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Background to PU's response to CAD

By Acarya Krtashivananda Avadhuta
Five years ago Earth Summit 1 was held in Rio de Janeiro accompanied by great publicity and high hopes, and concluded by the magnanimous promises of governments to uphold principles of sustainable economic development. Two years ago NGOs, increasingly disillusioned by the inaction or insufficient action of governments regarding the protection of the environment and of a type of economy that meets human needs, began to break away from United Nations patronage and issued the Copenhagen Alternative Declaration. This year, the U.S. NGO Caucus at the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) has circulated a letter addressed to U.S. Vice-president Gore stating that the U.S. is "ready to abandon the gains achieved" by the CSD. Time is being wasted, governments are attempting to avoid their commitments to sustainable development, and the NGO community worldwide - perhaps the primary source of opposition to destructive economics - is relatively scattered and disorganized.

Following is an assessment of the Copenhagen Alternative Declaration released in 1995 by Proutist Universal, a UN-registered NGO and sponsor of the People’s New s Agency. The CAD makes several fine proposals and is an excellent start towards a common NGO platform; the PU assessment suggests a few, but important, modifications. Because the follow-up action to the Copenhagen and other summits has not been effective enough to arouse the interest of the general populace, we invite like-minded NGOs to finalize and promote a common global alternative platform f or the purpose of greater effectiveness. It should be a platform where common people and smaller NGOs can get their voices heard.

PU' response

Copyright Proutist Universal 1999