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Hosts of Earth Summits Past and Future Launch Campaign to Make Johannesburg a Success: South Africa to Take the Torch to Canada to Seek G-8 Support
Rio de Janeiro, 25 June: Greenpeace and WWF today called upon the leaders
of South Africa, Sweden and Brazil to live up to the promises they made yesterday at a public
meeting with civil society hosted by Brazil. In that meeting they pledged to lead the campaign
necessary to make the Johannesburg
Earth Summit the success that the world's poor and the global environment deserves and desperately needs.
The next step in the campaign is when President Mbeki of South Africa travels to Canada today
to deliver the message from Rio to the G-8 Summit outside Calgary, Alberta, that rich countries, especially the
USA, Canada and Japan, must also fully engage in global efforts to build upon the legacy of Rio (1992) and
Stockholm (1972) and deliver concrete action plans for poverty alleviation, environmental protection and
sustainable economic development. The Brazilian Energy Initiative, which calls for a global target of 10%
of global energy supply from new renewable energy sources by 2010 is exactly the kind of result that we
need from Johannesburg.
"We've been searching for champions for this process, and now we've found them," said
Steve Sawyer of Greenpeace. "With only 62 days until the start of the Johannesburg Summit, it's going to
be an uphill struggle, but we believe that President Mbeki, with strong support from President Cardoso and
Prime Minister Persson, are up to the task. We'll be anxiously awaiting the results of the G-8 Summit in
Canada, and hope that President Mbeki succeeds in bringing the G-8 members into the process in a serious way."
After more than a year of slow and frustrating negotiations in preparation for the World Summit
on Sustainable Development, South African President Thabo Mbeki, Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso,
and Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson pledged their full political support to rescue the legacy of the 1972
Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment and the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro; and ensure that the
Johannesburg Summit secures concrete government commitments for poverty alleviation and environmental protection.
The clear message from the three leaders, echoed by UK Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, was that 'the world
cannot afford failure in Johannesburg', and that they would do everything in their power to ensure that it is
a success.
"The Brazilian Renewable Energy Initiative is exactly the kind of political signal that governments
must send from Johannesburg," said Jennifer Morgan of WWF. "It will also send a clear signal to markets that
governments are serious about combating climate change, and bringing basic energy services to the two billion
people who do not have access. We are calling on South Africa to join Brazil and Sweden to lead this charge
and secure agreement on the initiative in Johannesburg."
For further information contact:
Jennifer Morgan, WWF - +1-202-359-2734
Steve Sawyer, Greenpeace - +55-11-91697954
NOTE: WWF, Greenpeace and a number of other NGOs presented a letter to the leaders yesterday with detailed suggestions for Summit actions.
See: http://archive.greenpeace.org/earthsummit/docs/rioletter.pdf
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