World Summit on Sustainable Development: briefing

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The aim of this report is to summarise the main events at the meeting and identify the key role players. This report is not a verbatim transcript of proceedings.Â

Foreign Affairs Portfolio committee
7 November 2001
WORLD SUMMIT ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: BRIEFING

Chairperson:Â Mr E Ebrahim

Documents handed out:
Department Presentation on World Summit on Sustainable Development (Department of Foreign Affairs)

SUMMARY
The Committee was briefed on the World Summit on Sustainable Development by the Department. Mr B. Sangqu from the Department gave them background on the Summit, discussed the main themes and issues it would address, and briefed them on South Africa's role as host.Â

MINUTES
The Chairperson welcomed the Committee members and stated that the briefing they would hear on the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) was very important, though it had been postponed a number of times. He then welcomed the representatives from the Department and asked them to proceed.

Briefing on WSSD
Mr B. Sangqu, the National Substance Coordinator on the WSSD, presented for the Department. He said that they had planned early on to present to the Committee on South Africa's role in the Summit and what they would be able to achieve, but they had been unable to meet with the Committee until now. He first defined sustainable development as development meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Mr Sangqu then mentioned the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992 that established Agenda 21, a programme of action necessary to accomplish the goals of sustainable development. In Rio, it was decided that a review of progress would be necessary in ten years time. South Africa offered to host on this occasion, and the WSSD was the result. The Summit would not focus on the environment but on development. The three pillars of sustainable development, he explained, were economic development, social development, and environmental management, and all three of these issues would compose the overall focus.

Returning to the Earth Summit, Mr Sangqu told the Committee that the outcomes of Rio were the Rio Declaration, Agenda 21, and several international conventions. It also created the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) to regulate implementation. The five-year assessment in 1997 occurred in New York, and it reaffirmed the importance of the ten-year review process. The UN decision was that poverty and inequality would be part of the overarching themes. Since Rio, globalisation had intensified, sustainable development commitments had not been met, inequality and poverty had increased, and integration of international systems to achieve sustainable development had not yet occurred.Â

Mr Sangqu stated that the objectives of the WSSD were to identify measures for further implementation of Agenda 21, reinvigorate global commitment and consensus to sustainable development, address new issues emerging since Rio that impact sustainable development, and deliver a programme of action. The review of Agenda 21, he continued, would have to occur before the Summit so that the assessment could inform the agenda ahead of time. The global process for preparation would include an open-ended preparatory process in the tenth meeting of the CSD. The focus of the process would be a bottom-up approach working from the national to the sub-regional and regional levels in preparation. Three Global Prepcoms would occur, in January, March, and May 2002 respectively, in preparation, and the final one would be a ministerial meeting in Indonesia to create a document for presentation at the Summit.

He then discussed South Africa's approach to the WSSD. This country's approach stressed that the overall theme should be poverty eradication as an indispensable requirement for sustainable development. The New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) provided the framework for sustainable development considerations in Africa. It focused on integration of economic development, social development, and environmental management. Additionally, it would be necessary for all affected groups to be involved, including government, the business sector, and the non-profit and civil society sector. Economic development involved looking at trade, access to trade, access to finance, and transfer of technology. Social development included water, health, energy, and education issues. Environmental issues included considerations of oceans, atmosphere, biodiversity, land development, and climate change. Sustainable development would have to consist of a melting pot of all of these issues because they cross, link, and integrate. Mr Sangqu also told the Committee that the Summit would be steered towards making effective programmes rather than just talk. Additional issues included better access for developing countries to global markets and assisting them in becoming competitive. Debt relief programmes needed to be extended to more developing countries, and investment into developing economies needed to be increased. Many of these initiatives were already in place but were insufficient. Mr Sangqu also elaborated somewhat on the social development and environmental programmes, and he concluded that these issues had also been insufficiently addressed thus far.Â

Considering South Africa's organisation in preparation for the Summit, he stated that it began at the top with input from the President and Cabinet. Next, there was an Inter-Ministerial Committee headed by Minister V. Moosa, and this was followed by intergovernmental coordination between the Departments of Environmental Affairs and Tourism and Foreign Affairs. Below these groups came a Multi-stakeholder Advisory Committee, a National Substance Committee charged with developing South Africa's substance positions on various issues, a National Logistics Committee, and a Johannesburg World Summit Company to assess and develop necessary infrastructure for carrying out the Summit.Â

In the sub-regional and regional processes, South Africa had a leading role to play. NEPAD had been accepted as “a framework for sustainable development� in Africa, and a focus within Africa was that the process would have to be driven by member states. Also, the afore-mentioned three pillars of sustainable development were accepted within the region, and “People, Planet, Prosperity� was accepted as the WSSD slogan after “Poverty eradication as key to sustainable development� was accepted as a main theme. Regional representatives also agreed on the importance of involvement of the private sector and global partnerships between various stakeholders. Mr Sangqu also told the Committee that South Africa, in negotiation with other countries of the region, assisted in bringing the previously mentioned issues to the fore.

