Thousands of People Taking to Streets in Mass Protests at Earth Summit

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, September 01, 2002

Thousands of People Taking to Streets in Mass Protests at Earth Summit

Tens of thousands of people were expected to take to the streets of Johannesburg Saturday in the first mass protests at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) since it began on Monday.

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Tens of thousands of people were expected to take to the streets of Johannesburg Saturday in the first mass protests at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) since it began on Monday.

The South African authorities expected at least 20,000 protestors to descend on the Sandton Convention Center, where the summit is being held.

There will be two separate demonstrations, one is the Global People's Forum, involving supporters of the ruling African National Congress party of Thabo Mbeki. The other is the Social Movements Indaba (SMI), made up of more radical groups angered by what they see as a failure by the summit's delegates to address issues involving the poor.

Sources close to presidential office, South African President Thabo Mbeki is to address the protesters before they start their nine-km march.

Authorities drafted in extra police reinforcements from across the country, but were confident that the protests will pass off peacefully.

The protests take place amid mounting fears that stark differences of opinion between rich and poor nations will prevent delegates from approving a draft document before heads of state arrive next week.

While the bulk of a text was agreed, key issues remained unresolved, from targets on cleaning up energy supplies, being resisted by the Americans, to cuts in Western farm subsidies, as urged by developing countries.

Talks were set to continue through the weekend and some representatives believed that if the final plan of action is not agreed by September 4, when the summit is due to end, discussions could drag on for several more days.

Keen to avert a deadlock, South Africa, the summit host, put forward a list of seven topics it said delegates should now focus on. The seven topics are: production and consumption, renewable energy, sanitation, biodiversity, targets and timetables, access to energy and natural resources.

The United States intransigence was seen by European countries as a key problem of the summit.

Washington was refusing to contemplate binding targets for introducing renewable energy technologies like wind and solar power, which do not pollute the planet.

However, the European Union said 15 percent of the world's total primary energy supply should by 2010 come from renewable sources.

The summit's organizers said US delegates were offering to promote access to clean water in exchange for Japan supporting a removal of renewable energy targets.

On trade, countries agreed a text that recognizes "the major role trade can play in achieving sustainable development and in alleviating poverty."

But delegates were stuck on subsidies and tariffs issues affecting the movement of goods from the developing world onto the markets of the richer nations.

Some delegates doubted a text will be approved by the time when heads of state arrive.

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