JOHANNESBURG - In an effort to inject credibility into the largest-ever United Nations summit, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan Monday called on the world's richest countries to take the lead in designing a concrete plan to improve the lives of the world's poor without destroying the planet.

"The richest countries must lead the way. They have the wealth. They have the technology. And they contribute disproportionately to global environmental problems," Annan told nearly 100 world leaders gathered here for the opening session of the heads of state meeting at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD).

He also underscored the importance of businesses and non-governmental groups (NGOs) helping to achieve the goals of sustainable development. "Civil society groups have a critical role, as partners, advocates and watchdogs," Annan added in his address during the final stage of the 10-day WSSD.

NGOs lobbying to secure a range of commitments from governments have begun raising the alarm that the summit may endorse a program of action that will mean very little to the world's poor and to developing countries.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF), one of the leading NGOs lobbying for concrete language in the summit's final document, declared Sunday that the plan being negotiated by delegates from 190 countries is woefully short of what the WSSD promised to deliver.

"The Plan of Implementation as it currently stands will not provide significant movement forwards from commitments made in Rio and since," it stated. "In some cases the text actually constitutes a step backwards (as in trade and globalization)."

Particularly troubling for NGOs is some countries' attempts to water down the agreement regarding such issues as the use of renewable sources of energy, targets for access to water and improved sanitation, reforming global trade and agriculture subsidies.

The leaders of Germany, France and Britain must play a pivotal role to save the Johannesburg summit, said Gerd Leipold of Greenpeace. "It will require a Herculean effort on their part but it must be done here and now."

But some Third World leaders assembled here to review progress towards sustainability since the 1992 Earth Summit, expect little will change due to domination of the free trade agenda, also called neo-liberalism, in global affairs.

Among them is Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who told government leaders Monday the "neo-liberal model is guilty for the disasters of the world, and we need to fight against it".

"I say to the world one more time that we must change this model, because there is no development without humanism," added Chavez who heads the Group of 77, which is made up of 133 developing nations. "It is not possible to develop the world according to this model."

These continuing calls for real results from the meeting received a boost from an international poll.

"If it were up to the will of average citizens, the World Summit on Sustainable Development would require national governments to deliver on time-bound commitments towards reducing poverty and resolving environmental problems," states the report of a survey of 24,000 people in 31 countries.

Released by London-based Gallup International and Toronto's Environics International on Aug. 29, 'Voice of the People' reveals "a global public opinion climate that is very receptive to major initiatives to reduce poverty".

The results, from interviews held in July and August this year, reflect the views of "almost 1 billion people on all continents except North America", claim the firms.

In September 2000, world leaders from 191 nations pledged at the Millennium Summit to combat specific global problems by 2015.

These pledges, known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), included slashing by half the number of people living on less than one U.S. dollar a day, the number of people suffering from hunger and the number of people without access to safe and affordable drinking water.

Further, the MDGs also seek to ensure: that all children are given primary schooling; gender equality in education; a three-quarters reduction in the maternal mortality rate and a two-thirds drop in deaths of children under five.

Today, close to 800 million people do not get enough to eat, over one billion people lack access to clean water, some 2.4 billion people do not have basic sanitation facilities and close to 325 million boys and girls are not in school, according to the United Nations.

Senior U.N. officials view the Millennium Summit as a step forward from the Earth Summit, when the world leaders gathered for the first time to link development and environmental problems and find common solutions. The idea of sustainable development was affirmed at that gathering.

Copyright 2002 IPS

###