Feature story - June 25, 2002
Yesterday in Rio de Janeiro, the leaders of South Africa, Sweden and Brazil made promises at a meeting with civil society to lead the way in making the Johannesburg Earth Summit a success.
SOLD - banner hanging from the side of Sugar Loaf Mountain in Rio de Janeiro during the Earth Summit in 1992.
Today President Mbeki of South Africa travels to deliver this
message to the G-8 Summit being held near Calgary, Canada. He will
say that rich countries, especially the USA, Canada and Japan, must
also fully engage in global efforts to build upon the legacy of Rio
(1992) and Stockholm (1972), and that they must deliver concrete
action plans for poverty alleviation, environmental protection and
sustainable economic development.
The Brazilian Energy Initiative, which calls for a global target
of 10 percent of global energy supply from new renewable energy
sources by 2010, is exactly the kind of result that we need from
Johannesburg.
"We've been searching for champions for this process, and now
we've found them," said Steve Sawyer of Greenpeace.
"With only 62 days until the start of the Johannesburg Summit,
it's going to be an uphill struggle, but we believe that President
Mbeki, with strong support from President Cardoso and Prime
Minister Persson, are up to the task."
"We'll be anxiously awaiting the results of the G-8 Summit in
Canada, and hope that President Mbeki succeeds in bringing the G-8
members into the process in a serious way."
Greenpeace and WWF called upon the Earth Summit leaders to stick
to their promises. The past year of preparations for the World
Summit on Sustainable Development have been characterised by slow
and frustrating negotiations. The clear message from the three
leaders, echoed by UK Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, was that
'the world cannot afford failure in Johannesburg', and that they
would do everything in their power to ensure that it is a
success.
More information
View the Greenpeace Earth Summit website