Delegates warned not to rush for commitment<\/p>\n
Tantri Yuliandini, The Jakarta Post, Nusa Dua, Bali<\/p>\n
Representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) gathered
\nin Bali called on government delegates on Monday to refrain from
\nagreeing on a negotiated action plan due to limited time.<\/p>\n
NGOs, such as Consumers International, Friends of the Earth
\nInternational, Greenpeace International, the World Wide Fund for
\nNature and local NGOs grouped in the Indonesian People's Forum
\n(IPF) advised delegates not to rush through agreements.<\/p>\n
Sandra Moniaga of the IPF told a news conference on Monday
\nthat delegations should instead take the three months left prior
\nto the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in
\nJohannesburg to continue their deliberation of the text.<\/p>\n
She said that if important issues in the negotiated action
\nplan, called the Chairman's Text or Chairman's Paper, were still
\nunresolved, delegates should not insist that the document be
\nfinished before the ministerial meeting on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
She warned that delegates should not write off unresolved
\nissues simply to achieve a completed document.<\/p>\n
\"The WSSD meeting will be held to correct the failures made in
\nRio. It would be ironic then if the Rio document was remedied by
\na more useless document,\" she said, referring to the Earth Summit
\nin Rio de Janeiro in 1992.<\/p>\n
\"The Chairman's Text, or Bali commitment, would have no
\nmeaning unless all the issues were resolved to everyone's
\nsatisfaction, and thus, the future of sustainable development
\nwould be ensured,\" she said.<\/p>\n
The Chairman's Text is expected to be finalized at the
\npreparatory committee meeting for the World Summit in progress in
\nBali.<\/p>\n
The NGOs also conveyed their call for delegates not to rush
\nthrough the Chairman's Text in their publication ECO.<\/p>\n
Under the heading \"Bring your brackets to Johannesburg\", the
\nnewsletter argued that options should remain open to ensure a
\nbetter result.<\/p>\n
Parts of the text on which delegates disagree have been either
\nbracketed or printed in bold.<\/p>\n
\"If the right bracketed language makes it to Joburg, advocacy
\nNGOs will campaign on it. We have 48 days left before Joburg
\nstarts,\" it said referring to the upcoming summit in
\nJohannesburg.<\/p>\n
The NGOs at ECO have identified 11 unresolved issues from the
\nChairman's Text they said faced pressure from the U.S.-led
\nnegotiation block JUSCANZ.<\/p>\n
JUSCANZ stands for Japan, the U.S., Canada, Australia and New
\nZealand.<\/p>\n
These issues include disagreements over a 10-year program to
\nregulate consumption and production into a more sustainable
\npattern.<\/p>\n
Energy issue disagreements center on global time targets for
\nincreasing the share of renewable energy consumption.<\/p>\n
Water remains divided over the inclusion of sanitation into a
\nglobal target to half the number of people who have no access to
\nsafe drinking water by 2015.<\/p>\n
On biodiversity concerns rest, among others, how strong the
\npriority of conservation should affect natural resource-based
\nindustries, such as fisheries.<\/p>\n
Talks on trade and environment center on time-bound measures
\nwith NGOs also objecting to the paragraph citing that the world's
\nliberalization trend leads to sustainable development.<\/p>\n
Other unresolved issues NGOs have highlighted are on
\nagriculture, small island developing states, subsidies, Africa,
\ncorporate accountability and public participation.<\/p>\n
But as calls mount to continue debates in Johannesburg, the
\nIndonesian delegation requested the negotiations end in Bali.<\/p>\n
A member of the Indonesian delegate said that a line should be
\ndrawn here in Bali, lest JUSCANZ approach developing countries
\nindividually and break up their positions ahead of the
\nJohannesburg summit.<\/p>\n
\"There is no guarantee that we'll reach a deal in
\nJohannesburg. Because if that doesn't happen we'll end up with
\nthe old Rio declaration. That would be a victory for developed
\ncountries,\" the delegate, who refused to be named, said.<\/p>",
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