Outreach at UNCSD Informal Informals - 3 May 2012

inside: Earth Debates: dissecting the green economy Beyond Rio+20: sustaining momentum and focusing action

a multi-stakeholder magazine on climate change and sustainable development

out reach.

03 May 2012

www.stakeholderforum.org/sf/outreach/

pic: IFPRI-IMAGES

contents.

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Earth Debates: dissecting the green economy

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It’s up to all of us: conclusions from the Closing Earth Debate

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The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Coalition’s road to Rio

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International Insights on the Green Economy Feeding the Future: sustainable solutions for food security

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Tapping into Carbon Money - The Mikoko Pamoja Project; Sustainable cities

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Valuation of Ecosystem Services and its role in Green Economy and Society Global Warning Poem

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Beyond Rio+20: sustaining momentum and focusing action

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The future we want for people and the planet

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A generation seeks to mold the future

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Incorporating intergenerational equity within international environmental law

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Startgame

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Only One Earth; Missing voices: green business leaders speak out about Rio+20

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Pledge for a Better Planet; Rio+20 Side Event Calendar

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Reflections on the negotiations

8 pic: James Cridland

OUTREACH IS PUBLISHED BY:

About Stakeholder Forum Stakeholder Forum is an international organisation working to advance sustainable development and promote democracy at a global level. Our work aims to enhance open, accountable and participatory international decision-making on sustainable development through enhancing the involvement of stakeholders in intergovernmental processes. For more information, visit: www.stakeholderforum.org

Outreach is a multi-stakeholder publication on climate change and sustainable development.

It is the longest continually produced stakeholder magazine in the sustainable development arena, published at various international meetings on the environment; including the UNCSD meetings (since 1997), UNEP Governing Council, UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP) and World Water Week.

Published as a daily edition, in both print and web form, Outreach provides a vehicle for critical analysis on key thematic topics in the sustainability arena, as well as a voice of regional and local governments, women, indigenous peoples, trade unions, industry, youth and NGOs. To fully ensure a multistakeholder perspective, we aim to engage a wide range of stakeholders for article contributions and project funding.

If you are interested in contributing to Outreach, please contact the team (gmacdonald@stakeholderforum.org or acutter@stakeholderforum.org) You can also follow us on Twitter: @OutreachLive

OUTREACH EDITORIAL TEAM Editorial Advisors

Felix Dodds

Stakeholder Forum

Farooq Ullah

Stakeholder Forum

Editor

Georgie Macdonald

Stakeholder Forum

Co-editor

Amy Cutter

Stakeholder Forum

Editorial Assistant

Jack Cornforth

Stakeholder Forum

Print Designer

Jessica Wolf

Jessica Wolf Design

Web Designer

Thomas Harrisson

Stakeholder Forum

Web Designer

Matthew Reading-Smith

Stakeholder Forum

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Soil Association

Krushil Patel

Zoological Society of London

Noel N Mbaru

Kenya

Kenya Youth Network

Tomas Badura

IEEP

Willice Okoth Onyango Martha Shaw

360º media

Laura Valente de Macedo

Sustainability Policies and Management Consultant

Naomi Kumazawa

MGCY

Georgie Macdonald

Stakeholder Forum

Marion Dahan

United Nations NGO Liaison Service

Steve Waygood

Aviva Investors

Mary Turnipseed

University of California

Nicolò Wojewoda

Road to Rio+20

Charlie Young

New Economics Foundation

Marie Rumsby

Royal Society

Martin Powell

Jim Kitchen

Earth Debates: dissecting the green economy Georgie Macdonald Project Officer, Stakeholder Forum Over the past 4 months, in the heart of London, the Natural History Museum, British Council and Stakeholder Forum have hosted a series of debates to build momentum and drive dialogue in the run-up to Rio+20. Last week saw the closing event, bringing together conclusions from the series. Today’s Outreach will present insights from those involved, on what they believe we should prioritise in our transition to a green and fair economy.

Panellists and guests represented a wide range of stakeholder group – including government, business, academia, and civil society – ensuring a rich dialogue.

To add energy to the discussions and maximise audience participation, the debates were limited to an hour, replete with questions from observers both online and in attendance. To reach beyond the studio, the debates were filmed and streamed live on the web, allowing audiences around the world to engage in the discussions by Tweeting their questions directly to the Chair, Richard Black. Using their extensive international network, the British Council aired the debates in over nine countries, including Brazil, Germany, India, Sweden and Ethiopia.

The four debates, summarised below, focused on core aspects of a green and fair economy.

Ecosystems Economics – can we put a price on nature?

(25 January 2012) Concentrating on the vital role that the environment plays within our economy, panellists Professor Sir Robert Watson (Chief Scientific Advisor to Department for Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs), Will Evison (PricewaterhouseCoopers), Claire Brown (UNEPWorld Conservation Monitoring Centre) and Ian Dickie (Aldersgate Group), discussed the valuation of nature, and the responsibility of developed countries to compensate poorer nations for becoming rich through the exploitation of the world’s natural capital. Bob Watson concluded, “the benefits that we get from nature, such as flood control, pollination services and clean air have often been taken for granted because we get them for free...There is a clear need to better manage our ecosystems, and government, the private sector and the public will need to work together to ensure we protect what nature provides.”

Beyond GDP – how to measure progress?

(22 February 2012) Measuring growth and progress, looking Beyond GDP, was tackled by panellists Hannah Ryder (Department for International Development), Andrew Simms (nef), Emily Benson (Green Economy Coalition), and Paul Simpson

(Carbon Disclosure Project). The discussions centred on the inadequacies of GDP as a measure of societal progress and how it has led to an obsession with endless, uncontrolled growth, which doesn’t take into account the condition of its natural capital or the ecosystem services provided by the environment. Panellists agreed that other metrics and indicators need to supplement GDP and that a system should be developed with the involvement of accountants who are often left out of the debate. Panellists viewed Rio+20 as an opportunity to advance this agenda.

