Britain Blames US for Failing World's Poor

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, August 26, 2002

Britain Blames US for Failing World's Poor

Deep tensions between Britain and the US have emerged ahead of the Earth Summit in Johannesburg, which remains shrouded in pessimism ahead of its official start Monday.

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Deep tensions between Britain and the US have emerged ahead of the Earth Summit in Johannesburg, which remains shrouded in pessimism ahead of its official start Monday.

The summit is aimed at reducing world poverty through promoting environmentally sustainable growth, and although it is seen as the most important world summit for years, there are growing concerns that virtually nothing significant will be achieved.

As the gloom deepened in the corridors, it seems many delegates are staying away. Although 65,000 delegates had been predictected to turn up, the UN has downgraded its expectations to just 40,000, and by Sunday only 9,000 delegates and journalists had been accredited.

The UK has backed calls from developing countries for targets to reduce the number of people who don't have access to drinking water, sanitation or electricity. The UN has warned that unless real progress is made, the world will be increasingly divided between haves and have nots, fuelling global terrorism.

However, the US yesterday made clear that it does not want any new targets and will not provide any new money to reduce poverty or help protect the environment. The head of the US delegation John Turner said Sunday: "We don't see the need for any new targets."

Although 100 world leaders have said they will attend the summit, President Bush has said he will not attend. The head of the British delegation, the Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett, Sunday showed growing frustration with American intransigence, which could derail the summit. She said: "It's true that the American government is not doing as much as we would all like to see it do, but that's doesn't mean there aren't lots of people in America who take these issues just as seriously as they deserve".

After a year of talks, no agreement has been reached on more than a quarter of the negotiating text, and there is concern that positions are now so entrenched that it will be impossible to reach any meaningful agreement in the ten days of the summit. One UN official warned that failure to resvolve outstanding issues could render the summit useless, and said they were not optimistic about progress.

South Africa��s deputy foreign minister Aziz Pahad, insisted that while he was confident that common ground could be reached, "it would be romantic to assume that there would be absolute consensus at such a large-diverse conference."

Friends of the Earth has been very critical of Tony Blair��s decision to attend the summit for just one day.

Mr Blair also came under attack from his most senior environment adviser, Jonathan Porritt, who said he didn't give environmental issues the priority they deserve. Sunday Mrs Beckett defended the Prime Minister, saying he had been fully involved in the summit.

Source: Agencies

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