
recognized. What was left was of course difficult. Political will to find
common ground on the outstanding issues was needed. That was the challenge
between now and Johannesburg. There was much to be done based on what had
been agreed so far, he said. All parts of the United Nations system,
including the Bretton Woods institutions, would be brought together before
Johannesburg to prepare for the outcome of the Summit. He thanked all those
involved in the session. The representative of Iran thanked the Chairman for
his work. He suggested that the mandate of the Bureau be extended to assist
him. The CHAIRMAN asked for time to look into the matter. Making closing
remarks, he said he hoped a sense of optimism could be maintained even
though not all the work had been completed. He thanked all the
vice-chairpersons for their work. He noted that 80 per cent of the programme
had been completed, even if it had not all been agreed. Consensus on how to
have full agreement had not been achieved. This was a "wake up" call - there
was still work to be done, with disagreements between the North and South.
IMPLEMENTATION PLAN
In its introduction, the draft plan of implementation reaffirms the validity
of Agenda 21 -- the comprehensive plan of action adopted at the 1992 United
Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), which embraced
economic growth, social development and environmental protection to achieve
sustainable development in the twenty-first century. Agenda 21, the text
says, establishes the fundamental principles and programme of action for
achieving sustainable development. The present implementation text will
further build on the achievements made since Rio and expedite the
realization of those goals. "To this end", the text reads, "we commit
ourselves to undertake concrete actions and measures at all levels and to
enhance international cooperation. Efforts will promote the above-mentioned
three components of sustainable development as interdependent and mutually
reinforcing pillars. Poverty eradication, changing unsustainable patterns of
production and consumption, and protecting and managing the natural resource
base of economic and social development are overarching objectives of, and
essential requirements for, sustainable development. Those measures, the
text asserts, should benefit all - particularly women, youth, children and
vulnerable groups and involve all relevant actors through partnerships
between North and South, and between governments, the private sector and
organizations at all levels. As reflected in the Monterrey Consensus, such
partnerships are key to pursuing sustainable development in a globalizing
world. According to the text, good governance within each country and at the
international level is essential for sustainable development. At the
domestic level, sound environmental, social and economic policies,
democratic institutions responsive to the needs of the people, the rule of
law, anti-corruption measures, gender equality and an enabling environment
for investment are the basis for sustainable development. The gap between
developed and developing countries points to the continued need for a
dynamic and enabling international economic environment supportive of
international cooperation, particularly in the areas of finance, technology
transfer, debt and trade, and global decision-making. Peace, security, and
stability "are essential" for achieving sustainable development and ensuring
that sustainable development benefits all, the text says. Placing great
emphasis on poverty eradication, the draft stresses the need to launch
programmes aimed at meeting the 2015 Millennium Development Goal of halving
the proportion of people living in poverty. It also calls for halving the
proportion of people who lack access to proper sanitation by 2015. It goes
on to outline recommendations on a range of issues from limiting
unsustainable patterns of consumption and production, to protecting the
natural resource base of economic and social development, to combating
environmental threats to health and diverse ecosystems. There are separate
areas on actions recommended for Africa and Small Island States. Means of
implementation are also taken up by the text, although a considerable amount
of that portion of the document has not yet been finalized. The agreed text
asserts that the implementation of Agenda 21 and the achievement of the
internationally agreed development goals, including those contained in the
Millennium Declaration as well as in the current plan of implementation
requires a substantially increased effort, both by countries themselves and
by the rest of the international community, taking fully into account the
Rio principles. Also included in the draft plan is a section on
institutional framework for sustainable development, which states that such
a framework is key to the full implementation of Agenda 21, to follow up on
the outcome of the Summit and to meet emerging sustainable development
challenges.
Xinhua News Agency
8 June 2002
Internet:
http://library.northernlight.com/FD20020607860000017.html?cb=0&dx=1006&sc=0#doc
BALI (Indonesia), Jun 8, 2002 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- The three-day
ministerial session of the fourth Preparatory Committee Meeting for World
Summit on Sustainable Development ended here on Saturday after midnight, as
delegates concluded their discussions on a political declaration to be
adopted by world leaders at a summit in Johannesburg next August.
Among the many
issues under discussion, respect for human rights will be included in the
document. The Johannesburg declaration will also acknowledge the right to
development and the right for all to live in an appropriate, healthy
environment.
Representatives
applauded what the Bali meeting had achieved. " Much has been achieved here
in Bali and we were close to achieving more," said Margaret Beckett, British
secretary of state for the environment. "I am confident that what we have
achieved here takes us well down to the road to a successful Summit in
Johannesburg," she said. An Australian delegate stressed that the
Johannesburg declaration would express the world leaders' commitment to
sustainable management of the oceans. Representative of the United States
reiterated the barriers to trade should be reduced and globalization benefit
all. The political declaration of the World Summit was included in General
Assembly resolution 55/199, which calls for a concise and focused commitment
to a global partnership. The document will address the main challenges and
opportunities faced by the international community and renewed, at the
highest level, commitment to the North-South partnership, an official report
from the United Nations said.
Associated Press
Writer
7 June 2002
Internet:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020608/ap_wo_en_po/indonesia_development_conference_9
BALI, Indonesia -
The United Nations on Saturday played down suggestions that disagreements
between poor nations and rich ones meant major development talks here were a
failure. Over 6,000 delegates, including 118 environment ministers, ended
almost two weeks of negotiations early Saturday on Indonesia's resort island
of Bali. They had been tasked with preparing a development blueprint for the
next decade to be voted on by world leaders at a major U.N. summit on
sustainable development to be held in August in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The delegates had agreed on most of the ambitious 158-point plan to achieve
goals set at a U.N. summit in 2000, but were unable to compromise on several
key issues, especially concerning trade, finance and the binding agreements
on the environment. Emil Salim, chairman of the Bali meeting, said there was
still time before the Johannesburg summit for governments to reconcile their
positions. "Significant agreement has been achieved," Salim said. "We can
expect Johannesburg to be a success." Environmentalists at the talks accused
wealthy nations — led by Japan and the United States — of blocking proposals
that would tie governments to a timetable for implementing the action plan
and providing money for development. Delegates from rich nations urged
poorer countries to address corruption by enacting laws promoting good
governance and enforcing laws more strongly. The United States insisted that
development funds be conditional on reducing corruption and improving
governance — a stand criticized by poorer nations. Despite the
disagreements, Nitin Desai, the secretary-general of the Johannesburg talks,
remained upbeat. "The agreements reached in Bali are substantial," said
Desai. "We can still improve on the plan, but the real test ahead of us is
not in the words of a document, but in the actions that are undertaken."
About 50,000
delegates are invited to the Johannesburg summit. Dubbed "Earth Summit 2,"
it will coincide with the anniversary of the 1992 "Earth Summit" in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil. Critics point out that governments have largely failed to
carry out pledges to improve the environment made at the Rio de Janeiro
meeting. The United Nations says at least 1.1 billion people lack access to
safe drinking water and 2.4 billion lack adequate sanitation. More than
three million people die every year from water-related diseases and 815
million go hungry. Environmental activists at the Bali talks accused wealthy
nations of acting in the interests of multinational companies and of trying
to scupper the talks.
United Nations Press Release
7 June 2002
Internet:
