Greenpeace ship arrives for Earth Summit campaign
Date: 16-Aug-02
Country: SOUTH AFRICA
Author: Brendan Boyle
Greenpeace chief spokeswoman Sara Holden said as the 72-metre (235 ft) ship waited outside Cape Town's harbour for a pilot that the research vessel would stay in South African waters throughout the August 26 to September 4 summit.
Over 40,000 delegates including up to 100 heads of state and government are expected in Johannesburg for the World Summit on Sustainable Development.
"You can't have sustainable development without having some care about the environment," Holden told Reuters.
The Esperanza and the movement's flagship Rainbow Warrior have been involved in sometimes controversial environmental campaigns, including programmes to halt whaling.
Holden said this campaign would focus on energy in a bid to encourage a shift from nuclear power and fossil fuels to research into renewable and non-polluting energy sources.
"At the summit itself, it will be critical to ensure that the leaders don't just nod and say yes to everything, but that they do something, act, put agreements within timeframes," she said. "They need to say what they will do when."
The latest round of official pre-summit talks in the Indonesian resort of Bali failed to agree a draft action plan, raising concerns that the summit will be a diplomatic flop.
Its lofty aims include hammering out a global blueprint to reduce poverty and hunger without inflicting irreparable damage to the environment.
Holden said global warming linked to the use of coal and oil was probably a contributing factor in the killer floods sweeping across central and eastern Europe, killing more than 80 people.
"There are very disturbing weather patterns that we have seen over the past two years. You have to look at this and say: This is not normal. Our climate is changing.
"Even the best of scientists could not prove an absolute link, but we all know in our guts that there is something wrong when you look at the weather patterns in Europe," she said.
Holden said Greenpeace would not reveal its exact programme for the Esperanza, but she said the movement planned activities to highlight key issues facing the summit.
