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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE
JOHANNESBURG SUMMIT
A. POST JOHANNESBURG
1. How many people attended the Summit?
There were around 22,000 participants at the World Summit on Sustainable
Development. Around 10,000 delegates [ Includes participants
from Member States, inter-governmental organisations, official observers,
specialised agencies and related organisations, and associate members of
regional commissions.] were accredited by the United Nations in
Johannesburg to attend the Summit. Click here for a full list of these
participants.
In addition, some 8,000 representatives of major group organisations [The major groups are: Women, Children and Youth, Indigenous
People, NGOs, Local Authorities, Workers and Trade Unions, Business and
Industry, Scientific and Technological Communities and Farmers.] and
4,000 media were accredited to the Summit.
A large number of additional people were also in Johannesburg at the same time
to attend parallel events associated with the Summit, such as the Civil Society
Global Forum, but the UN did not organise these events and does not hold
attendance figures for them.
Click
here to find out more about these parallel events.
These figures do not include UN staff, local support staff and South African
security personnel.
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2. How many Heads of State and Government attended the Summit?
One hundred Heads of State and Government attended the Summit.top
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3. Which major group organisations attended the Summit?
The list of accredited major group organisations comes in three parts. Click on
the relevant link below:
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4. What about business and CEOs?
Over 2,000 representatives of businesses and business organizations are thought
to have participated in the Summit and parallel events in Johannesburg, half of
which were from overseas. Business groups estimate that there were 700
companies represented and that there were 40-50 CEOs. top
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5. What are the outcomes from WSSD?
There were three main outcomes from the Summit:
- Johannesburg Declaration on Sustainable Development, where
Heads of State and Government committed to taking the action needed to make
sustainable development a reality
- The
Johannesburg Plan of Implementation , negotiated by
governments, which sets out in more detail the action that needs to be taken in
specific areas
- Commitments by governments and other stakeholders to a broad range of
partnership activities and initiatives that will implement sustainable
development at the national, regional and international level. Over 220
partnerships (with $235 million in resources) were identified in advance of the
Summit and around 60 partnerships were announced during the Summit, including
major initiatives by the US, Japan, UK, Germany, France and the EU.
Click here to see a summary analysis of the key outcomes of
the Summit prepared by the Secretariat.
Governments established some important new targets, such as: to halve the
proportion of people without access to basic sanitation by 2015; to use and
produce chemicals by 2020 in ways that do not lead to significant adverse
effects on human health and the environment; to maintain or restore depleted
fish stocks to levels that can produce the maximum sustainable yield on an
urgent basis and where possible by 2015; and to achieve by 2010 a significant
reduction in the current rate of loss of biological diversity. In addition,
significant resources were committed and agreements made to address sustainable
development issues around the world, in particular to help the developing
world, both by governments and through partnership activities which involved
civil society, international organisations and the private sector.
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6. Where can I find the outcome documents from the Summit?
Click on the links below to see the following documents:
Click here for all other documents
from the Summit. top
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7. Are the Summit documents available in other languages?
Click on the links below to see the documents in the other 5 official languages
of the UN:
Arabic:
http://www.un.org/arabic/conferences/wssd/docs/summit_docs.html
Chinese: http://www.un.org/chinese/events/wssd/documents.html
French: http://www.un.org/french/events/wssd/pages/document.html
Russian: http://www.un.org/russian/conferen/wssd/docs.htm
Spanish: http://www.un.org/spanish/conferences/wssd/doconf.htm
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8. Who was in charge of the Summit?
The United Nations Secretary-General of the Summit was Mr. Nitin Desai, Under
Secretary General of Economic and Social Affairs.
The host South African government held presidency of the Summit. President
Thabo Mbeki chaired the general debate and Minister Zuma, Minister Moosa, and
Ambassador Kumalo chaired the main negotiations.
Dr. Emil Salim from Indonesia, who had been chairman of the preparatory
process, chaired the Main Committee. top
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9. How much did it cost to hold the Summit? Who met these costs?
The United Nations budgeted about $1.3 million for the Summit, primarily for
the activities of the UN Summit Secretariat and for public information. The UN
takes every step to minimize the costs associated with meetings such as this.
As with any UN meeting, the additional costs associated with holding the Summit
in Johannesburg rather than at Headquarters in New York were met by the host
country - in this case South Africa. For more information on the costs met by
the host country, please see the JOWSCO website:
www.joburgsummit2002.com top
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10. What was the role of civil society in the Summit?
The views of civil society were given substantial prominence at the Summit and
civil society will play a key role in implementing the outcomes and in
promoting partnership initiatives.
