Network 2002 – August Issue

Content:

WEHABilitation
Editorial
News
Reflections on the Summit
Summit Initiatives
Tourism in Destinations
Implementation Conference
Meet the International Advisory Board
Your Wake Up Call
Earth Summit 2002 Online Polls
Diary Dates, Conferences & Events
What’s in Next Months Network 2002

WEHABilitation

  So far the Earth Summit 2002 process has offered little. Could that all be about to change. Stakeholder Forum’s Felix Dodds supports a new agenda.
  As we all know the Secretary General gave a vital speech on the World Summit on May the 17th when he said "I see five specific areas where concrete results are both essential and achievable."
He identified
  Water and Sanitation: provide access to at least 1 billion people who lack clean drinking water and 2 billion people who lack proper sanitation
  Energy: provide access to more than 2 billion people who lack modern energy services; promote renewable energy; reduce over-consumption; and ratify the Kyoto protocol to address climate change
  Health: address the effects of toxic and hazardous materials; reduce air pollution which kills 3 million people each tear, and lower the incidence of malaria and African guinea worm, which are linked with polluted water and poor sanitation
  Agricultural production: work to reverse land degradation, which affects about two thirds of the world's agricultural production 
  Biodiversity and ecosystem management: reverse the processes that have destroyed about half the world's tropical rainforest and mangroves and are threatening 70% of the world's coral reefs and decimating the world's fisheries.
  This agenda, known as WEHAB, is very understandable. It is about having safe, clean water to drink. It is about energy to utilise in a sustainable way in our businesses and industries. It is about enabling people to have heating, lighting and to cook food in as less damaging way to the environment. It is about being able to have good health wherever you are in the world. It is about having land to grow our food and the biodiversity the planet needs to sustain itself.
  Bali did not focus on the WEHAB agenda as we had hoped, as it had still to negotiate the Implementation document and a political declaration. We saw only one of the Secretary General's background papers on the WEHAB issues released, dealing with energy. The document did show us a very dynamic way forward. It focussed on what our goals should be and what the targets and milestones need to be to achieve those goals. We still wait for the other four background papers and time is running out.
  We have around 25% of the text in the implementation document and the political declaration from Bali left for negotiation. There has been a series of informal meetings in New York at UN Headquarters under the new Friends of the Chair group. These have not been accessible to all governments nor to any stakeholder. There must be serious questions about the lack of transparency and participation at the end of a process that has been built on its openness. 
  At Johannesburg the story for the media and the general public needs to be easy to understand.
  What we need in the remaining weeks in the run up to Johannesburg, and the 8 days of the Summit itself, is to focus. Johannesburg offers us the greatest opportunity we have had in 10 years to tell a story to the general public. 10 years ago the media and general public woke up to climate change and biodiversity not to Agenda 21 and the Rio Declaration. By giving us the WEHAB issues the Secretary General has offered us the story. Can we all now deliver it? 
  What would this look like? There should be an agreement to theme the first week of the Summit around the WEHAB issues, focussing on one each day, starting with Biodiversity to link effectively back to Rio. Each day should consider what the challenges of each of the WEHAB Agenda items are and how we can, through partnerships, try and address them. UN Agencies, Governments and Stakeholders should be asked to put forward their ideas on the WEHAB areas. By the end of the week we should be able to draw out of the Implementation document the relevant text that has been negotiated and express how we might start to address the implementation of these agreements through the partnerships we have seen.
  The Secretary General could summarise the outcomes at the beginning of the Heads of State section and each Head of State could, in their presentation, also address in part on the WEHAB agenda. If this is going to happen then they need to be told now.
  This framework allows criticism, identifying gaps, innovative ideas, expression of partnerships and hope. Hope that we can address these critical areas together. The Summit at present needs a framework to enable the media and the general public to engage. WEHAB isn't addressing all the issues we need to address but it can be a useful means of visible progress. But there are some serious issues that will need to be addressed, if not in Johannesburg then soon afterwards. These include questions such as:
•	By taking the WEHAB approach will governments consider new and additional funds to support implementation?
•	Can we look at the impacts of globalisation on these five areas and see what can be done to address the losers?
•	Can we look at creating economies not markets to support technology transfer. This might also be under the WEHAB areas.
  Johannesburg will be about many other things than WEHAB, which are important. It will allow us the chance to celebrate the enormous work that we have all contributed to over the last 10 years in our experiments to try and move on a more sustainable path. It will offer us a chance to identify a move ethical and spiritual path working with the Earth Charter and it is in that vain I want to end this article. While researching for some new quotes I came across this one from Robert Kennedy in 1968, which challenges us even more today than it did in 1968.
  "Too much and too long, we seem to have surrendered community excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our gross national product ... ,if we should judge America by that,  it counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for those who break them. It counts the destruction of our redwoods and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl. It counts napalm and the cost of a nuclear warhead, and armored cars for police who fight riots in our streets. It counts Whitman's rifle and Speck's knife, and the television programs which glorify violence in order to sell toys to our children. 
  Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages; the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage; neither our wisdom nor our learning; neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country; it measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile."

Editorial
  The old adage it seems is true, everything does get left to the last minute. Having gone through a 17 month preparatory process that travelled the globe, sought to engage stakeholders, UN agencies and governments, all hopes for the Summit were pulled behind closed doors back at UN HQ for Thebo Mbeki’s select Friends of the Chair Meeting. Whilst this doesn’t say much for transparency or participation, it should not come as much of a surprise. No agreement was met with everyone in the room in Bali. It all just sits at odds with the Sec. Gen. coming out of  a closed meeting announcing that Johannesburg will be a test for multi-lateralism.
  Nevertheless, if we are to believe what is being said, the Johannesburg party may not yet be the wash out that many fear. That is if you judge success as another piece of paper with a carefully scripted text that allows everyone to sing from the same ‘heard it all before’ bland hymn sheet. 
  If that is the case, what is the message from Johannesburg? That there are still 100’s of millions of people starving, that the rivers are polluted, the seas empty of fish and the skies hotter than ever. So what? What does global warming mean to someone who can’t feed themselves? What does poverty mean to someone who has a 2nd car? 
  Perhaps we are all just trying to convince ourselves that we are doing the right thing? And by ourselves, I mean the 60,000 people expected to be in South Africa for the Summit. To the rest of the World the Summit will be no more than a trailer on the evening news for a couple of days. For every 1 person in Johannesburg, there are 100,000 more back home. Will they wake up tomorrow, their lives transformed because governments committed to save the world...again? Probably not. 
  Yet there is so much energy about these issues. If you ask those 100,000 people if they care about the starving, the poor, the oceans, the trees and the skies, the majority will say they do (1 of those 100,000 will say they care passionately). So why do these problems persist? 
  You could argue that I am raising many questions and answering few. You’d be right. I don’t have the answer. But has the Summit tried to raise the question? I mean seriously tried to think outside the box of 60,000. Does it know how? 
  The Type II’s process is an innovation and an encouraging sign that suggests that the Summit maybe willing to try. The critical issue, in addition to the partnerships themselves, is that they do not become window dressing in front of a world leaders photo opportunity - nice to look at, quickly forgotten. 
  If we want to reach those 100,000 others, we need to relate to their needs and to their daily lives. As civil society they constitute the Major Groups. They are not governments or UN officials and yet they must make the changes. They must choose those changes themselves, as individuals but also together in partnership. Governments must also play their part. They must create the frameworks that both support their electorate’s efforts and deliver in the public sector. Their commitments then guide the whole process and so have to mean something real.
  That is not the way that business has been done to date, and yet it is the challenge for the future. Whether we accept that challenge and succeed in meeting it will determine if we can make a difference or not.
T. Middleton, Editor

News, News, News
Summit Gains Focus as Friends of Chair Meet
  The Johannesburg Summit process received an injection of energy as South African President, Thabo Mbeki, hosted a ‘friends of the Chair meeting at UN Headquarters, July 17th. Having taken over the chairmanship for the Summit from his Indonesian processor, Mbeki, bought together a select group high level representatives from 27 countries to try to get the Summit back on track.
  Mbeki convened the meeting to allow government officials to explore consensus around the unresolved text for the Summit, offering world leaders more confidence on what will be delivered in Johannesburg in concrete terms. Although governments were not formally negotiating, the meeting were able to use the informal setting to step back from the deadlock left by the Bali preparatory meeting.
  South Africa’s UN Ambassador, Dumisani Kumalo, explained the selection process behind the 27 nations present. States were invited based on ‘geographical location as well as their overall commitment to the success of the Johannesburg Summit.’ Kumalo went on to mention that the G8 leaders were among the first to accept the invitation.
  Also in attendance was UN Sec. General Kofi Annan, who set the over-arching challenge for the meeting. Addressing the assembled delegates, Annan called the summit ‘a test for multi-lateralism and for the international community. It is a test for all leaders who profess to care about the well-being of our planet and its people.’
  Held behind closed doors, the talks concluded with indications that governments were nearing agreement on many of the most contentious issues. This led to a clustering of issues that ‘hold the key to agreement on a Plan of Implementation’ as Annan put it. These 6 clusters include: 
•	The Rio Principals; 
•	Finance and the replenishment of the Global Environment Facility; 
•	Globalisation and Trade; 
•	Good Governance; 
•	Time-Bound Targets; 
•	Technology Transfer.
  The other notable outcome was the decision to add 2 days to the start of the Summit to conclude these matters formally. Similar to the friends of the Chair meeting, it is unlikely that these sessions will be open.
  While Mbeki’s ‘friends meeting helped answer many questions within the meeting room, to the outside world it raises as many. Principally, will consensus be as forthcoming when the process is opened to all 189 member states? Moreover, even if agreement can be met on the texts, what in real terms does this offer the Summit? Much has been made of claims for a ‘successful summit’. The Question remains, will the summit be deemed a success if its outcome is a document which everyone can agree to, but that offers little in addressing the problems the world faces. 

