World Summit on Sustainable Development Department of Public Information - News and Media Services Division - New York
	Johannesburg, South Africa 26 August-4 September 2002	1 September 2002

DAILY BRIEFING BY SUMMIT SPOKESWOMAN   United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Mrs. Nane Annan arrived in Johannesburg at 8:50 this morning, Susan Markham, Spokeswoman for the World Summit, said at today's noon press briefing. She said that later in the morning they travelled to the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site for an event that was currently going on there. Mr. Annan had held a short meeting with President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa before touring the Sterkfontein Caves. This afternoon, while the Secretary-General was at the Business Day event being held at the Hilton Hotel in Sandton, Mrs. Annan would visit the WaterDome at Randburg, where Anna Tibaijuka, Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), would guide her around the exhibition. The Secretary-General would hold a meeting later in the day, with the heads of the United Nations funds, programmes and agencies attending the Summit, the Spokeswoman said. Copies of the Secretary-General's statement at the Business Day event were available under embargo. A programme of his activities in Johannesburg was also available. Ms. Markham said that Summit Secretary-General Nitin Desai opened the Business Day this morning by calling on the private sector to adopt sustainable development in all its practices and to help spread sustainable practices throughout the business world. Turning to the negotiations, she said some progress was made yesterday with agreement on some eight paragraphs. Vali Moosa, Chairman of the Ministerial Group, and South African Minister for Environmental Affairs and Tourism, was meeting with a smaller group of key ministers to reach agreement on the remaining paragraphs. An updated list of the agreed paragraphs was available at the documents counter in the media centre. She introduced Lowell Flanders, the United Nations senior adviser coordinating the drafting groups, asking him what actually had been agreed and what the remaining problems were. Mr. Flanders said that yesterday's meeting managed to agree on eight paragraphs relating to the World Solidarity Fund for Poverty; the 10-year programme for sustainable production and consumption patterns; natural resources; climate change; and biodiversity. He said the groups were still working on the paragraphs dealing with common but differentiated responsibilities; water and sanitation; energy; and health care. The contact group on finance and trade was continuing its discussions and seemed close to agreement, but the issue of governance was still outstanding. Regarding partnerships, the Spokeswoman said they continued to be announced every half hour at the event being held in Ballroom 3 (a change of venue from that announced in the Journal), in press conferences being held throughout the day and broadcast on the big screen in the bullpen. She said that yesterday South Africa had announced a series of new partnerships aimed at eradicating poverty, including an African/European Union water initiative. In partnership with the United Kingdom, Finland and Nigeria, South Africa had also announced several partnerships aimed at establishing centers of excellence to develop world-class technological expertise. Also in South Africa, she went on, the Johannesburg Climate Change Legacy 2002 Initiative aimed at offsetting the environmental impact of international conferences, such as the World Summit, through carbon reducing projects. And the Global Lead Initiative announced efforts to work towards phasing out leaded gasoline. The Collaborative Labelling and Appliance Standards Programme aimed to reduce energy use by 5 per cent over 20 years, the Spokeswoman said. She added that the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) was teaming up with Arab ministers in an initiative to reduce waste; Germany and Mozambique had announced a new programme aimed at coordinating disaster management and emergency assistance; and Canada, together with the advertising agency J. Walter Thompson and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) had announced they would launch an international marketing communications initiative for sustainable development. Turning to the plenary, Ms. Markham directed journalists' attention to page 5 of today's daily Journal, which said that President Mbeki, as President of the Summit, would open tomorrow's plenary meeting at 9 a.m. Secretary-General Annan would speak next. Copies of his statement were available under embargo until delivery at the media centre documents counter. At tomorrow's opening, five children would speak, representing the future generations for whom the Summit was so pivotal, she said. Three of the young people represented the International Children's Conference on the Environment, at which 400 children from 80 countries had agreed on a series of challenges that would be presented to the world's leaders tomorrow. Those challenges had been written by the children themselves and expressed their hopes and fears for the future of the planet. She said the other two children were from South Africa and would recite an inspirational poem. One of them, six-year-old Tiyiselani Manganyi, was believed to be the youngest delegate at the Summit. The other four children addressing the plenary were aged 10, 11 and 14 and came from Canada, China, Ecuador and South Africa. Details about them were contained in a press release available on the racks. At 2:30 p.m. today, Ms. Markham said, the Youth Caucus at the Summit, one of the nine major groups, would hold a press conference, where they would express their concerns about the sort of world that the current generation of children would inherit. Following the opening part of the Summit, the heads of State and government would speak according to the order listed in the Journal, the Spokeswoman said. Tomorrow's Journal would list Tuesday's speakers. Correspondents could check the full list for the three-day high-level segment -- which was still subject to last-minute changes -- on the Web site or at the media information desk. Statements were limited to five minutes and copies would be made available at the documents counter as soon as they were received from the delegations concerned. They would also be posted on the Web and all