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Johannesburg Summit an Uphill Climb for Latin America |
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By Diego Cevallos*
The attitude in the region in the run-up to the World Summit on Sustainable Development ranges from moderate hope to deep skepticism, but there is unanimous desire to prevent the Johannesburg meet from becoming "Rio minus 10".
MEXICO CITY - Latin America and the Caribbean will reach the World Summit on Sustainable Development, also known as Rio+10, later this month with serious environment and development problems, and after having spent enormous resources in drawing up general proposals.
The world's most profound social inequalities are found in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).
Forty percent of the Latin American population is poor, and per capita income grew only one percent in the last three decades, says the Global Environment Outlook (GEO 3), a report UNEP released earlier this month in Mexico.
Latin America and the Caribbean could be the most environmentally damaged region on the plant in 30 years if urgent measures are not taken, warns the UN agency.
There are more than 300 million hectares of degraded land, and since 1972 some 190 million hectares of forest have disappeared, the equivalent of nearly half the world's total deforestation in that period.
While Latin America is rich in freshwater, just 40 percent of the population has access to 10 percent of those resources, and of its 178 eco-regions, 31 are in critical state, 51 in danger and 55 are vulnerable.
This is the reality that the region's countries will take to the major UN-sponsored conference aimed at revitalizing and deepening the commitments made at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.
The Latin American proposal is to advance towards a "new equitable, inclusive and sustainable globalization," -- a commendable aim, but difficult to achieve, particularly for the region.
The same is true of the only quantifiable initiative Latin America is taking to the Johannesburg Summit: the aim to achieve 10 percent clean energy sources -- such as solar and wind power -- consumed worldwide within a decade. Today, such energy sources do not represent even one percent of the region's energy consumption.
The nearly 100 heads of state slated to attend the Rio+10 Summit Aug 26-Sep 4, just 10 will be from Latin America and the Caribbean: Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Guyana, Haiti, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela.
Dozens of meetings and seminars involving representatives from government, parliaments, business and the environmental movement took place in this region of 46 nations in preparation for the global conference.
But in spite of the effort and initial enthusiasm about possible outcomes of the summit, Latin America will have limited influence, say observers.
"The negotiating power of the region's countries is nothing to scoff at, but one must recognize the situation of the world today," which is run by a group of industrialized countries according to their priorities, Ricardo Sánchez, UNEP regional director, said in a conversation with Tierramérica.
According to Sánchez, Latin America should not expect "magical" solutions from the summit, but should see some progress and ensure "that it does not reverse towards a Rio minus 10."
The Johannesburg meet will be a positive event because it will mark advances in negotiations towards the construction of a more just and equitable world, said the UNEP official.
But not everyone shares his optimism. Just days before the summit gets under way, there is no agreement on central matters like aid from the industrialized world for the developing South, the principle of shared by differentiated responsibilities and the dismantling of agricultural subsidies in wealthy nations.
Furthermore, the hopes for a plan of action with quantifiable targets and precise deadlines could be dashed. For now, it remains "bracketed", meaning there is still dispute on the matter, in the draft of the summit's final text.
Expectations "should be moderate in order to avoid disappointment," recommends the director of environmental affairs at Argentina's Foreign Ministry, Raúl Oyuela.
Latin America will play an important role as a result of the leadership that some of the region's governments have taken in the negotiations, Estrada Oyuela told Tierramérica.
For example, Venezuela currently presides over the Group of 77 (G77) developing countries and China, and Brazil hosted the previous world conference on environment and development, the 1992 Earth Summit, he pointed out.
A very different view was heard from Ricardo Navarro, president of Friends of the Earth, a federation of environmental groups in 70 countries.
"We are seeing a process that is largely dominated by transnational groups," one in which "the United States is able to twist the arm of any developing country," Navarro told Tierramérica.
For another environmental watchdog, Greenpeace International, the Johannesburg Summit seems to be on a path towards resounding failure.
Brazilian diplomats, meanwhile, maintain optimism about the result of the meet, says Everton Vargas, head of the special affairs department at Brazil's Foreign Ministry.
The plan of action is more than 70 percent agreed upon, although the most polemical issues remain open - but that is normal for this type of conference, the official said in a conversation with Tierramérica.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the group of governments known as "Friends of the Chair" are working non-stop, and will continue to do so, in an effort to resolve remaining differences.
In the group, whose Latin American representatives include delegates from Argentina, Brazil, Haiti, Mexico and Venezuela, it is widely recognized that the objective will be difficult to achieve.
"There are many problems in the current panorama," said Fabio Feldmann, special adviser for the World Summit on Sustainable Development of Brazil's President Fernando Henrique Cardoso.
An estimated 65,000 people will attend the Johannesburg conference, among them government and civil society delegates, 10,000 more than took part in the 1992 summit in Rio de Janeiro. However, the number of participating heads of state will not match the standard set by the Brazilian conference a decade ago, which drew more than 130.
"The official conference will have major limitations, which is why the environmentalists will seek mainly to strengthen networks and alliances aimed at changing the current development model," said Rubens Born, spokesman for Vitae Civilis, a Brazilian institute for development, environment and peace.
* Diego Cevallos is an IPS correspondent. Mario Osava/Brazil, Marcela Valente/Argentina and Néfer Muñoz/Costa Rica contributed to this report.
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