As government leaders meet in Johannesburg for the second Earth Summit, we have to ask why they are bothering. If you wanted to make some changes on Sesame Street, wouldn't it make more sense to invite the writers and puppeteers to meet, rather than just the puppets? The real environmental destruction today is done by multinational corporations, which can simply move operations if one government becomes too difficult. What international body oversees them, or sets rules for their behaviour, or holds them accountable when they transgress?