Mr Sangqu then discussed South Africa's actual position at the Summit. He said that they could not take for granted their influence simply because they were hosting the Summit. In consideration of the issues, they were, after all, only a member state, so they must look into lobbying, forming strong national positions, and identifying strategic partners. As a state, they needed to be able to respond to the constant realignment of forces in the global process. Additionally, however, they had duties as the host. South Africa had to monitor the issues emerging and the formation of blocs in preparation for the Summit. They had a role of leadership and were charged with delivering a successful event. Because it was the first Summit of this size to be held in Africa, South Africa had to prove that they had the capacity to complete the task successfully. As an international undertaking, much of the responsibility would fall on the Department of Foreign Affairs. Mr Sangqu also mentioned that South Africa's position would have to be articulated within the context of developing countries, and the WSSD would largely be held in the context of a North-South structural dialogue. The Department would have to locate sustainable development and the targets of the Summit within these contexts. The Department would also have to develop South Africa's strategy for lobbying and advise on cross-cutting themes such as peace and security, governance, and globalisation, and their relation to the main issue. Within the Department, the WSSD Substance Unit had been created to handle many of these duties. He also explained that, because of the nature of the issue, the Department of Foreign Affairs would be looking into working more closely with the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, and presentations of this nature might, in the future, be joint efforts. He thanked the Committee, and the Chairperson opened the floor for questions.

Discussion
Ms F. Hajaij (ANC) asked how Africa intended to form a strategy that would assist smaller developing nations with access to global markets. She also enquired about a strategy that would ensure countries would abide by international regulations on mineral trade.

Another member commented that there was no reference in this conference to the preconditions necessary for sustainable development. He believed that certain preconditions such as peace and stability and democracy and good governance should be highlighted. He also stated that some consideration should be made of developing countries in Africa taking charge of their own futures.

Ms F. Mahomed (ANC) said that she was concerned about rural development, and feared that the Summit would be merely a talk show. She then asked how Members of Parliament fit in because she had had to pay her own way into the Racism Conference and spent half a day trying to get in because of logistical problems. She concluded by asking about capacity building and how the Department really saw the process taking shape.

Mr Sangqu responded to the questions by saying that the Summit was looking at striking deals and partnerships on the issues. He said that they moved from the premise that there were already processes in place that they did not seek to replace, but they needed to build better partnerships. The forecast of the Summit was in implementing ways to accomplish these programmes. He emphasised that they were focused on implementing an agenda rather than creating another agenda. None of this could be accomplished without engaging the North. Concerning the issue or rural areas, he stated that poverty eradication could not be discussed without focusing on rural areas since that was where many of the poor lived. About the involvement of Members of Parliament, he said that he was very impressed with the conference held in Cape Town two weeks ago with Members of Parliaments from all over the continent. He stated that this showed the importance of participation of MPs. As far as their actual participation at the Summit, that would fall under the auspices of the logistics committee. However, according to the UN, every member of civil society would have to have the same status at the Summit, but they would look into ensuring effective participation of Parliament.

Mr C. Van Noordwyk of the WSSD Substance Unit responded to the concerns of mineral regulations. He said that the New Africa Initiative had outlined mineral mining and trade regulations in consideration of sustainable development. The plan of action was to mobilise resources for African countries.Â

Ms J. Josephs, also from the WSSD Substance Unit, stated that minerals had played a role in the history of conflicts in Africa, and this brought them back to the importance of preconditions for sustainable development.Â

Ms Hajaij asked how they were going to monitor a strategy in place for mineral resources and how they could make smaller governments abide by the rules of NEPAD and the New Africa Initiative. She saw problems with implementation.

Ms Josephs responded that, through UN processes, a regulation system was being set up for diamond industries since the diamond trade was often linked with conflict. All diamond industries would be required to sign up to the system. Also, all members of NEPAD would have to sign up to a code of conduct that would impact on their government's practices. These were the institutional processes in place.

The Chairperson said that they could not escape discussing some of the issues they had addressed. He was happy that South Africa had been given the responsibility of this Summit. He had spoken with the Chairperson of the Environmental Affairs and Tourism Portfolio Committee, and they had decided that they would likely meet jointly in the future for these briefings. The meeting was adjourned.

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