Green cities in a green economy – how to pioneer a sustainable transition? (14 March 2012) With the majority of the world’s population living in cities, they are fast becoming powerhouses for future development and growth - planning their future will make or break a green economy. Panellists Prof Thomas Elmqvist (Stockholm Resilience Centre), David Stubbs (London 2012), Conor Riffle (Carbon Disclosure Project), and Paul Toyne (WSP Group) defined green cities as a ‘better place to live’, looking at the vital role of cities in leading sustainable development. Individualism was viewed as central to green cities’ success, developing within a society’s structure and working with the local habitat. Finally, public-private partnerships were viewed as critical in driving innovation and ensuring a city remains competitive.

Food security – how to feed the population in 2050?

(11 April 2012) Is it possible to feed 9 billion people? The resounding answer given by panellists Sue Dibb (Food Ethics Council), Barry Gardiner (UK Member of Parliament), John Ingram (NERC) and Camilla Toulmin (IIED), was yes. Panellists looked at issues surrounding agricultural practices, education, government policy and waste, and came to a range of conclusions. Barry Gardiner noted that reforming the food system is the most complex question of administrative justice that the world has faced, and that it should be seen as a matter of economics – the allocation of scarce resources. Equity was seen as central, given the 2 billion without access to enough food and the converse problem of obesity faced in developed countries. When looking at food scarcity, the problem is therefore not solely population growth, but one of efficiency and equity

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MORE INFO

Videos of all the debates are available at: www.nhm.ac.uk/ nature-online/biodiversity/earth-debates/watch/index.html

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It’s up to all of us: conclusions from the Closing Earth Debate We all share the responsibility in reducing our consumption and preserving our environment, but leadership by governments and business is urgently required, especially in the run-up to Rio+20. This was the overwhelming message communicated by the guests at the Closing Earth Debates Dinner last Thursday (26th April). Attended by 150 global and local representatives from civil society, academia, government and business, the evening pulled together discussions from the previous four Earth Debates (see page 1).

Organised by partners the Natural History Museum, British Council and Stakeholder Forum, the evening was sponsored by Aviva Investors. Aviva’s Chief Responsible Investment Officer, Steve Waygood, opened the event by introducing their Corporate Sustainability Reporting Coalition. Earth Debates Chair, Richard Black, then gave an overview of the four debates, highlighting areas for further discussion. Guests were invited to continue discussions on their table, with facilitation by 40 British Council International Green Ambassadors (see page 4), bought over especially for the event. The floor was then opened up for debate. Topics covered included: • Consumption vs. population growth, labelled by one guest as ‘the elephant in the room’, followed by an overall agreement that these are both inextricably linked. This discussion was supplemented with insights from The Royal Society’s People and the Planet report; • The urgent need for new prosperity measurements beyond GDP; • The importance of social science, both in changing how we value wealth and happiness, and our obsession with short-term thinking; • The need to review current regulations, both nationally and within the UN, to ensure they are effective, efficient and well understood, both by governments and the public; • The lack of pricing structures for both nature and carbon, with concerns being raised over the denial of the rights of future generations and the failure of current market structures to fairly price natural resources; and • Lastly, there was an ardent call for all citizens to take responsibility for their environmental footprints and to live within planetary boundaries; however it was recognised that there is not enough guidance or education on how to do this, and government input here is pivotal.

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Concluding remarks from partners: The science research and collections of natural history museums contribute to the evidence of unprecedented global environmental change facing both current and future generations. However, scientific knowledge alone is not enough and a key issue is how it leads to new behaviour; especially when it points to the need for a significant, mainstream restructuring of how people live. Natural history museums are also trusted cultural organisations which can help inspire and influence through dialogue and the Earth Debates is one example of finding new ways encourage the necessary debate and hopefully lead to the responses that will ensure the future health, wealth and wellbeing of our fragile planet, its living systems and humanity.

Bob Bloomfield, Head of Innovation and Special Projects, Natural History Museum In the world today we are facing a number of global challenges, many of them related to sustainable development. In order to face these challenges, we need to bring different players together; scientists and entrepreneurs, policy makers and NGOs, community groups and businesses, because only by working together, to find integrated, society-relevant solutions, can we achieve real progress on the road to good planetary stewardship, to the benefit of future generations. Furthermore, this needs to be done on an international level, linking individuals and networks who share the same goals, wherever they may be. As the UK's international organisation for education and culture, working in over 110 countries, we are pleased to have been involved in the Earth Debates initiative and to have brought new voices from around the world into the discussion.

Claire McNulty, Director Science, British Council Although the negotiations towards Rio+20 are painfully slow, there is an emerging consensus around the concept of establishing Sustainable Development Goals to guide the world’s transition to a fairer, more sustainable economy over the next 20 years. Coupled with a determination to strengthen local, national, international and corporate capacity to deliver these goals and implement sustainability, it is possible that Rio+20 could give new momentum to addressing all the themes taken up in these debates and to advance sustainable development across the world.

Derek Osborn, President, Stakeholder Forum

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The opening remarks from Richard Black & Steve Waygood are available at: www.stakeholderforum.org/sf/outreach/index.php/

riopodcasts

Sponsored by

The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Steve Waygood Coalition’s road to Rio Aviva Investors Rio+20 provides a historic global opportunity to create a more sustainable future.

We urgently need to address the sustainability of our capital markets. This is why, in September last year, Aviva Investors convened the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Coalition.

The Coalition now represents investors with assets under management of approximately US$2 trillion, as well as financial institutions, professional bodies and NGOs. The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Coalition has a shared belief in the need for corporate sustainability reporting, due to the vital role it plays in the move towards more sustainable capital markets.

Investors have an important role to play in this transition to a more sustainable future, but in order to do so they need information about the sustainability of the companies which they own and invest in. Today, while investors have information about a company’s profits and cash flows, they don’t know about its sustainability. This is why the Coalition has come together to ask for UN Member States at Rio+20 to develop a Convention requiring all listed and large private companies to either integrate material sustainability issues within their annual report and accounts – or explain why they have not done so. The Convention would not dictate the form that the report should take – this would be determined by corporate boards using the considerable amount of guidance that now exists and deciding for themselves what they believe to be most appropriate for the firm and its prospects.

The Coalition has been encouraged by the level of support for the proposal from many nations and industry associations. We were also very pleased to see that much of the proposal was included within the original Zero Draft Outcome Document for the Rio+20, which was published in January. But as the negotiations have progressed, the Coalition has become concerned and disappointed with the latest draft, which is far too passive.