The World Water Week: A Global Platform for Dialogue 
  The World Water Week in Stockholm is a weeklong series of events that have grown in stature and importance in recent years. The week includes the Stockholm Water Symposium, seminars and events organized in collaboration with different organizations and institutions, the Stockholm Water Prize presentation, the Stockholm Junior Water Prize competition, and more. 
  Indeed, the World Water Week truly serves as an interdisciplinary platform to focus global attention on key water issues, facilitate dialogue, seek constructive solutions to pressing problems, highlight outstanding achievements in the field, and inspire future water leaders. Last year, more than 1,000 experts from over 100 countries participated.
  A diverse blend of governments, institutions, organizations and companies will participate in the World Water Week. You are invited to be among the politicians, administrators, scientists, business leaders, academics, NGO and civil society representatives, young professionals, and others who will join us.
The Stockholm Water Symposium: 
Tomorrow’s Water Issues Discussed Today
  One of the core events of the World Water Week is the Stockholm Water Symposium. Since 1991 the Stockholm Water Symposia have been on the leading edge by addressing water and related issues from a future perspective. Early on, the Symposia identified many aspects that permeate the current global water discussion by showing that:
•	Water is the Key to Socio-economic Development and Quality of Life 
•	Water Security is a Key Dimension in Poverty Eradication 
•	Cross-disciplinary, Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) is the Way Forward 
  The Symposia have concluded that there will be no freshwater security without a major shift in thinking that embraces these fundamental truths, which were accepted in Bonn and will once again be prominent themes in Johannesburg and Kyoto. 
  The 12th Stockholm Water Symposium takes place August 12-15 and will continue this forward-looking tradition by examining what’s next on the agenda: Balancing Competing Water Uses – Present Status and New Prospects. The Symposium will present how our finite water resources are used for different purposes in different parts of the world, what will be needed to perform future balancing and to improve water use performance, and what the new prospects are in places where water balancing is already practiced or planned.
  Participants will also contribute actively to global water discussions through the release of a Stockholm Statement intended for the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development, where water is among the five priority issues, and the 3rd World Water Forum in Japan in 2003.
Contact: www.siwi.org
Some Reflections on the Eve of the Johannesburg Summit
  In Preparation for a meeting of the Roundtable on Sustainable Development at the OECD, July 10/11 chairman, Rt Hon Simon Upton, shares his thoughts on the Summit process
  Roundtable meetings at the OECD are an opportunity for a range of key players to engage, informally and frankly, on some of the difficult issues on the sustainable development agenda.  
  As a former Minister for the Environment and Minister for Development Assistance, and more particularly chairman of the 7th Session of the Commission on Sustainable Development in 1999, I have had a number of opportunities to gauge the development of the sustainable development debate since Rio in 1992.  What follows are some frank, personal observations that may stimulate discussion
  Since Rio, the sustainable development agenda has at times appeared to be embrace the meaning of life itself.  It has often been unclear what could possibly lie outside the agenda, so broadly is it conceived in its post-Rio version with three pillars - economic, social and environmental.  
  Now it might be objected that this is harmless enough; that sustainable development can embrace a wide range of issues - a sort of  ‘thousand blooms’ approach to policy analysis.  But as a basis for practical action there is no substitute for prioritising the key problems and accepting that neither governments nor other bodies can seek to influence or steer every variable.  We have neither the information nor the political mandates to do so.  
  There is a further risk: that in the search for ‘balance’ between the three pillars, we end up in a world where everything is tradeable for everything else. In attempting to take an holistic approach, advocates for sustainable development have found themselves confronting instead a bewildering array of policy trade-offs that in practice are determined according to the political priorities of the moment.
  Returning to the Rio ‘deal’ and concentrating on the key environment and development priorities would be one way of regaining momentum.
  Market access is the more problematic of the two given recent events.  Since it is the subject of a separate negotiating agenda agreed at Doha, it makes little sense to try to re-open the subject in Johannesburg aside from noting its cardinal importance for many of the poorest countries in the world.
  On the development assistance front, the climate is more promising following the successful Monterrey conference on financing for development.  Real additional commitments made…come, however, after a significant decline in funding in the years immediately following Rio.  So those countries that are relying on this part of the deal have good reason to be extremely cautious about what is now being offered.
  For over 30 years now, a developed country ODA target of 0.7% of GDP has been the benchmark to aim for.  Only a handful have met it while the majority continue to proclaim it as a target to ‘aim for’ knowing full well that they are never likely to achieve it.  Aside from the questionable ethics of repeating targets that few intend to meet, there is a more practical question: just how meaningful is such a target today?  For all we know it might take much more than 0.7% of GDP to overcome some of the barriers to development.
