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From Rio to Johannesburg {Remarks by South African President Thabo Mbeki on June 25, 2002 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on the occasion of the torch passing ceremony from Brazil, which hosted the UN Earth Summit in 1992, to South Africa, which will host the World Summit on Sustainable Development from August 26 to September 4.} We are privileged that the South African city of Johannesburg follows in the footsteps of Stockholm and Rio de Janeiro in having the honor to host the peoples of the world as they engage afresh the urgent challenge of sustainable development.
Ten years ago, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, the Rio Earth Summit, brought together leaders and nations of the world in this historic city to change the course of history. Here, the world declared with one voice, "Human beings are at the center of concerns for sustainable development. They are entitled to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature." In the opening lines of Agenda 21, the nations of the world pronounced that: "Humanity stands at a defining moment in history. We are confronted with a perpetuation of disparities between and within nations, a worsening of poverty, hunger, ill health and illiteracy, and the continuing deterioration of ecosystems on which we depend for our well being. However, integration of environment and development concerns and greater attention to them will lead to the fulfilment of basic needs, improved living standards for all, better protected and managed ecosystems and a safer, more prosperous future. No nation can achieve this on its own; but together we can - in a global partnership for sustainable development." A global consensus was established that sustainable development rests on three interdependent pillars - the protection of the earth, social development and economic prosperity. Agenda 21 was a seminal global achievement. It will forever stand out as a shining beacon pointing the direction to sustainable development. It is a towering monument to the spirit of the people of this age. It is as valid today as it was 10 years ago. As my brother, President [Fernando] Cardoso, passes on the torch - the flame being Agenda 21 - to the World Summit on Sustainable Development -the 'Johannesburg World Summit' - the enormity of the responsibility and challenge becomes tangible. We know that he hands over the torch on behalf of the victims of unsustainable development, concerned citizens of the world, and, on behalf of our children and future generations, to whom the Earth really belongs. The umbilical link between Johannesburg and Rio extends to Stockholm. Hence the significance of the presence of Prime Minister [Goran] Persson. The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment held this month three decades ago has resulted in three decades of unprecedented global concern about the negative impact of human activity on Mother Earth. Let us recall that in Stockholm the world declared: "Man is both creature and moulder of his environment, which gives him physical sustenance and affords him the opportunity for intellectual, moral, social and spiritual growth. In the long and tortuous evolution of the human race on this planet a stage has been reached when, through the rapid acceleration of science and technology, man has acquired the power to transform his environment in countless ways and on an unprecedented scale. Both aspects of man's environment, the natural and the man made, are essential to his well being and to the enjoyment of basic human rights the right to life itself."
Today, 30 years later, we have fewer fish in the seas, more carbon dioxide being pumped into the atmosphere, more desertification, more soil erosion and more species extinction. Our very development model is questioned daily by the earth's ecosystem on which all life and all economic activity is dependent. Our patterns of consumption and production cannot be left unchecked. If the Chinese citizen is to consume the same quantity of crude oil as his or her U.S. counterpart, China would need over 80 million barrels of oil a day - slightly more than the 74 million barrels a day the world now produces. If annual paper use in China of 35 kilograms per person were to climb to the U.S. level of 342 kilograms, China would need more paper than the world currently produces. The period since the Rio Earth Summit has been one of unprecedented global economic growth. Growth in the world economy in the year 2000 alone exceeded that during the entire 19th century. Yet people continue to die of hunger; babies get born, grow up, and die without being able to read or write; many fellow humans do not have clean water to drink; and, people die of curable diseases. The gulf between rich and poor members of the human race widens as we speak. The Johannesburg World Summit must take further our pledge at the Millennium Summit to eradicate poverty. It must focus on implementation and action. Its outcome must make sense to she who has to walk for kilometres to fetch drinking water and to she who spends hours gathering firewood for energy. It must also speak to he who consumes more than the earth can give. When leaders of the world gathered here in 1992, my country was still under apartheid rule. I did not enjoy the right to vote. Uncertainty and conflict loomed. But the human spirit triumphed. South Africa is now a democracy in which we live in harmony as we struggle to eradicate the legacy of over 300 years of colonialism and apartheid. Since the victory of democracy in 1994, seven million people have access to clean water, over one million homes for poor people have been built, over two million more homes now have electricity and every child has a place in school. And, South Africa is acting as host to the World Summit on Sustainable Development. At the time of Rio this was all just a dream. As you prepare to travel to Johannesburg, we all know that people can change and that it is possible to change the lives of the poor. We also must believe that it is possible for us to live in harmony with nature. A global partnership for sustainable development and for the eradication of poverty is within reach. Genuine human solidarity is both possible and necessary.
On behalf of the people of Johannesburg and South Africans in general, I invite leaders of the world and representatives of people from all walks of life to join us in the pursuit of this agenda of hope. Let us decide on a program to change the lives of People, to protect the Planet and to build Prosperity. Human society disposes of the means and the know-how to achieve these goals. Nobody can truthfully argue that the global community of nations is too poor to defeat global poverty. Nobody can truthfully argue that there is a larger human imperative or decisive constraint that makes it obligatory that we must destroy the environment. Together we must give real meaning to the solemn pledge that was made in this city 10 years ago: "Human beings are at the centre of concerns for sustainable development. They are entitled to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature." Together, let us, in action, repeat the words of the African poet, Ben Okri:
"Break this cycle From Stockholm, to Rio de Janeiro, to Johannesburg, let us continue to forge a new joy for the age. |
President of South Africa Thabo Mbeki (Photo courtesy Government of South Africa)
South African President Thabo Mbeki (left) welcomes UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to Durban, South Africa July 6 to attend the OAU/AU Summit. (Photo by Eskinder Debebe courtesy UN)
President Mbeki with U.S. President George W. Bush at The White House, June 26, 2001 (Photo by Paul Morse courtesy The White House)