Businesses urge governments on commitments<\/p>\n
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Nusa Dua, Bali<\/p>\n
The international business community joined hands with non-
\ngovernmental organizations in urging world governments to
\nstrengthen their commitment to sustainable development before
\nheading to Johannesburg.<\/p>\n
Speaking at a discussion here on Friday, Lynn Schloesser from
\nthe International Chamber Commerce said businesses were ready to
\nsupport all kinds of partnerships as soon as governments set the
\ntime targets for their commitments.<\/p>\n
Schloesser, also a member of the American Business Council,
\nsaid that time targets were extremely important to allow
\nbusinesspeople to move forward and take the initiative with
\npartnerships.<\/p>\n
\"It's like doing things in a business. We need to make plans
\nand there should be time targets as they are important factors in
\nensuring accountability,\" Schloesser said.<\/p>\n
He further said that it was only with specific government
\nframeworks that the business community could fully support
\nsustainable development.<\/p>\n
Setting time-bound measures in the draft plan of
\nimplementation has become the major sticking point in the
\nnegotiations during the two-week preparatory committee (PrepCom)
\nmeeting in Bali.<\/p>\n
The ministerial meeting in Bali for the World Summit on
\nSustainable Development in Johannesburg has to finalize the draft
\nplan of implementation as mandated by the United Nations.<\/p>\n
Many have expressed disappointment as the final session failed
\nto resolve many of the outstanding issues.<\/p>\n
They also questioned the good faith of governments regarding
\nbetter earth management.<\/p>\n
Initiatives for partnerships, known as type 2, or non-
\nnegotiated, documents, should cover concrete projects for
\nsustainable development.<\/p>\n
This type 2 initiative, however, should be supported by
\ngovernment commitments through type 1, or negotiated, documents
\nin the draft plan of implementation.<\/p>\n
The business community, which is often considered as being on
\nthe other side of the fence as far as sustainable development is
\nconcerned, urged that commitments should come first.<\/p>\n
Only then could concrete actions through partnerships be
\npursued by businesses.<\/p>\n
\"We are very disappointed that the WSSD (World Summit on
\nSustainable Development), which should have become the initial
\nstep for partnerships, has been stalled,\" Scholesser said.<\/p>\n
Scholesser stressed that the business community needed
\ncommitments from the governments that went beyond the Rio
\ndeclaration.<\/p>\n
\"We need something that goes beyond Rio, so we can move
\nforward with the sustainable development idea,\" he remarked.<\/p>\n
A representative from the World Business Council for
\nSustainable Development, Annik Dollacker, also said that she
\nhoped to bring back concrete concepts of partnership to her
\ncolleagues, but that seemed to be a hard item to sell.<\/p>\n
\"We expect to sell the idea to our forum, and we still hope
\nthat the Johannesburg meeting will be the initial step to setting
\nup initiatives for partnerships,\" Dollacker said.<\/p>\n
She asserted that partnerships could not be a solution without
\nclear regulations from governments, from whom companies would
\nreceive the standards to be applied in the partnerships.<\/p>\n
Kim Carstenson from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)
\nshared the view of the businesses, saying that the business
\ncommunity would have the confidence to join the partnerships only
\nif the governments displayed strong political commitment.<\/p>\n
\"Government delegations should go back to their countries and
\ncome with good commitments. This is crucial to ensuring the
\nJohannesburg Summit does not fail,\" Carstenson said.<\/p>\n
He underlined that business action would only be successful if
\ngovernments established the framework for how the partnerships
\nshould work.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/businesses-urge-governments-on-commitments-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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