From 20 – 22 June, presidents and prime ministers from 112 countries will gather in Rio de Janeiro for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development . This is not just another conference, writes Loy Rego. Taking place just two days after the G20 Summit in Mexico, Rio+20 will shape the content and direction of the development agenda for years to come. Also known as Earth Summit 2012, this global gathering aims to chart a path for economic, social and environmental development. The outcome document is tentatively called “The Future We Want".
GCAP can definitely take pride in inspiring this approach, which is based on our 2010 "The World We Want" campaign.
Going forward, GCAP's national coalitions and constituency groups can continue to engage in this process through web-based dialogues and of course grassroots campaigns.
In New York, I attended several rounds of 'intercessionals', the informal consultations on the Rio+20 outcome document. In this article, I would like to share with you some reflections on the process and content.
Historical perspective
Forty years ago at the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) was born, along with national-level environmental ministries and programmes around the globe.
Twenty years later at the first Earth Summit in Rio, 178 governments adopted a comprehensive and visionary plan of action called Agenda 21 for every area in which humans impact the environment.
Agenda 21 identified nine major groups to strengthen for sustainable development: NGOs, Women, Farmers, Trade Unions, Children and Youth, Indigenous People, Science and Technology, Local Authorities and Business and Industry. The first six parallel key GCAP constituents and provide avenues for advocacy and lobbying.
Since 2009, the Rio+20 process has reviewed progress made on Agenda 21 and over the past several months, there have been tough negotiations to shape the Rio+20 outcome document.
Opportunities for Engagement
1. Just prior to the Earth Summit, from 16 – 19 June, experts and stakeholders will convene for the Rio Sustainable Development Dialogues to finalise some thirty recommendations to be presented to the heads of state during the Rio+20 summit. There are ten dialogue topics:
- Cities & innovation
- Economics of Sustainable Development
- Energy for all
- Food and nutrition security
- Forests
- Oceans
- Poverty
- Solutions to economic crises
- Unemployment & migration
- Water
Citizen dialogues occurred online around each of these topics in May. Go to www.riodialogues.org to view the proposals, and more importantly, vote for the best ones, which will then be presented in Rio. The deadline for voting is 15 June.
2. Parallel to the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, Brazilian civil society will convene the Peoples Summit for Social and Environmental Justice from 15 -23 June. As part of this process People's Sustainability Treaties are being drafted along the following themes:
- Consumption and production
- Equity
- Sustainable Economies
- Radical Ecological Democracy
- SD Governance
- SD Goals
- Rights of Mother Earth
- Environmental Education for Sustainable Societies and Global Responsibility
- Ethical and Spiritual Values for SD
- Transitioning to a Zero Fossils World
- Rights for Sustainability
- Corporate Social Responsibility and Accountability
- Higher Education towards SD
Officially, the consultation period is over, but as of a few days ago, the coordinators were still accepting comments. Check out http://sustainabilitytreaties.org/draft-treaties.
Positive Outcomes
While the Rio+20 outcome document is likely to contain a mix of the good and the bad – and this huge global gathering will not produce a new convention or treaty – I see two very positive possible outcomes.
The first is the emerging consensus to adopt a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are intended to be complementary to the Millennium Development Goals. The SDGs will be universally applicable and promote minimum standards of social development within our planetary boundaries. Post-2015, the two sets of goals may be combined into a single global development agenda.
Another noteworthy proposal is the establishment of an Ombudsperson for Future Generations, an institution to legally hold governments to account and ensure that sustainability goals become a sustainable reality. UNEP has a document about this with the tagline, “Bringing intergenerational justice into the heart of policy-making” and futurejustice.org provides another good resource on the subject.
Towards Rio+21 in 2013
Our campaign does not end on 22nd June 2012. In fact it is the work we do over the next 18 months, through the end of 2013 that is of greatest importance. It's during this period that policy-makers and civil society will take the Rio+20 outcomes back to our local communities to prepare national and regional action plans for the next twelve years. This is a space where GCAP coalitions are well-placed to participate and lead. We can also link these discussions into the post-2015 national level consultations.
Let’s make the 21st birthday celebrations of Agenda 21 a year of accelerating national and local implementation towards achieving and exceeding the Millennium Development Goals and creating The World We Want!
Loy Rego lives in New York and volunteers with GCAP, focusing on Rio+20, post-2015 and climate justice issues. He also does research and consultancy on disaster risk reduction and sustainable development in Asia Pacific.
