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WSSD News for US NGOSAugust 8, 2002 issue US Action Edition: Get Engaged for the Summit!As the Summit quickly approaches, many NGOs in the US are heavily engaged in campaigns related to the WSSD. A confluence of recent events creates the potential for the Summit as a moment in time to raise awareness of sustainable development and promote sustainability principles as a solution to many of our national and global problems. Corporate scandals, teetering stock markets, the threat of another Iraqi war, the upcoming 9-11 anniversary, formation of a department of Homeland Security, still-lingering questions about US energy policy and corporate White House influence, increased steel, big energy, and agribusiness subsidies from a "free-trade" administration, the US backing out of international agreements (ABM, Kyoto, ICC), increased global misgivings about US foreign policy—these are all on the minds of both the American people and global citizens abroad. The world is looking, not just to America's elected leaders, but to the American people, to see how they will react. And US civil society is not standing still. Over the past six months, an informal campaign has begun to emerge, urging leadership on sustainability within the United States. Networks of organizations are beginning to coordinate action and develop joint strategies, as they identify their organizational roles in a larger context of the movement. The impact and effectiveness of all our efforts can be leveraged more effectively when we move our worldview beyond pigeonholed issue-specific causes and begin to see how the specific issues that are most important, critical, and crucial to us fit into a larger picture of where American society needs to go in the next century. Johannesburg gives us that opportunity: to find common ground, to highlight where the visions of the American people differ from that of American officials, to share those visions with other global citizens, and to return home, ready to enhance, clarify, promote, and bring into being such a collective vision for our future. As a result, this edition of the USCPC newsletter is dedicated to highlighting the Summit-related citizen efforts across the country and providing ways for you to take action to help influence the outcomes of the Summit. Many organizations, networks, and individuals are using the Summit as a rallying point for awareness, voices, action, and implementation of sustainable development—now is your opportunity to join them! We've engaged ourselves in several of these campaigns; we hope you'll do the same! —Gary Pupurs, editor, WSSD News for US NGOs Events This Week
Re-edited "One Child-One Voice" video rebroadcasting this FridayBy popular demand, People Count TV is rebroadcasting their video by satellite on Friday. "One Child - One Voice", featuring five children from 5 continents. The video has been reedited since May with breathtaking images never before seen on TV from the film masterpiece Koyaanisquatsi. The free video is a half-hour of colorful entertainment inspiring us to secure the Earth for future generations. "One Child - One Voice" gives viewers an empowering vision of how they can make the world a better place. It highlights crucial issues facing this summer's United Nations' World Summit in Johannesburg, and calls for a unique display of global support: the Children's Tree of Life Campaign. Get the satellite details for the Friday "One Child-One Voice" rebroadcasts (in PAL and NTSC): http://citnet.org/files/OneChildDownlinkInfo.pdf [PDF]. WSSD officials wrap up BWF tour of 4 US citiesThe WSSD's Secretary-General, Nitin Desai, and Claude Faby, a UN Foundation representative, wrap up their visits of Chicago, Minneapolis, Denver, and Houston today as part of a four day speaking tour organized by the Better World Fund and UN Foundation. (If it didn't get press locally, you might consider writing journalists to ask and explain why WSSD is important to you.) View the tour press release and agendas:
http://citnet.org/files/DesaiTour/ Monday is deadline for Civil Society Forum registrationIf you haven't yet registered for the Johannesburg Civil Society Forum, you have until Monday to do so. The CSF is a parallel event open to anyone and runs concurrent to the official WSSD conference. (Some events are scheduled starting the week of August 19th, although CSF opening ceremonies will be Friday.) Sign up for the Civil Society Forum: http://www.worldsummit.org.za Wed. Lunch and Learn: “Sustainable Development: Challenges and Opportunities"United Nations Association-National Capitol Area (UNA-NCA) is sponsoring a "Lunch and Learn" in Washington, DC on August 14 from 12-1:30 PM at the World Bank. Kristalina Georgieva of the World Bank will share her perceptions on the challenges and opportunities that confront the goals of sustainable development and discuss questions such as: What outcomes can we expect from this conference - what difference will it make? How will the Summit shape the collective strategies of international organizations, national governments, businesses and local communities? Prices for the event: $30 members and students; $32 guests. For details and to register: http://www.unanca.org/events/body.htm#sustain Haven't received your Summit pre-registration confirmation?Confirmation letters have already been sent by the UN to all who have pre-registered for the Summit. (Most received these by fax.) It's come to our attention, though, that some were sent to incorrect fax numbers and addresses. If you didn't yet receive your confirmation, contact the WSSD Secretariat immediately—these letters are required to receive your grounds pass in Johannesburg! Contact the WSSD Secretariat at summitregister@un.org or by phone/fax at the numbers listed at the bottom of this page: http://www.johannesburgsummit.org/html/major_groups/accreditation_no1.html
Actions You Can Do"What are we going to do about the US?" - Citizens call for leadership!Most who have followed the WSSD process are now familiar with the above phrase, uttered on microphone by accident during the Bali prepcom. US NGOs in Bali released a statement for a press conference to share their thoughts on the US role in implementation of Agenda 21. The "What are we going to do about the US?" statement has been turned into a "Call for US Leadership on Sustainable Development", and over 40 organizations have already endorsed it, including Earth Day Network, Friends of the Earth US, SustainUS, WEDO. All US-based civil society organizations are encouraged to endorse the statement. The statement and endorsements will be sent to President Bush and Secretary Powell just before the Summit. Help spread the word for as many citizen and public interest organizations to sign-on by August 29—make the point that citizens have some serious questions about the kind of "good government" the administration is practicing! Read the US NGO statement and endorse it now: http://www.citnet.org/endorse/
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Rep. Earl Blumenauer's office (OR) is now collecting additional signatures from Democrats. They plan to finalize all the sign-ons and send the letter to Bush by next Tuesday, August 13, so call now!
