'Don't leave us alone to pay the price' the General Assembly debates sustainable development.

The opening of the fifty-seventh General Assembly came on the heels of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD). Thus, the Summit was fresh on the minds of the 171 delegates who spoke during the Assembly's general debate, held from 12 to 20 September in New York.

Many countries voiced optimism in the progress made at the Johannesburg Summit. According to South African President Thabo Mbeki, "a number of far-reaching decisions were taken at this important Summit to ensure that we will bequeath to the next generations a better, humane and equitable world". He said the WSSD had succeeded in setting important goals concerning three pillars of sustainable development: economic development, social development and environmental protection. Noting that poverty eradication was consistently recognized as the "critical challenge and indispensable requirement for sustainable development, particularly in the developing countries", Tanzanian Foreign Minister ]akaya M. Kikwete praised the way the WSSD balanced developmental and environmental concerns, thereby creating an impetus for States to "translate words into action so that social and economic development can be realized whilst the environment is kept healthy and protected".

Iceland's Foreign Minister Halldor Asgrimsson, saying it was up to every country to fulfil the promises made at the Summit, reiterated his country's pledges to provide bilateral assistance to developing nations concerning fishing regulations and renewable energy sources--two fields Iceland had considerable experience in.

Many small island developing States criticized the Summit, stating that little progress had been made on initiatives to curb global warming. Ambassador Alfred Capelle of the Marshall Islands pointed out that these countries "face the very real threat of complete obliteration if our oceans rise by even marginal levels". The VicePresident of Palau, Sandra Sumang Pierantozzi, was deeply disappointed at the "failure of key nations to recommit to the goals of the Rio Earth Summit" and their "dismal lack of commitment" toward the Kyoto Protocol on climate change.

The Governor General of Tuvalu, Sir Tomasi Paupau, appealed to the industrialized countries to "urgently ratify and fully implement" the Kyoto Protocol and provide concrete support to his country's efforts to cope with the effects of climate change and the rising sea level. Tuvalu, he said, "having little or nothing to do with the causes, cannot be left on its own to pay the price". The President of Sao Tome and Principe, Fradique de Menezes, urged industrialized nations to participate in protecting the environment, saying: "You are the ones who endanger the planet with your pollution. You are the ones who cut down the forests, who poison the oceans, who destroy the atmosphere and warm the planet. You are the ones who can lead the world to develop cleaner technologies, more efficient uses of natural resources and, ultimately, effective ways to restore our land, air and sea."

Many States expressed satisfaction that the Johannesburg Summit recognized the importance of conservation and sustainable use of the oceans, islands, coastal areas and marine resources. The Prime Minister of Fiji, Laisenia Qarase, said that the health of the sea was of particular concern to small island States because they depended on the sea for their survival, and their cultures were formed around it. He pointed out that they bore the burden of the "indiscriminate commercial exploitation" of the sea, and that while distance fishing fleets caught 95 per cent of the fish harvested in the South Pacific, only 3 per cent of the commercial worth of the catch returned to the region.

President Leo A. Falcam of Micronesia observed that international security had undergone beneficial change, but not poverty or environmental issues. Ten years after the Rio Summit, the ability of the environment to sustain life diminished daily. Criticizing the "cocoon of self-interest" of developed nations, he asked: "how just is the notion that the privileged minority can continue driving air-conditioned SUVs, when billions of our fellow human beings struggle each day to survive and support families on less than $1? How long can industrial nations hope to sustain their overextended lifestyles while the natural resources of the planet are being steadily degraded and diminished? The answer, and the message from Johannesburg is 'no longer'."