NGOs boo Powell’s speech

US Secretary of State Colin Powell had a difficult time delivering his speech to the plenary session of the WSSD this morning, as NGOs chanted "Shame on Bush!" and booed his claims that the US was serious about sustainable development, and about addressing climate change.

When Powell started his speech, NGOs stood up in the back of the conference hall, holding banners proclaiming "People and Plant, not big business". As the banners were aggressively snatched away by UN security guards, more appeared in different corners of the room, giving the security guards a run around. Several individuals were arrested for shouting anti-Bush slogans. Powell’s claims that the US was serious about sustainable development were greeted with shouts of "Bullshit" from his non-government audience, while his announcement that the US was serious about climate change, and was not just interested in rhetoric, solicited loud booing.

Indian Minister for External Affairs Yashwant Sinha also addressed the conference today. The Indian minister emphasised that the problem lay with the unsustainable consumption of the rich, not the consumption of the poor. "Because we focus on sustainable development, we underplay the fact that the real problem is unsustainable consumption and the pressure it generates on the earth's finite resources," Sinha said. "The poor are not the biggest consumers of the world's resources; the rich are."

Sinha said that the concept of sustainable development puts an unequal burden on developing countries as their developmental aspirations are considered potentially threatening to the prosperity of the developing countries and come under close scrutiny. On the other hand, the developed countries that by definition have transcended the challenges of development pursue growth and increased prosperity without having their sustainability credentials subject to similar scrutiny.

Meanwhile outside the plenary, UN officials were busy fending off criticism that the Summit was a failure. "We came here to get commitments and create energy for sustainable development, and to go back home and take action," said Secretary General Kofi Annan. "It is on this ground that we should test the results of the Summit. But we have started off well with the Johannesburg Summit."

The Summit is expected to conclude at 3 p.m. today, with the adoption of the plan of implementation and a political declaration.