UN may shift Earth Summit date to avoid September 11
Date: 03-Dec-01
Country: UNITED NATIONS
The conference, a follow-up to the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, is now scheduled to open at a conference center just outside Johannesburg on Sept. 2, 2002. It would wrap up on Sept. 11, a year after the attacks by suicide hijackers on New York and Washington left thousands dead.
More than 60,000 delegates, environmental activists and business leaders are expected to attend the Johannesburg event along with 135 heads of state.
"There is an exploration behind the scenes about whether it would be possible, and whether it would be appropriate, to change the dates, because of the clash with the anniversary," said the U.N. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The top option now under consideration was for the conference to begin a week earlier, on Aug. 26, and end on Sept. 4, the official said.
For logistical reasons, any change in dates would have to be approved by the 189-nation U.N. General Assembly within the next two weeks, U.N. officials said.
South African officials have been reluctant to discuss security arrangements for the summit and say there has been no specific threat.
Business Action for Sustainable Development (BASD), the summit's international business arm, said in a statement issued from Paris this week that a decision on summit dates was likely by mid-December.
A South African government source, who declined to be named, said South Africa had accepted the proposed shift to a Sept. 4 close and the new timetable was likely to be ratified within weeks.
