Negotiators at the Earth Summit in Johannesburg early on Wednesday adopted a lengthy action plan to alleviate poverty and protect the environment, clearing the way for its presentation to world leaders later in the day.
The last-minute adoption, which came shortly after 1:00 am (2300 GMT on Tuesday), capped haggling which began even before the 10-day summit opened on August 26 but which produced a string of compromises that environmentalists said had gutted the document.
The last major sticking point was over the inclusion of a reference to human rights in a clause on health which mentioned “cultural and religious values”.
Canada and the European Union, along with Switzerland, Australia and New Zealand, had demanded inclusion of the human rights reference to ensure women’s right to contraception and abortions.
It was opposed by the United States and the Vatican.
The committee finally accepted a neutral text proposed by South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
Representatives of 189 countries — around 100 of them heads of state or government — were expected to adopt the Plan of Implementation when they met on Wednesday, the last day of the summit.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell arrived on Tuesday evening to represent President George Bush.
Powell is expected to have several one-on-one meetings on the sidelines, notably to discuss Washington’s aim of toppling Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
Bush’s decision to snub the summit infuriated the environmentalists here, who saw it as an indication of US disdain for the environment and the opinion of the rest of the world.
Powell told journalists during the flight that the United States had “a very, very good record” on sustainable development, the theme of the summit.
“We’re always trying to find ways to do more,” he said, “but I think we’ve done a lot.
“Sustainable development is not just aid … it is training, it is opening up economies, it is good governance, it is the rule of law, it is ending corruption. All of these things have to be taken into account.
“I will also be making the point to the summit participants, but they have to bear in mind that 80% of the resources that are available to help developing nations are in the private sector, not in the government sector. That reinforces the importance of partnerships.”
A pact to reduce the warming of the Earth’s atmosphere moved forward on Tuesday as Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov announced Moscow’s intention to ratify the Kyoto Protocol “in the very near future”.
It is designed to reduce the emission of “greenhouse gases” which prevent heat from radiating out into space, causing temperatures to rise worldwide, with resultant droughts and the melting of the ice caps, causing the sea level to rise.
Ratification by Russia will ensure it takes effect, despite US opposition to it.
“The Johannesburg World Summit will go down in history as a missed opportunity to deliver energy to the two billion people on this planet with no access to energy services, and as a failure to kickstart the renewable energy revolution that is required to protect the climate,” said a statement issued by WWF, Oxfam and Greenpeace.
“Nothing for the poor, nothing for the climate.”
French President Jacques Chirac said that despite limited results, he believed the summit was “a step in the right direction”.
“The texts have a limited range, perhaps,” he said at a press conference, “but they undoubtedly demonstrate an awareness, and an advance.”
The plan covers action for providing fresh water, sewerage and electricity for the very poor and slowing the planet’s loss of biodiversity and depletion of fisheries and forests.
But only a few of these goals have a deadline attached to them, and details about how they will be achieved — the funds, skills and transfer of technology — are sketchy.
A coalition comprising the United States and oil-producing countries shot down the European Union’s demands for a timetable to give renewable sources a bigger share of the global energy market.
Representatives of big business said they recognised the need for corporate accountability but regarded national, not global, reporting as the way forward.
“The best form of rules for reporting is at a national level,” said Richard Holme, deputy chairman of international Business Action for Sustainable Development (BASD). – Sapa-AFP For more on the summit visit the Mail&Guardian Online Jo’burg World Summit Special Report