South Africa sees US on side at UN Summit

South Africa has said it is confident that the United States would not torpedo a global action plan for environmentally sustainable development to be adopted at a U.N. summit in Johannesburg.
Environmental groups have voiced concern that the United States and oil exporting nations will try to scale down the World Summit on Sustainable Development's action plan because of fears about the impact it could have on business and profits. But South African Environment and Tourism Minister Valli Moosa in an interview with Reuters late this week dismissed such concerns as premature and said he and his ministry were working closely with the Americans to ensure the summit is a success.