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- Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive
- Path: sparky!uunet!gumby!wupost!mont!pencil.cs.missouri.edu!rich
- From: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu (Rich Winkel)
- Subject: South Accuses North of Reneging on Earth Summit Pledge
- Message-ID: <1992Nov11.004829.20399@mont.cs.missouri.edu>
- Followup-To: alt.activism.d
- Originator: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
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- Organization: PACH
- Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1992 00:48:29 GMT
- Approved: map@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
- Lines: 130
-
- /** reg.samerica: 190.0 **/
- ** Topic: IPS:Environment **
- ** Written 8:02 pm Nov 9, 1992 by jbinder in cdp:reg.samerica **
- From: James Binder <jbinder>
- Subject: IPS:Environment
-
- /* ---------- "ENVIRONMENT: South accuses North of" ---------- */
- Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved. Permission to re-
- print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.
-
- Title: ENVIRONMENT: South accuses North of failing to honour pledge
-
- /att editors: please relate the foll. to 'development: no sign yet
- of funds for global environment plan', moved from new york/
-
- new york, nov 2 (ips) -- accusing industrialised nations of
- political insensitivity, the 129-member 'group of 77' developing
- countries at the united nations monday criticised the north for
- failing to respond to some of the world's environmental needs
- spelled out at a summit of world leaders in brazil in june.
-
- speaking on behalf of the grouping, pakistan's secretary-
- general for foreign affairs akram zaki said industrialised nations
- ''remain preoccupied with their immediate economic, political and
- social problems''.
-
- addressing a general assembly debate on the results of the so-
- called 'earth summit' in june, zaki pointed out that the
- commitments undertaken by the developing countries at rio
- represent ''a historic leap'' into the future.
-
- ''we must frankly express our sense of regret that the
- commitment to these global goals by the developed countries has
- not been at a similar level,'' he said.
-
- he said the solidarity demanded by the new paradigm of
- environmentally sound development was limited, if not absent in
- the policies of the north, as regards development assistance,
- trade liberalisation and technological cooperation.
-
- zaki spoke as the 179-member u.n. general assembly revived the
- debate on the plan of action adopted by the summit known as
- 'agenda 21'. it is an 800-page plan for the 21st century covering
- virtually all areas affecting the relationship between the
- environment and the economy.
-
- the debate will also focus on a proposal for a high-level
- commission on sustainable development to monitor the
- implementation of the plan. the commission is to regularly review
- and monitor activities of various financing sources and mechanisms
- related to 'agenda 21'.
-
- india's environment minister kamal nath said monday the body
- should focus primarily on ''cross-sectoral issues'' and not be
- country-specific, as this would enable it to be more productive
- and avoid controversies. he said each country must be allowed to
- set its own priorities and that the commission should provide
- financial aid, assist in removing trade imbalances and provide
- appropriate technology. (more/ips)
-
- environment: south accuses north of failing to honour pledge /rel(2)
-
- environment: south (2)
-
- ''but we would not expect the commission to decide on
- priorities within that country or to delve into internal policy
- frameworks,'' the indian minister said.
-
- discussions will also focus on funding 'agenda 21' against the
- backdrop of proposed sharp cuts in development aid for 1993 by
- several industrialised nations, and the lack of any significant
- progress in the aftermath of the rio summit.
-
- the estimated cost of implementing the plan is 125 billion
- dollars a year in new funding. this is about 70 billion dollars in
- excess of existing official development assistance (oda) flows to
- developing countries per year. a significant portion of the cost,
- however, is meant to come from third world states.
-
- but the figure on the negotiating table now which is being
- viewed as more politically realistic is about five billion to 10
- billion dollars in start-up costs.
-
- zaki said that the g-77 firmly believes that the provision of
- adequate ''new and additional financing'' is an essential
- condition for the plan's effective implementation. it is obvious,
- he argued, that the financing requirements far exceed the
- resources which can be mobilised by the developing countries.
-
- developing countries say additional external financing is
- required both at the bilateral level as well as through
- multilateral channels to implement the projects and programmes for
- sustainable development in developing countries.
-
- at rio, some of the developed countries reaffirmed their
- commitment to reach the u.n. target of 0.7 percent of gross
- national product (gnp) as soon as possible, while others committed
- themselves to reach the target by the year 2000. the united states
- (currently at 0.2 percent of gnp) disassociated itself from the
- target.
-
- the summit also proposed a restructuring of the global
- environmental facility (gef) which the world bank helped set up to
- fund 'green' projects in the developing countries. the
- restructuring is meant to make governance of the gef transparent,
- democratic in nature and provide access and disbursement to all
- developing countries without any conditions attached.
-
- zaki told the assembly the gef is only one mechanism for the
- financing of 'agenda 21', and that the g-77 ''attaches great
- importance to its restructuring''. this, he said, ''must be
- undertaken at the earliest, and should be reported and reviewed by
- the commission on sustainable development at its first meeting
- early next year''.
-
- zaki also singled out two other issues requiring special
- actions: desertification and the problem of small-island nations.
-
- the g-77 is looking forward to the establishment of an inter-
- governmental negotiating committee to formulate a convention to
- combat desertification. it has also proposed that the global
- conference on the sustainable development of small island
- developing states should be held next june.
-
- environment: south accuses north of failing to honour pledge /rel(3-e)
-
- (end/ips/td/yjc/92)
-
- ** End of text from cdp:reg.samerica **
-
-