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.