Representatives from all major groups — Women, Children and Youth,
Indigenous People, NGOs, Local Authorities, Workers and Trade Unions, Business
and Industry, Scientific and Technological Communities and Farmers — were
involved in the preparatory process, at the national, regional and global
level, and at the Summit itself in Johannesburg.
Over 8,000 civil society participants attended the Summit. In addition, there
were a large number of parallel events that were organised by major group
organisations, including conferences of civil society groups (including NGOs,
women, indigenous people, youth, farmers, workers), business leaders,
scientists, local authorities and Chief Justices. top
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11. What role did business play at the Summit?
Over 2,000 representatives of businesses and business organizations are thought
to have participated in the Summit and parallel events in Johannesburg, half of
which were from overseas. Business groups estimate that there were 700
companies represented and that there were 40-50 CEOs in attendance. Business
Action for Sustainable Development, who organised business input for the
Summit, have said that businesses are involved in over 90 partnership
initiatives launched at the Summit, in a wide range of sectors including
energy, water, health, agriculture, tourism, forestry, fisheries and
biodiversity. For more information on business activities for the Summit, visit
the BASD website: http://www.basd-action.net top
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12. How will Government adherence to commitments made in Johannesburg be
monitored?
Following decisions made at the Summit, the UN Commission on Sustainable
Development (CSD) will now have an enhanced role in respect of reviewing and
monitoring progress in the implementation of Agenda 21 and fostering coherence
of implementation, initiatives and partnerships. top
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13. How many partnership initiatives were launched at the Summit? What will
happen to these now?
Over 220 partnerships (with $235 million in resources) were identified in
advance of the Summit and around 60 partnerships were announced during the
Summit, including major initiatives by the US, Japan, UK, Germany, France and
the EU.
Governments agreed at the Summit to enhance partnerships between governmental
and non-governmental actors, including major groups and volunteer groups, on
programmes and activities for the achievement of sustainable development at all
levels. The Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) will serve as a focal
point for the discussion of partnerships that promote sustainable development,
including sharing lessons learned, progress made and best practices. In
addition, the regional commissions of the United Nations, in collaboration with
other regional and sub-regional bodies, were given a mandate to promote
multi-stakeholder participation and encourage partnerships to support the
implementation of Agenda 21 at the regional and sub-regional levels.
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14. What is the status now of the Kyoto Protocol?
Ministers at the Johannesburg Summit indicated their support for the Kyoto
Protocol. The agreed action plan reads: "States that have ratified
strongly urge those that have not done so to ratify Kyoto in a timely
manner". This declaration maintains the momentum to move forward the
climate treaty.
Countries like China, India, Brazil and Thailand announced their ratification
of the Kyoto Protocol at the Johannesburg Summit. Russia and Canada have given
strong signals that they will ratify in the near future. In doing so, the
combined emissions of Russia and Canada would be sufficient to push the
greenhouse gas figures over the required limit.
The Kyoto Protocol will enter into force 90 days after 55 governments have
ratified, including developed countries representing at least 55% of that
group's 1990 carbon dioxide emissions. As of September 2002, 94 countries have
ratified - including all European Union member states and Japan, accounting for
37.1%.
Shares of 1990 carbon dioxide emissions include:
| United States |
36.1 % |
| European Union |
24.2 % |
| Russian Federation |
17.4 % |
| Japan |
8.5 % |
| Canada |
3.3 % |
| Australia |
2.1 % |
Recent climate disasters around the world have served as reminders of the
changes that climate change is likely to bring. The droughts in India and the
US and the floods throughout Europe seem to follow regional climate change
scenarios. It was with such events in mind that governments established an
Adaptation Fund under the Kyoto Protocol.
WSSD adopted the Plan of Implementation which underlines the importance of
developing and disseminating innovative technologies in energy and other key
sectors, including through the private sector. Technology transfer is another
vital concern because many developing countries find it difficult to make a
rapid transition to cleaner energy and production. top
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15. Will there be more corporate responsibility now as a result of the
Summit?
Governments agreed at the Summit to actively promote corporate responsibility
and accountability, based on the Rio Principles, and to support continuous
improvement in corporate practices in all countries.top
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16. Where can I see the winning entries from the children's poster
competitions and essay competitions that were held in the run-up to the Summit?
Click on the links below to see the winning entries of these national
competitions that were submitted to the Summit Secretariat:
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17. What side events were held during WSSD?
Click here to see which side events took place
inside the Sandton Convention Centre each day of the Summit.
For the ENB On the Side reports of selected side events and parallel events,
prepared by the International Institue for Sustainable Development,
click here.
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18. What were the parallel events associated with the Summit?
