ECCE BRUSSELS BRIEF 

WORLD SUMMIT ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT SUPPLEMENT  -   SEPTEMBER 2002

 THE OVERALL IMPORTANCE OF A GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT and the role of  CLIMATE CHANGE  -THE WORLD SUMMIT ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN JOHANNESBURG  “Rio + 10” -   26th AUGUST – 4^th SEPTEMBER 2002

 The United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) agreed plans set out on practical actions and measures for achieving sustainable development on the basis of national and international good governance.   The treaty received a major blow when the US, the world’s biggest polluter pulled out.  However, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov confirmed at the Summit that Russia was planning to ratify the Kyoto treaty on global warming soon.  The treaty can not be implemented without the signature of the majority of greenhouse gas producers.  According to 1990 figures the US produces 36% of carbon emissions and Russia 17%.  (The second largest global polluter is China, which does intend to ratify the Treaty).  If Russia can, by 2008, reduce its carbon emissions by 20% over 1990 levels, it could then sell carbon pollution “credits” and raise capital to modernise its own energy-intensive industries.

For the EU, the focus of the Summit was projected on six priority areas where poverty reduction and sustainable development come together. These were water and sanitation, energy, health, trade and globalisation, global public goods and sustainable consumption and production patterns. Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstroem and her colleagues had given a consistent message beforehand - the outcome of the Summit in Johannesburg should be action oriented and contain concrete deliverables, upon which politicians could be held accountable (see April 2002 Brussels Brief). The EU also sought clear targets and timetables in order to ensure that goals are met. In all its initiatives the EU sought to pay particular attention to Africa.

Some of the targets set out in the draft report (internet references are given below) are:

POVERTY REDUCTION: halving the proportion of the world’s population living in poverty by 2015: i.e. people living on less than one US dollar per day, suffering from hunger, without access to safe drinking water, or lacking access to improved sanitation. World solidarity fund to eradicate poverty.  Joint action should improve access to reliable, affordable energy services.  Improve lives of 100 million slum dwellers by 2020. (as with drinking water targets, these were reaffirmations of the Millenium Development Goals).

CONSUMPTION AND PRODUCTION:  Develop10-year framework programmes to promote shift to sustainable consumption/production. Use of voluntary consumer information tools, increased investment in eco-efficiency, cleaner production.  Importance of corporate environmental and social responsibility and accountability.  Sustainable transport strategies.  Waste strategies: prevention and minimisation, reuse, recycling, alternative materials.

Energy – Renewable, Access to Energy, Energy Markets, Energy Efficiency: Cleaner, more efficient energy production (fossil fuel + renewables), increased use of renewable energy sources.  Removal of market distortions and phasing out of harmful subsidies.  International community to support development of domestic programmes for energy efficiency.  (EU sought specific targets but was opposed by US and other oil-producing countries)

Effects of chemicals: Use of science-based risk assessment and risk management procedures – precautionary approach.  Urge ratification and implementation of relevant international Conventions on chemicals and hazardous waste. 2005 target for developing international chemicals management strategy; 2008 target for putting in operation harmonised global system for classifying and labelling chemicals. 2020 target for use and production of chemicals in ways that do not lead to significant adverse effects on human health and the environment.

NATURAL RESOURCES:

Water, oceans, fisheries: Targets: 2005 for integrated water resource management and water efficiency plans; 2010 potential application of ecosystem approach to oceans, maintenance and restoration of fish stocks to maximum sustainable yields; 2015 to achieve this goal for depleted fish stocks; 2005 for putting fishing capacity management plan into action; 2004 for prevention of illegal fishing.  2012 to establish networks of marine protected areas.  2004 to establish a regular UN process for assessing the state of the marine environment.

Water and land management: Integrated land management and water use plans are also promoted together with implementation of laws that guarantee land and water use rights plus market-based incentives for farmers to manage water use and quality.  In developed countries brown-field development should be increased. 

Atmosphere: 2003/2005 target date to replenish fund to implement Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.  2010 target for improving developing countries’ access to alternatives to ozone-depleting substances.

Bio-diversity: New resources will be needed by developing countries to achieve the 2010 target of decreasing rate of loss of biological diversity. (Plan does not set specific targets).

Forests: implementation of IPF/IFF proposals to be accelerated.  Reporting to UN Forum on Forests to be intensified with progress assessment scheduled for 2005.

GLOBALISATION: This should be fully inclusive and equitable. Open multilateral trading and financial systems are needed to help developing countries respond.  Support should be given to completion of Doha trade round and implementation of what was agreed at Monterrey.  Corporate responsibility and accountability should be promoted.

