Youth Lambast Business Involvement at Earth Summit

June 2, 1992

Rio de Janeiro-- Representatives of youth, today delivered a devastating critique of the Earth Summit process, saying that it had been paid for and delivered into the hands of business interests. They also outlined their ideas for alternatives to the Summit process and detailed their plans for protests and actions over the next two weeks.

Youth said that some of the world's worst polluters, from chemical giant ICI (one of the world's largest producers of ozone depleting chemicals) to Petrobras (polluters of Rio's Guanabara Bay) had paid for the Summit staff's research and the '92 Global Forum.

When confronted with this accusation, '92 Global Forum spokesman Steve Yolen stated that ICI had "no involvement, whatsoever with '92 Global Forum," while he accepted that Petrobras had provided money channelled through the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to the '92 Global Forum.

Youth accused these companies of successfully lobbying the Summit to make sure that Agenda 21 imposed no rules on them. Youth also critized Agenda 21 for giving into business and allowing it to continue with a form of self regulation on environmental matters.

A six page investigative report covering business financing and lobbying was presented by Danny Kennedy of the youth group Action for Solidarity Equality Environment and Development. "The corporate sponsorship of the entire Earth Summit process, which we have uncovered, is the last nail in the coffin of the Earth Summit's credibility," he said.

The youth spoke as over a thousand young people from around the world gathered in Rio for the Summit and the '92 Global Forum. As representatives of half the world's population, the speakers said they did not feel that they had adequate representation in the decision-making process of the Earth Summit.

Monica Hernandez, president of the NGO Brigada Universitaria de Servicios Comunitarios para la Autogestion, delivered a statement from Youth '92, an international youth meeting held earlier this year in Costa Rica. This meeting was attended by 250 youth delegates from over 90 countries (three quarters of them from developing countries).

The statement criticizes United Nations agencies, governments, and multinational corporations for their roles in the "ecocide" of the planet and human suffering. It puts forth strong commitments for future actions to resolve these global crises.

Flavia Ferreira, a co-coordinator of the Youth Open House, the official youth component of the '92 Global Forum, told assembled journalists of their plans to present alternative ideas for the planet and to protest the decisions of the Summit. The youth plan to spend a night with Rio's homeless youth, as well as organizing protests against the military, the group of 7 wealthiest nations (G-7), George Bush, and external debt. (IPC)

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