Delegates from the European Union were saying they have no interest in attending another global summit-one day after British Prime Minister Tony Blair was singled out for attack in the plenary by both President Sam Nujoma of Namibia and Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe.

Nor can US delegates be eager to repeat the scene that greeted Secretary of State Colin Powell: boos and catcalls, rhythmic stamping and crowds of people chanting, "Shame on Bush!"

Some experienced observers who watched the scene via television in the pressroom suggested that the real loser in such exchanges could be the idea of multilateralism itself-that is, the role of the UN and other international agencies in bringing leaders of all nations together to discuss global solutions to global problems.

At his final press conference at the summit on Wednesday, United Nations Secretary General Kofi A. Annan hailed the conference as a success that has "made sustainable development a reality." But he also cautioned that it was "only a beginning" and only one in a series of UN conferences devoted to addressing these issues. He said the real action must come through partnerships, including those with businesses, and said he hoped such partnerships would become "alliances for progress."

When asked whether Johannesburg might have been the "last chance" for global agreement on sustainability, Annan cautioned, "We have to be careful not to expect conferences like this to produce miracles."

Annan conceded that "we didn't get everything we wanted to get" in the Program for Implementation, but added that because of the summit, "sustainable development is firmly back on the agenda."

When challenged by a questioner to justify the presence of business at the summit, Annan replied, "Those who caused the pollution have to be here to be part of the solution. We have to engage" with the private sector, he added, to get results. "The UN agencies cannot do it alone."

Asked about the situation in Zimbabwe, Annan said he had met with President Mugabe and several of his ministers here in Johannesburg and had reminded them that land reform "has to be done in an organized and legal way," with fair compensation paid to landowners and workers who suffer losses because of it. He added that President Mugabe "feels that the compensation should come from external sources."

Asked whether the environmental agreements achieved here in Johannesburg will be overridden by the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Annan answered mildly, "I would hope not." He added that WTO rules "are part of the reality we live with."

And when he was asked to rate the success of the summit on a scale of one to 10, Annan declined, saying that its success cannot be measured here and now, but rather from the implementation that it inspires. "It is on the ground that we will test how well we did here," he said.