Poverty & Environment
Poverty is in the spotlight. Designated a "global challenge" to be addressed at WSSD, the plight of the world’s poor cannot be ignored at Johannesburg. Inspite of (and sometimes because of) the continued efforts of local and global finance institutions, poverty persists across the world. Currently, one in six people lives on less than US $1 per day, and this number is increasing. With such impoverishment, sustainable development remains only a dream.

International Environmental Governance (IEG)
The question of creating an equitable system within which all environment and sustainable development initiatives of the UN may be undertaken continues to pose a challenge to countries. Opinion is divided as to whether creating a new umbrella organisation within the UN – a World Environment Organisation (WEO) is the solution, or to empower existing bodies such as the UNEP or CSD through greater independence and financial support.

The solution, according to some lobbies, may however lie not so much in empowering UN agencies but in disempowering powerful monetary institutions such as the World Trade Organisation (WTO),

Financing for Development (FfD)
A first-ever ‘International Conference on Financing for Development’ is being held in Monterrey, Mexico, from March 18 -22, 2002, at the behest of the UN General Assembly with the World Bank, IMF, WTO, UNDP and UNCTAD as the principal official stakeholders. The goal is to holistically take on board the various issues affecting development finance and to find innovative, efficient and urgent ways to finance poverty alleviation and sustainable development. Extensive participation is expected from Governments, international financial institutions, regional development bodies, civil society and businesses - and outcomes are expected to feed into the WSSD meet in Johannesburg.