The South, European Union to stand against U.S.
The South, European Union to stand against U.S.
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Nusa Dua, Bali
Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) urged developing countries under the Group of 77 and the European Union to stand together against the uncompromising stance held by the United States at the fourth preparatory committee (PrepCom) meeting on sustainable development here.
In the last few days of talks over the Chairman's Text, the NGOs reminded developing governments that the most effective way to fight for the interests of their constituents was to cooperate with other stronger groups of countries.
"Governments of countries in the South should leave their negotiation boxes and help their own people... look for the support of other strong countries, like the European Union, that have expressed similar views," Athena Ronquillo of Greenpeace told a press briefing here on Wednesday.
A fundamental difference between the U.S. and the rest of the world has emerged during the first day of the preparatory committee meeting, the last leg of meetings before the World Summit on Sustainable Development is held in Johannesburg in late August and September.
The U.S. has been reluctant to put time targets in the Chairman's Text, while the rest want such time-bound measures.
The U.S. and some of its allies have put forward partnership initiatives among stakeholders, contending that such initiatives would produce concrete results.
The G77, led by Venezuela, has not yet engaged in a strong fight against the U.S., saying that they will play by the rules of negotiation in dealing with the U.S.
"The ongoing negotiations have been frustrating for us, G77 need a political partnership with EU countries to deal with the U.S., if Indonesia and other countries from the South want to make this their summit, they have to do something," Ronquillo demanded.
She also said that the EU delegation had stated to the NGOs that they would try to approach the G77 to cooperate in negotiations against the U.S. stance.
Katherine Short, a member of the World Wildlife Fund, said that a coalition between governments would be the best way to face the strong influence of the U.S. There is a momentum, as not all the U.S. allies; Japan, U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand (JUSCAN), support the U.S. stance, she added.
"I believe the governments of Australia and New Zealand may have a more independent stance. There is a chance of a last minute shift in negotiations if developing countries could garner more support," she remarked.
Burghard Ilge of Oxfam reminded that if developing countries could not find some breakthrough to defeat the U.S., then there is the real threat that the current preparatory committee meeting would fail, which would affect the Johannesburg summit.
"We are extremely concerned. We need to set specific time- bound measures in order to keep PrepCom from failing, the governments' political will is needed," he remarked.