right questions,
wrong answers?
friends of the earth international
calls for change of direction as negotiations
for the world summit on sustainable
development resume
New York, March 25
th
2002
Friends of the Earth International welcomes
the willingness by governments to address
economic globalisation, corporate
accountability and unsustainable production
and consumption patterns at the forthcoming
World Summit on Sustainable Development
(WSSD) in Johannesburg (1). However, Friends
of the Earth International (FoEI) is alarmed
that governments seem to be giving the wrong
answers to the right questions and seem
hell-bent on making sustainable development
subservient to the WTO´s trade agenda. FoEI
calls on governments gathered at a formal UN
meeting in New York starting today to commit
to the necessary targets and timetables to
achieve meaningful change.
Friends of the Earth International welcomes
some positive ideas in the negotiating text
but is concerned that governments view the
new WTO negotiation agenda agreed in November
2001 as ensuring that global trade will serve
sustainable development. FoEI argues that
there are serious social and environmental
consequences of the new WTO agenda and calls
on governments to launch an assessment of the
social and environmental impacts of trade
liberalisation. Friends of the Earth
International also calls on the WSSD to
establish the principle that Multilateral
Environmental Agreements (MEAs) always take
precedence over trade rules.
Friends of the Earth International expects
governments to commit to starting a
negotiating process for a binding
multilateral mechanism on corporate
accountability at Johannesburg (2). It would
be a real failure, if governments did not
respond to the widespread global concern over
irresponsible corporate behaviour. Voluntary
initiatives, which are praised in the current
negotiating text, are not sufficient to
achieve meaningful change in corporate
behaviour worldwide. In the wake of the ENRON
scandal, FoEI believes that the urgency for
further action is most evident.
Ambitious targets to change unsustainable
consumption and production patterns -
especially in industrialised countries - need
to be included in the negotiating text,
according to FoEI. At least 12 % of all
energy consumed in industrialised countries
should come from renewable energy sources by
2010, for example. Targets for developing
countries must be supported by adequate
funding.
Friends of the Earth International is
further concerned that the “stakeholder
partnership initiatives”, which UN
Under-Secretary Nitin Desai wants to be an
important outcome of the Johannesburg Summit,
could start the “privatisation of
implementation”. FoEI welcomes concrete
partnerships addressing the root causes of
unsustainable development. But FoEI insists
that UN processes must be about governments
fulfilling their global responsibility. The
task of negotiating
and delivering on
global social and environmental rules must
remain with governments. The UN should not
become a market place for individual
initiatives put forward by self-interested
entities such as transnational companies.
FoEI is also concerned that partnership
initiatives may take the pressure off
governments to negotiate a progressive Summit
document. FoEI will therefore judge the
results of Johannesburg by the quality of the
multilateral agreements achieved.
Daniel Mittler of FoEI comments:
“At Johannesburg, governments must grasp the
opportunity to set meaningful social and
environmental limits to economic
globalisation. Trade must be made subservient
to sustainable development goals not vice
versa and global corporations should receive
responsibilities to balance the extensive
rights they currently hold. We call on
governments to agree meaningful targets and
timetables with money attached. Otherwise,
the Johannesburg Summit, like Rio de Janeiro
in 1992, will fail to halt the negative
social and environmental trends
worldwide.”
Friends of the Earth International´s
detailed comments on the negotiating text are
available at
www.rio-plus-10.org
or from
daniel.mittler@bund.net.
Contact
: Daniel Mittler, FoEI WSSD
Campaign Coordinator, +49 173 923 4747
Notes
-
The current
meeting in New York runs form March
25
th
to April
5
th
. It is
the third global meeting preparing the
Johannesburg Summit, which will take place
from August 26
th
to
September 4
th
. The
current negotiations are based on a text
drafted by the Chairman of the process,
Professor Emil Salim. The negotiating text
and all official information can be found
at
www.johannesburgsummit.org
-
Friends of the
Earth International has launched a global
campaign for a Corporate Accountability
Convention which received extensive support
at the second global preparatory meeting in
February 2002. A more detailed document
setting out the need for binding corporate
accountability and key elements of the
proposed convention can be found at
www.rio-plus-10.org
.
|
