Join the Earth Summit 2002 online debate at www.lifeonline.org/debate

Your chance to speak out on 'What Earth Summit 2002 should be trying to achieve?' Key writers and thinkers on sustainable development will start the debate. Everyone is encouraged to join in.

Ten years after the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio, the world's nations will gather again in Johannesburg next September to review progress and plan for the future. Preparations for the World Summit on Sustainable Development 2002 are well under way, emphasising a transparent and participatory approach. This electronic forum hopes to initiate a focused and constructive public discussion on some of the priority issues. We invite people to share their ideas, knowledge and diverse perspectives. The results of the debate will be taken forward to inform the next preparatory meeting for Rio+10 / Earth Summit 2002.

Week 3 (17 - 21 September)
HIV/AIDS is a great threat to sustainable development; how can multi-sectoral responses be developed to influence government policies and pharmaceutical companies on this issue? How can Earth Summit 2002 tackle the wider question of equitable health care?
This week these four key actors contributed initial "think-pieces" to the debate:
Dennis Altman, Professor of Politics in the School of Politics, Sociology and Anthropology at LaTrobe University, Australia. He is the author of ten books, most recently Global Sex (University of Chicago Press) and co-chair of this year's Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific. Martin Foreman, director of the Panos AIDS Programme in London. He has worked in international aspects of AIDS since 1986.
Dr Yusuf K Hamied, Chairman and Managing Director of Cipla Ltd, Pharmaceutical Company, India.
Mencer Donahue "Don" Edwards, MSN, MPH, managing partner of Justice and Sustainability Associates, LLC, a U.S. based management consulting firm. He is a member of UNED Forum's Earth Summit 2002 International Advisory Board.

Week 4 (24 - 28 September)
How can multi-national companies be influenced to adopt corporate citizenship and accountability for sustainable development? Who are the key actors and what are the main barriers? What strategies could Earth Summit 2002 develop to address this issue?
HOW: To subscribe to the debate, visit www.lifeonline.org/debate and click the 'Join the Debate' link on the web page to register. You can then contribute to the debate and receive the moderated debate messages by email or just follow the debate on the web. Please avoid clicking "reply" to the summit@oneworld.net messages, as this will delay your message being sent out.
By now we have nearly 700 subscribers from more than 80 countries, representing many different stakeholder groups (academics, architects, artists, businesspeople, faith communities, governments, NGOs, Indigenous Peoples, local authorities, media, scientists, students, UN officials, urban planner, women's groups and individuals).

The debate will be moderated by UNED Forum with support from Lifeonline partners TVE, One World and PANOS.

OUTCOME:
We will produce weekly summaries and a final report of the discussions, analysing the results and different viewpoints and recommendations. The report will be widely disseminated to policy-makers and all other interested stakeholders engaged in the 2nd PrepCom of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (New York, January 2002) and be made available online.

Join us throughout September for a lively discussion. Visit www.lifeonline.org/debate

Please circulate this invitation to your networks, colleagues and friends as you see fit.