The Daily Summit - Instant news and comments from the World Summit on Sustainable Development: Process Archives

Monterrey Bridge: Partnership will be a catchword at the World Summit - and already new partnerships are beginning to form.

One is the puzzlingly named Monterrey Bridge, which aims to ensure that projected increases in food demand (40-60%, they say, in "just the next few decades") can be met without loss of habitat and biodiversity.

A major player at the coalition launch was Jeff Sachs, who recently gave Harvard the elbow - moving to New York for a job with Kofi Annan and a plethora of roles within Columbia University.

"We call upon participants at the WSSD to ensure that the needs of feeding the world’s poor are integrated with efforts to protect biodiversity," said Professor Sachs. "There are examples from around the world illustrating how this can be done effectively. World leadership must allocate the resources committed at the Monterrey Conference to expand upon these success stories and apply their learnings globally."

It's not clear from the launch materials what the Bridge will do after the summit, though Sachs does call for more funding of CGIAR - an international agricultural research network regularly cited as one of the most successful global projects.

More from Professor Sachs above...

David Steven | 06:02 PM | |

August 3, 2002

World Summit - draft programme A draft programme for the Summit has just been released... (word doc)

David Steven | 05:24 PM | |

Leader watch Now Vladimir Putin is reported to be skipping the summit - even though the Daily Summit understands he was one of the first world leaders to promise to go.

David Steven | 11:05 AM | |

July 31, 2002

More Leader Watch This pdf will tell you who is slated to represent which country at the summit.

David Steven | 07:11 PM | |

Making it difficult... Confused by the difference between Type 1 and Type 2 outcomes? Why not let the UN's FAQ befuddle you further?

"Type 2 outcomes or partnerships share the same objectives as Type 1 outcomes and that is implementation of Agenda 21. However, direct linkages in terms of modalities and goals may differ from issue to issue. On certain issues, a broad political agreement in Type 1 could provide basis for launching Type 2 outcomes. In other instances, the agreed document might contain details of the implementation initiatives that would provide a direct link for partnerships. Given the broad range of issues being negotiated, it would not be difficult to link a Type 2 initiative with the negotiated outcome. While maintaining the flexibility of these linkages, it would be possible to somehow anchor all Type 2 outcomes in Type 1 outcomes."

David Steven | 07:07 PM | |

Leader Watch The UN now expects (pdf) 106 leaders to attend the summit. 58 Heads of State, 40 Heads of Government, 7 Vice-Presidents and one Crown Prince are expected to turn up. 108 leaders attended the Rio Summit 10 years ago.

“The Summit is clearly a must for world leaders,” said Summit Secretary-General Nitin Desai. “It is evident that most leaders see the importance of attending the Summit to revitalize efforts to pursue sustainable development. They see this as a major chance to make something happen.”

David Steven | 06:34 PM | |

July 30, 2002

Side events List of week one's approved side events...

David Steven | 02:30 PM | |

Type 1 - Type 2 Jan Pronk has also been talking to the BBC.

He says the UN will seek two types of agreement at the summit – type one which all countries sign up to, and type two, which are more ambitious but voluntary.

"It will let them set up networks with other countries, with business, and with non-governmental organisations," adds Pronk. "That's pragmatism, the only possible approach. This is a UN conference, and countries have been told they'll have to negotiate an outcome. It is a risky strategy. But you have to take risks."

David Steven | 12:32 PM | |

July 29, 2002

Pessimism watch Reuters’ Alistair Doyle files a largely pessimistic piece about the summit’s prospects. “Governments are scrambling to salvage next month's gathering,” he says.

According to Doyle, preparations for the summit are far behind schedule, the agenda is gargantuan, and the rift between developed and developing countries seems to be widening.

Mats Karlsson, World Bank Vice President, defends the length of the summit draft. "If we make progress against poverty by 2050,” he says “we would have a world economy that's three to four times the size of today. You cannot consume four times as much water. You don't have the technology to consume four times the amount of energy."

David Steven | 09:44 AM | |

July 24, 2002

Leader Watch Who's going to the summit? British PM, Tony Blair, was one of the first leaders to commit to going, while President Bush has said he won't show up.. Now Canadian PM, Jean Chretien, has said he'll be there too. Over the next week or so, I'm going to start to put together a list of who will and will not attend...

David Steven | 11:26 AM | |

July 23, 2002

Can it work? The second story attracting the UK media is the ever-interesting prospect of failure.

Alex Kirkby, environment correspondent with BBC Online, talks to environmental grandee, Sir Crispin Tickell. Sir Crispin finds it “hard to be optimistic” about the summit’s prospects and predicts that environmental catastrophe can only be averted by “leadership from above, pressure from below, or some exemplary catastrophe.” NGO commentators in the FT are similarly pessimistic. Carol Welch, from Friends of the Earth, criticises the US for blocking binding agreements, while Gerd Leipold, Greenpeace director, argues that “it’s better to have a failure than a foul compromise.”

For, Nitin Desai, the summit’s secretary-general, however, the stakes are high. He believes Joburg is “vital for the whole framework of multilateralism.”

David Steven | 07:20 PM | |