Brussels, 29/08/2002 (Agence Europe) - In Johannesburg, where it is doing everything possible to see to it that the Second Summit on Sustainable Development culminates with a strong political declaration and precise objectives matched with a timeframe, the Union is also advocating partnerships between governments, business and civil society to translate these objectives into concrete achievements. Convinced that such partnerships are a useful instrument for promoting sustainable development, it will present next week several initiatives in the areas of water and energy as a contribution to reducing poverty worldwide by 2015. While indispensable, these partnerships alone will not guarantee the summit's success, the Union explained in Johannesburg.
Christian Schmidt, Danish Environment Minister who chairs the EU Council, declared: "All governments must make a firm commitment to implement the Summit decisions with concrete initiatives. Action is needed at all levels - local, national, regional and international - to promote sustainable development. It is obvious that these partnerships can provide such action. But in no case must they be used as a pretext for the absence of government undertakings. The partnerships must complement governments' political undertakings, not replace them." Referring to the criticisms of the partnerships expressed by some NGOs, Mr Schmidt deemed it important for "all actors to participate in their follow-up," and explained that the EU hopes to see "a solid and credible follow-up mechanism that provides information on how the partners are contributing collectively to deliver the Johannesburg results". Poul Nielson, European Commissioner for development policy, added that the EU "Water for Life" initiative would provide a platform for strategic partnerships between the EU and certain regions in the developing countries, with the purpose of "providing long-term solutions to water management problems in these countries". The EU, which is already the leading donor for water-related projects, with annual financing of some 1.4 billion euros, is prepared to increase this amount in the coming years. The initiative in the field of energy has the goal of improving public access in poor countries to renewable energy at a reasonable price, he added.