The latest version of the Outcome Document indicates that no real action is intended. We need a greater commitment from the Rio agenda in order to move the corporate sustainability debate forward. We believe that the form of action needs to be much more explicit and state a commitment to the establishment of a Convention. The ‘comply or explain’ element of the proposal is also missing, which is disappointing as we believe it is important for those companies which opt-out of sustainability reporting, to explain their rationale to their shareholders, creditors and other stakeholders. And finally, if we are to really make progress in the transition to more sustainable capital markets, the follow-up process – post-Rio – should be made clear. Following Rio, the General Assembly should convene an ad hoc intergovernmental negotiating committee to prepare this Convention for signature within two years.

Currently, 75% of companies do not report on sustainability issues at all. An international convention would level the playing field and engage more companies on the journey toward business sustainability. The world now needs to move from the innovative and pioneering approach of a minority of companies, to a true global mainstream practice for all companies. Without this Convention – at the current rate of progress – it will be decades before sustainability reporting is common practice across global markets. Unless this is solved, we, as investors will not be able to play the part which the international community would like us to play.

If Rio+20 is to be successful in moving us towards a green economy, sustainability reporting will not only have to be a vital component, but there also has to be a clear path to achieving this post-Rio. With nearly a month to go we hope that nations will share our concerns at the current direction of negotiations, and seek to strengthen the wording of the Outcomes Document.

We also look forward to our continued engagement with all stakeholders, to ensure that we make the most of the opportunity that the Rio+20 Summit presents

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MORE INFO More information on the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Coalition is available at:

www.aviva.com/earthsummit2012

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International Insights on the Green Economy The following four articles are written by the British Council’s Green Ambassadors who took part in the Closing Earth Debate Dinner, details of which are on page 2. In order to inject international perspectives into the Earth Debates, British Council invited forty delegates from countries around the world, to take part in an all day workshop on Rio+20 and the Earth Debate. Participants discussed the topics covered in the Earth Debates series – adding experiences from their countries – and prepared short statements, which they presented to their tables at the dinner in the evening. The following two pages include short insights from some of the Ambassadors on the aspects of a green economy they believe to be most important

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Feeding the Future:

sustainable solutions for food security

Jim Kitchen Green Ambassador and Project Manager, Soil Association, Northern Ireland Organic and other agro-ecological farming systems can help the world feed itself, but in addition to changing our farming systems, we need to eat differently, waste less food and change how we feed our livestock. These are the main conclusions from a recent Soil Association report, Feeding the Future.

Today we produce enough food to satisfy the nutritional requirements of every person on the plant. Yet nearly 1 billion people are hungry and another billion are malnourished, most of them living in poor rural areas of the Global South.

At the same time, at least a billion people are overweight or obese, mostly resident in richer Western countries.

Predictions indicate that by 2050 there will be 9 billion people in the world. Some have argued that, in order to accommodate for this, we would need to increase our food production by 70%. This argument rests on two assumptions; (i) that there will be no reduction in the consumption patterns of the Global North, (ii) and that the current Western diet, involving much higher quantities of meat and dairy products, will spread to the Global South. But there is another way.

cereals would be available for human consumption, enough to feed an additional 1.2 billion people in 2050. Replacing meat mainly fed on grains, with beef, lamb and mutton from animals grazing on grass, would not only provide better quality meat, but also reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Reducing food waste is also crucial. Globally, around one third of the food produced for human consumption is either lost or wasted. The majority of this wastage occurs in Europe and North America and food wastage low income countries is mainly caused by financial and technical limitations in harvesting, storage, infrastructure and packaging.

Scientists have modelled ways to feed 9 billion people in 2050 on healthy diets, in an environmentally sustainable way. These models have shown that waste reduction could reduce food demand by 25% in richer countries. A further study found that organic agriculture could feed a world population of 9.2 billion in 2050 if relatively modest diets were adopted and equality in food distribution was assured. These scenarios assume that countries like the UK will both produce food differently and eat differently. It is clear, for both environmental and health reasons, that diets must change

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A different system Right now, 35–40% of all cereals produced worldwide are fed to livestock, and this could rise to 50% by 2050 if meat consumption continues to rise as predicted. If all cereals were fed to people rather than animals, we could feed an extra 3.5 billion people. If meat and dairy consumption were held at levels reached in 2000, 400 million tonnes of

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MORE INFO Our report 'Feeding the Future' provides a summary of the latest research on how organic food can feed the world, while our report 'Telling Porkies' looks in detail at claims around the level of future food production needed.

Tapping into Carbon Money The Mikoko Pamoja Project Noel N Mbaru Kenya

Over-harvesting of trees and degradation of tropical forest land has been associated with 20% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions – the principal cause of observed climate change impacts in the world, including erratic rainfalls, desertification, floods, and disease outbreaks among others. A set of international policies known as Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) is concerned with both reducing emissions and enhancing carbon stocks through actions that address deforestation, forest degradation, forest conservation and sustainable forest management. Under the REDD+ mechanism, countries that are willing and able to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation will be compensated for doing so.

The Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI) is implementing an innovative, small-scale carbon project aimed at enhancing mangrove forest productivity and integrity, by carrying out activities that benefit local communities and that could be eligible for attracting carbon investment. Dubbed Mikoko Pamoja, the project will initially protect 107 ha of mangrove forest at Gazi bay and replant 0.4 ha degraded forest per annum, over a project time-scale of 20 years. Technical Specifications of the project have been accredited by Plan Vivo Carbon to sell 3000t CO2 equivalent/year into the voluntary carbon market, thus generating approximately US$15,000/yr.

The profits from selling carbon credits through Mikoko Pamoja are channeled directly to the community in order to finance further mangrove restoration effort, as well as to support community development projects.

