Britain, Japan to sign treaty protecting plants and animals
RIO DE JANEIRO — Britain and Japan on Friday indicated they would sign a treaty to protect plants and animals, breaking with the United States and deepening US isolation on an accord that was to be one of the main achievements of the Earth Summit.
The British and Japanese actions left the US as the last holdout of the major industrial nations on the treaty.
US officials said that the US delegation was embarrassed further by the earlier disclosure that the White House had rebuffed a proposal by chief delegate William Reilly to accept certain modifications and sign it.
On Friday, at a White House news conference, President George Bush defended Mr Reilly and his environmental record, saying: "Mr Reilly, a top environmentalist, has my full support."
Under the pact to protect plants and animals, known as the biodiversity treaty, steps will be taken to protect endangered species and the areas they inhabit, but certain kinds of economic development activities will be allowed, such as tourism, food gathering and the harvesting of resources for development of drugs and medicines.
The Bush administration has argued that the treaty is flawed because it will limit bio-technology development in the US and may infringe on US patent protection for biological inventions.
The administration is also concerned about how money for Third World countries with endangered species areas will be disbursed.
By late Friday, 17 nations, including Australia, New Zealand, Norway and Finland, had signed the climate treaty, while 15 countries, including Pakistan, India, Indonesia and Italy, had signed the bio-diversity text.
British diplomats said Prime Minister John Major would sign the treaty when he arrived in Rio this week.
The head of Japan’s delegation, Environment Minister Shozaburo Nakamura said:
"We are... studying certain articles with a view to signing the convention."
The key speaker on Friday was Mr Jacques Cousteau, the 82-year-old oceanographer turned environmentalist, who urged world leaders to take drastic action to stop uncontrolled population growth.
No official sessions were scheduled for yesterday and today - NYT, Reuter.
Tokyo’s cautious stand disappoints delegates
RIO DE JANEIRO — Japan, the country many developing nations are looking to for leadership at the Earth Summit, made a low-key address on Friday, avoiding key issues such as money and leaving some delegates disappointed.
Environment Minister Shozaburo Nakamura said the Japanese government "recognizes that solving global environmental problems could be one of the most important contributions Japan can make to the world community".
He confirmed earlier announcements that Tokyo endorsed the draft "Rio Declaration" of environmental principles and planned to sign a centrepiece treaty to fight global warming.
He also said that Tokyo was considering signing one of the UN conference’s key documents — a biodiversity treaty to protect endangered animals and plants.
Some diplomats had expected a firm pledge from him.
Mr Nakamura’s speech was non-committal on the key question of how much money Japan might give. — Reuter.
Source : The Straits Times, June 7, 1992
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