Vice President Aliu Mahama left Accra on Friday for Johannesburg, South Africa to attend the World Summit on Sustainable Development. He will on Monday address the meeting on behalf of President John Agyekum Kufuor.

The Summit, which opened on August 26, is a follow up to the Rio De Janeiro Earth Summit of 1992 that was convened to deliberate on environmental issues at the highest level.

The meeting seeks to take stock of the progress made since the Rio De Janeiro Summit, examine the challenges and to chart a fresh path for the way forward.

Mr Hackman Owusu-Agyemang, Minister of Foreign Affairs, accompanied the Vice President.

Professor Dominic Fobih, Minister of Environmental and Science and Mr Yaw Barimah, Minister for Works and Housing, as well as officials of the Environmental Protection Agency are already in Johannesburg for the Summit.

The Vice President is expected back home on Friday September 6.