In 2002, South Africa successfully hosted the World Summit on Sustainable Development, enabling the world to negotiate a plan and set targets to shift global growth onto a sustainable path. Last year, South Africa commemorated the first anniversary of the World Summit with a media campaign and stakeholder roundtable discussion. This year, the second anniversary will be marked by a more memorable suite of high-level events, to take place between 1 to 4 September at the Sandton International Convention Centre, Johannesburg.
The objectives of the anniversary are
- To maintain the legacy of the Johannesburg Summit
- To draw the attention of the international community to South Africa’s custodianship of WSSD outcomes
- To raise overall awareness about sustainable development
- To showcase South African sustainable development best practice
- To mobilise stakeholders and partners behind a common vision for sustainable development
- To engage in dialogue about the challenges for sustainable development in South Africa
National Sustainable Development Conference
The conference plenary on 1 September will set the tone for several thematic roundtables, in which representatives from government, civil society, the UN, business, academics and the media will participate. The conference’s discussions will be informed by the programme of work of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development.
Conference themes
- Water and sanitation
- Human settlements
- Energy, climate change, air pollution and industrial development
- Agriculture and food security
- Means of implementation (governance, finance, trade, corporate responsibility, etc)
- Technology
Key presentations
- Government’s Vision 2014 for South Africa
- Sustainable development and poverty eradication in South and southern Africa
- The Millennium Development Goals and Sustainable Development in Africa
- The international climate and the challenges on implementation
Roundtables
These thematic platforms for exploration and dialogue will focus on some of the key policy and implementation challenges facing government, business, labour and civil society in balancing, integrating and trading-off the three essential pillars of sustainable development.
The roundtables will seek answers based on a common framework of questions:
- What is the international sustainable development framework and targets for each theme?
- What is the relevant national policy framework? To what extent does the policy framework support sustainable development in meeting specific targets?
- What actions are being taken to implement the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation and the Millenium Development Goals?
- What are the key challenges and constraints to sectoral implementation?
The roundtables will facilitate discussion on the economic, social and environmental elements of each theme. Topical issues will be used to ground discussion and to tease out the policy trade-offs that need to be made.
The Business Growth and Opportunities for Africa Forum
The Forum will feature several events, among others, a Business Growth and Opportunities for Africa Exhibition, a Best Practices in Sustainable Development Exhibition, workshops on Doing Business in Africa, and an Art of Networking evening.
Inspired by the Ubuntu Village during the WSSD, the 2004 exhibition is projected to attract some 150 exhibitors and 5 000 visitors over the four days.
Target exhibitors are:
- African and international companies seeking investment, trade and private or public sector partnerships and opportunities, with particular emphasis on development within Africa
- African and international companies involved in initiatives aligned with sustainable development and the NEPAD objectives and priorities, which offer goods, services, products, business solutions and technology
- General business and organisations seeking trade and investment opportunities
- Development agencies and non-government organisations
- African and international government departments
- World bodies, local and international associations and organisations
BGOA 2003 and its satellite events were a resounding success, and attracted 11 500 visitors and 93 exhibitors. The investment arm of the Department of Trade and Industry, Trade and Investment South Africa (TISA), sponsored and hosted 43 buyers and 25 sellers from the African continent.
Learning Centre
This one-day platform for public lectures and interactive discussion will focus on issues related to teaching and research. Topics include: the global platform, the UN and national sustainable policies; the experience of national sustainable development and poverty reduction strategies; corporate social responsibility, triple bottom line and sustainability reporting, with case studies from specific sectors (banking, mining, auditing).
A platform will also be created for institutions to outline their programmes in sustainable development studies. Several institutions have been invited to offer instruction.
- The Institute of Social and Ethical Accountability, London
- The Johannesburg Securities Exchange
- The Institute of Directors
- The African Institute of Corporate Citizenship
- UNISA
- The Royal Institute of International Affairs
Media capacitation workshop
This workshop will analyse media coverage and journalistic trends around sustainable development issues at national and international levels. It will also be an opportunity for journalists to gain a sense about key sustainable development issues and to gather media material about newsworthy events forthcoming over the next six months.
Topics include:
- South African media after the WSSD — has it been news as usual?
- Readership demands about media coverage of sustainable development
- Media as an instrument in sustainable development, including its power to shape attitudes in environmental education and sustainable production and consumption
Participating institutions include:
- Wits Media School
- Institute for the Advancement of Journalism
- Government’s communications and information systems
- South African National Editors Forum
- National Community Radio Forum
For more information about exhibiting or participating in any of these events, contact:
Jay Singh
Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism:
Tel: (012) 310-3676 or 082 654-4699
[email protected]