Survival of fittest has to end says Summit host

JOHANNESBURG - The Earth Summit opened in Johannesburg last night, giving world governments driven by a mix of idealism and realpolitik just 10 days to agree on ways to haul millions out of poverty without poisoning the planet.

Their host, South African President Thabo Mbeki, yesterday called for an end to "global apartheid" between a rich minority of prosperous consumers and the mass of suffering poor.

He told the United Nations conference's opening plenary session that the summit must scrap the primitive rule of "survival of the fittest".

"A global human society based on poverty for many and prosperity for a few, characterised by islands of wealth, surrounded by a sea of poverty, is unsustainable.

"There is every need for us to demonstrate to the billions of people we lead that ... we do not accept that human society should be constructed on the basis of a savage principle of the survival of the fittest.

"The world has grown into a global village. The survival of everybody in this village demands that we develop a universal consensus to act together to ensure that there is no longer any river that divides our common habitat into poor and wealthy parts."

As the summit formally began, former South African President Nelson Mandela was to address some of the tens of thousands of campaigners who have arrived in Johannesburg to lobby their leaders. The plush Sandton convention centre, where the summit is being held, is shielded by ranks of police from demonstrators and sprawling, crime-ridden slums.

Officials, who met at the weekend before the official opening, made scant progress in bridging a wide gulf between hesitant rich states and poor nations demanding more aid and fairer trade.

"Everybody is very pessimistic," said an Italian delegate.

Those on the outside were scarcely more optimistic.

"This meeting will contribute to the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer," said Trevor Ngwane, who campaigns against privatising water supplies in Johannesburg's Soweto township.

"This is not our summit."

World leaders - minus notable absentees such as United States President George W. Bush - are due in Johannesburg for a day or two this week.

Protesters accuse the US and the European Union of pushing the interests of globalised big business at the expense of the very poor.

Some activists have already confronted police, who clamped down hard and warned that they would not tolerate the kind of mayhem seen at summits in Seattle, Genoa and elsewhere.

It is now up to ministers to push the negotiations forward before the heads of state arrive.

They hope to agree on a wide-ranging package of measures ranging from providing clean water and saving fish stocks to fighting Aids.

Washington is leading resistance to demands from developing countries for concrete commitments to higher aid payments and more access to Western import markets.

But it says it is keen to promote worthy projects in partnership with private enterprise.

The summit's United Nations organisers hope that pledges entered into publicly by world leaders can revive the drive for environmentally friendly economic growth that was launched in Rio.

Most of the Rio promises remain unfulfilled.

Richer nations complain that much of their aid has been squandered by corrupt or incompetent governments in the Third World and are demanding better guarantees of good governance.

The summit will concentrate the work of its thousands of official delegates on five key areas - cleaner water, non-polluting energy, better health, sustainable agriculture and preserving the "biodiversity" of the Earth's many species.

- REUTERS

Johannesburg Summit