3.00pm
JOHANNESBURG - The United States and other states will roll out partnerships today designed to boost economic growth and clean up the planet despite rising criticism that the deals undermine goals at the Earth Summit.
The UN-backed partnerships link governments, companies and interest groups into projects designed to cut poverty and
improve access to water and energy without increasing pollution.
The aim is to put the lofty goals agreed a decade ago at the Rio Earth Summit into practice.
But critics say the partnerships are an effort to cover up weak action from the nearly 200 governments at the 10-day Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development, which seeks ways to halve poverty without poisoning the planet.
Much of the criticism is aimed at the United States, which is promoting partnerships as a path towards sustainable development while saying it will not consent to any new targets or offer new funds for the goals in Johannesburg.
Environmentalists said the schemes lack proper oversight and would hand government responsibilities to the private sector.
"Partnerships without accountability may be partnerships in crime, especially when they include corporations," said Michael Dorsey of the Sierra Club environmental group.
Violations of environmental laws cause far more financial damage than the accounting scandals which have rocked US markets in recent months, he said, and only tight regulation can prevent vulnerable regions from unscrupulous companies.
"Voluntary codes of conduct do not work and are not enough," he said.
The United States is set to roll out several partnerships on Thursday committing hundreds of millions of dollars from existing programmes and funds to a broad range of public-private projects.
One project will receive US$43 million ($92 million) for an effort with several other nations and non-governmental groups to provide energy for poor communities.
Another will expand the Congo basin forest protection efforts with an additional US$53 million over four years.
The Congo basin plan, which has been running for five years on an annual budget of US$3 million, would be broadened to promote economic development while improving resource conservation.
"This is one of things they absolutely should be doing," said David Hale, chairman of the sustainable development group Stakeholder Forum and former director of the US Agency for International Development.
"The central issue is whether people actually produce on what they're promising."
Tim Wirth, president of the United Nations Fund which will launch a US$500 million programme with the Asian Development Bank and several states to curb waste in water-scarce areas, said partnerships involving public services had to be transparent.
"The ownership has to remain in public hands, but the private sector has to operate them," he told Reuters.
When operated properly, state-private partnerships have proven their worth, some observers said.
"All the progress we've made over the past two years in sustainable development have been done by partnerships," Hale said. "But I'd love an equal commitment on (Washington's) part to targets and timetables and accountability."
- REUTERS
Johannesburg Summit
nzherald.co.nz/environment
nzherald.co.nz/climate
3.00pm
JOHANNESBURG - The United States and other states will roll out partnerships today designed to boost economic growth and clean up the planet despite rising criticism that the deals undermine goals at the Earth Summit.
The UN-backed partnerships link governments, companies and interest groups into projects designed to cut poverty and
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