World Summit activities start

Johannesburg's bright blue sky and crisp spring air on Thursday brought streams of visitors to the Ubuntu village, the recreational hub of the long-awaited UN World Summit on Sustainable Development.

About 20,000 delegates have registered to attend a week of briefings, debates and conferences centred around sustainable development. Estimates are that at least 60,000 people will file through the Sandton Convention Centre, which will become UN territory on Friday.

About 5,000 government representatives are expected to attend. Controversially President George Bush will not be among them, but the US Secretary of State Colin Powell, and Environmental Protection Agency head Christie Whitman will lead the American entourage.

The summit is a follow on from the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, where Agenda 21, the plan for sustainable development was adopted. The Johannesburg summit is expected to launch concrete actions. Countries have already agreed on three-quarters of a draft Plan of Implementation and pre-summit consultations would being on Saturday, 24 August.

In addition to the Plan of Implementation, the summit would also result in a political declaration adopted by world leaders in attendance.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said the five focal points of the conference should be water and sanitation, energy, health, agriculture and biodiversity.

Many parallel events are taking place around Johannesburg, including the WaterDome, which will be the central forum to discuss water issues and the Civil Society Global Forum.

Events have already started at the Ubuntu village which features a vast marquee containing brightly decorated stalls telling of thousands of inspiring projects throughout the world.

These ranged from projects encouraging people to "Start with a seed", litter clean-ups in remote areas, community projects which have transformed dusty backyards into lush vegetable gardens, a campaign to reduce carbon emissions, and an Ubuntu tree where visitors can write their wish for humanity on a paper leaf.

Outdoor displays include the construction of a litter mountain to demonstrate how much litter people generate every day, and solar powered cooking devices which use the sun's reflection on an aluminium bowl to cook food and water to preserve trees.

Countries like Australia, Tanzania and Japan have showcased their countries' sustainability projects and the host country's hall provided information on the multitude of projects within South Africa.

Even the way the village is run is a project with recycling bins and solar panels scattered throughout. A large rest area, including a restaurant building, tables and chairs, is made entirely out of old soft drink and beer cans.

For more details go to:
http://www.johannesburgsummit.org