Earth Summit - It’s time to share wealth

SINCE the first Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro 10 years ago, relatively little progress has been made in tackling major issues that continue to overshadow human society.

A decade later, as 40,000 delegates resume the debate in Johannesburg , the agenda has been re-set by South African President Thabo Mbeki.

In an eloquent address, he rightly condemned the “savage principles” of the survival of the fittest in a global society characterised by islands of wealth, surrounded by a sea of poverty - a truly unsustainable scenario.