BuaNews (Tshwane)
Thabo Mokgola
5 September 2002
President Thabo Mbeki has hailed the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), saying it has met the continent's expectations.
'It was important that the Summit had reached an agreement... and came out in a forthright manner with regard to poverty relief,' he said, adding that for Africans 'these were issues of life and death'.
The President was addressing the media on the last day of the Summit in Johannesburg, last night.
He said Africa stood at the centre of what had been deliberated upon for the past two weeks.
However, President Mbeki, who is also President of the Summit, acknowledged that the Summit might not have fulfilled everyone's expectations but stressed the need for implementation of the agreements reached.
'The agreements reached at this Summit should not be a ceiling...
and a firm platform has been set for action by all stakeholders, from governments to the private sector to the civil society.' 'But,' he continued, 'the fact that indeed the conference came out as strongly and clearly as it did was good.' Yesterday, more than a hundred leaders adopted a political declaration committing leaders to eradicating poverty and saving the planet.
They also endorsed a plan of action that sought to intensify the fight against what President Mbeki branded a 'global apartheid'.
It seeks to cement the Millennium Declaration goals that set out to halve the number of people living in poverty by 2015.
In the plan, countries pledged to halve the number of people without clean water and adequate sanitation by 2015, curb the loss of biodiversity by 2010, to secure the safe use of chemicals by 2020 and to restore fish stocks by 2015.
On renewable energy, which had been a thorny issue throughout the Summit, it was agreed that the utilisation of the sources thereof, such as solar energy and wind power, be increased.
Furthermore, President Mbeki said it was imperative that multilateralism be maintained, saying it was wrong to think collectively and then act individually.
He said it was important that leaders listened to the children and the youth, who had insisted on an action oriented outcome of the Summit.
'They say they are tired of the brackets and the commas that are being argued upon. They are saying we should act now!' he implored.
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