South Africa on Tuesday asked delegations from the 189 UN member states expected at next month’s Earth Summit in Johannesburg to arrive two days early to hammer out a deal on sustainable development.
The government called on delegates to arrive on August 24 “to expedite the negotiations”, according to a statement released by the United Nations.
The UN World Summit on Sustainable Development, or Earth Summit, is due to be held in Johannesburg from August 26 to September 4.
The conference, a follow-up to the first Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, aims at coordinating economic growth plans and environmental protection in order to guard against global depletion of natural resources.
About 65 000 people representing governments, activist movements and non-governmental organisations are expected to attend the summit, with the United Nations saying 58 heads of state and 40 heads of government had expressed interest.
French President Jacques Chirac, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder have all announced plans to travel to Johannesburg, while US President George Bush’s attendance is in doubt.
The United States and European countries are still divided over the need to set fixed objectives to reduce world poverty, although they have agreed to jointly block developing countries’ demands for an end to farm subsidies in rich Western nations and for the creation of more aid packages.
UN officials said that at a preparatory meeting held in New York two weeks ago delegates from 27 selected nations bridged gaps on several issues, prompting calls for additional pre-summit talks in Johannesburg. – AFP