JOHANNESBURG--One
would think that, on the last day of the summit,
media persons would spend the day writing reflective
pieces on their lasting impressions. That they
would not be terribly stressed under any pressing
deadlines, no major interviews to conduct as most
delegates prepare to head home--a day of passive
contemplation as the week's events come to a close.
Dr.
Brown, whose doctorate is in international law and
public policy, is a former head of the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP). He attended the World
Summit on Sustainable Development as an adviser to
the delegation of the United Arab Emirates.
He told
The Earth Times that the most disturbing
impression he got at the summit
is that he was seeing "the beginning
of a world of gated communities"-of
multiple checkpoints and barricades.
He was quick to add that security at
the summit was "exquisitely polite" and
that the South African hosts "went
out of their way" to make their
guests as comfortable as possible.
One other
thing that is troubling him, Dr. Brown
said, is that he did not sense
at this summit anything approaching the
euphoric "spirit of Rio" that
he sensed at the end of the 1992 Earth
Summit in Rio de Janeiro. The mood here,
he added, is "more tentative." On
the other hand, he said he is convinced
that "we have our priorities right." The
world, he said, "is beginning to
sharpen its focus on the critical issues."
He also
said Johannesburg showed that civil
society "has come of age." The
nongovernmental participants in the summit "drove
the agenda forward," he said, adding
that he hoped that when they go home
they would demand that their national
representatives report to the people,
perhaps in "town meetings," about
what transpired here in Johannesburg
and how their intend to live up to their
commitments
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