By Mandisa Mundawarara
12th May 2007-05-12

In what has been described as a surprising move, Zimbabwe has been elected to head the Commission on Sustainable Development, the main United Nations inter-governmental body on the environment. Zimbabwe’s Minister of Environment and Tourism, Frances Nhema will take over from oil-producing Qatar as chairperson despite strong objections from Western Nations. Western diplomats objected on the grounds that Zimbabwe was unsuitable because of its human rights record and economic problems arising from runaway inflation and drastic food shortages. Zimbabwe dismissed such criticisms, calling it ‘an insult’.
Zimbabwe was elected in a secret ballot among CSD members at the UN headquarters in New York on Friday to head the commission in a very close call result with 26 in favour, 21 against and three abstentions. The country was chosen by other African nations.
The CSD post rotates every year between the world's regions. European Union nations led the objections to Zimbabwe's candidacy as well as to the commission's entire two-week session, saying that it had degenerated into scripted speeches without setting targets to reduce global warming and fund alternative energy sources.
Tom Casey, the US State Department Deputy spokesperson said, "We don't think that Zimbabwe would be a particularly effective leader of this body." He went on to say that development in the Zimbabwe has “been going in only one direction; and it's backwards".
Interestingly though, the Minister of Environment and Tourism, Frances Nhema is on the list of those under a travel ban by the European Union, which effectively means that he cannot travel to the EU to meet ministers on commission business.