North, South Disagree over Earth Charter

new york, mar 5 1992 (ips/thalif deen) -- the north and the south are heading for a political showdown over a proposed 'earth charter' to be adopted at the jun. 1-12 u.n. conference on environment and development (unced) in rio de janeiro, brazil.

while china and the 128 developing countries which comprise the 'group of 77' have placed emphasis on the economic rights of individuals, the industrialised countries are making a strong push for the recognition of human rights as one of the principles in the charter.

also known as the rio declaration on environment and development, the earth charter is a set of principles on rights and obligations which must govern the economic and environmental behaviour of peoples and nations to secure the ''common future'' of the planet.

the disagreement over which of the two should be in the charter -- human rights or economic rights -- is expected to add to the growing disenchantment with the fourth and final set of unced preparatory meetings which began mar. 2, and will run through apr. 3.

the meetings already show signs of being deadlocked on two sensitive issues: funding and the transfer of technology.

one of the principles listed in the g-77 proposal is the recognition that ''human beings are the centre of environmental concerns.''

the g-77 says that ''in this context, the quality of the environment is dependent on the satisfaction of basic human needs. human beings should be guaranteed a healthy life, free from hunger, disease and poverty.''

the right to development, the g-77 argues, is an ''inalienable right and therefore the development needs of all developing countries shall be treated as a matter of priority.''

a u.s. draft proposal submitted to the committee wednesday singles out ''respect for human rights'' as ''fundamental to sustainable development.''

the united states, which is being backed by virtually all other western industrialised nations, lists four specific human rights to be included in the earth charter.

the four are: the rights to associate with others and freely express views, the right to publish and distribute information, the right to participate in public debates, and the right to have fair and effective access to legal and administrative redress and remedy of grievances.

the third world argument is that an individual should first be free from hunger, disease, poverty, unemployment and starvation before he could lay claims to his legitimate human rights.

traditionally, the western countries have reversed the equation giving human rights priority over economic rights.

at a closed door meeting thursday, the united states and the european community (ec) wanted a detailed discussion of the 18 principles listed in the u.s. draft proposal, along with a similar exercise on the g-77 draft.

a third draft on the agenda, which is also up for discussion, has been submitted by canada. but the canadians do not make any reference to human or political rights.

''if we decide to do a reading of the drafts para-by-para,'' the tunisian delegate told the committee, ''we are not going to finish this exercise before 1994.''

the g-77 draft, he said, should be used as a negotiating paper and the western countries can propose whatever changes are deemed necessary.

the draft points out that the major historical and current cause of the continuing deterioration of the global environment is ''the unsustainable pattern of production and consumption, particularly in developed countries.''

''thus, the responsibility for containing, reducing and eliminating global environmental damage must be borne by countries causing such damage, must be in relation to the damage caused, and must be in accordance with their respective responsibilities.''

''all countries, in particular developed countries, shall make commitments to address their unsustainable patterns of consumption,'' the draft adds.

the g-77 proposal also calls for the protection of the environment and natural resources of people under occupation.

''therefore, any policies or measures that may lead to the degradation of their environment or to the depletion of their natural resources shall be immediately halted,'' the draft notes.

Back...