Many international Environmental Non-Government Organizations (ENGOs ) will be attending the United Nations General Assembly (UNGAS), which will convene in New York next week&emdash;but many leading ENGOs from Canada will be noticeably absent, while others are not afraid to voice their disappointment.

The purpose of the week-long meetings is to assess governmental progress made towards meeting the environment and sustainability goals set by world leaders at the Earth Summit (Rio de Janeiro in 1992). Several meetings have lead up to this New York event, including a Rio+5 meeting hosted by the Earth Council in March 1997, and two preparatory meetings of UNGAS. At these meetings, issues were focused and refined for next week's summit. World leaders are expected to sign new documents, make new promises, and hopefully explain why past promises have not been fulfilled.

Many ENGOs from Canada are extremely skeptical. "The UN has become notorious for its inability to make decisions and bring forward action plans", says Jim Fulton, Executive Director of the David Suzuki Foundation of Canada. "Because of our national government's flagrant violation on anything signed in Rio [Earth Summit, 1992], NGOs will be embarrassingly absent from the [UNGAS] proceedings in New York next week."

Fulton cited examples of such violations, including a treaty signed by Canada to reduce 1992 emission levels 10% by 1997---we are currently at 10% above 1992 levels. Other NGOs are not able to go, simply because the government has cut their funding.

When asked why government is not doing its part, the response is that the Canadian government has made national unity, deficit reduction and trade agreements more of a priority. "Corporations have gone to the top of the list," contends Fulton. "There is a serious beating up of NGOs by the corporate world. There are 3000 business lobbyists [in Canada], that's about 10 to every 1 MP [Member of Parliament]. Our country is playing to the tune of big capital, which comes with globalization. It's important to observe that it has become the same in the UN." Fulton feels that NGOs have tried to demonstrate the urgency of restructuring UN proceedings to facilitate more concrete results, but their cries have gone unanswered.

Despite the lack of faith and funding to attend the proceedings, several prominent ENGOs from Canada will be attending. Elizabeth May, Executive Director of the Sierra Club of Canada, believes ENGOs should take the opportunity to network and regroup "É.[ENGOs] want to make sure that the government does not get away with abandoning its promises. We are the only voice that has consistently tried to make commitments, and push for progress." She feels that this is even more important now, given the lack of political process and media attention.

Brian Sarwer-Former, a graduate student at the University of Montreal, is studying NGOs in Canada and agrees: "NGOs are important in lobbying, pushing government to go further, producing report cards on government performance and publishing them to the press. It is they who will make sure certain issues are not overlooked."