UN SECRETARY general Boutros Boutros-Ghali's suggestion
that the North and South should share equally the United
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UN
Commission for Sustainable Development (UNCSD) leadership
has failed to enthuse Europeans and Americans.
Mustafa Tolba (?), enjoying the support of UNCSD
secretary general Maurice Strong, is virtually out of the
UNEP chairperson race and the US has proposed several
other names. A similar fate awaits Nitin Desai (?) with
European governments persuading Strong to push Desai for
UNEP instead of UNCSD. Some Europeans likely to contest
the UNCSD post have been mentioned.
All this does not bode well for the Third World. If
a "conservative" Northerner heads the UNCSD, the UN
environmental battle will take the shape Northern NGO's
want. And, with UNCSD's influence over the World Bank and
the International Monetary Fund, developing countries may
have a powerful force to reckon with.
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