Bush notable by his absence at the Earth Summit
Bush notable by his absence at the Earth Summit
Philippe Debeusscher, Agence France-Presse, Washington
U.S. President George W. Bush will be notable by his absence at the upcoming Johannesburg Earth Summit, leaving the United States with the prospect of being branded the scapegoat if the summit fails.
The final preparatory conference held in the Indonesian resort of Bali in late June in order to put together an action plan for the Johannesburg parley ended in failure attributed by some delegations to the position adopted by the United States.
Informal consultations since then have yielded some progress, but a number of crucial issues have not been resolved.
As about 100 heads of state and government signaled their readiness to come to South Africa, the White House made clear Bush was not coming. His first visit to Africa will take place next year.
Washington has not officially announced the make-up of its delegation. The participation of Secretary of State Colin Powell seems most likely.
Ten years after the first Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, developing countries are expecting concrete results from the second summit, possibly a set of new targets for reducing hunger and poverty in the world, better protection of their natural resources as well as financing.
The conference in Bali was unable to bridge differences on these issues between the United States, Europe and developing nations.
Washington is also running the risk of coming under fire for its stance of environmental issues, particularly with regard to global warming.
The environmental group Sierra Club said the U.S. government delegation in Bali repeatedly resisted any serious steps to address a host of global environmental problems.
"The administration has consistently blocked attempts to protect the global environment by promoting plans that benefit large corporations rather than the billions of citizens who have to deal with environmental crises, like dirty water and air, and global climate change," said Sierra Club Director Michael Dorsey.
In Johannesburg, the United States is expected to follow the script it adopted at a spring UN development summit in Monterrey, Mexico, and defend its liberal free-market philosophy, arguing that open markets assure sustainable economic growth.
Bush has announced a significant increase in U.S. development aid, which is expected to grow from US$10 billion to $15 billion a year.
But the bulk of this assistance is expected to be directed toward countries that accept political and economic principles dictated by Washington and will target four areas: education, health services including the anti-AIDS campaign, agriculture and investment and trade.
During a recent conference in Washington, Powell said the United States would have to do a lot to ensure the success of the summit in Johannesburg.
He said sustainable development was also a security imperative.
"Poverty, destruction of the environment and despair are destroyers of people, of societies, of nations, a cause of instability as an unholy trinity that can destabilize countries and destabilize entire regions," the secretary of state pointed out.
Powell said the United States will be taking three messages to Johannesburg:
- the United States is totally committed to supporting sustainable development;
- sustainable development must begin at home, with sound policies and good governance;
- governments, civil society and the private sector must work in partnership to mobilize development resources.
But the chief U.S. diplomat warned that sustainable development "is a marathon, not a sprint" and efforts to achieve it would continue beyond Johannesburg and well into the future.