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

Adopting the report by Mr Mihail Papayannakis (GUE/NGL, GR) by a majority of 341 votes to 29, with 12 abstentions, Parliament has expressed doubts about the success of the forthcoming World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. It nevertheless believes that the summit represents a vital opportunity to reinforce the concept of a global community and to extend the principles of sustainable development in such a way as to reconcile continued economic stability and development with exacting requirements in terms of environmental protection and of improved social standards and living conditions for everyone throughout the world. Noting that pressure on natural resources has intensified over the past ten years, Parliament urges the Johannesburg World Summit to take specific initiatives to preserve the world's natural resources, particularly water. The report contains a number of suggestions for the promotion of sustainable development and highlights five key issues, namely the sustainable management and conservation of natural resources, the eradication of poverty, strengthening governance for sustainable development at the national, regional and international levels, making globalisation work for sustainable development and enhancing the instruments of implementation. Parliament rejected a reference to the taxation of financial transactions. It called on the Johannesburg summit to establish development targets especially focused on the eradication of poverty and to measure progress towards sustainable development with the aid of universal indicators. �