TASSOS KOURAKIS: Need for an international court
The declaration of the Johannesburg summit was a simple statement of good intentions, yet the action plan was void of any real goals or time schedules. The failure was mainly because of the unwillingness of the major powers to look beyond their own noses. They think that they are in a privileged position compared to developing countries; they are unable to realize that no country can escape the repercussions of environmental problems. Given thought processes such as these, it becomes all too clear that what is needed is a world environment organization to deal with these issues on a permanent basis, distinct from trade, as well as an international court for environmental issues. The only solution I can see from now on is the involvement of ordinary people in putting pressure on their own governments. I believe that even now that we are already seeing the serious effects of environmental problems; the civil society is unprepared. Coverage of the summit in Greece, and the interest people showed in it, was disappointing to say the least.
