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johannesburg/brussels – august
28th
eu loses earth summit leadership
role
As heated talks continue at the World
Summit for Sustainable Development in
Johannesburg (1), Friends of the Earth Europe
expressed anger at the EU’s failure to lead
on developing and strengthening effective
global agreements for people and the
environment.
In discussions all day yesterday the EU
said that they would not support a UN text
that would set an international framework on
corporate accountability and corporate social
responsibility. This proposal was originally
put forward by the G77, the group of
developing countries, in negotiations on
globalisation, trade and finance.
The EU’s stance has disappointed
campaigners from around the world. The call
for a binding international framework on
corporate accountability has become a
rallying cry for environmental, development,
human rights groups and trade unions.
Communities want a guarantee that
corporations will not damage their
environments and livelihoods. Only an
effective alliance between the EU and
developing countries will deliver progress in
Johannesburg. FoEE believes that it is
irresponsible that the EU is failing to
support the developing countries’ proposal,
which would help ensure that European
companies improve their social and
environmental behaviour in the developing
world.
The EU also failed to state that global
environmental agreements, such as the Kyoto
and Biosafety Protocol, must not be adversely
affected by the World Trade Organisation
(WTO). This has been a key demand of NGOs
from around the world (2) which fear that
current trade talks on the relationship of
environmental agreements and trade rules will
further undermine environmental
governance.
The EU also seems so desperate to get any
global target for renewable energy agreed
that it is willing to settle for a
ridiculously small increase in renewable
energy production. Friends of the Earth
Europe is concerned that the result of a
vague and unambitious renewables target could
be that more large dams are built in the
third world – with very negative consequences
for people and the environment. The EU must
support a 10% new renewable energy target as
proposed by Brazil. They should reiterate
their commitment to the Kyoto Protocol and
work with Japan to ensure that it is
mentioned in the final text over the protests
of the United States.
The precautionary principle, a keystone of
EU and global environmental policymaking is
endangered if the EU does not take a stronger
stance in its defence.
Daniel Mittler, Earth Summit Coordinator
for Friends of the Earth said: “This summit
can only deliver meaningful results if the
European Union shows true leadership. On many
key issues, the EU is part of the problem
rather than the solution. The time for the EU
to stand up for people and the environment is
now.”
Contact in Brussels: Dr. Martin Rocholl,
FoEE , tel: 02-542 01 80
Contact in Johannesburg:
Alexandra Wandel, FoEE, +27-72-406 47 49
Daniel Mittler, FOEI Earth Summit Campaign
Coordinator, +27 72 401 5394
Notes to editors
(1) Official information on the summit is at
www.johannesburgsummit.org
(2) A statement of 200 NGOs from over 55
countries calls on the Earth Summit to state
that global environmental agreements must not
be subordinated by WTO rules, see
http://www.rio-plus-10.org/en/positions/86.php
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