Newsletter No. 1, December 2001

The Summit date

The announced dates for the Summit were originally 2-11 September 2002. Following discussions we understand that the UN General Assembly has proposed a change to 26 August-4 September (final dates will be notified when confirmed). Heads of State will be invited to attend on the last three days with other Ministers and officials present in the first week. For overall Summit preparation news and updates refer to the IISD website www.iisd.ca.

Multi-stakeholder debates

The agenda and timetable for the Summit will take some time to emerge. We expect, however, that the first week of the Summit will include some debate between all interested parties with an opportunity for involvement. Such opportunities are not confined to the plenary discussions and in many cases dedicated side events provide much better opportunities for debate and engagement. There will also be opportunities during the various Preparatory Committee meetings, the first of which, from 28 Jan to 8 Feb 2002, will include a multi-stakeholder dialogue during the first three days when short presentations, side events, etc, will be encouraged. This will be a good opportunity to convey business messages at an early stage in the agenda-setting process. For example, the UN Environment Programme will hold a side event to highlight progress and will present a series of drafted industry sector reports. For the latest updates refer to the Johannesburg Summit website www.johannesburgsummit.org.

Business Day

BASD is proposing to organise a 'Business Day' to be held at the end of the first week of the Summit. This will provisionally take place on Sunday 1 September. This will be a day of discussion between business leaders from around the world together with an invited group of leaders of governments and other groups. It is envisaged that the outline structure of the programme will have keynote addresses and 4 panel sessions (in Plenary). Each session will have a "focus theme". For a complete summary please see the attached draft concept paper that has been produced.

Initiatives

BASD will display initiatives on its website in the lead up to the Summit. This functionality will be operational early in 2002.

'Virtual' Exhibition

Plans for a 'virtual' exhibition are currently being researched and refined. More information will follow, but the concept is for a screen-based 'virtual' exhibition of best practices, initiatives and projects. It is intended as a continuous presentation in Johannesburg – centrally located in the main conference centre, in exhibition halls and around the city - with screens displaying 'live' and 'prepared' presentations including interactive web pages of sustainable development initiatives and projects from around the world. In a sense a 'living exhibition'. Where appropriate, live 'webcam' broadcasts will provide real-time access. It is potentially an enhanced opportunity to show, in high traffic areas and with an interactive media, what actions are taking place in the real world. See the attached concept paper on the 'virtual' exhibition.

Physical Exhibition

The South African Government is planning a physical exhibition. Exact details are not yet available, but will be circulated in due course. We expect that this exhibition will also include virtual elements and the virtual exhibition will be complementary to it.

Legacy Projects

BASD believes that it is important that the Summit leaves a lasting legacy through a series of sustainable development projects in Africa. We have already been informed of a number of such projects by the City of Johannesburg such as the greening of areas of Soweto. We expect to be asked to help with a number of other legacy projects in South Africa and await details from the Government. Many of these projects may fit in well with normal business social development aims. We encourage you to seek out legacy projects and keep us informed so that they can be displayed. Further information will be available on this website.