HEALTH: 2015 target of reducing child mortality rates by 2/3 and maternal mortality rates over 2000 figures.  Health impacts from air pollution reduced inter alia by phasing out lead in petrol and in lead-based paint, and preventing children’s exposure to lead.

REGIONAL INITIATIVES: 2004 target for full review of sustainable development in small island developing states.   New partnership for Africa’s development.  Other regional sustainability initiatives to be developed, including the Environment for Europe process.

IMPLEMENTATION: Need to increase financial resources to meet agreed development goals; greater flows of foreign direct investment.  Target of 0.7% of GNP from developed countries to go to overseas development aid.  Debt relief as one means to reduce unsustainable debt burdens.  By 2015 all children should be able to complete a full course of primary schooling (equal access to both boys and girls).  Recommendation to UN General Assembly that it consider adopting a decade of education for sustainable development from 2005.

TRADE: Follow-through on WTO work programme agreed at Doha. Trade-related technical assistance and capability measures to be implemented.  Reduction/elimination of tariffs on non-agricultural products, negotiations on agriculture to aim at reducing export subsidies and reducing trade-distorting domestic support.

Environmental links to be developed: voluntary environmental impact assessments and links to trade, environment and development; multilateral trading system and environmental agreements.  Environmental measures addressing trans-boundary problems should be based on international consensus as much as possible.

THE ROLE OF THE INSTITUTIONS: UN agencies should integrate sustainable development goals into their policies and develop as a key element of activity.  Collaboration should increase between UN, international financial institutions, Global environment facility and the WTO.

REGIONAL FOCUS: 2004 targets were set for sustainable development of small island developing States; target dates of 2005 and 2015 were set for Africa in relation to food security and freedom from hunger.

Ref: Official site for the Johannesburg summit http://www.johannesburgsummit.org   Outcomes:

http://www.johannesburgsummit.org/html/documents/summit_docs/2009_keyoutcomes_commitments.doc

http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/wssd/index_en.html

An Extract from the future draft report on the Main Committee of the World Summit on Sustainable Development is on: http://www.un.org/jsummit/html/documents/summit_docs/0309_aconf199_crp7.pdf

Commissioners Wallstroem (Environment) and Nielson (Development and Humanitarian Aid) addressed the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 25^th September.

Whilst Danish Foreign Minister Fogh Rasmussen had been cited as saying he did not think “that mega summits are the way to secure effective implementation”, Commissioners Wallstroem and Nielson emphasised the positive aspects of the WSSD.

Margot Wallstroem said she would not define the Summit as a “success” or a “failure” but believed that the European Commission could be satisfied with the results of Johannesburg.  Against a difficult political backdrop, she stated, it fell largely to the European Union to champion the cause of sustainable development.  Some key achievements included the set of new targets agreed as part of the Implementation Plan – sanitation, chemicals, decline of fish stocks and the need to begin implementation of national strategies on sustainable development by 2005.  Further topics were bio-diversity, sustainable consumption and production, globalisation, energy, renewable energy and climate change.  She acknowledged that the EU was not able to get a specific target for renewable energy sources in the Action Plan and gave the EU credit for launching a “coalition of the willing” on renewable energy which includes countries and regions willing to set themselves targets and timeframes for the increase of renewables in the energy mix.

Her colleague Poul Nielson spoke on trade, finance and follow-up.  He confirmed that trade negotiations were difficult.  Developing countries in the Group of 77 put strong emphasis on trade and on subsidies in agriculture.  This forced the EU to struggle to safeguard the Doha Development Agenda (Trade Summit held in November 2001) as the place to discuss this in detail, in order to avoid the whole multi-lateral agenda being derailed.  Although the EU succeeded, he indicated that the EU succeeded but “had to use negotiation capital defending what everybody had already agreed less than a year ago”.  The Monterrey Summit in March 2002 dealt with financing and Commission Nielson believed that this helped Johannesburg succeed.  As trade and finance issues could be set aside, it was possible to focus on the core issues of the Johannesburg conference.  Commissioner Nielson considered that the EU is ahead of other major trading partners on market access, “thanks in particular to ‘Everything But Arms’”.

Poul Nielson summed up his views by considering that the European Union can be pleased with the role it played in Johannesburg.  “The EU clearly came with the longest wish list” he said.  “By setting a high level of ambition, the number of disappointments also increases.  NGOs and Press focus on these shortcomings”.  Whilst this is acceptable, he affirmed that “as responsible politicians, we must be careful NOT to draw the conclusions that we will be less ambitious in the future”.  

                                                                                                                                    D  E Maxwell, October 2002