Australian Fails the Test at Rio

Lenore Tardif

SYDNEY - Fidel Castro's rousing six-minute address to the Earth Summit in Rio said everything delegates had come from around the world to hear, says Dr Judy Henderson, Australian Council for Overseas Aid representative at the Earth Summit in June.

Castro's message (``Tomorrow is too late to do what should have been done a long time ago'') contrasted with the ``short-sighted pragmatism'' of the Australian contribution, Henderson told a Community Aid Abroad meeting on July 16.

Henderson told the ``Down to Earth'' meeting that Australia's reputation as a nation with a strong environmental conscience had been severely damaged by the pragmatists in Canberra. Delegates, working hard at Rio to maximise Australia's contribution, had been let down badly by Prime Minister Paul Keating and treasurer John Dawkins, she said.

Canberra ``hid behind ambiguous language'' in response to calls at Rio for definite financial commitments to key action programs. She noted that Australia's attitude to major ecological problems in developing nations would be compounded by federal government plans to cut aid.

Henderson said Australia had hidden behind ``big, bad America'' on the climate change issue. Environment minister Ros Kelly told the summit that Australia aimed for the stabilisation of greenhouse emissions by 2000, and a 20% reduction by 2005.

Henderson warned that, with Rio's weak Climate Change Convention (a win for the US business lobby) and pressure from Australian business and industry, there was a serious risk the government would start to water down on the policy it took to Rio.

US failure to sign the Biodiversity Convention, and its concern about control of patents rather than protection of biological diversity, were the subject of criticism in the corridors, said Henderson.

On a more positive note, the US gave way to some extent to the developing countries' demands for recognition of the destructive role of consumer society. ``The resulting text is far from toothless'', said Henderson.

But in the Forest Principles, scant attention was paid to non- government organisations' concerns for the protection of native forests and the rights of forest-dwellers, including their intellectual property rights.

Henderson criticised the lack of attention to environmental destruction caused by the world's current trade policies. She said the Forest Principles ignored the critical role of the GATT negotiations and the impact of transnational corporations upon sustainability.

``A start has been made in the development of a survival strategy for humanity and the global environment'', Henderson concluded. ``The UNCED process has also resulted in unprecedented public participation in UN decision making.

``The challenge for governments and the non-government sector is to continue the dialogue and to work collectively on the urgent task.''

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