The Johannesburg conference, WSSD 2002
World Summit on Sustainable Development

The global conference on sustainable development continued on the path taken by Rio92 – to let the market take care of the problems. The conference happened during the years when the rich countries tried in every way to lock in the development in market terms via the WTO. However, this encountered opposition from the South – as it did at the same time at WTO meetings –; for example, the host Thabo Mbeki launched the concept of ”global apartheid” as a term for the system, a concept that was widely used at the conference.

However, an agreement on water and sewerage was adopted.

The Johannesburg Conference was also a decisive step in breaking with paralyzing consensus among popular movements and NGOs. A movement for justice and against privatization began to take shape during the summit with the help of demonstrations against privatizations and other neoliberal tricks, as well as an alternative conference that was 35 km away from the official one. The official conference met with widespread criticism from far more than the Justice and Anti-Privatization Alliance for its subordination to development issues under the WTO's market gospel.

Meanwhile, the Johannesburg Conference launched a wave of anti-privatization movements within South Africa that has continued since.

Links:

Official website

Wikipedia's summary

Documents:

A comprehensive collection of documents is available on the Global Policy Forum website

Patrick Bond: WSSD both attacks and abets "global apartheid"

Carl Death: Troubles at the top: South African protests and the 2002 Johannesburg Summit