Freedom To Pollute
28 foot replica of the Statue of Liberty in Denmark mocks American politics on sustainable development

A large replica of the Statue of Liberty will be spilling out smoke from her torch in Copenhagen throughout the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development. The smoking statue symbolizes the selfish 'Freedom To Pollute' attitude that the rich countries, with the USA in the lead, are looking to manifest on the Summit which opens this coming Monday.

Danish artist, Jens Galschiot, is again launching a thought provoking event pointing a finger this time at the USA, in particular, and consumerism in the rich countries, in general.

"The American way of life is not up for negotiation" - not even when life itself for people and other species is at stake. This is the core of the American contribution to global sustainable development. USA has worked hard to weaken the plan of action throughout the preparatory process of the Summit and is now showing its final contempt for the international community by not sending its highest representative to the negotiations. President Bush stays at home, cozy at his ranch, while millions of peoples' lives are at stake in the complicated process of finding a way to global sustainable development.
This is not good enough. This is not sustainable.

"The organizations working for sustainable development through the Danish '92 Group support this event," says John Nordbo, the coordinator of the coalition of NGOs. "The world needs urgent action for sustainable development now; real agreements, binding rules and time limits as well as means for their implementation. But, unfortunately, the rich countries - especially the USA - have shown very little willingness to live up to their responsibilities."

The smoking Statue of Liberty will be unveiled in central Copenhagen at 10am on August 26th, simultaneously with the opening of the Johannesburg Summit. She is going to be the icon of the continued campaign for sustainable development and has already been booked for several arrangements following the World Summit.

If you have any questions regarding this press release, please contact:

Campaign Coordinator Berit Asmussen: Tel: +45 7731 0083, e-mail: berit@ms.dk
Artist Jens Galschiot: Tel: +45 6618 4058, e-mail: aidoh@aidoh.dk

Coordinator of the Danish '92 Group,
John Nordbo: cellphone no.: +27-72-301 0869 (in Johannesburg), +27-11 706 7800 (hotel in Johannesburg), e-mail: jnordbo@ms.dk

Further information on the campaign and the organizations behind it:
www.FreedomToPollute.com, www.92grp.dk