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.