  The Johannesburg summit could usefully break with tradition by leaving such general goals to one side and focus, instead, on the priorities to which development programmes should devote themselves.  The Millennium Goals (some of which are described in the accompanying paper) provide a useful starting point.  Even more importantly, they need to be elaborated in a way that describes how they will be achieved in a way that supports a sustainable as distinct from an unsustainable development path. 
Science
  Science for sustainability is relatively uncontentious but vital.  If we don’t understand the limits or ‘thresholds’ in biophysical systems, we have no idea how much pressure we place on the environment before negative feedbacks overwhelm the development benefits.  
  A commitment to better-funded and co-ordinated research at the global level would give all parties more confidence that difficult efforts are indeed focussed on the right issues.  Currently, global change science probably attracts about US$500 per annum across all countries.  Compare this with the sums spent within single OECD countries on a wide variety of matters from medical to military research and a fair question can be raised about whether we have our priorities right.
Indicators
  Indicators of sustainability have also been an area of intense activity since Rio.  But they have proved to be much more controversial. Much of this goes back to the fact that analysis is conducted on a country by country basis - inevitably inviting comparisons.  The ensuing ‘beauty contest’ - and the use to which it might put - causes many countries to adopt an extremely cautious approach.
 Finding a way through the bewildering array of possible measures - and the political minefields raised by inappropriate inter-country comparisons - may seem to many a subject of academic interest.  But without progress on this front, we will not be in a position to develop really meaningful measures of whether or not - for all our activity - we are making a difference
  Since Rio, a huge array of subjects has been raised under the sustainable development banner.  Many are not obvious candidates for global action.  There will be those who underline the usefulness of exchanging views and knowledge at the global level.  But whether that should be institutionalised through inter-governmental processes is another matter.  The recent popularity of so-called ‘type two non-negotiated partnerships and initiatives” provides a sensible way forward in many areas.
  But so-called type two initiatives require the framework that inter-governmental processes can provide.  This is nowhere more evident than in respect of the ‘global commons’ that lie beyond national sovereign jurisdictions such as the oceans and the atmosphere.  If scarce diplomatic resources are to be galvanised at the global level, there is a strong case for focusing them on creating a framework of governance for these domains and the means to enforce rules relating to them.  The intersection of any such regimes with national interests means that only painstaking inter-governmental processes can achieve durable outcomes.
  Beyond the global commons, however, political good-will and interest is distinctly limited. To expend it on inter-governmental processes that, in the end, have no impact on national policies will invite a gradual erosion of interest and risk portraying sustainable development as the preoccupation of a self-perpetuating clique of negotiators and interest groups.  This is increasingly the fate of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) - Rio’s contribution to the stable of international forums.
  The CSD was set up in “ensure the effective follow-up of the [Rio] Conference, as well as to enhance international cooperation and to examine the progress in the implementation of Agenda 21 at the national, regional and international levels...” 
  It would be hard to argue that the CSD has fulfilled any of these roles.  To be successful, CSD needed swiftly to establish itself as a forum that no-one wanted to miss.  It’s multi-stakeholder remit held out the hope that ministers, academics, business leaders and NGO leaders would be able to engage frankly and constructively on some of the blockages to a more sustainable future.  We have had, instead, a replication of the country-based negotiating mindset that has long prevailed in New York.  
  Fortunately, another role for the CSD suggests itself.  Rather than using it as a negotiating forum, it could become a catalyst for one-off, time-bound commissions that are set up to investigate and report on difficult issues that require international attention.  We already have examples of what can be achieved in the results of the World Commission on High Dams and the Commission on Macroeconomics & Health.  In both cases, really useful reports have been assembled that provide the basis for frank analysis, debate and implementation by whoever chooses to take them seriously.  CSD would be an excellent forum in which to debate such reports.
  There are no ‘right’ answers here, but as a former CSD chairman I am acutely aware of ministerial disillusionment and waning interest in pursuing sustainable development issues at the global level.  Certainly, it is hard to believe that further summits beyond Johannesburg can (or should) be generated by the current process.
  What would a successful outcome for the Johannesburg Summit look like?  It all depends on your standpoint.  Answered in diplomatic terms, success is commonly judged to be the conclusion of a political declaration
  The prospect of such an outcome has led some to discount the importance of any inter-governmental engagement at the Summit.  On this view, the Summit should seek to showcase many of the public/private ‘partnerships’ that have been attempted across a wide array of fields.  This has undoubtedly been one of the more fruitful results of what was launched in Rio.  But is it enough?
  The truth is that governments hold the keys to many of the barriers that stand in the way of development.  Trade barriers for instance, or subsidies, are creatures of government.  As long as they persist, inter-governmental processes will remain engaged.  
  Rather than seeing so-called ‘type-two’ partnerships as a substitute for government action, governments need to reflect on a different problem: are the institutions and instruments they have traditionally used to solve problems any longer suited to the sort of global community that is emerging.  A repeated refrain by many businesses and NGOs is that they have transformed their modes of operation but governments haven’t.  
