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UN United Nations |
Efforts
to promote sustainable development received a major boost as the World Summit
on Sustainable Development concluded in Johannesburg on September 4 with significant
commitments to improve the lives of people living in poverty and to reverse
the continuing degradation of the global environment. The 104 Heads of State
and Government that took part in the Summit were joined by more than 21,000
people, including 9,101 delegates, 8,227 NGOs and 4,012 members of the press.
The major outcome document, the Plan of Implementation, contains targets and timetables to spur action on a wide range of issues, including halving the proportion of people who lack access to clean water or proper sanitation by 2015, to restoring depleted fisheries to the preserving biodiversity by 2015, and phasing out of toxic chemicals by 2005. In addition, for the first time countries adopted commitments toward increasing the use of renewable energy "with a sense of urgency." The Summit has also generated concrete partnership initiatives by and between governments, citizen groups and businesses. As a result of the Summit, governments agreed on a series of commitments in five priority areas that were backed up by specific government announcements on programmes, and by partnership initiatives. More than 220 partnerships, representing $235 million in resources, were identified during the Summit process to complement the government commitments, and many more were announced outside of the formal Summit proceedings. "The Summit represents a major leap forward in the development of partnerships," UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said, "with the UN, Governments, business and civil society coming together to increase the pool of resources to tackle global problems on a global scale".
The true test of what the Johannesburg Summit achieves, Mr. Annan said, are the actions that are taken afterward. "We have to go out and take action. Johannesburg is not the end. It’s the beginning".
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UNIC UN Information Center |
Early
in the current year the UN Information Centre in Moscow has put together an
advocacy programme for the World Summit for Sustainable Development (WSSD) in
Johannesburg.
Then, in mid-spring, after Monterrey, we started working on a couple of bigger events that were to mobilize support for the Summit among the Russian audience and its key stakeholders. This time we decided to concentrate on business leaders and the media.
The conference entitled "WSSD and Business: New Corporate Philosophy, Changing Patterns of Industrial Growth," was the result of our three-month effort. It took us quite a while to toil over the concept of the event and to find a reliable partner before we could get a respected Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation on board. By that time, the UN Information Centre was joined by the UN Resident Coordinator in Russia and, in fact, our initiative turned out to be a UN system-wide event in Moscow. The gathering was held on 27 June at the conference hall of the prestigious President Hotel.
I must say very clearly that this meeting would not have been possible without the invaluable support from UN Headquarters, especially from the Department of Public Information, and the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, which sent the participants a message on behalf of the Secretary-General of the Johannesburg Summit, Under-Secretary-General Mr. Nitin Desai, and dispatched his personal representative, Mr. Jerry Morvell, to Moscow. Both addresses were warmly received by the participants. The physical presence of Mr. Morvell and his contacts with the participants greatly contributed to the intensity of debate, as it did to the coverage of the Conference, for he gave several interviews to the local media, including Vremya MN, one of the major dailies.
Altogether, there were over 60 participants representing business, academic circles, the government, NGOs and international organizations. The introductory remarks were made by the UN Resident Coordinator in Russia Mr. Frederick Lyons, then reports were presented by Mr. Julian Schweitzer, World Bank Resident Representative and Country Director for Russia, Mikhail Zalikhanov, Chairman of the Russian State Duma (Parliament) Committee on Sustainable Development, Victor Danilov-Danilyan, member of the Secretary-General’s Panel on WSSD, Mr. Sergei Kapitsa, President of the Nikitsky Club, a prestigious Russian think tank, and others, including a top official from the European Union Delegation to Russia and the head of the WWF Russian branch. Ambassador Mochubela Sese Seku of South Africa, the host country for WSSD, also took part in the discussion.
Taking the floor after the pre-prepared statements, the delegates raised, mainly in a professional and relevant manner, a lot of highly topical issues, thus providing the background for a lively and mutually enriching debate. The representatives of such big Russian companies as RusAl, Gazprom, NorNikel and many others listened attentively to this discussion – that day they clearly preferred to listen, rather than to publicly speak.
The repercussions of this conference, in the opinion of many participants, will be felt for some time among the local private sector and experts community. From my contacts with a bunch of partners I’ve got an impression that the core message we tried to get across – business can’t help choosing a course of profitable growth that rewards shareholders, serves the society and protects the environment – is going to be perceived by the business community not as a slogan, but as an element of strategic management.
Alexandre Gorelik,
Director of the UN
Information Centre
