World Summit on Sustainable Development news
60,000 people are meeting at a UN in Jo’burg, South Africa now, trying to determine how to manage the resources of the the planet. The nongovernmental organizations (NGO’s) are at odds with corporate/governmental entities on the wisdom of letting the ‘invisible hand of capitalism’ gives us the finger, er no, provide a wondrous new world of prosperity through privatization of public entities and corporatization.
Mbeki Slams North-South Wealth Divide
South African president Thabo Mbeki identified the growth of the wealth and prosperity gap between North and South was one of the key aspects that needed to be addressed at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD). The WSSD, aimed at helping to solve the world’s poverty and ecological problems, was officially kicked off by Mbeki in Johannesburg this morning (26 August).
Mbeki said world powers had failed to implement resolutions of the Johannesburg summit’s predecessor, the 1992 Rio Earth Summit whose Agenda 21 set out to integrate social and economic development with enviromental protection. “The tragic result of this is the unavoidable increase in human misery and ecological degradation, including the growth of the gap beween North and South,” Mbeki told a packed auditorium at the start of Johannesburg’s first plenary session.
Summit agrees deal to save fish
First major breakthrough in Johannesburg involves plan to restore heavily depleted stocks by 2015 A plan to restore the world’s heavily depleted fish stocks by 2015 was agreed by 189 nations at the earth summit yesterday, the first major breakthrough in the negotiations.
With 60% of stocks “being fished to destruction” the rescue package involves creating a series of protected marine areas around the world by 2012 and restricting fishing until stocks recover in many other parts of the oceans. The protected areas would be used as nurseries for species of fish such as cod, herring and tuna.
One often gets the impression that the US doesn’t like playing with the other children.
Anti-globs vs. capitalists, a handy check list