But why mangroves for carbon money

Although mangrove forests occupy only 0.1% of the earth’s continental surface area, the forests account for 11% of the total input of terrestrial carbon into the ocean. KMFRI scientists working with other partners have recently shown that mangrove forests sequester six times more carbon than any other productive terrestrial forest. Most of this carbon is captured and stored into sediments. However, loss and transformation of mangrove areas in Kenya is affecting local livelihoods through shortage of firewood and building poles, reductions in fisheries, and increased erosion. Market based mechanisms such as REDD+ represent an important new mechanism to conserve and enhance mangrove forests and promote the livelihood of the local communities who depend on them.

Mikoko Pamoja is a Project of the Natural Environment Resource Council, UK. Other partners in include Kenya Forest Service, Earthwatch Institute, Aviva PLC and Universities of Napier, Bangor and Edinburgh in UK. Mikoko Pamoja is an excellent example of linking research with community development; as well as Public-Private Partnership. We hope to upscale this project to other parts of the Kenya and WIO

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MORE INFO Mikoko Pamoja Project Cordinator: Noel N Mbaru Mobile No: (+254) 0723131086 Email: nmbaru@yahoo.com and nmbaru@kmfri.co.ke Project Email: mikokopamoja@gmail.com Find Us online on www.eafpes.org

Sustainable cities Laura Valente de Macedo Sustainability Policies and Management Consultant, Brazil In 2010, 84% of Brazilians lived in cities. More than 50% of the Earth’s human population share space, systems, resources and rules – in cities. Consequently, encouraging the debate about this complex ‘human ecosystem’ is essential.

The first cities arguably originated about 12,000 years ago. Since then, many characteristics have developed that define what we now call cities. Drivers of their development include geographical situation, technical innovation and population growth. According to UN estimates, by 2050 there will be 6.3 billion people living in cities, about 70% of the projected world population. Nonetheless, they will continue to rely on limited natural resources, and the

capacity of human beings to manage them. Reshaping the way urban dwellers consume, produce, communicate and travel, must take this into consideration.

Sustainable cities are not an end, but a vision that guides the search for human quality of life in harmony with the Planet, now, and for generations to come. However, this transition has more questions than answers. Where does the energy we use come from? Where should our waste go? As well as more complex ones such as: how can we manage a city in order to meet sustainability goals? This is the debate that will most likely shape our future

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Valuation of Ecosystem Services and its role Tomas Badura in Green Economy and Society Policy Analyst, IEEP The implementation of the valuation of ecosystem services (VES) into policymaking represents a great opportunity to create a better, more equal and

Global Warning Martin Powell Poet and Earth Debates participant

greener society. Given the vast and

Tsunamis sweeping across the deep seas Hurricanes howling with deafening breeze Earthquakes shaking our tectonic plates Volcanoes erupting ‘round Earth as it breaks

often unrecognised reliance of humans on biodiversity and ecosystems, it is crucial to appreciate the value they bring to people and the economy.

Dinosaurs died and allowed man to stand Millions of years changed the face of the land A new world was born and with life it did flourish Enough natural resources to keep us all nourished

This is reflected in both the CBD Biodiversity Action plan and the National Biodiversity Action Plan Strategies, and should be more widely recognised in Rio+20.

VES has a key role to play in the formation of national green economy strategies and can help to identify the sectors and issues that are crucial for economies, environments and people, facilitating more transparent and better informed decisions.

However, valuation practice should adhere to numerous principles, including the following: • A variety of valuation methods and approaches should be used (including non-economic tools, participatory approaches and ethical considerations) to better evaluate the wide set of values associated with ecosystems and biodiversity.

• The intrinsic value of nature and inter- and intragenerational equity needs to be widely recognised.

• Caveats and assumptions of research should be openly admitted and the quality of research needs to be the guiding principle.

• The communication of valuation results represents a crucial challenge, as the complexities embodied in the VES and socio-ecological systems, including environmental thresholds, need to be widely understood.

The establishment of an open scientific platform, acting to support interdisciplinary research and the sharing of best practices, is important for promoting the wide and transparent implementation of VES into policy-making, and ultimately the shift towards a green economy

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For a long time the man and the Earth were as one We drank from its rivers, bathed in light from the sun The soil was rich, and ideal for seeds The planet attended to all of our needs But Earth for its pleasures could not comprehend The mentality of its so newly found friend We used and consumed without fear, or care We scarred and we butchered a beauty so rare Poisoning oceans and chopping down trees Re-laying landscapes to build as we pleased Taking for granted our grand evolution Seeds that were planted, replaced by pollution Have we not wondered why it’s so called “Mother Earth?”

Throughout all of history it has given birth!

This bluish-green ball, gently floating through space Has potential for life, quite like no other place It gives and it gives and has nothing to ask To treat it with love and respect is our task For the moment the future we can’t comprehend Is the world that we know, may soon come to an end But there is still some time to undo what’s been done Requiring our species to all act as one With wind turbines turning and running on air Solar panels sourcing our suns constant glare We could cut our emissions and clean up with care Make it our mission to heal and repair Salvage and save for all that its worth Secure our existence as people of Earth

Beyond Rio+20: sustaining momentum Nicolò Wojewoda and focusing action Director, Road to Rio+20 Rio+YOU and MyCity+20 are enablers: they inspire and inform, and get people hooked on this crazy idea that you don’t need permission from anybody to start changing the world, and make it more sustainable. But they’re just the beginning, the first step in what is a locally-based, globally-coordinated, and action-oriented long-term effort.

When we started our work, we knew we were in for the long run. Rio+20 – as much as we would like it to – is not going to solve all of our problems at once. Whether the agreement is an ambitious and inspiring one, or one that is watered down by compromise and special interests, on June 23rd the world will wake up to a hard reality: that a lot of work still needs to be done, and that everybody has to pitch in to do it.

Throughout the last 15 months, our efforts have been based on the belief that the UN summit needs to reach out to people everywhere – on the streets, and in living rooms around the world. Long-term responsibility for future generations, and a sense of empowerment and urgency to make a more sustainable future happen, will come about only when people know how unique this UN gathering is, and how fundamental the challenges it addresses are.

Ours has always been a work of outreach, advocacy, and mobilisation. We have strongly supported and helped establish, grow action-focused outreach efforts such as the Rio+YOU campaign and the MyCity+20 series of events, because they allowed us to go boldly where Rio+20 hadn’t gone before: into the hearts and minds of people outside of our committed (but often insular) community.