  A further modest, but important outcome, would be a commitment to commence a frank and open process to consider the sort of institutions of inter-national governance that are needed to match the sort of commercial and civil institutions that are rapidly emerging, in many cases spontaneously, at the global level.  If Johannesburg could leave the negotiating mindset of the twentieth century firmly behind in the twentieth century by thinking laterally and flexibly about how global dialogue and rule-making should proceed, it would have done more than many dare to hope.  
  If leaders attending Johannesburg can demonstrate a grasp of the world as it has changed since Rio and talk candidly and frankly about things that have for too long been diplomatically removed from the agenda as being unmentionable or unresolveable they would make a breakthrough.  Citizens are not expecting lofty promises (which they know to be unfulfillable) or fresh treaties (which they suspect will be unimplementable).  They do not hold high hopes for the Summit.  
  Success in Johannesburg requires, above all, an ability to carry forward whatever agenda is agreed upon.  Without institutional reform that will be all but impossible.
Simon Upton, 

Summit Initiatives
 The Johannesburg Summit is more than just a meeting of governments. Organisations from around the world are coming to South Africa to host a plethora of side events and conferences to share their rich experiences. 
Access Initiative - World Resources Institute
  The Access Initiative (TAI) is a global coalition of public interest groups collaborating to promote national-level implementation of commitments to access to information, participation, and justice in environmental decision-making.
Aspirations and Reality: Building Sustainability - Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors Foundation
The conference - open to 500 delegates only - centres on the presentation of the world's most successful examples of sustainable development across the sectors to date. Providing access to world-leading expertise and guidance, this is a valuable learning and networking opportunity for those committed to corporate social, economic and environmental responsibility.
Business Partnership Initiatives - Business Action for Sustainable Development
  BASD presents 'Business Partnership Initiatives', examples of business working openly with others towards sustainable development.View our collection of partnerships initiatives and submit your own initiative.
The Earth Charter Initiative - Earth Council
  The Earth Charter is a vision for the future that can renew government's and people's commitment to achieving what began at the Rio Earth Summit, but has lacked a unified framework and solidarity in effort.
Earth Summit 2002 Awards – Stakeholder Forum & RSA
  The   ‘Earth Summit 2002 Awards’ aim to encourage further implementation of sustainable development through recognizing, rewarding and publicising 10 years of global stakeholder best practice, which has inspired and will continue to inspire others to work towards the ideals of Agenda 21, as set out at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992.
Earth Summit Campaign - Globe Southern Africa
  GLOBE Southern Africa's Earth Summit Campaign has four main objectives;
•	To mobilise parliamentarians
•	To raise awareness about the Summit in legislatures around the world
•	To enable MPs to play a meaningful and active role in the preparations for the Summit and at the Summit itself
•	To provide legislators with information and legislative tools they can use after the Summit in their respective parliaments
EnviroLaw Conference 2002 - EnviroLaw Solutions
  EnviroLaw 2002 will examine and explore the negotiation, agreement and ratification of conventions, the application of laws and regulations and their impact on sustainable development.
Environment Centre - IUCN
  A place of encounter where environment and development, business and NGOs, government and civil society can meet - both formally and informally. Including: "The Green Web in Action" exhibition; Daily high-level Futures Dialogues led by key figures; An "Investment Fair Kiosk", prepared by ProjectsAfrica; and "The Green Web" Internet café, where "free" Internet services will be offered to members.
The Equator Initiative - UNDP, IUCN, TVE
  The Equator Initiative is designed to reduce poverty through the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in the Equatorial belt by fostering, supporting and strengthening community partnerships through the recognition of local achievements, the fostering of South-south capacity building, and by contributing to the generation and sharing of knowledge. The first "Innovative Partnership Awards for Sustainable Development in Tropical Ecosystems" will be presented at WSSD.
Implementation Conference - Stakeholder Forum for Our Common Future
  The Earth Summit 2002 in South Africa offers an ideal context for stakeholders to come together and work out how to do their part in implementing the Sustainable Development Agreements.
Johannesburg Climate Legacy - Various Supporters
  Under the umbrella of the WSSD, The Johannesburg Climate Legacy (JCL) measures the CO2 emissions of the Summit (from aircraft flights to electricity used at the event itself). These emissions will be offset through investments in carbon-reducing sustainable projects across South Africa. Companies, individuals, governments can sponsor some of this ‘offset’ and, in so doing on this world stage, make one of the most important commitments in modern history to a sustainable future. In addition to the  climate impact, the offset projects will have a massive and lasting impact on the sustainable development of local communities.
Local Action Moves the World - ICLEI
  Local Action Moves the World will provide an opportunity for local government leaders and their partners to present the key messages from the Local Government Dialogue Paper www.iclei.org/johannesburg2002/lgdp.htm, the official representation of the local government position, to the Summit and the world. These messages will be illustrated by best strategy case examples and supported by commitments for the future.
Responsible Tourism in Destinations - Multiple Hosts
  Maximising socio-economic benefits for local communities from tourism ventures while maintaining the quality of the environment is a major challenge facing all the stake holders in the tourism industry. These issues will be focussed on during this hands-on, outcomes-based conference in Cape Town, in preparation for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD).
