Environment and sustainable development: Johannesburg World Summit 2002, 10 years after Rio

In adopting its conclusions on the preparation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg, September 2002), the Council: - welcomes the progress made in the Regional Preparation for the World Summit on Sustainable Development and recalls the United Nations Economic Committee for Europe Ministerial Statement adopted on 25 September 2001 in Geneva, which confirms poverty eradication and sustainable production and consumption patterns as the overarching objectives of sustainable development; - encourages the Member States and the Community to strengthen the integration of Climate Change into their development cooperation policies and to allocate appropriate additional financial resources for this purpose; - welcomes the outcome of the Fifth Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, especially in addressing the poverty-environment nexus; - encourages the Community and the Member States to strengthen their policies for biodiversity through an effective implementation of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity; - recalls the EU commitment expressed in the Conclusions of the Göteburg European Council (June 2001) the UN target for official development assistance of 0.7% of GNP as soon as possible and to achieve concrete progress towards reaching the target before the World Summit on Sustainable Development; - invite all the Member States to aim at attendance and representation at the highest political level at the Summit.