Ministerial Preparatory Meeting for the World Summit On Sustainable Development

Delegates to the fourth preparatory meeting for the Summit will work to finalize a text and agenda for the World Summit. The 10^th session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development is acting as the Preparatory Committee for the Summit. Three previous preparatory meetings were held in New York, beginning in April 2001.

The World Summit on Sustainable Development is scheduled to take place in Johannesburg, South Africa, August 26 - September 4, 2002. As many as 50,000 representatives of governments, non-governmental organizations, multilateral financial institutions, business and the media are expected to attend.

The Summit provides an important opportunity for developed and developing countries to come together to examine practical measures to reduce poverty and foster sustainable development. The Summit should focus on concrete results in such sectors as water, energy, health, education, food security, forests and oceans that improve the lives of the world’s people. It should build on the consensus reached at the UN Financing for Development Conference at Monterrey that developed and developing countries share the responsibility for development, and that good governance is key to creating conditions that allow countries to increase and use effectively all sources of capital for development. The U.S. will seek to establish a positive dialogue and identify areas of cooperation with developing countries.

The U.S. believes sustainable development begins with effective domestic policies and is supported by international partnerships between governments, the private sector, non-governmental or private voluntary organizations, and other elements of civil society. Sustainable development depends upon political and economic freedom and the rule of law, which help generate and harness the human and financial resources needed to promote economic growth, social well-being, and environment protection.