World Summit on Sustainable Development Department of Public Information - News and Media Services Division - New York
	Johannesburg, South Africa 26 August-4 September 2002	27 August 2002

DAILY BRIEFING BY SUMMIT SPOKESWOMAN   Two guests would provide information and updates on two key aspects of the World Summit, Susan Markham, Spokeswoman for the Summit, said at today's noon press briefing. Introducing them, she said that Lowell Flanders, the United Nations senior adviser coordinating the drafting groups for the negotiations, would brief correspondents on the outcome document and Peter Schei, High-level Adviser to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) on what the Summit would do on the key issue of preserving biodiversity. She said this morning's plenary meeting was discussing agriculture, with presentations by Pedro Sanchez, Executive Director of the International Center for Research in Agroforestry, and S. Swaminathan of the Swaminathan Foundation. This afternoon, the plenary would discuss trade, finance, technology transfer, information, education and science, consumer patterns, and capacity-building. Nitin Desai, Secretary-General of the Summit, would introduce that discussion, she added. Ms. Markham said excellent progress was being made in the negotiations. Yesterday, 14 more paragraphs had been agreed, bringing the total so far to 38 in the main negotiating group, called the Vienna process. The contact group on globalization, finance and trade, working on the basis of a new text prepared by the facilitator, John Ashe of Antigua and Barbuda, had agreed on 18 of 68 paragraphs. That was very good progress considering that those issues had proved so difficult to agree on in the past, she added. Turning to attendance, the Spokeswoman said 190 out of a possible 195 countries were represented at the Summit so far and the number of heads of State confirmed remained at 104. Passes had been issued to 7,118 delegations, 5,802 major groups, 2,932 media representatives, 600 United Nations staff and 450 local staff. She said a new speakers' list for next week would be on the Web site and hard copies were available from the media information desk. Briefing on the negotiations, Mr. Flanders said they had been marked by a constructive spirit. The chairman of the process had established 10 contact groups to work on key paragraphs. Particularly encouraging was progress on finance, trade and globalization. Asked about the availability of the draft outcome document, Ms. Markham said that its symbol was A/CONF.199/L.1 and it was available at the media documents counter. Mr. Flanders, asked whether paragraphs previously agreed in Bali would be reopened, replied that the normal procedure was that once the language was agreed, the paragraphs were not opened again. Informal consultations were taking place to address concerns and reservations raised over certain paragraphs. Responding to a question about the status of access for non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the Spokeswoman said that there was a problem of logistics because the building could only hold 7,000 people. If the number got to 6,000 there would be efforts to limit the number of people entering. There had been a plan to issue secondary passes to NGOs, but following consultations with the South African Government, it had been agreed that they would not be necessary. She added in response to another question that the 6,000 figure had not yet been reached. Asked which five countries were absent from the Summit, Ms. Markham said they were Chad, Nauru, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marino and, Turkmenistan. Of course, there was still time for them to come, she added. Mr. Flanders, asked why the media were not allowed into the Vienna process negotiations, replied that when delegates were meeting in closed session, no media, including members of the United Nations Department of Public Information, were allowed. It was normal established practice. Asked whether the United Nations had been aware of the capacity problem with the Convention Centre, Ms. Markham said it had been discussed with the host Government. The final decision had depended on the building's configuration and the Johannesburg Fire Department had not provided the final figures until very recently. Regarding the final decision on participation by major groups, she told the same correspondent that the participation of civil society had been encouraged throughout the preparatory process, which had been very open and transparent. But although there had been increased interest in the Summit, there was a problem of capacity. Fortunately, participants could witness the proceedings from other venues. However, nobody would be denied access unless the building capacity was reached and the organizers would be as flexible as possible, Ms. Markham added. Introducing Mr. Schei, she said that yesterday's plenary session on biodiversity and ecosystems had heard that the value of biodiversity to the world was estimated to be in the range of $3 trillion a year, while the overall benefits derived from ecosystems amounted to more than $33 trillion. Yet, it had also heard that immediate government action was needed to protect those natural resources, otherwise their ability to provide those benefits would continue to erode. She said governments were expected to make significant announcements during the Summit on partnerships for biodiversity and ecosystem management. So far, the United Nations had received submissions from 17 partnerships, between governments, NGOs and international organizations with almost $100 million in resources, to support actions throughout Africa, Asia and the Pacific, as well as Latin America and the Caribbean. Briefing on biodiversity and better ecosystem management, Mr. Schei said it was important that the draft declaration and implementation programme contain the strongest recommendations possible. It would also be good for the Summit to endorse the WEHAB initiative with its emphasis on the five key issues of water and sanitation; energy; health; agriculture and biodiversity. He said that while some progress had been made in the last 10 to 20 years, recommendations on biodiversity largely remained on paper with little implementation. It was, therefore, necessary to focus on actions. Underscoring the need to integrate biodiversity into economic systems, Mr. Schei said it was ridiculous that only $2.9 billion was set aside for biodiversity in the Global Environment Facility (GEF) while $350 billion was spent on agricultural subsidies every year. Equity and sharing of benefits internationally and locally was absolutely essential. Unless local people benefited, they would have no incentive to protect biodiversity. Asked if the valuation of the different elements of biodiversity had been completed, he said the millennium assessment had not yet been completed. It was not certain that the assessment would come up with a value similar to the $3 trillion estimated by other sources. However, the good news was the $100 million in resources that had been pledged, he emphasized. Press Conferences Summit News