JOHANNESBURG, Sep 3 (Hina) - The UN World Summit on sustainable development in Johannesburg represents a step forward in relation to other gatherings of this kind because it has resulted in some concrete initiatives and obligations to
assist under-developed countries and preserve the environment as well as mechanisms to implement these, Croatian President Stjepan Mesic said on Tuesday on the eve of the completion of the gathering and the adoption of a final document which resulted at the last moment after painstaking negotiations.
JOHANNESBURG, Sep 3 (Hina) - The UN World Summit on sustainable
development in Johannesburg represents a step forward in relation
to other gatherings of this kind because it has resulted in some
concrete initiatives and obligations to assist under-developed
countries and preserve the environment as well as mechanisms to
implement these, Croatian President Stjepan Mesic said on Tuesday
on the eve of the completion of the gathering and the adoption of a
final document which resulted at the last moment after painstaking
negotiations. #L#
Negotiations on the final documents of the gathering were
successfully completed on Tuesday afternoon and the secretary-
general of the summit, Nitin Desai, estimated that the gathering
had achieved its main objectives - to once again reinstate the
question of sustainable development on the world agenda and to
create a feeling of the urgency when referring to questions of
protecting the Planet.
The Johannesburg summit is different to those to date because it
dealt with concrete matters and many developed countries came out
with concrete figures of current and future contributions to under-
developed countries, Mesic said during a press conference with the
Croatian press.
The summit is exceptionally significant to the entire world because
here in Johannesburg is where decisions are being made about the
future and not only for this century but for future generations,
Croatia's President said.
"The summit is significant for Croatia too because as a transition
country, we wish to achieve European standards which means to
advance but also to protect our environment and resources," Mesic
stressed.
Asked about Croatia's ratification of the Kyoto Protocol which was
urgently called by European Union leaders and its member countries
in Johannesburg as well as other statesmen, President Mesic
responded that Croatia supported the ratification of the Kyoto
agreement in principle, however, its starting point to measure the
glass house affect does not respond to the situation in 1990 and
seeks new measures of gasses in the entire region.
Explaining that Croatian factories could be closed down and as such
Croatia could not approve, Mesic expressed hope that Croatia's
proposal for new calculations of gas level would be adopted.
Croatia's President on Tuesday participated in an mini-summit of
countries in the Danube-Carpathian region which discussed the use
of the Danube river by all Danubian countries as well as countries
which gravitate to that grand European river.
The Croatian delegation utilised the summit for several
multilateral and bilateral meetings.
In the past two days, President Mesic met the presidents and premier
of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Rumania, Indonesia, Yugoslavia, Poland,
Finland, Montenegro. On Wednesday, the last day of the summit,
Mesic is expected to hold meetings with the Israeli Foreign
Minister Shimon Peres and Albanian Premier Fatos Nano.
(hina) sp it sb