KL anxious about RI commitment

KL anxious about RI commitment

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Developed nations should honor the promise made more than two years ago to help developing countries sustain the environment, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said yesterday.

Financial commitments by developed countries utilizing freely the rich resources of developing nations was not forthcoming although more than two years had lapsed after the landmark Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.

"Developing countries require assistance and technology transfers but these have been subjected to conditions imposed by the developed nations," he said in opening the International Conference of Asian Parliamentarians on the Environment and Sustainable Development.

The four-day conference was being attended by 40 delegates from 22 countries.

Mahathir said development aid from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries to developing nations had dwindled to US$54.8 billion last year from $60.8 billion the previous year.

The only new source of funds was from the restructured Global Environment Facility (GEF), which had been pledged $2 billion by 26 countries, but conditions had been attached to the release of the money, he said.

The UN Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992 had adopted the GEF to finance a program of action to sustain development and guide environment conservation into the 21st century.

"I get the impression that, during the discussion of the implementation of various environment-related conventions, the developing countries are treated like beggars for aid," Mahathir said.

He hoped that a global arrangement could be established to ensure that developed countries honor commitments to environment conservation.

"The continued attempts by the developed countries to introduce the social clause for workers and other conditions are disguised protectionism to erode the competitive edge of developing nations," Mahathir said.