European Union" "
Despite the criticism of experts and the disappointment expressed by many non governmental organisations regarding the outcome of the world summit on sustainable development, a number of the agreements signed in Johannesburg reflect the position of the European Union. The EU delegation was led by the Danish minister for the environment, his Greek counterpart and by the European Commission in the persons of Commissioners Wallstrom (environment) and Nielson (development). On the subject of water resources, participating States agreed on 2015 as the limit date for reducing by 50% the world population without access to potable water. A compromise was reached for reducing to a minimum the damage to health and the environment provoked by dangerous chemical substances. The creation of a new “World Solidarity Fund” was approved without discussion. An EU request emerged from Johannesburg for all the countries of the world to ratify the Kyoto agreement on the emission of greenhouse gases. The invitation was particularly addressed to the United States; for its part, Russia announced a ratification of the agreement in “a short time”. There was also agreement on biodiversity for which the limit date for a first significant reduction was fixed at 2010. A generic commitment was made to increase renewable energy sources though without fixing time limits, despite the insistence of the EU. Nor was there any surprise at the postponement of discussions on international trade: the EU and USA presented a united front to developing countries who would have preferred to reopen negotiations on the Johannesburg stage. Finally, the European Commission and the governments of member States confirmed their commitment to increase the percentage of GDP allocated to development from the current 0.39% to 0.7%.
