The UN Earth Summit of 2002

The UN Earth Summit of 2002

Perhaps you heard a few things about the Earth Summit in the mainstream news media, but the press had nothing negative to say about the ideas being tossed around at this meeting, or the tons of fossil fuels that were burned to transport the delegates, or anything about the extravagant feasts enjoyed by the VIP's. This page exists to change all that, and to make sure these events don't go down the media memory hole.

Eco-Agenda for Planetary Control: What did the United Nations do while over a million Ethiopians were dying in agony? The UN's General Assembly, the self-proclaimed "conscience of the world," voted to squander $73.5 million for renovations to the UN's luxurious conference center in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital. By a vote of 122 to 5, the General Assembly opted to indulge in this obscene orgy of consumption at the very doorstep of the squalid villages and camps where hundreds of thousands were literally starving to death.

UN delivers stern warning over water use: In advance of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, a UN report blasts 100 world leaders for unchecked development claiming it is lowering sea level around the world.

Editor's Note: Even in your wildest dreams, can you imagine any human activity lowering the mean sea level worldwide? And aren't these the same people who fret about the increase in sea level due to "global warming?"

Sustainable Development: A Dubious Solution in Search of a Problem: From August 26 through September 4, 2002, approximately 100 heads of state and 60,000 delegates will gather in Johannesburg, South Africa, to attend a "World Summit on Sustainable Development." The conference—convened on the 10th anniversary of the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro and expected to be the largest U.N. summit in history— will explore domestic and international policy options to promote the hottest environmental buzzwords to enter the public policy debate in decades.

Eco-imperialism: "Green" Praises Poverty, Laments Electricity: "There is a lot of quality to be had in poverty," and the introduction of electricity is "destroying" the cultures of the world's poor, according to a U.S. environmentalist who commented on the eve of the United Nations Earth Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa.

"Sickening" U.N. Elitists Gorge on Caviar as Africans Starve: The London Sun [recently] blasted the "sickening champagne and caviar lifestyle being enjoyed by Earth Summit delegates." Just like at the so-called World Food Summit, "They are gorging on mountains of lobster, oysters and fillet steak at the Johannesburg conference — aimed at ending FAMINE," raged the newspaper. And they wash it all down with the finest champagnes and wines, of course.

Same story:
Lobsters, caviar and brandy served at UN summit on starvation.

Introduction of the Flush Toilet Deplored at Earth Summit: In what some see as a sign that the Earth summit is literally going down the drain, an environmentalist at the Earth summit here has lamented the introduction of the flush toilet. A female panelist from India complained that the flush toilet encourages excessive water consumption around the world and is not ecologically friendly.

Environmentalist Laments Introduction of Electricity: "There is a lot of quality to be had in poverty," and the introduction of electricity is "destroying" the cultures of the world's poor, according to a U.S. environmentalist, who commented on the eve of the United Nations Earth Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Earth Summit Seen As "Gathering to Attack Wealth": An American free market advocate calls the Earth summit now under way in South Africa, "a collection of advocates gathering to attack wealth." Chris Horner, an analyst with the free market advocacy group Competitive Enterprise Institute, said it is obvious that after two days, delegates to the United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development view wealth "as the root of evil behind environmental problems, when in reality, all evidence is to the contrary."

Greens Say Earth Summit "Fallen Dramatically Short": There is a growing consensus among observers that the Earth Summit has "fallen dramatically short" of achieving any meaningful results.

Greens Say Earth Summit "Hijacked" By US: The Earth summit appeared headed for the compost pile on Tuesday [9/3/2002] as environmentalists, led by Friends of the Earth International, held their noses and declared the conference had been "hijacked" by the United States.

Powell Heckled at Earth Summit: Mr. Powell brought howls of protest when he said Zimbabwe had brought its population to the brink of starvation with its controversial land reform policies.

Self-inflicted wound: My colleagues Tom Kilgannon and Fred Gedrich of Freedom Alliance traveled to Johannesburg to monitor the global gabfest. Reporting back to my radio audience, they summed up the 10-day session in a single word: "surreal."

Capitalism's Allure called "Sinister" By Environmentalist: A Green leader [in Johannesburg] called the allure of free market capitalism "sinister" and referred to economic growth as "the engine of [environmental] degradation."

Sidebar: "Enviro" Polluters Invade Africa.

"Tree huggers" vs. global traders: Environmentalists are the big losers in the wake of the recent Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg.

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