Earth Summit 2002 - Greenpeace

A global war is raging against the planet, where nature and people are the victims.

The average world temperature is rising, climate chaos is increasing, glaciers are retreating, forest and ocean wildlife are disappearing, and industrial chemicals are penetrating the food chain and the remotest regions of the world.

All this is happening while governments pay lip service to environmental protection, while supporting economic growth - at least for the rich countries - above all else. The gap between rich and poor continues to increase in both developing and industrialised countries, and there are billions without access to the basics required to improve their lives. While people in industrialised countries buy more, and multinationals grow richer, natural environments - particularly those in developing nations - degrade rapidly.

It is governments that set the rules, which even the most powerful multinationals must obey, so it is governments that could bring this war on the environment to an end… if they wanted to.

This year the United Nations (UN) will host the World Summit on Sustainable Development or the Earth Summit 2002 in Johannesburg, South Africa, from August 26 to September 4.

The summit marks the 10th anniversary of the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992, where world heads of state adopted an action plan for global sustainable development known as Agenda 21.

Most of this plan still needs to be implemented and is a classic example of how government leaders make promises and then fail to keep them.

The road to Johannesburg from Rio is knee deep in shattered promises - aspirations and business as usual, which results in ruin as usual.

According to the UN, the summit will unite about 65,000 participants, including heads of state and governments, national delegates and leaders from Non-Government Organisations, businesses and other major groups. They will focus global attention on improving the environment and people's lives through sustainable economic development, in a world that is increasing in population and in demands for food, water, shelter, sanitation, energy, health services and economic security.

However, the reality is quite different. If left to their own devices, the governments of industrialised countries will agree a plan, rife with compromise, but with few or no commitments to change 'business-as-usual' . Greenpeace is working hard to ensure the plan provides more action and fewer empty promises.

For example, Greenpeace is working with other organisations to get commitment to bring renewable energy to two billion of the world's poor who lack access to electricity and in so doing, to launch a renewables revolution to save the climate.