Read IFG's action memo and see the draft letter to Bush: http://citnet.org/files/CongressLetter-Aug02.aspx
Contact your elected officials online: http://congress.org/
If you're in Illinois, Minneapolis, Colorado, or Texas, besides asking your Congressperson about the letter to Bush (above), ask them if they attended or knew about the Better World Fund speaking tour in their state this week. Be sure to ask about what they're planning to do for WSSD. (If you do contact them, let us know or 'cc' us at uscpc-info@citnet.org!)
Contact
your local media about WSSD!The Center for New American Dream and one of its Turn the Tide campaign partners, Worldwatch Institute, released a joint letter asking people to "join with thousands of other people from around the world to build momentum for positive environmental change". Their campaign puts pressure on the media to cover the WSSD by encouraging local citizens to contact their newspaper's editors about key issues of the Summit. Worldwatch links are provided for learning more about Summit issues, as well.
Read the letter at: http://www.newdream.org/turnthetide/partners/joburg.html
As part of a global campaign to bring world leaders to Joburg, Earth Day Network has teamed up with Working Assets to ask Americans to urge President Bush to attend the World Summit on Sustainable Development and commit the U.S. to a strong plan of action to move the world onto a sustainable path.
See EDN's letter and send Bush a message: http://www.workingforchange.com/activism/action.cfm?itemid=13081
The Southern California Network Committee for theWSSD offers citizens another opportunity and message to our president about demonstrating leadership at the Summit with their own a letter writing campaign to Bush and others. They insist that Bush reconsider attending to represent US citizens at the Summit, and cooperate with the international community, support targets and timetables, appoint more non-government/non-business representatives to the US delegation, and more. (The Committee also recently organized a World Summit town meeting to educate and discuss the key Summit issues.)
Read the letter and send it to Bush: http://earthsummit.worldtrust.org/
One of the controversial issues in Johannesburg will be water privatization and WSSD linkages to the WTO (World Trade Organization). NGOs in Bali circulated a statement emphasizing "that water is part of the commons, not a commodity; that access to safe water to meet basic needs is a fundamental right and a civic responsibility; that we do not want water in WTO, not as a good, nor as a service!" The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) is coordinating organizational sign-ons to the statement to bring to Johannesburg.
Sign onto the water statement: http://www.waterobservatory.org/
GRACE
seeks support for International Sustainable Energy FundThe Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE), together with the UN's NGO Energy & Climate Change Caucus, is spearheading a global initiative to put the establishment of an International Sustainable Energy Fund (ISEF) on the ministerial agenda of the World Summit for Sustainable Development. As a key part of this initiative, GRACE is calling on activists from around the world to sign an online petition in support of the ISEF. This petition will be publicly used to call on the United States government to give its backing to the Fund.
Sign the petition for and ISEF: http://www.gracelinks.org/petitions/isef/
There are probably several WSSD citizen actions in the US that are missing from this list. If you've organized a US event/action related to the World Summit that we missed, please send it to uscpc-info@citnet.org and we will make sure to mention it next week. (Please try to provide a brief summary similar to those above, and a URL if possible, otherwise attachments are acceptable.)
Many want to know who will be in the Congressional delegation at the World Summit. While they aren't part of the official negotiating delegation, they will be in close contact and are expected to have an influence on the US position. The following is a list of those who we know have confirmed they will be in Johannesburg:
The following are still deciding whether to go (if you are in their state/district, call their offices!):
Who will be part of the US delegation seems to be a last minute decision for the administration. Two weeks ago, one government staff person told us that it was still "up in the air" for many, as a block of plane tickets had been reserved, but no names were on them yet. At the moment, it looks likely that Secretary of State Colin Powell will be the head of the delegation, and that President Bush will not attend, instead taking his "working" vacation in Texas. But that could change. (Some have speculated that Bush is fully intending to go to Joburg, but deliberately keeping everyone in suspense so that his announcement will overshadow all the important issues about the Summit, including the question of his leadership.)
There is, however, a public list of US government focal points for various WSSD issues. These government staffers can be very helpful to discuss or inquire about a US position on specific issues, or to share your concerns and suggestions. (Note that not all of them will be going to Johannesburg, however.)
View the US delegation contact list: http://citnet.org/files/WssdGovContacts-Aug8.pdf
ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER:
"WSSD News for US NGOs" is a semi-weekly publication produced by CitNet for the US Citizens Preparatory Committee. WSSD News shares what other US NGOs are doing related to the Summit and disseminates relevant information about the Summit process itself. It's the best way for US NGOs to get involved, stay informed, or get up to speed on the issues surrounding the World Summit.
Archives available at: http://citnet.org/uscpc/newsletters/
If you would like to contribute, have news to publicize, or would like to share your comments and suggestions, email us at uscpc-info@citnet.org.
Thanks to Citizens Network for Sustainable Development for hosting and maintaining the listserve, and to all organizations and individuals who contributed content and news to this issue. For an orientation to the Summit, see CitNet's Citizens Guide to the World Summit at http://citnet.org/worldsummit/. For in-depth information about the major issues emerging for Johannesburg, visit the Sustainable Development Issues Network's website at http://sdissues.net/sdin/.
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