On Earth Day, April 22nd, over 50 cities across the world organised Rio+YOU gatherings. The number of MyCity+20 events planned are over a dozen. And thousands of supporters are engaged with our coalition’s initiatives online, sharing stories, learning about sustainable development, and forging collaborations.

At Rio, through a couple of side events and other conversations, we’ll engage fellow youth and other stakeholders in dialogue and reflection about our movement: where do we want to go after Rio? How are we going to work together? What will we focus our efforts on? We’ll be inviting key players from the main youth initiatives leading up to Rio+20 to develop briefing notes on the possible directions our movement can take after the summit. We’ll be performing a much needed self-assessment of our strengths and achievements, but also weaknesses and shortcomings – and discuss how we can learn from them, in order to give a new targeted boost to our post-Rio efforts.

Are we going to focus our energy on monitoring governments’ commitments coming out of the Summit? Or are we going to lead the way on education and training for sustainable development? Is our priority going to instead be growing a new generation of green entrepreneurs?

Is youth involvement in shaping the SDGs the best way of using our resources? And how can we do any of that, together, without going back to our sector-specific corners of climate change, food, employment, gender, and other issues, that would fail to address the root causes of such a complex interlinked system?

Last week, at Stockholm+40, Maurice Strong – former Secretary General of the historical 1972 and 1992 summits – said it clearly: “We need a revolution”. In November of last year, when Liz Thompson, Rio+20 Executive Coordinator, met with us at the UN, she was very clear as well, urging young generations to start a ‘Global Spring’ for our planet.

We’re taking the challenges at hand very seriously, and are excited to know that our role, as agents of change on the front lines of sustainable development, is now more widely recognised. Now, we just need to give a more focused boost to our efforts, in order to better fulfill that role. As Paulo Coelho wrote, “When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”

Let’s keep conspiring at Rio, and beyond

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MORE INFO Road to Rio+20, is a coalition of more than 90 partner organisations, weaving together a global youth-led movement to realsze the potential of the Earth Summit 2012.

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The future we want for people and the planet Marie Rumsby Policy Adviser, Royal Society On 26 April, the Royal Society published its ‘People and the planet’ report, the result of a 21 month study, conducted by 23 experts from around the world, including representatives from China, Brazil, India, Malawi and Ethiopia. The report focuses on the critical links between population, consumption and the environment, and what they mean for sustainable development efforts.

This concept is not a new one; it has been recognised by the international community on several occasions. For example, Principle 8 of the Rio declaration states: ‘to achieve sustainable development and a higher quality of life for all people, States should reduce and eliminate unsustainable patterns of production and consumption, and promote appropriate demographic policies’. Yet there is a danger that Rio+20 will not make progress in this area in any way.

The chair of the People and the planet report, Nobel Laureate Sir John Sulston FRS, spoke at a joint United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and Royal Society sideevent at the Rio negotiations in New York. John stressed that it is the combination of increasing consumption and increasing population, along with changing demographic dynamics, which presents us all with challenges:

Dr Babatunde Osotimehin, Executive Director of UNFPA offered his thoughts on including population in sustainable development discussions. “People are at the centre of sustainable development. It matters how many people we are, how old we are, and where we live.”

• Firstly, worldwide there are 1.3 billion people living in absolute poverty and this must be addressed. This will mean that these individuals need to consume more in order to achieve wellbeing.

Global inequality must be reduced.

As the people and the planet report shows, the world is demographically diverse, and different regions of the world are presented with a range of challenges and opportunities as their populations grow or decline, as they become more urban or as they age. While policies are not able to influence all of these trends, they are able to improve the wellbeing of individuals, by planning for change and ensuring that good infrastructure and support systems are in place.

• Secondly, in the most developed and emerging economies, unsustainable material consumption must be reduced, to ensure a sustainable future for all.

The wellbeing of individuals depends on these critical population – consumption – environment links that are therefore an essential component of sustainable development

• Thirdly, global population growth should be slowed in a voluntary manner. It is estimated that currently more than 200 million women worldwide have an unmet need for family planning. Meeting their needs will require political and financial commitment from the international community.

Education and empowerment of women will also play an important role here.

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Deputy Permanent Representative to the UK Mission to the UN, His Excellency Philip Parham, said: “It is very welcome that the Royal Society has chosen to launch this report. The report is a very timely and valuable contribution to the Rio+20 process”.

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MORE INFO The report is available at

www.royalsociety.org/policy/projects/people-planet/report/

A generation seeks to mold the future Willice Okoth Onyango National Chairperson, The International Youth Council Kenya Chapter & Co-founder-Kenya Youth Network for Rio+20 and Beyond ‘We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children’ goes a Native American Proverb.

As world leaders meet to make decisions on our future at Rio+20, they must consider that youth have the most important voice, as the inheritors of the impacts of their decisions. Our involvement, participation and leadership are key in the development of climate change mitigation, adaptation, and sustainable development pathways. In light of this, it is critical that we retain the relevance of youth voice before, during, and after the Rio+20 Summit.

This requires using targeted communication to decision makers, defining terms, synthesising information, spelling out our vision, assessing the political landscape, coordinating with other stakeholders, strategising our demands, and magnifying our voice. Ultimately, we aim to increase our efficacy in calling upon the moral conscience of world leaders to move to a development module that safeguards the Earth and its people.

The transition to a green economy is a staircase to sustainable development. It is critical, and yet pigeonholed by low political will, weak governance structures, lack of institutional frameworks for sustainable development, and corporate social irresponsibility. This has led to uncertainty, unpredictability and volatility arising out of inter-related food, fuel, energy, financial, environmental, and climatic crises adversely exacerbating youth vulnerability to economic shocks. Our planet’s future is in peril from unfulfilled promises. The youth witness firsthand poverty, climate change, harmful pollution, and depleting natural resources. We have watched warning signs become reality. The trends and the science tell us that we cannot wait another 20 years, until a Rio+40, before we act. The future we want starts NOW. pic: PictureNarrative

Prevailing challenges notwithstanding, the majority of youth are eager to contribute meaningfully to sustainability – from former communist bloc nations, to the pluralistic and capitalist Americas; from the secular, progressive European Union, to the deeply religious Middle East; from tribal Africa to the diversity and energy of Asia. The Rio+20 Summit is an opportunity to improve the wellbeing and social equity of people, while reducing environmental risks with young people at the centre. At The International Youth Council of Kenya, we have mobilised and provided young people with a platform to substantively participate in the preparatory process for Rio+20, and to share and identify strategies for tackling sustainable development challenges in the country. Through the Council, we are engendering innovations with regard to the transition to a green economy and the institutional framework for sustainable development, enhancing good governance, and public education towards achieving green economy.

