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

DAILY BRIEFING BY SUMMIT SPOKESWOMAN   The World Summit opened this morning with Thabo Mbeki, President of South Africa, being elected by acclamation as President of the Summit. Both he and the other speakers at the opening likened the struggle for sustainable development and global equality to South Africa's struggle against apartheid, Susan Markham, Spokeswoman for the Summit, said at today's noon press briefing. She quoted President Mbeki as saying that a global human society based on poverty for many and prosperity for a few, characterized by islands of wealth surrounded by a sea of poverty, was unsustainable. Ms. Markham introduced Nitin Desai, Secretary-General of the Summit and United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, who also spoke at the opening and explained that he would speak for himself later in the briefing. The third speaker at the opening was Klaus Toepfer, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Spokeswoman added. She said the morning plenary had elected 20 out of 25 vice-presidents. All the regional groups had put forward five candidates. They had all been elected by acclamation with the exception of the Asian Group candidates, who would be elected later. South Africa's Minister for Foreign Affairs had been elected ex-officio, she added. The plenary had gone on to elect Emil Salim (Indonesia) as Chairman of the Main Committee, the Spokeswoman said. That body would be responsible for drafting the Summit's implementation document and political declaration. Mr. Salim had been the Chairman of the preparatory process. Ms. Markham said negotiations over the weekend had been very constructive and aimed at narrowing the remaining differences. Two contact groups had been established, the first chaired by John Ashe (Antigua and Barbuda) and dealing with trade, finance and globalization. The second, chaired by Koen Davidse (Netherlands), dealt with good governance. She said that during the negotiations so far, some brackets in the outcome document had been removed and some of those related to the Global Environment Facility (GEF). Just before coming to Johannesburg, an agreement had been announced to replenish the Facility, the largest replenishment since its establishment following the 1992 Rio Summit. That was for $2.9 billion over four years. It had also been agreed to expand the facility to finance the fight against desertification, which was of particular importance for Africa. That was a positive beginning to the Summit, as it indicated that countries were serious about putting resources behind efforts to promote the plan to be adopted by the Summit, the Spokeswoman added. Ms. Markham said that the first partnership plenary, on health issues, had heard a presentation by David Nabarro of the World Health Organization (WHO) on current challenges and opportunities. That was followed by a round table interactive discussion with United Nations officials, representatives of major groups and other experts. Turning to attendance at the Summit, she said 12,625 passes had been issued so far. They included 5,730 for delegations, 4,335 for major groups, 2,560 for media, 500 for United Nations staff and about 400 for local staff. Additional passes made available to service people requiring access to the Summit venue, brought the total to approximately 20,000 as of this morning. Ms. Markham said that a 30-minute video of last night's opening ceremony was available from the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) and that free photos of the Summit were available and could be downloaded from the United Nations Web site at www.un.org/events/wssd/photos. Asked how many people had attended today's opening plenary, how many of those were Ministers and how many heads of State were expected, she said the hall had been full, with all delegation and gallery seats taken. There had been about 1,500 people present and probably more, including those standing. She added that the attendance of 104 heads of State and government had been confirmed as of today. Mr. Desai, responding to another question, said the World Summit would not solve all the world's problems by 5 September, but was seeking specific commitments on key issues like water and sanitation; certain aspects of energy, including efficiency and renewable sources; land and agriculture; as well as biodiversity and ecosystems. "I expect to see specific initiatives launched. We have to come out with credible commitments for action," he added. In response to another question, he said the Rio principles referred in part to common but differentiated responsibilities. That had started at Rio during discussions on the Convention on Climate Change, where it was recognized as a common problem that affected everyone. But the responsibility for addressing that problem should reflect the varying capacities of countries to solve it. The issue now was how that principle should be reflected in the Johannesburg outcome document. Mr. Desai, asked what was the problem on good governance, replied that there were no differences among countries about the need for good governance. The differences were more in terms of linkages between areas of agreement and how that would be calibrated. Asked why information and communications technologies (ICT) was not on the Summit agenda, he replied that he had mentioned that subject as one of the major changes that must be taken on board in discussing sustainable development. ICT would be discussed in several panels and in programmatic areas. Responding to a question about the Asian brown cloud, Mr. Desai said it was the opposite of global warming. Essentially arising from the specific type of energy use in the region, the cloud prevented the sun from reaching the ground. An emphasis on sustainable energy in the Summit's discussions would make a huge contribution to such problems, he added. Meeting Summaries Summit News