Summit Institute for Sustainable Development - The Smithsonian Institution
  The SISD is a novel initiative, mobilizing existing WSSD participants to present formal mini-courses on key Sustainable Development issues that will provide background, tools, and approaches for implementation of sustainable development policies.  We invite you to propose a course for the Institute. 
The Ubuntu Village - The Government of South Africa
  UBUNTU VILLAGE - A place for people of the world to unite on common ground around the nerve centre of the summit where dialogue can be stimulated and opportunities for partnerships maximised.
The Virtual Exhibition - Multiple Hosts
  If you have a sustainable development project to share with the world, you have found the perfect platform. If you want to be a part of the Johannesburg summit, you have found the perfect vehicle.
WaterDome - International Water Management Institute, African Water Task Force
  The WaterDome will be the main venue during the World Summit where water-stakeholders from public and private organisations will get the opportunity to launch and exhibit their activities, policies, initiatives, new technologies, products and so on. For everyone working in the water sector, for concerned politicians and citizens, for members of the media and for NGOs- the WaterDome is an event you can simply not afford to miss.
The World Forum for Sustainable Development - International Research Foundation for Development 
  The world forum of the International Research Foundation for Development will focus on the Implementation of Agenda 21 adopted during the Rio Conference on Environment. We are inviting researchers, policy makers, members of governments and advocacy groups, and all civil society members who are interested and concerned about sustainable development issues to participate in the World Forum. The main objective of this Forum is to contribute to the United Nations effort of ensuring the implementation of the Agenda 21.
The World Sustainability Hearings - Leadership for Environment And Development
  In an effort to increase effective participation of ordinary people in global governance, the World Sustainbility Hearings Project and more than 40 other civil society organizations have teamed up to provide a stage for their testimony at the Johannesburg summit - the World Sustainability Hearing. Scheduled in a separate venue near the Summit, the Hearing will feature day-long explorations of critical issues
Full listings available at: 
www.earthsummit2002.org/es/initiatives/default.htm

Responsible Tourism In 
Destinations
 “Shaping sustainable spaces into better places” 
  Registrations for the Responsible Tourism in Destinations pre-WSSD conference in Cape Town are coming in solidly and there are now participants registered from 17 countries.  City councils, municipalities, national parks, bilateral donors, consultants, research institutes, development banks, international hotel groups, national tourist offices, European tour operators, academics and inbound operators are all registering for the conference. The new Gambian Tourism Authority and the Department of State for Tourism and Culture is sending a delegation – reflecting the development of a Responsible Tourism Partnership between European tour operators, hoteliers and ground handlers in The Gambia, government and ASSET, the Association of Small Scale Enterprises in Tourism. Business Enterprise for Sustainable Tourism, part of the Conference Board in the USA, is also attending. 
  There has been some disappointment from academics that there has been no “call for papers” but this highly participative conference is being welcomed as an opportunity to debate the ideas of responsible tourism and to test out the new South African Responsible Tourism Guidelines in a series of stimulating site visits in and around Cape Town.  In Cape Town preparation s are underway to ensure that the site visits are as rewarding as possible. All the site managers are preparing background information about the sites for the conference participants and thinking hard about how they match up to the aspirations of the South African Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism’s new national Responsible Tourism Guidelines. 
  The Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism is finalising the Responsible Tourism Manual for South Africa, which is expected to be available at the Cape Town conference. It will contain the methodologies, which can be used to report on progress in achieving the Responsible Tourism objectives. Harold Goodwin is drafting the Responsible Tourism in Destinations Declaration, which will be debated in Cape Town. The Responsible Tourism concept fits with the framework of the World Tourism Organization’s Global Code of Ethics for Tourism; and the various international commitments to Sustainable Tourism shared by UNEP, UNCTAD, IFTO, WTTC, the Stakeholder Forum for Our Common Future and national and local governments around the world. 
  Local authorities are critical to the process of creating Responsible Tourism in Destinations and there are a number attending, including Calvia from the Balearic Islands,  where there is continuing pressure for an eco-tax on tourists visiting these Mediterranean islands. It is at the local authority level that the idea of sustainable tourism can best be realised by local communities and the industry coming together and taking responsibility for creating better places for local communities and their visitors.  Partnerships to make better places for visitors and those visited are only possible at the local level. The challenge is to identify the best ways to achieve partnerships for change around the world - Cape Town is the laboratory to test out the theories and to produce learning for international application. We hope that it will be possible to announce the venue for the next conference in 2004 at the end of the Cape Town conference. 
  This is a hands-on, outcomes based conference with practical fieldwork testing the guidelines and debating how applicable they are around the world. The key question is to what extent can the guidelines developed in South Africa be adapted for use by communities and the industry in other destinations – and can the principles and practise of responsible tourism make a difference? There are still places , so come and have your say.
