By Valerie Taliman, Southwest Bureau Chief, Indian Country
Today
UNITED
NATIONS PRESS RELEASE
Final
Negotiations for Johannesburg Summit Open in Bali;
Outcome Will Determine Action for Sustainable Future
27 May, Bali, Indonesia-
Negotiations on accelerating action to achieve a
sustainable future got underway by governments today in
Bali, at the fourth
and final preparatory meeting for the World Summit on Sustainable
Development.
With negotiations
underway on an action-oriented implementation plan that
will be adopted in Johannesburg, the PrepCom heard calls
from Summit
leaders and citizen activists for bolder commitments that
the people of the
world would recognize as progress.
The World Summit on
Sustainable Development has not been called to endorse
business as usual, Summit Secretary-General Nitin Desai
told the opening
of the preparatory meeting. It has been called because people
want
change. And this Summit must signal a real commitment to
change.
The Summit, which
will be held in Johannesburg, South Africa, from 26
August to 4 September, will be attended by world leaders
and the
representatives of citizen groups, businesses and other
important sectors
of society. It presents a major opportunity to forge agreements
and actions
to tackle crucial problems arising from poverty, unsustainable
consumption
and the impact of human society on the natural environment.
Indonesian Environment
Minister Nabiel Makarim called the Bali PrepCom "an
historic opportunity to breathe new life into sustainable
development,
where a number of landmark outcomes can be achieved."
Actual progress in
tackling the five strategic areas identified by United
Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Water and sanitation,
Energy, Health,
Agricultural productivity and Biodiversity, shortened to
the acronym WEHAB
-- would be the measure of the success of the Summit, Desai
told the
PrepCom.
Proposals for action
in these five areas are among those presently under
consideration by governments in the Bali negotiations. By
the end of the
first week of the PrepCom, governments are expected to agree
on an
implementation plan that Desai hopes will become known as
the Bali
Commitment for Sustainable Development. In the second week,
the PrepCom
will decide on the elements for a political declaration
that Heads of State
and Government will adopt in Johannesburg.
Another outcome of
the Johannesburg Summit will be the launch of
partnership initiatives between governments, community groups
or the
private sector to supplement government efforts to put into
action the
commitments reached in the negotiations.
The partnerships,
which Desai emphasized were not a substitute for
government actions or responsibilities, will promote sustainable
development cooperation that taps all available resources,
from the public
and private sectors.
"We have definitely
reversed the downward trend in official development
assistance at the International Conference on Financing
for Development in
Monterrey," Desai said, "but now we have to see
what we're going to use
those resources for."
Widely diverging national
prerogatives have made the negotiations leading
up to Bali challenging, and the talks in Bali are expected
to be difficult.
"Negotiations are not a smooth road," according
to PrepCom Chairman Emil
Salim, whose revised text is the basis for the talks. But
noting that the
present approach to development has benefited 20 per cent
of the world's
population while the living standards of the remaining 80
per cent have
largely stagnated, Salim said the value of the Summit outcome
hinges on
whether "it has the elements of change or is it business
as usual."
For more information,
contact the Media Centre at the Bali PrepCom:
Klomjit Chandrapanya, tel (62-361) 779 056
Agus Supriyatno, tel (62-361) 779 055
E-mail mediainfo@un.org
Website:
www.johannesburgsummit.org
Issued by the United Nations Department of Public Information