the plenary discussions would be webcast live and broadcast into the bullpen area on the large screens. Ms. Markham said that the first of four round table discussions between heads of State and government, United Nations agencies and other organizations as well as representatives of the major groups, would be held tomorrow at 3 p.m. Each round table would have different participants, but they would all have the theme "Making It Happen". The President of the Summit had prepared a series of questions for discussion at the round tables, she said. Those questions, as well as an explanation, were available at the documents counter. They were contained in document A/CONF.199/L.5, headed Discussion paper for the round tables. She said the questions concerned how to mobilize resources; improve coherence and consistency in national and international institutions; and how to improve regional and international cooperation in the five priority areas; how to bring scientific knowledge to bear on decision-making; how to ensure affordable access to technology for poor people; and how the Summit could lead to a stronger commitment to global solidarity. The list of governmental participants in tomorrow's round table was in today's Journal, she said. United Nations and other participants would be listed in tomorrow's edition. The chairman of the first round table tomorrow afternoon would be President Aleksander Kwasniewski of Poland. Three interesting side events were taking place today, the Spokeswoman said. The E-7 Fund for Sustainable Energy would hold an event today at 1:15 p.m. in Committee room 5 and tonight there would be a series of partnership pacts signed between the United Nations and the E-7 Fund, which is made up of the world's leading energy companies. The CEOs of those companies and the Secretary-General of the Summit, as well as the heads of other United Nations and related organizations, would sign those agreements at 6:30 tonight, at a venue outside the Sandton Convention Centre. A press release about that partnership agreement was available in the media centre. Announcing a second side event today relating to Pacific Island partnerships and organized by the governments of the Pacific Islands Forum, Ms. Markham recalled that Ambassador Neroni Slade of Samoa had briefed the media a few days ago about the critical nature of the issues being addressed at the Summit for small island States. Some concerns expressed by Tuvalu about the effects of global warming on that Pacific island had also been reported in the press. That side event was today at 1:15 p.m. in Ballroom 2. The third side event, at 6:30 p.m. today, was a project about protecting the Dead Sea and was jointly organized by Jordan and Israel, she said. They would also hold a joint press conference at 7:30 p.m. to explain the project. She said a great number of other very interesting press conferences would be held today. They were too many to list, but one additional one would be held at 7 p.m. with Dr. Nkosazana Zuma, South Africa's Minister for Foreign Affairs. The Spokeswoman advised journalists to check the Journal for a preview list of tomorrow's press conferences. She said that 104 heads of State and government were scheduled to attend and there was a list available of those who had arrived today. Regarding access to the Convention Centre tomorrow, she said the security restrictions would pose some inconvenience, but media would continue to have access to the Media Centre through the Alice Lane entrance throughout the day. Journalists would also continue to have 24-hour access to unrestricted areas of the building, but not through the south escalators. All media going anywhere in the building would have to use the two freight elevators near the media entrance on the Alice Lane side of the building, she said. Those were very large and would be restricted to use by media only. They would stop at the second floor, for journalists to go to the rest of the building through a marked passage, and the fifth floor, for pools and ticket holders to access the plenary. Photographers and TV crews would continue to be escorted by United Nations staff. Asked why the list of confirmed heads of State and government had dropped from 109 to 104, Ms. Markham said that some heads of State and government, who had previously confirmed their attendance, were now not coming. They included leaders from San Marino and Nepal. In response to a question about restriction on entering and leaving the plenary, she said media pools would be escorted in and out by United Nations staff. There were 200 tickets for those wishing to sit in the hall and they would be available at the media liaison desk an hour before the opening. Asked how many heads of State and government were arriving today and whether there were any prominent leaders among them, she told the correspondent to pick up the list later. About 20 heads of State and government had arrived yesterday, she added. In response to a question about work by the Commission on Sustainable Development to develop indicators of sustainable development, Mr. Flanders said that, after the Summit, it was hoped that the Commission could work with national governments so that they could monitor their progress. The indicators, covering the economic, social, environmental and institutional fields, had been tested in some 23 countries over two years. Asked for the latest details on the draft political declaration, he replied that South Africa was still consulting at the ministerial and heads of State levels, and it was not clear when it would be ready. Regarding the dollar value of the partnerships announced so far, Ms. Markham told the same journalist that it had been difficult to get a list of the resources allocated to the various partnerships. She said she had indicated in a previous briefing the resources committed to the partnerships that the United Nations had been informed about prior to the Summit. Hopefully, an updated list might be available later. Asked how a tenth major group, comprising educators, be established, Mr. Flanders said that matter would have to be looked into because the designation was had been in Agenda 21, which countries did not want to renegotiate. Ms. Markham told another journalist that neither Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat nor President Fidel Castro was on the list of heads of State and government confirmed to participate in the Summit. Press Conferences Summit News