He told the delegates, meeting in Conference Room 1 in the basement of the UN Secretariat Building, that the Johannesburg summit meeting must be able to meet the "new challenges" that have emerged in the 10 years that have passed since the Earth Summit was held in Rio, challenges such as those posed by globalization and the new information technologies. "It should be able to deliver a message of hope," he said, "a message that the world is able to overcome crises, that it is possible to build the world anew."

UN Under Secretary Nitin Desai, who is also Secretary General of the Johannesburg Summit, introduced the report of the Secretary General, "Implementing Agenda 21."

Agenda 21, the main document approved by the 1992 Earth Summit, is a voluminous blueprint for sustainable development in the 21st Century, but, according to the Secretary General's report, "There is undoubtedly a gap in implementation" of it over the past decade.

That gap is reflected, the report says, in four main areas: a "fragmented approach" that has been taken toward sustainable development; the failure to produce any "major changes Š in the unsustainable patterns of consumption and production"; a "lack of mutually coherent policies or approaches in the areas of finance, trade, investment, technology and sustainable development"; and in that "the financial resources required for implementing Agenda 21 have not been forthcoming and mechanisms for the transfer of technology have not improved."

Since 1992, the report says, "official development assistance (ODA) has declined steadily, the burden of debt has constrained options for poor countries, and the expanding flows of private investment have been volatile and directed only at a few countries and sectors." And although Agenda 21 reaffirmed the UN target of ODA as 0.7 percent of the donor country's GDP, the report says that average ODA flows from members of the OECD's Development Assistance Committee fell from 0.35 percent of GDP in 1992 to 0.22 percent in 2000. It adds that most of the least developed countries (LDCs) "suffered a decline in ODA of at least 25 percent, and seven countries of them, all in Africa, saw ODA reduced by more than 50 percent."

In the face of these failures, the report says, the World Summit on Sustainable Development will need to "launch new concrete program initiatives, whose success will require strong political will, practical steps and strong partnerships," which will "have to be combined with a renewed spirit of global cooperation and solidarity."

"The purpose of the Summit," says the Secretary General's report, "is not to renegotiate the road map for sustainability provided by Agenda 21 but to strengthen implementation and take account of emerging trends. To do so, the Summit must address the phenomenon of globalization and the marginalization of many developing countries. It must also address the lack of progress in poverty eradication, the continued unsustainability of consumption and production patterns in many parts of the world Š and the lack of financial resources and effective mechanisms for technology transfer."

In his address to the opening session of the PrepCom, Desai also noted that there have also been, in his words, "quite substantial achievements" in the decade since the Rio Earth Summit. Among those, he said, were "raising public awareness," not only of the importance of the environment but also that it cannot be tackled without also paying attention to development. We have also seen widespread acceptance of two basic principles, he added: the principle of "common but differentiated responsibility" for the global environment and the "precautionary principle, that we need to take action on the basis of anticipated effects." It has also been accepted, he said, that addressing human deprivation is a global responsibility."

Desai stressed a linkage between three international meetings: the recent World Trade Organization Ministerial Meeting in Doha, Qatar; the upcoming Summit on Financing for Development to be held in Monterrey, Mexico; and the Johannesburg Summit. The Doha meeting, he said, "put development at the center of the world trade agenda"; and the Monterrey Summit "puts development at the center of the finance agenda." The challenge for Johannesburg, he continued, is to "put sustainability at the center of the development agenda."

Desai echoed Salim's point that "high political involvement" will be needed if the Summit is to succeed in assuring the participation of heads of state and government, but he said the Summit must reflect commitments on practical steps.

"The status quo is unacceptable," he said," adding that he sees sustainable development as "a process of peaceful change," which, he said, is the special strength of the United Nations. Starting today, the PrepCom will spend three days listening to proposals and suggestions from a variety of "stakeholders," including representatives of various UN agencies.