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FROM VOLUME 10, NUMBER 5, MAY 1997

REPORTS...
EARTH SUMMIT REVIEW

(See related NEWS article, this Global Climate Change Digest issue--May 1997.)

Item #d97may68

Rio+5: From Agenda to Action, Earth Council, Jan. 1997. Available from Vanguard Communications, Washington, D.C. (tel: 202 331 4323), or from the Earth Council, San José, Costa Rica (tel: 50 6 256 1611).

Despite some promising changes at the local level, governments continue to fall behind in meeting the goals and commitments for sustainable development established at the Earth Summit. Far too few countries, companies, institutions, communities and citizens have made the choices needed to advance the mutually reinforcing goals of sustainable development: environmental health, economic prosperity, social equity and general well-being. Enumerates specific steps to be taken, such as developing monitoring and reporting systems that allow stakeholders to demonstrate their contributions and accountability to each other.

Item #d97may69

Subsidizing Unsustainable Development: Undermining the Earth with Public Funds, Inst. for Res. in Public Expenditure (Hague, Neth.), Mar. 1997. Commissioned by, and available from the Earth Council Inst.-Canada (tel: 416 203 8088; e-mail: ecfoster@web.net).

Examines subsidies offered around the world for agriculture, energy, road transportation and water, by both developed and developing countries. They total three to four percent of gross world product, usually do not produce the intended results, and encourage wasteful use of water and energy. Calls for global subsidy reform, discusses the political obstacles, and suggests strategies.

Item #d97may70

Overall Progress Achieved Since the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, K. Annan (U.N. Secretary-General), Apr. 1997. May be downloaded on the Internet at gopher://gopher.un.org:70/00/esc/cn17/1996-97/adhoc-wg/off97--2.EN.

Prepared for an April 1997 working session of the U.N. Commission on Sustainable Development. Recommends that the commission narrow the focus of its work from about ten to only three major issues each year, and lays out a topic schedule through 2001. Progress since the Earth Summit should be reviewed again in 2002.

Report Sources

Brookings Institution, 1775 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington DC 20042 (tel: 800 275 1447, 202 797 6258; fax: 202 797 6004); Intl. Book Distributors, Campus 400, Maylands Ave., Hemel Hempstead, Herts HP2 7EZ, UK.

Intl. Energy Agency, 9 rue de la Fédération, 75739 Paris Cedex 15, France. Public Info. Office: (tel: 33 40 576 554; fax: 33 40 576 559; e-mail: info@iea.org).

IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) Secretariat, World Meteor. Organiz., CP 2300, CH-1211 Geneva 2, Switz. (tel: 41 22 730 8215; fax: 41 22 733 1270).

RIIA (Royal Inst. of Intl. Affairs), 10 St. James's Square, London SW1 4LE, UK (tel: 44 71 957 5700; fax: 44 71 957 5710; WWW: http://www.riia.org.) Energy & Environ. Prog.; e-mail: eepriia@gn.apc.org.

RFF (Resources for the Future), External Affairs, 1616 P St. NW, Washington DC 20036 (tel: 202 328 5025; fax: 202 939 3460).

SEPA, Blekhomsterrassen 36, Stockholm, Swed.; or contact Ola Jonsson (tel: 46 8 698 1659; e-mail: ola.jonsson@environ.se).

UNDP (U.N. Development Prog.), attn: Rachel Gogos, Off. Devel. Studies, Rm. 410, 336 E. 45th St., New York NY 10017 (tel: 212 906 3689; fax: 212 906 3676; e-mail: ods@undp.org).