The World Summit for Sustainable Development which is being held from 26 August to 4 September 2002 in Johannesburg, 10 years after the Rio United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in 1992, will review progress made since Rio as well as take concrete measures aimed at reconciling economic development, social justice and the preservation of the environment.
For the ethos Foundation, the summit represents a unique opportunity for the international community to make a concrete commitment to steer the world towards sustainable development. The Foundation is particularly attentive to the contribution that will be made by the private sector, which is very well represented at the summit. On this subject, the International Chamber of Commerce and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development have taken the joint initiative of creating the Business Action for Sustainable Development (BASD), which represents a comprehensive network of business organisations under one banner in the interests of sustainable development.
Numerous environmental and development NGOs are also present in Johannesburg. Most of them cover the event on their web sites (http://www.ethosfund.ch/ethos/en/links.htm).
The official site of the summit (http://www.johannesburgsummit.org) as well as the site of the Swiss Confederation (http://www.johannesburg2002.ch)provide further information on the summit.
