JOHANNESBURG SUMMIT JOHANNESBURG, Sept 4 (Hina) - European Commission President Romano Prodi and US Secretary of State Collin Powell met on Wednesday on the margins of the UN Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg,
welcoming the summit's results and expressing support for the implementation of its conclusions.
JOHANNESBURG, Sept 4 (Hina) - European Commission President Romano
Prodi and US Secretary of State Collin Powell met on Wednesday on
the margins of the UN Summit on Sustainable Development in
Johannesburg, welcoming the summit's results and expressing
support for the implementation of its conclusions. #L#
A statement released by the EU delegation said that the two
officials welcomed the results of the summit and agreed that the
Johannesburg Action Plan should be implemented in full and without
delay.
The Action Plan envisages the implementation of the concept of
sustainable development from Agenda 21 (Rio 1992), which
integrates economic growth and social development and
environmental protection.
The Plan also includes some new goals, such as the provision of
water and sewerage systems for a billion people in undeveloped
countries, the increase of the share of renewable energy sources in
the total energy produced, the preservation of bio-diversity,
overfishing control, and the fight against AIDS.
The plan has encountered criticism by environmental protection
activists due to a set of generalised and non-binding formulations
which the US delegation insisted on.
Due to dissatisfaction with the conduct of US officials at the
summit, the speech by US Secretary of State Collin Powell was booed
and Greenpeace activists burst into the conference hall carrying
banners.
Powell announced in his speech an increase of US assistance to
undeveloped countries from 10 to 15 billion dollars over the next
three years.
EC President Prodi expressed concern about the growing differences
between the North and the South, stressing that the old approach
"trade, not assistance" should be replaced with a new one, "trade
and assistance".
Also discussed at the summit was the situation in the Middle East
and Iraq. The participants expressed concern about the stalemate in
the peace process and stressed the importance of international
cooperation.
Prodi and Powell agreed that Iraq had to comply with relevant UN
resolutions and provide for unobstructed activity of arms
inspectors, reads the statement.
As regards the International Court of Justice, whose jurisdiction
is challenged by the United States, both sides stressed the need to
continue joint efforts towards finding solutions to US concerns but
without undermining the principles and goals of the Court.
(hina) rml sb