Our ongoing plans for sustainability include: Kenya National Rio+20 Student Essay Contest; recruitment and empowerment of youth Green Economy Ambassadors in every Kenyan district; awareness building among youth on opportunities available under green economy, involving media in climate change and Rio+20 process; community clean-up, and a concert during Global Day of Action under a campaign dubbed ‘Rio+YOUth’, Rio+20 Kenya National Youth Music Contest.

Rio+20 is a once in a generation opportunity that requires all stakeholders to agree on sustainable solutions to build the future we want. The International Youth Council of Kenya has been actively involved in the Rio+20 preparatory processes, including our role drafting the Nairobi Declaration for Rio+20 together with other youth organisations.

We recently organised The Green Economy Stakeholders Workshop. It offered a perfect opportunity to discuss and identify Kenya’s priorities and expectations for outcomes from the Summit, as well as the sustainable development challenges affecting the country, in our efforts of transition to a green economy. The workshop aimed to identify green economy needs and ways to support the efforts been made, as well as to share knowledge and learn how to participate, by facilitating the transition and addressing these needs. The workshop, made possible with partnership from the Office of the Prime Minster and Transparency International Kenya, brought together young people, government officials, media, and representatives from CSOs, NGOs, UN Agencies and development partners to help enrich the Green Economy discussions and offer concrete recommendations

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Incorporating intergenerational equity within international environmental law Mary Turnipseed National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, University of California The notion of intergenerational equity springs from the idea that it is unfair for the current generation to limit the choices of future generations by destroying natural resources, and it appears throughout international environmental law.

Since the 1972 Stockholm Declaration, international environmental instruments have repeatedly invoked the need to protect the interests of future generations. However, doing so has proven difficult.

Consequently, one of the key topics of conversation leading up to Rio+20 has been how to secure intergenerational equity in international environmental governance. For example, the 2011 Nobel Laureate Symposium on Global Sustainability discussed the pressing need for the international community to explore new institutions to “address the legitimate interests of future generations.”

Improving accountability of governments to citizens is considered a linchpin in this endeavor. The UN SecretaryGeneral’s High level Panel on Global Sustainability discussed the intersection of governmental accountability and intergenerational equity in the achievement of sustainable development: Sustainable development demands substantially increased levels of accountability – not only for results in the short term, but also for the long-term consequences of our actions, both for today’s generation and for those who will inherit the world we have left for them.

The Zero Draft of the Outcome Document at Rio+20 discusses the need to protect the interests of future generations and the possibility of creating an Ombudsperson or High Commissioner for Future Generations within the United Nations to further this key goal. Previously, Principle 10 of the 1992 Rio Principles also emphasised the role of accountability in achieving sustainable development, by citing the importance of public participation, information sharing, and access to judicial remedy. The Zero Draft reaffirmed the necessity for substantive ‘steps to give further effect to Rio Principle 10 at the global, regional and national level.’

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My coalition of legal scholars and ecologists have proposed that a widespread but often overlooked doctrine called the Public Trust Doctrine (PTD) could uniquely provide a legal foundation and implementation framework for achieving intergenerational equity via enhanced governmental accountability. The PTD offers the simple mandate that governments must manage common natural resources in the sole interest of their citizens and appears in the laws of many States, including Canada, Eritrea, India, Kenya, Philippines, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Uganda, and the United States. Critically, the beneficiaries of the ‘Public Trust’ are both current and future generations; and governmental trustees may not discriminate in favor of current generations in their decision-making regarding the Trust.

By requiring trustees to treat the interests of current and future citizens equally in their decision-making about common natural resources, the PTD provides a philosophical framework for structuring the relationship among generations of citizens, governmental bodies, and natural resources. Additionally, in States with strong PTDs, the doctrine affords citizens a broad suite of rights, including the right to access information about the status of trust resources, and the right to seek judicial relief when trustees alienate their duties.

Because the PTD encompasses both the imperative of intergenerational equity and the need for greater governmental accountability to achieve it, the PTD could supply a strong legal basis to the proposed establishment of an Ombudsperson, or High Commissioner for Future Generations. A bold framework rooted in the notion of ‘Public Trusteeship’ could also contribute key accountability mechanisms to national and international institutions charged with protecting the rights of future generations to functioning ecosystems

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MORE INFO This article was adapted from Turnipseed, M., J. Berkman, M. Blumm, L. Crowder, D. Currie, K. Gjerde, R. Longest, G. Osherenko, P. Parenteau, S. Roady, R. Sagarin, P. Sand, and M. Wood. 2012. Policy Brief: The Public Trust Doctrine and RIO+20.

Please direct correspondence to turnipseed@nceas.ucsb.edu.

Startgame

Charlie Young Global Changemaker and Harvard student currently working for the New Economics Foundation Rio+20 is just another conference. To the detriment of 2011, 2012 is meant to be the year the world wakes up from its dopamine stupor and the tide turns. This year, we are led to expect, will deliver a 'sea-change' in our relationship with the planet. In fact, Shakespeare's original use of the phrase is more applicable to our context - a slight shift, or turn, over an extended period of time. And yet what we need is systemic change beyond incrementalism, to build institutional capacity, and deconstruct the paranoia that holds back ideas from developing into the messy fabric of realpolitik and physical reality. As Einstein reminds us, the physical reality is after all the only truth we can awaken to.

The recalcitrant, cantankerous old men whose internal musings drove the latest economic revolution kicking and screaming from the estate had no such qualms. Milton Friedman, Friedrich Hayek and their gang of Mont Pelerin scholars wanted their ideas to be globally embraced, but had little time for the childish quibbles of democratic process. Successful movements build their support bases and refine their thinking before trumpeting their ideas.

