- (AFP) -- World leaders gathered at the Earth Summit in
Johannesburg and said the planet's future was darkened by poverty and a
deteriorating environment, and urged global action to root out these evils.
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- "Our house is burning down and we're blind to it,"
French President Jacques Chirac said Monday.
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- "Nature, mutilated and over-exploited, can no longer
regenerate, and we refuse to admit it... the Earth and mankind are in danger,
and we are all responsible."
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- Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder of Germany declared that
climate change, inflicted by man's reckless burning of fossil fuels, had
already begun, wreaking floods and drought in three continents.
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- "There has been a dramatic increase in extreme weather
conditions and it shows one thing very clearly -- that climate change is
no longer a sceptical forecast only, it is a reality wherever we are."
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- British Prime Minister Tony Blair highlighted famine,
war, poverty and disease in Africa, saying this claimed the life of one
child every three seconds.
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- "If Africa is a scar on the conscience of the world,
we have a duty to heal it," he said.
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- Facing this crisis, Western leaders vowed emotionally
they would commit money and skills to help eradicate want and protect the
environment.
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- US President George W. Bush was absent from the meeting,
which gathered around 100 heads of state and government, a snub which has
infuriated environmentalists at the mammoth 10-day forum, which has drawn
more than 40,000 delegates to official and fringe events.
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- Behind the scenes, exhausted negotiators were down to
one last sticking point in a 71-page action plan, but environmentalists
complained that compromises had blunted its teeth.
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- The last hurdle is access to electricity for the two
billion people living in dire poverty and increasing power from solar panels,
windmills and ocean waves to reduce dependence on polluting and finite
fossil fuels such as coal, gas and petroleum.
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- The Plan of Implementation is due to be issued as the
summit ends on Wednesday, along with a political declaration which in its
draft form supports multilateralism, corruption-free government and a commitment
to fight terrorism.
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- Schroeder promised a billion euros (dollars) to help
developing countries gain access to clean, efficient energy and announced
he would host a conference on renewable energy next year.
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- Blair vowed to boost his country's development aid and
called on rich countries to open up their protected agricultural markets
to goods from poor nations.
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- "Britain will raise by 2006 its commitment to development
aid for Africa to one billion pounds (1.54 billion dollars, euros) a year
and its overall levels of assistance to all countries by 50 percent,"
Blair said. The increase had been previously announced.
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- British officials said they were unable to give details
about Blair's promise for a 50 percent increase in overall aid, and said
it was not included in his prepared speech.
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- Chirac revived a controversial call for a global tax
to finance development, saying it would be a "solidarity levy on the
wealth created by globalisation".
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- The European Union pledged it would reform the lavish
system of agricultural subsidies and tariff barriers blamed for destroying
the livelihood of rural farmers around the developing world.
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- "We recognise the importance of agriculture for
developing countries and we agree that tariff reduction is not enough,"
said European Commission President Romano Prodi.
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