Key Countries - The Citizens Guide to the World Summit - Citizens Guide to the World Summit

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Key Countries for WSSD

Besides country blocs, certain countries will be important at the Summit because of positions they have (or haven't!) taken or their role in the Summit process.

Friends of the Chair

The Summit Chairman, South African President Mbeki, has selected 27 countries to be "Friends of the Chair". Their role is to help engender agreement during debate and act as advisors on other Summit issues. In July they met informally in New York to work towards compromise positions on sticking points from Bali.

The countries include Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Mexico, Nigeria, Norway, Russian Federation, Samoa, Senegal, Spain, Sweden, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States and Venezuela. (Some of these are mentioned in more detail below as well.)

United States

The US often takes the lead for the JUSCANZ group of countries in negotiations, and as one of the largest producers and consumers in the world, it's positions can have a large influence on the success (or failure!) of outcomes. Many NGOs and countries are dismayed at the current lack of multilateral support for meaningful implementation or binding agreements, and its disregard for detailed targets and timetables in the Summit process. Officially pushing implementation of good domestic governance policies abroad and multistakeholder partnerships as solutions for the Summit, the administration's representatives have been somewhat obstructionist on many initiatives and discussions other countries have put forth.

The administration's dedication to sustainable development and multilateralism is questionable , since President Bush apparently will not be attending the Summit, although over a hundred heads of state from other countries have deemed it important enough to attend.

South Africa and Indonesia

South Africa is hosting the conference, so it obviously has played a vital role in the direction and goals of the conference. The Summit Chairman is South African President Thabo Mbeki.

Indonesia hosted PrepCom 4 in Bali, where Chairman Emil Salim is also from. Ten years ago, Brazil hosted UNCED, the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio, and has played an important advisory role to South Africa in this process.

Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Egypt, Indonesia, Jamaica, Japan, Nigeria, Romania, Sweden

This odd collection of countries form the Bureau of the WSSD. They have played a key role in logistics and will help to guide the tone and debates at the Summit

Venezuela, China, India, Pakistan

Venezuela is the chairman of the G-77, and China, India, and Pakistan are key countries within the bloc. In addition, the Secretary-General of the Summit, Nitin Desai, is from India.

United Kingdom, Russia, France

These are key countries in most international negotiations; WSSD is no different.

Spain and Denmark

Spain was the President of the EU until July 2002; Denmark is the EU President until December 2002.

Norway and Switzerland

These two countries both do not participate in any of the country blocs, and thus are more independent-minded than others can be at times.

Columbia, Germany, Malaysia, New Zealand

These four countries have all been past chairs of the CSD

Uganda

A progressive African country, also a member of G-77.

For a printable reference list of these countries - a useful tool for lobbying at Johanneburg - see Annex 2 (page 57-59), of Stakeholder Forum's Briefing for Participation in the Earth Summit 2002 booklet [PDF]. The countries listed above came from the aforementioned publication.)