Brussels, 02/09/2002 (Agence Europe) - On Monday in Johannesburg 102 heads of state and government took the bull by the horns to try and save the second World Summit on Sustainable Development. Some commentators were already predicting that the Summit would fail, while others remained hopeful that concrete results would be obtained. These diverging views of the negotiations at the time that the Summit was inching towards the adoption of a political declaration and an action plan depend on whether the participants focus on the agreements already reached (in terms of restoring biodiversity, access to drinking water, combatting AIDS and protecting health against dangerous chemicals) or on the numerous stumbling blocks still to be overcome at top level.
The persistent areas of disagreement include the precautionary principle (unlike the developing countries, the Europeans believe that the precautionary principle has been in force since the Rio Summit, while the US doesn't want it to be discussed); the principle of common but different responsibilities; the poor's access to clean water; the promotion of renewable energy sources (the EU, supported by Africa, is calling for 10% of global energy to come from renewable energy by 2010, but this is fiercely opposed by the US and OPEC); globalisation (seen by the Europeans as a phenomenon that has to be managed, but the US sees extending globalisation as the solution to the problems of poor countries); agricultural subsidies (the EU and the US oppose any commitments that go beyond what is set out in the Doha Agenda, while developing countries are calling for agricultural subsidies to simply be scrapped, which would made an agreement on the Trade Chapter impossible).
Addressing the Summit, the President of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, focussed on participants' responsibility to achieve results by capitalising on what was achieved at Doha (agenda for multilateral trade in the interests of development) and Monterrey (conference on funding development): "Here in Johannesburg we must set out sights higher. We must make more progress in reducing poverty and halting the destruction of our environment. We should act all together because it is the only way. …The citizens of the world look to us for answers. It is our duty not to disappoint them. Collectively, we have to show them we can harness the power of globalisation, give hope to the world's poor and preserve the resources and the beauty of our planet. I know of no bigger challenge than this… I wish to send this conference a message of determination and solidarity". "The solidarity that will extend our area of prosperity and stability", he explained, adding "We are anxious to promote peace and development beyond our borders, especially in Africa and the Mediterranean".
Pointing out that the EU has already opened much of its market to developing countries, importing goods to the value of more than EUR 400 billion from them every year, President Prodi said the EU was "ready to negotiate constructively on the basis of the Doha agenda to open markets further". On the political front, he said that solidarity between North and South "rests on our shared recognition of the basic values of democracy, good governance and social inclusion". In terms of financial aid, President Prodi pointed out that the EU had committed itself "to reach 0.39% of GDP in development assistance by 2006 as a stepping stone towards the goal of 0.7%". This means EUR 22 billion in additional resources for sustainable development and additional annual flows of EUR 9 billion after 2006. "These funds will go as a priority to projects in water, energy, food production, education and health", he explained. Mentioning the fact that there will be 9 billion people living on planet earth in fifty years time, Romano Prodi stressed the need to "sever the link between economic growth and the degradation of the environment", hoping that the Kyoto Protocol can be made to work in order to "start the fight against greenhouse gases and global warming". He appealed to Vladimir Putin, the Russian President, to get Russia to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, seeing this as a huge step in bringing Russia and the EU closer together, and a moral, political and tangible message for the future.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who presides the Union Council, gave three essential messages on the: 1) need to give priority to the fight against poverty by promoting growth and development in poor countries, which must in return undertake to comply with the principles of good governance; 2) need for the rich countries to take a larger share of responsibility in combating poverty with a larger number of rich countries keeping to the GNP 0.7% target with regards public development aid; 3) and a cleaner environment which goes hand in hand with economic growth objectives. Speaking before the press, the Danish Prime Minister warned that the Summit could be a failure if it seeks to resolve all the Earth's problems in one go.
Chancellor Schröder saw the recent flooding in Europe and Asia as tangible proof that the climate is changing, thus making the need for decisive action all the more necessary. He therefore called upon the Earth Summit to put pressure on States to rapidly ratify the Protocol to allow it to take effect this year, and invited the United States, Canada and Australia to join forces in a collective fight against global warming. The Chancellor, moreover, announced that his country was willing to organise an international conference on renewable energies.
President Chirac called upon all participants of the Summit to conclude a "world alliance for sustainable development" in order to put right the promises made in Rio but not kept. "Earth and mankind are in danger", he said, "and we are all responsible (…). On every continent, there are alarm signals going off (…). We must ensure that the 21st century does not become the century of mankind's crime against life for future generations". He mainly said he was in favour of establishing a levy for solidarity on wealth generated by globalisation and for setting in place a World Environment Organisation.