Johannesburg: World summit or trade fair?
Ten years on from the Rio Earth Summit, political leaders are due in Johannesburg at the end of August to review progress, identify gaps and agree priorities for action. But the world is a different place today - and many governments, most notably the Bush administration, have lost faith in the ability of international agreements to deliver. As a result, the business sector is being presented at Johannesburg as the primary solver of the world's inequalities - but its ability to deliver is being questioned by NGOs and some leading lights in the business community.