Any theory and practice of change robust enough to facilitate systemic transformation, requires a rigorous intellectual and clear moral framework and narrative.

One built around equity, wellbeing, ecological resilience, plurality and justice. Buckminster Fuller argued that to supersede a damaging, redundant system, we must make it obsolete. The revelations of Occupy, the recent proliferation of new economic think tanks and collaboration between social justice, labour, and environmental organisations are in the formative stages of doing just that.

We need a coherent movement with a constituency to advocate for these ideas.

Finance

The recent financial crisis has proved not only that investment and retail banking need to be separated, but also that the creation of money is central to any discussion of long-term social and environmental sustainability.

Local and democratically controlled production of hard currency should be on the agenda at Rio. So should reconnecting currency with physical produce.

Environment

We are passing 3 of the 7 known planetary boundaries, markers of ecological resilience. According to the Stockholm Institute, we are half way across the Rubicon. Our frontiersman approach to wilderness, and the appropriation of what is unfettered has driven extractive consumption beyond capacity. We must embrace cradle to cradle technology, the regionalisation of manufacture, production, and consumption, and reassert our notions of the commons in the face of coming ecospherical crises. In order to understand nature, we need to spend more time in it.

Wellbeing and progress

It is common knowledge that GDP is de-coupled from life satisfaction. We know human connection makes us happy, material possessions are no substitute. We must provide time, community structure and space for that to be possible. That means modifying and replacing the metrics on which our society measures progress, spreading employment and working hours, re-skilling the population, and de-cluttering the mental environment by reducing the amount of advertising in public spaces.

Labour, work and time

Ownership of the workplace must be reconsidered if we are to have a just and democratically sustainable economy. Mondragon and the Evergreen Project symbolise the pragmatic utopian benefits of co-operative culture, while enhancing local participatory democracy. In Rio's home nation alone, 50m peasants, ex-convicts and homeless people have formed self-sufficient co-operative communities of engineers, professors, activists, judges and spiritual leaders. This differential is also heavily impacted by the pay ratio between rich and poor, one Plato said should never exceed 6:1 - which is now at least 500:1 in the financial sector.

Politics and agency

While overall trust in institutions remains low around the world, surveys also imply that individual agency over local and national decision-making is decreasing. Peoples' courts, like the crowd-justice that arose from the ashes of the Rwandan genocide, have much to teach any World Environmental Court to combat Ecocide. Crowd-sourced scientific knowledge and local decision making, along with the empowerment of community activists will be key to the success of this movement.

And the movement is gathering pace. Last month there was a high level UN summit on happiness and wellbeing, the UC Berkeley protests and Harvard Economics walk-out may see the beginnings of an educational revolution in the US. Governments are now paying more than lip-service to Financial Transaction Taxes, local currencies, measures of wellbeing and Gross National Happiness.

As William Gibson famously quipped, “The future is already here - it’s just not very evenly distributed.�

Our responsibility is to engage with this, intellectually, emotionally and, most importantly, physically in the deepest possible sense. We have great work ahead of us

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Only One Earth Only One Earth, the new book

by Felix Dodds & Michael Strauss with Maurice Strong, will be released on 1st June 2012 Forty years after the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm, the goal of sustainable development continues via the Rio+20 conference in 2012. This book will enable a broad readership to understand what has been achieved in the past forty years and what hasn’t. It shows the continuing threat of our present way of living to the planet.

It looks to the challenges that we face twenty years from the original "Earth Summit" in Rio, in particular in the areas of economics and governance and the role of stakeholders. It puts forward a set of recommendations that the international community must address now and in the future. It reminds us of the planetary boundaries we must all live within and what needs to be addressed in the next twenty years for democracy, equity and justice to survive. Finally it proposes through the survival agenda a bare minimum of what needs to be done, arguing for a series of absolute minimum policy changes we need to move forward.

“It is a privilege to review the recent history of a remarkable initiative that changed attitudes and perceptions, and introduced a new approach for determining the future of Planet Earth. Written by outstanding players that contributed effectively to the success of this major effort, it covers in detail scientific, diplomatic and strategic aspects of a process that peacefully brought together all nations.”

Henrique B. Cavalcanti, Former Federal Minister of Environment in Brazil. Former Chairman of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development "The authors use their intimate experience of UN processes to detail the long and sometimes painful journey from the Stockholm summit of 1972 towards Rio+20 in 2012. The distillation of history would be useful to anyone new to the issues. But more important is the dissection of the various forces at play, including trade, competitive development, aid and environmental awareness. Those forces are still here, and will play a major role in shaping the path towards global sustainability - or not - well beyond Rio."

Richard Black, BBC Environment Correspondent

Missing voices: green business leaders Martha Shaw speak out about Rio+20 Earth Advertising - 360º media Nearly 100 sustainable business leaders crowded into the 10th floor of the UN Church Center on May 1st, to join a conversation with Chantal Line Carpentier, Sustainable Development Officer & Major Groups Program Coordinator of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, and other UN representatives.

of CSRwire, made it clear that these are businesses that have people and planet in their DNA. Around the world are examples of mission driven business enterprises solving many social and environmental problems, including the eradication of poverty. This was compared to the restraints of multinational corporations, who are bound by law to act in the best interest of shareholder profits.

The topic was ‘Missing Voices’ in the Rio+20 process, in reference to a sustainable business community comprised of over 200,000 entrepreneurs, among organisations including American Sustainable Business Council, Social Venture Network, Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE), B-Corporation, Green America, and ‘buy local’ green business networks.

Many examples were given of supply chain relationships among green businesses and corporations going green, which highlighted that other models do exist for ways the world can do business. Speaking engagements at Rio+20 were made, and the group learned more about UN engagement and post Rio+20.