  We regret very much that we do not have any funding for participants from developing countries or NGOs and we would be delighted to hear from anyone with ideas about sponsorship particularly for local community, developing country participation. The commitment which the Western Cape and the City of Cape Town showed when they decided to organise this significant conference without a sponsor has been vindicated as enrolments continue to flow in. 
  The Cape Town Conference on Responsible Tourism in Destinations takes place August 21-23 and there is an opportunity to travel up to WSSD with the draft charter on a post-conference tour. For further details about the conference and to register visit the conference website at www.capetourism.org/conference.asp or call the PCO Specialized Tours/Tribal Continuum +27 21 425 3259 Fax: +27 21 425 3329. 
  This is going to be a provocative and exciting experience, your opportunity to participate in formulating the tourism agenda for the next ten years and to grapple with the practical problems of triple bottom line tourism development in one of the world’s most exciting new destinations. Be there if you can. 
Harold Goodwin and Mike Fabricius 

Implementation Conference: 
Stakeholder Action
For Our
Common Future
  One of the most innovations of  the first Rio Earth Summit was the recognition of the role that Major Groups had to play in implementing Sustainable Development. Now, 10 years later, the Johannesburg presents partnerships as its innovation. Stakeholder Forum’s Implementation Conference brings together representatives of the Major Groups from around the world, all looking for the same thing...partners. Minu Hemmati reports.
  Some 20+ days to go and the preparations for Stakeholder Forum’s Implementation Conference are in full swing. Within the areas of freshwater, energy, food security, and health, we have been consulting a wide range of stakeholders since autumn 2001, in order to identify opportunities for collaboration that contribute to the implementation of sustainable development agreements.
  Now, there are about 30 collaborative stakeholder action plans (partnership initiatives) under development, and we are working with as many groups who are forming these partnerships - stakeholders, UN agencies, governments. The box below gives an overview of the action plans under preparation. Linkages to existing sustainable development agreements and WSSD outcomes are being spelled out within each Action Plan. 
  We are seeking further engagement from stakeholders, agencies and governments in these initiatives - please contact us if you are interested.
  The criteria for pursuing an Action Plan are pragmatic: does it have a "champion" and enough support from different stakeholder groups to be further developed; does it have the potential to become "real" within a very short period of time; and is there funding strategy in place or enough support so that an event at the IC would create considerable interest by donors to get involved, where necessary. 
  Our preparations since the summer last year have been a very exciting process of facilitating and brokering in pre-meetings, telephone conference, online discussions. Now, we are looking forward to further support the various groups of partners as they gather in Johannesburg. At the Implementation Conference (IC) itself, the groups will have the opportunity to work together, finalise and/or further develop their agreements, so that implementation can begin as quickly as possible after the Summit.
  The IC will take place at the Indaba Hotel and the IUCN Environment Centre. It will to be the kind of conference that we are all familiar with - actually, it is rather a “mega workshop” with most of the time spent in small partners groups - altogether some 350-400 participants. 
  Every group will benefit from professional facilitation, which is a crucial component of successful partnership building and implementation. We have assembled a large team of facilitators from around the world and South Africa, all of whom have long term experience with small and large groups, and are passionate about sustainable development without bringing their own specific interests to the partnerships.
An overview of the schedule:
Saturday
•	Opening plenary session, key note speeches, setting the context and the spirit of the event. 
•		Issue Groups sessions - freshwater, energy, food security, health in parallel. 
•	Action Plan groups - one group per initiative
•		Evening: Braai and “Drum Cafe”
Sunday
•	Action Plan groups sessions and Issue Groups sessions
•	Evening: Dinner & music
Monday
•	Action Plan groups sessions, finalising the outcomes
•	Issue Groups sessions: sharing and discussing all outcomes within the 4 parallel groups
•	Press conference
•	Closing plenary session: Presentation & celebration of all outcomes, key note speeches, music
  The outcomes of the IC will also be presented at a side event during the Summit, and we are developing ways to feed into various sessions on partnership initiatives. We will, for example, video interview participants and produce short features on the four issue areas where people share their views, their own contributions to implementation, and their expectation towards others.
  We will to submit most of the Action Plans as type 2 partnership initiatives to the WSSD Secretariat by August 12, 2002. Many of the partners involved are interested in benefiting from follow-up mechanisms around the CSD. These need to be developed in a learning and knowledge building manner, facilitating exchange and further joint action, and attracting new potential partners. At least that is what many stakeholders are interested in and where “becoming a type 2” can add very practical value to partnership initiatives.
  We believe the IC sends a strong message of stakeholders taking their responsibility in implementing international agreements. 
Implementation Conference website:
www.earthsummit2002org/ic .
Coordinators: 
Minu Hemmati, minush@aol.com &
Robert Whitfield, rwhitfield@earthsummit2002.org

Meet the 
International 
Advisory Board
Organisation: Action Canada for Population & Development
Contact: Zonny Woods
Web: www.acpd.ca
Aim:   Action Canada for Population and Development was formed in 1997 with a mission to promote the commitment of Canadians to population and development issues in order to enhance the quality of life of children and subsequent generations in Canada and around the world. .