In addition to the official Summit and the side events taking place inside the
UN venue, a large number of additional events-known as parallel events-took
place in the Johannesburg area around the time of the Summit. These events were
convened and managed by independent organisations or groups, with the logistics
coordinated by the Johannesburg World Summit Company (JOWSCO) — the
non-profit company wholly owned by the South African government that was
established to manage logistical operations on behalf of the Summit's host
nation.
For a summary of the main parallel events associated with the Summit
click here.
To see JOWSCO's comprehensive listing of the parallel events that took place at
the time of the Summit,
click here. top
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19. What was the Virtual Exhibit and what did it do?
The Virtual Exhibit website developed for the Summit was dedicated to
highlighting successful sustainable development partnership projects through
visual images and live webcast interactions between delegates at the Summit and
people working on projects in the field— thus bringing the world to the
Summit and the Summit to the world.
Over the ten day Summit period, the website hosted over one hundred live link
ups, including interviews with fourteen Heads of State and Ministers, and it
received over one million, three hundred thousand 'hits'. A number of
television stations took output from the Virtual Exhibit for broadcasting
around the world.
Visit www.VirtualExhibit.netfor more information on the projects
submitted and archived footage from the webcasts. top
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20. What is the UN Works campaign?
UN Works is a communications programme that focuses on the role of the United
Nations in fostering concrete solutions to many of the problems faced by real
people throughout the world. Through media partnerships that include original
TV programming, PSAs, website features, educational outreach and other
promotional activities, UN Works puts a human face on critical issues and shows
how effective projects can change lives. The goal is to foster inter-agency
collaboration, showcase best practices, facilitate partnerships with civil
society and the private sector and help mobilise resources.
UN Works carried out an out-of-home campaign and website features for the
Johannesburg Summit. Click here for more information. top
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21. What is JOWSCO?
The Johannesburg World Summit Company (JOWSCO) was established by the South
African government as a non-for profit company to manage logistical prepartions
for the Johannesburg Summit on behalf of the host government.top
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22. What will happen now to the Commission on Sustainable Development? How
and when will the work programme be determined?
Governments agreed at the Summit that the role of the Commission would be
enhanced, including through reviewing and monitoring progress in the
implementation of Agenda 21 and fostering coherence of implementation,
initiatives and partnerships. The Commission will focus on actions related to
implementation of Agenda 21, limiting negotiations in the sessions of the
Commission to every two years and limiting the number of themes addressed in
each session.
Specific decisions will be taken by the Commission at its next session in
relation to its programme of work, the scheduling and duration of
inter-sessional meetings, and how it will continue to provide for more
involvement of international organizations and major groups, drawing on
scientific contributions and furthering the contribution of educators in
sustainable development.
The dates for the next session of CSD will be determined by the 57th Session of
the General Assembly (autumn 2002) top
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23. What is sustainable development?
Sustainable development has been defined as "development which meets the
needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their own needs" (Report of the World Commission on Environment and
Development, 1987). Sustainable development is about the interface between
human society and the environment. top
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24. What is Agenda 21?
Agenda 21, the world's plan of action for sustainable development, was adopted
by the international community at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.
Agenda 21 was a landmark achievement, incorporating environmental, economic and
social concerns into a single framework. It contains over 2,500 wide-ranging
and achievable recommendations for action on issues such as:
- reducing wasteful use of natural resources;
- fighting poverty;
- protecting the atmosphere, oceans and animal and plant life;and
- promoting sustainable agriculture practices that will feed the world's
ever-growing population.
Click
here for a copy of Agenda 21.top
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25. What does sustainable development mean to individuals and
communities?
Sustainable development is about a better way of approaching the management of
natural resources and the adverse effects of globalisation in order to address
a range of problems. These include loss of biodiversity, pollution and
destruction of natural resources (such as forests, fisheries). This impact is
not limited to the developing world. Many in the industrialised world also
suffer the consequences of mismanagement of the Earth's environmental and human
resources - and that trend is likely to grow as the world's economic and social
systems become increasingly inter-linked. Some examples are as follows:
- About 1.2 billion people worldwide lack sufficient access to fresh water,
and water-borne disease causes millions of deaths every year.
- Air pollution, which crosses national borders and affects us all, is one of
the major causes of illness and death worldwide.
- Preventable diseases such as malaria and AIDS kill millions each year, but
could be largely prevented with the support of developed healthcare systems and
improvements in sanitation.
- Destruction of forests, fisheries and agricultural land leads to poverty
and famine, which can create breakdowns in civil society and governments,
leading in some cases to armed conflict.
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26. I am very interested in the work of the United Nations. How can I find
out more about the UN and employment opportunities?
Click herefor information about employment opportunities at the United
Nationstop
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__________________________________________________________________
Copyright © United
Nations
Department of Economic and
Social Affairs
Division for
Sustainable Development
Comments and suggestions
24 August 2006
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