The meeting was hosted by The Temple of Understanding, to explore ways that founders of socially and environmentally responsible, ‘triple bottom line’ businesses might bring their voices to Rio+20, and beyond. The definition of a sustainable business was discussed and Joe Sibilia, CEO

David Levine, CEO of the American Sustainable Business Network agreed to consult with its members about joining the Business & Industry Major Group. Tess Mateo, an advisor to DESA also pointed out that the Women, and Indigenous People Major Groups would also be good allies

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Pledge for a Better Planet Krushil Patel Youth Coordinator Intern, Zoological Society of London

This June, world leaders, government officials, the private sector and NGOs will gather in Rio de Janeiro for Rio+20. This conference will provide world leaders and decision makers a platform to discuss urgent issues facing the world including social equity, poverty and environmental protection. In the build up to, and during, Rio+20, many initiatives and projects are being undertaken to involve the participation of people from around the world. This contribution is essential to ensure that the voice of future generations is heard, and accounted for, in the decisions that will be taken.

Oceans, biodiversity, ecosystems and conservation are key areas of discussion during the Rio+20 conference. Oceans are an essential global resource - which helps to combat global warming by absorbing 30% of CO2 produced by humans and supports over three billion people dependent on marine and coastal biodiversity for their livelihoods.

The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) in partnership with Client Earth has produced a Youth Declaration called, ‘Pledge for a Better Planet’, which is looking to gain a commitment from decision makers to put in place and implement practices that will ensure the right to a healthy

planet for future generations. In 2002, 188 countries promised to significantly reduce the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010, but nothing changed. During the Conference of the Parties UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) held at Nagoya in October 2010, 193 countries promised to halt the rate of loss by 2020.

Pledge for a Better Planet wants to ensure that these promises are turned into binding commitments and that governments are held accountable in meeting the goals.

The Youth Declaration demands a commitment to meet, by 2020, the key targets agreed in Nagoya, particularly: to reduce or stop the loss of biodiversity, to stop the extinction of species, to reduce pollution to safe levels, to restore and safeguard ecosystems and the services they provide, to manage and harvest fish sustainably without damaging the marine environment and ecosystems, to ensure that terrestrial and inland waters and coastal and marine areas are sufficiently protected and managed sustainably, and to conserve and restore nature and living organisms so that they can withstand and help to combat climate change and desertification.

Every generation has an equal right to all plants and animals, and the ecosystems in which they live. It is up to each generation to use the world’s species and ecosystems so as to permit equal use by all generations.

The excessive use of the earth’s resources is currently unsustainable and is adversely affecting all future life.

It is the responsibility of this generation to take the necessary steps to ensure that future generations have the right to a healthy planet. Sign Pledge for a Better Planet to shape the future we want

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MORE INFO

To sign the pledge visit www.zsl.org/betterplanet

Rio+20 Side Event Calendar

04 May 2012

03 May 2012

Date

Time

Room

Title

Organisers

1:15-2:45

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Towards an Inclusive Green Economy - A think exchange at the second round of 'informal-informal' negotiations on the zero draft

Federal Ministry for the Environment, Germany

1:15-2:45

3

Natural Wealth Accounting

World Bank

1:15-2:45

3

Creating a sustainable economy: top down and bottom up

Institute for Plenary Synthesis and Commons Action for the UN

1:15-2:45

7

UN-Water Report on Water Resources Management for Rio+20 Summit

UN WATER, UNEP

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Reflections on the negotiations - Wednesday, 2nd May Marion Dahan

Naomi Kumazawa

The US moved to delete the role of States in the promotion of investments in sustainable tourism, as much of this comes from the private sector. Despite some concerns, the G77 accepted this deletion. The EU insisted on the importance of local communities and indigenous people, while New Zealand called for a mention of cultural tourism in addition to the eco-tourism.

“Only six more days of negotiations…are we ever going to finish?”

Concerns were heard everywhere today as the negotiations this week have drastically slowed down, largely due to the Co-Chair's real-time presentations of new text proposals and attempts to come to agreements on the most critical issues for Member States.

United Nations Non-Governmental Liaison Service

MGCY/Environmental Partnership Council

The US, EU, Kazakhstan, and the G77 stated that they were comfortable with Russia’s proposal to include road safety as an integrated part of sustainable development. G77 asked for the deletion of transport emissions, which the EU and the US strongly opposed.

On Harmony with Nature, the Holy See’s proposal to integrate the language of the Rio Declaration was heavily criticized by New Zealand, Australia and Canada, who refused to single out any Rio principle. The US, supported by Switzerland, Australia and Canada, also proposed to define harmony with nature as a central challenge rather than ‘the most important challenge’.

On cities, Korea proposed to replace the mention of ‘slum upgrading’ with ‘urban regeneration’. The G77 seemed sceptical of this notion, while the EU and the US expressed their will to retain terms. The EU also called for a commitment to improve the conservation and valorisation of the natural and cultural heritage, the revitalisation of historic districts and the rehabilitation of city centres. The US and the G77 asked for clarification on that point.

The Women Major Group stressed the need to focus on rural women, as well as the necessity to strengthen the commitments on sexual and reproductive rights. Farmers urged governments to better recognise decent work for fishers. Indigenous Peoples called for a clear recognition of the rights of Mother Earth. Lastly, Local Authorities expressed their satisfaction about the strong efforts related to cities, but asked for a greater recognition of local networks, regional planning and the need to develop cohesive territories.

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Outreach is made possible by the support of

Only six negotiating days... 21,000 children will die each day, adding up to 1,008,000 in the 48 days until the Summit, all from preventable causes. In the meantime, we are holding back money and technology for the sake of national interest, in a world that is divided up by invisible borders, and bracketing the future of those who may not have a future.

I am very grateful for the amount of work Member State delegations, the Co-Chairs and the Secretariat are putting into these two weeks. I imagine they have endured almost no sleep or rest.

Is this really the best way to achieve the future we want? This is urgent. Urgent because, once we do finally agree on commitments for active participation of civil society – which was negotiated once again today – we are still at a starting point. Speaking as a member of the Children and Youth Major Group, our sense of participation is mostly built through trust in individuals. Our involvement and weekly online meetings across borders are not based on statistics or the categorisation of people, but through respect of individuals. If a UN High Commissioner for Future Generations is created, it may need time to function effectively, but it is a first step towards change.

What I hope for Rio, is for people to come out of the conference happy and confident that we will have a sustainable world for future generations. So, please, focus on the priorities of the world and its people, and not only the countries.

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