Key Projects:  Through dialogue, education, advocacy and coalition building, ACPD supports and advances action on population and development, including full implementation of the Cairo Programme of Action
  ACPD engages in policy development and dialogue in three primary issue areas: sexual and reproductive rights, population and the environment, and population, migration and development. 
  ACPD takes an inter-disciplinary approach with a view to encouraging environment, development, human rights, youth, faith based, and women's NGOs to integrate the Cairo agenda into their work and their advocacy initiatives. 
Partners: ACPD has forged strong links with NGOs around the world working on these issues, in order to share information, skills and experience, exchange ideas, and build coalitions around specific issues. ACPD works closely with other Commonwealth NGOs; is part of the Eurongos, a network of 26 NGOS from Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand; and is part of the Asia Pacific Alliance for the ICPD.
Geographical Coverage: International

Your Wake Up Call
  for the most part, politics concerns itself with today’s problems. Sorting out things which aren’t working now. Sustainable Development is very different. It’s as much about the future as about today, as much about the next generation as this generation. Fundamentally it’s about young people having their say, demanding access to people who find it all too easy to ignore the future. 
  A project of Stakeholder Forum, Your Wake Up Call wants to guarantee that at the Johannesburg Summit, the decisions made by world leaders are directly influenced by the opinions of young people.
    From August 30th - September 4th, 80 young people will embark on a busy schedule of events. This will include a Lunch with World Leaders. This lunch will draw attention to the theme for the Wake Up Call project, Food. As an issue, it neatly encompasses each of the areas which the summit is now starting to focus on: Water, Energy, Health, Agriculture and Bio-diversity. 
  There will also be a one-day conference for young people from around the world who are taking part in the Earth Summit to further their discussions on what issues matter to them.
  After the Summit the hard work really starts. The delegates will be returning home determined to demonstrate personal and practical examples of ways to lead a more sustainable way of life, for the long term survival of the planet, as well as for all those who live on it.
Contact: vcliffhodges@earthsummit2002.org
Earth Summit 2002 Online Polls
  What is the most critical Health & Environment Issue?
Water & Sanitation				67%
Affordable Energy				5%
Basic Health Care				10%
Family Planning Services				10%
Occupational Health Standards			1%
Regional & Global Funds				4%
  What is the most critical Sustainable Development Finance Issue?
Increasing ODA to 0.7% of GNP			11%
Debt Relief & Cancellation			43%
Global Environment Facility replenishment		6%
ODA provisions for Global Public Goods		4%
Redirect National Military Expenditure		24%
Establish currency transaction tax			12%

Diary Dates, Events & Conferences
10 Aug. - 10 Sept. 	Ubuntu Village & Ubuntu Exhibition. Johannesburg, South Africa. 
Contact: www.joburgsummit.com/SideEvents/Ubuntu.asp	
12 - 15 August	Stockholm Water Symposium. Stockholm, Sweden. Contact: www.siwi.org/sws2002	
19 Aug. - 4 Sept.	WSSD Civil Society Global Forum. Johannesburg, South Africa. 
Contact: www.worldsummit.org.za	
21 - 23 August	Responsible Tourism in Destinations. Cape Town, South Africa. 
Contact: www.capetourism.org/conference.asp	
22 - 25 August	EnviroLaw Conference 2002. Durban, South Africa. Contact: www.envirolawsolutions.com	
24 - 26 August	Implementation Conference. Johannesburg, South Africa. Contact: www.earthsummit2002.org/ic	
26 Aug. - 4 Sept.	World Summit on Sustainable Development. Johannesburg, South Africa. 
Contact: www.johannesburgsummit.org	
27 Aug. - 29 Aug.	WSSD Local Government Session - Local Action Moves the World. Johannesburg, South Africa. Contact: www.iclei.org/rioplusten/signup.html	
28 Aug. - 3 Sept. 	Water Dome - No Water, No Future. Johannesburg, South Africa. Contact: www.waterdome.net	
30 Aug. - 4 Sept.	Your Wake Up Call. Johannesburg, South Africa. Contact: vcliffhodges@earthsummi2002.org	
21 - 23 October	Euro Environment 2002 Conference. Aalborg, Denmark. 
Contact: www.akkc.dk/index.asp?arrangement=327&kategori=congress&sprog=eng	
21 - 25 October	International Ecotourism Conference. Cairns, Australia. 
Contact: www.ecotourism-australia.info/conf2002/index.htm	
29 Oct. - 1 Nov. 	Global Mountain Summit. Bishtek, Kyrgyzstan. 
Contact: www.globalmountiansummit.org/Home_Page.html	
What’s in next months Network - 2002…

•	The Johannesburg World Summit On Sustainable Development
•	Responsible Tourism in Destinations
•	Global Peoples Forum...the story so far
•	The EnviroLaw Conference
•	The Implementation Conference