ENB @ WSSD - Johannesburg, 26 August


Plenary:
Partnerships: Water and Sanitation

Margaret Catley-Carlson, Chair, Global Water Partnership, underscored the need for ‘integrated water resources management.’ She noted that water was not accorded sufficient priority as the well-to-do already have access to water, and suggested considering ways to create the political ambience necessary to make it a priority. She underscored the importance of bringing ‘all to the table’ for this task.


Gourisankar Ghosh, Executive Director, Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council, stressed the need for a separate sanitation target. He proposed a new paradigm that would be: middle-of-the-road, neither provide free water nor leave it to the market; multi-sectoral; people-centered; and both bottom-up and top-down. He noted that current annual expenditure on water was US$ 11billion, and an additional US$ 9 billion would enable the international community to reach the target of halving by 2015 the number of people (1.1 billion) without access to water.

Left photo: The panel on Partnership on Water and Sanitation. Listen to the real audio of the complete inter-active discussion on Water and Sanitation (approximately 1 hour) or in three parts (Part 1 , Part 2 and Part 3) as moderated by Jan Pronk.

Statements by Governments on Water and Sanitation
to follow
SWITZERLAND raised the need for coherence in national water resource management and coordination among international institutions.
		URUGUAY cited its use of portable sanitation and water supply stations as an example of how developing countries can help solve water access problems.

The US noted the importance of ecosystem management, including trans-boundary water basins, and pledged take more action on watershed management.
		THE UN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS stated that access to clean water was a human right, and noted the overemphasis on profit-making and the difficulty local governments have when reclaiming water delivery services after failed privatization efforts.

Energy:

Stephen Karekezi, African Energy Policy Research Network, stressed that small-scale energy investments have significant benefits for the poor. He added that small-scale energy technologies are locally made and can be sustained.
Thomas B. Johansson, Director, International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics, highlighted the importance of targets and timetables. He suggested elements for a policy agenda including capacity building, energy efficiency, and ‘making markets work better’.





Main Committee:

In an evening session the Vienna setting continued debating language on chemicals and finally agreed on language to support time-bound measures that would “lead to the minimization of significant adverse effects,” and deleted text in a separate provision regarding an international response to impacts of heavy metals as part of the package. Right delegate from South Africa making an intervention.


Wednesday, 28 August 2002 as of 6:00 pm (GMT +2)

Partnership Plenaries were convened on water and sanitation in the morning and energy in the afternoon, including expert presentations, commentary from discussants and more general debate among States. Left photo: Jan Pronk, Special Envoy of the UN Secretary General to the WSSD moderating the inter-active discussions on the Partnerships on Water.

Left photo: View of the crowd from the plenary.

Negotiations:
Main Committee:

The contact group on institutional arrangements met throughout the day making small steps toward agreement, particularly on language regarding the role of ECOSOC with regard to the follow-up of the Summitï¿½s outcomes and the Monterrey Consensus.

The Vienna setting continued deliberations on outstanding text. Discussions focused on a time-bound target of 2020 for reducing the adverse effects of chemicals on health and the environment, although consensus continued to prove illusive. Informal consultations are still ongoing for the following issues: the Rio Principles; finance and trade; energy; chemicals; climate; Africa; consumption and production; and sanitation. Right photo: Main Committee Chair, Emil Salim in discussion with delegates.




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