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7 june 2002
bali
Earth Cup Semi-Final in Bali: United States
1 - Earth 0
FoE Denounces Foul Result at Earth Summit
Talks
Friends of the Earth International (FoEI)
today blew the whistle on the outcome of the
Earth Summit talks in Bali calling it a
defeat for the world's poor and a foul result
for the global environment. FoEI has charged
governments with failing to listen to the
public and ruthlessly pursuing the interests
of multinational corporations and the World
Trade Organisation (WTO).
The Bali talks were meant to establish a
final action plan on sustainable development,
to be signed off by Heads of State and
Government at the forthcoming Johannesburg
Earth Summit in August. However as
negotiations drew to a close, governments
were finalising details on a 'Bali
Commitments' agreement that failed to
adequately address key concerns.
FoEI singled out the United States for
criticism for attempting to force through its
free trade agenda and doing everything in its
power to prevent agreement on legally binding
commitments. Instead it successfully pressed
for voluntary 'partnerships'. Australia,
Japan and Canada were backers of US blocking
tactics. Norway, on the other side, insisted
on binding measures.
The talks were also marked by the
suppression of public protests by the
Indonesian authorities. Thousands of
protestors, and even a local fisher's
flotilla, were intimidated by security forces
and forced to abandon their demonstrations.
Indonesian groups are set to sue the
authorities for infringing their
constitutional rights.
For the Earth Summit to be rescued,
governments in the North must urgently change
their trade policy. The EU in particular
expected developing countries to support a
global move towards green goals such as
expanding renewable energy, but were not able
to address all their concerns about the
unfair and inequitable trading system. Only
if the free trade agenda is dropped by the
North, can the Earth Summit still deliver any
positive outcomes. Measures to control big
business were crippled in the talks by the US
and EU and key issues such as the ecological
debt owed by the North to the South were not
even acknowledged.
Daniel Mittler, Earth Summit Coordinator
comments:
"The US and its friends might as well come
from Mars for all they care about the future
of our Planet. The fight for a better
agreement will be taken to Johannesburg.
Voluntary partnerships will not deliver
sustainable development. Indecision,
intransigence and lack of ambition must be
replaced by vision and leadership."
Contacts: In Bali: call 08179711394 (from
within Indonesia) or Ed Matthew on +44 7810
558 249 or call Daniel Mittler, Campaign
Coordinator, +49 173 923 4747
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