25 august 2002
johannesburg
FREE TRADE TAKEOVER OF THE EARTH SUMMIT:
UNITED STATES AND EUROPEAN UNION BULLYING
REVEALED ON FIRST DAY OF TALKS
Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs)
STATEMENT by Friends of the Earth
International, Greenpeace and Third World
Network
Johannesburg, Aug 25, 2002 -- On the first
day of informal negotiations at the
Johannesburg Earth Summit, Friends of the
Earth International, Greenpeace and Third
World Network today obtained a leaked copy of
a joint US/EU negotiating paper, which they
said threatened to hijack the Earth Summit
process and turn it from a sustainable
development into a trade summit. The
international NGOs blasted the EU and the US
for trying to steamroller their trade and
globalization agenda through the Earth Summit
process. The groups said that Johannesburg
was being turned from Rio+10 into Doha +10
months.
The groups said that the paper moves
forward the rich countries‘trade
liberalization and corporate globalisation
priorities at the expense of adequately
addressing the issues of environmental
protection, poverty relief and sustainable
development that the Earth Summit is supposed
to be about. The groups called on President
Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, the official
Chair of the Earth Summit, to resist US and
EU pressure and to ensure that the
negotiating process is held in the open with
all countries and NGOs represented. South
Africa should not allow this paper, the
current status of which is unclear, to become
the main negotiating text on the key issues
trade and finance.
The negotiations should proceed on the
basis of the draft implementation plan agreed
at the last talks in June in Bali, and the
negotiations should be open for all countries
to be present, as well as NGOs.
The Earth Summit is the only political
process where all the Governments are
supposed to be able to negotiate freely
around global environment and development
problems – irrespective of size or economic
power. The US/EU approach is likely to cause
substantial frustration amongst other
countries, because this paper smacks of a top
down approach in which – just like at the WTO
– the two major power houses strike a deal
and then try to pressurize other countries to
accept their agenda.
Contact in Johannesburg:
Friends of the Earth International Daniel
Mittler +27 72 4015394
Third World Network Chee Yoke Ling + 27 83
3151098
Greenpeace Steve Sawyer +27 83 587
7325
|
