Events convened on Friday, 7 June 2002

80 days to make a summit: From Bali to Johannesburg
Presented by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) 

Left to right: Mark Moody-Stuart, BASD; Remi Parmentier, Greenpeace; Achim Steiner, IUCN; Annik Dollacker, WBCSD; and Lynn Schloesser, Eastman Chemical Company.

At this event, business and civil society members discussed how to achieve success in the WSSD agenda and outcomes.

Mark Moody-Stuart, Business Action for Sustainable Development (BASD), said businesses want the WSSD to create a framework to benefit existing partnerships and facilitate work on local governance to enable new partnerships.

Remi Parmentier, Greenpeace, highlighted the lack of realism and ambition at PrepCom IV, which he said has been stalled by the US, Australia and Canada. He presented three possible PrepCom IV outcomes: no agreement; a weak text representing abdication of governmental responsibilities; or a bracketed text, which would allow continued civil society advocacy. He indicated growing support for the position that there should be no Type II partnerships unless adequate Type I outcomes are delivered.

Lynn Schloesser, Eastman Chemical Company, expressed disappointment with the WSSD process, and stated that US businesses need strong local and national governance and clear property rights worldwide to foster equity and accountability. He noted that Chapter 19 of Agenda 21, which addresses the chemical industry, has been implemented, and said businesses want to move beyond Agenda 21 and are committed to partnerships, targets and timetables.

Antonio Hill, Oxfam, stressed that the WSSD should address the key issues of globalization, development assistance and imbalances of power in finance and trade, and ensure that ODA, globalization, and finance and trade serve sustainable development and do not restrict the rights of governments to decide how sustainable development takes place in their countries. He called on the private sector to respect traditional and indigenous property rights regimes and governing institutions.

Annik Dollacker, World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), stressed that businesses expect concrete outcomes from the WSSD in terms of targets and timetables for partnerships. She emphasized that partnerships must be flexible, include a range of views, and adopt "step-by-step" and "learning-by-doing" approaches, and said that the WSSD is not a goal in itself but a starting point for the creation of new partnerships.

Kim Carstensen, WWF, highlighted the lack of political will and preparation for the WSSD process, and stressed the need for new energy, vision and commitment by governments. He called on the EU to deliver on its ambitious commitments, and on the US, Canada and Australia to reconsider their positions to prevent the failure of the WSSD. He stressed that governments need assistance and pressure from civil society and the private sector, and said PrepCom IV's outcomes should generate public interest. He welcomed the private sector's proactive engagement in the WSSD process, but underscored the need for strict and clear government-regulated frameworks and systems for corporate responsibility to ensure the credibility of partnerships and private sector activities.

Achim Steiner, IUCN, noted a growing understanding that governments have become an obstacle in moving the WSSD agenda forward, resulting in calls from civil society and the private sector for governments to set clear targets and timetables for action.

International partnership on global mapping and earth observation initiative for sustainable development
Presented by the International Steering Committee for Global Mapping (ISCGM) 

Mr. Shizuo Sato, Senior-Vice Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of Japan, delivered the keynote speech.

Takashi Hamazaki, Japanese National Space Development Agency, summarized recent developments in earth observation, underlined the cost effectiveness of the technology for gathering data from broad areas, and described the main features and characteristics of the Advanced Land Observation Satellite to be launched in 2004.

A. H. M. Shahidullah, Bangladesh, explained the usefulness of global mapping data for flood forecasting and monitoring in Bangladesh, pointing out that flood forecasting is indispensable for sustainable development in his country.

Derek Clarke, South Africa, outlined global mapping applications in developing countries, highlighting their usefulness in the fields of land-use inventory, land-use change, environmental impact analysis, food security and development planning. He outlined challenges, including a lack of recognition of the importance of global mapping, lack of institutional coordination, and duplication of efforts.

Milan Konecny, International Cartographic Association, discussed how global mapping data can be a useful tool for decision making for sustainable development.

Santiago Borrero, Agustin Codazzi Geographic Institute, addressed the spatial data infrastructure framework and its relationship with the Global Mapping Project and output data, highlighting the development of a Colombian Global Map.

