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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

5 Years Later, Planet More Polluted Than Ever Latest Earth Summit Convenes Amid Collective Sense Of Failure

Los Angeles Times

When world leaders ended their Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, five years ago, they hoped that after years of warnings and fearful scientific reports, nations would begin the expensive business of cleaning up the global back yard.

But on Monday, as world leaders trooped to the podium of the U.N. General Assembly to open the first such summit since Rio, they sounded like penitent, post-partying students whose work had failed to live up to their promise - and they pledged to do better.

“We as a species - as a planet - are teetering on the edge, living unsustainably and perpetuating inequity and may soon pass the point of no return,” said General Assembly President Razali Ismail of Malaysia.

Vice President Al Gore declared broadly: “We must roll up our sleeves and go to work.”

Aside from the collective mea culpa, there also was a dash of finger-pointing - most notably at the United States by British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The newly elected prime minister said the Conservative British government ousted in elections last month had delivered on its pledge to reduce gas emissions contributing to the greenhouse effect.

“Some other countries cannot say the same, including some of the great industrialized nations,” Blair said in a reference to the United States, a steadfast British ally but one reluctant to adopt specific limits on the carbon dioxide emissions believed responsible for global warming.

“To them I say: Our targets will not be taken seriously by the poorer countries until the richer countries are meeting them,” Blair said.

The 1992 Earth Summit was the largest-ever gathering of heads of state and government, and it ended with pronouncements of determination and pledges to do right.

In the five years since, however, the world has gotten more crowded, its air and water dirtier and its forests barer. And the planet has grown warmer - to the point that small island nations and low-lying coastal communities fear that melting arctic ice will lift sea levels until one day the oceans’ waters will wash over them.

The speakers Monday appeared well-aware of their failure.

Rio’s spirit of partnership between the developed nations and the developing world foundered under a worldwide recession, some said. In some Third World countries, the resolve melted in the face of poverty.