Haggai Nyapola, Kenya, outlined spatial data development in African countries, and said challenges in Africa include: its weak economic base; lack of capacity; and limited participation in the Global Mapping Project. He emphasized the need for cooperation between developed and developing countries, capacity building, and enhanced funding for the further implementation of the project.

Minoru Akiyama, Secretary-General of the ISCGM, outlined the status of data publication for the Global Mapping Project, and called for the participation of Middle Eastern and African countries in the Project.

Building a global greenhouse gas register of voluntary corporate commitments
Presented by the World Economic Forum (WEF) and the Governments of Indonesia and Switzerland 

Richard Samans, WEF, states that the GHG register will encompass a registration protocol for the inventory of emissions and establishment of reduction targets, a verification protocol, guarantees of transparency, and a platform for multi-stakeholder cooperation.

Richard Samans, WEF, described the initiative, citing as impediments to voluntary initiatives, including: the lack of a widely accepted methodology to compare companies' voluntary commitments; the absence of an internationally recognized platform for registration of voluntary corporate commitments; the lack of generally accepted financial accounting and disclosure protocols for GHG emissions; and the limited emissions trading market.

Dirk Forrister, Natsource Inc., outlined existing targets, registers and trading platforms, highlighting the importance of benchmarking them against each other and bringing additional companies into voluntary commitments.

Samans said the benefits of the initiative for environmental groups and civil society include improvement of the transparency of global GHG emissions and corporate actions, and stimulation of early action. He said that the value to governments lies in increased private sector engagement in climate action, the stimulation of public-private partnerships for regulatory regimes, and development of a global carbon market. Businesses can benefit from: more standardized criteria for GHG emissions reductions; increased public and official recognition of voluntary actions; the opportunity to shape future mandatory reduction and regulatory regimes; the development of financial accounting methodologies for GHG emissions; and stimulation of the emissions trading market.

Fiona Gadd, Andersen UK, presented an overview of design concerns for the proposed scheme, addressing the establishment of parameters for eligible voluntary targets, means of promoting consistency and transparency, the responsibilities of partnerships, and cooperation with official actors.

Tahar Hadj-Sadok, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), noted similarities between the methodological challenges posed by national GHG inventories required under the UNFCCC and those being developed for this initiative.

Antonio La Viña, World Resources Institute (WRI), stressed that the initiative must: build on other initiatives; be compatible with emerging State-sponsored GHG registers; encourage emissions reductions; support trading with credibility, transparency and accountability; and incorporate an internet-accessible database for use by the public and other stakeholders.

Jennifer Morgan, WWF, noted that there will soon be a global legally-binding regime on GHG emissions reductions when the Kyoto Protocol enters into force, and welcomed the new initiative as a means to accelerate companies' development of carbon strategies. She emphasized that reducing GHG emissions has proven to be a good business practice through the WWF Climate Savers programme.

Amb. Beat Nobs, Switzerland, highlighted the benefits of this initiative in supporting companies engaging in voluntary emissions reductions, and stressed the need for private businesses and initiatives to work closely with international agendas on GHG emissions reduction.

The Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) on the side is a special publication of the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The Editor of ENB on the side is Kira Schmidt kira@iisd.org.This issue has been written by Tamilla Held tamilla@iisd.org, Jenny Mandel jenny@iisd.org and Kira Schmidt kira@iisd.org. The Digital Editors are Andrei Henry andrei@iisd.org, Leila Mead leila@iisd.org, and Diego Noguera diego@iisd.org. Funding for publication of ENB on the Side at PC-IV is provided by UNDP. The opinions expressed in ENB on the Side are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of IISD and funders. Excerpts from ENB on the Side may be used in non-commercial publications only and only with appropriate academic citation. For permission to use this material in commercial publications, contact the Managing Editor at kimo@iisd.org. Electronic versions of issues of ENB on the Side from WSSD PC-IV can be found on the Linkages website at http://enb.iisd.org/2002/pc4/enbots/.