Rio de Janeiro – Even before the heads of state arrived for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), the event in Rio de Janeiro promised to end without any ambitious commitments. And it did. Rio+20 wrapped up this Friday (22nd).
A fund to finance sustainable projects in emerging countries was not created, the United Nations Environment Programme (Unep) was not made into an agency, though it will get a boost and a fixed budget; nor were the sustainable development targets set. Still, the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-Moon, said the text is “ambitious,” and the Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff stated that the outcome document, “The future we want,” is the result that was feasible at this time.
From its start on June 13, Rio+20 was marked by demonstrations from civil society representatives, especially environmentalist non-government organizations. The outcome document was assessed as “weak” by the delegations as well, especially those from poor and emerging countries.
The outcome document sets forth that the main goal of all 193 participating delegations in Rio+20 must be a commitment to end poverty, for they believe a poverty-free society must be the starting point from which to achieve sustainable development.
The text provides for the empowerment of women so they may be active in family planning, and for the establishing of a high-level United Nations forum to monitor the implementation of the three dimensions of sustainable development: social, economic and environmental. The targets to be pursued by the countries in this respect, however, have not been defined.
The outcome document is generic in its addressing of how to go about implementing sustainable development. This was one of the reasons that brought negotiations for the document to a standstill, because crisis-ridden wealthy countries were not willing to commit to financing methods and targets.
Points which did not come to being were the establishing of a US$ 30 billion fund for sustainable projects in emerging countries, which the G77 developing country group was pushing for, and the attempt to remove the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities from the document – which the rich nations wanted. The principle posits that developed nations must make greater concessions for sustainable development than emerging ones.
Prior to the closing ceremony, the Brazilian president said the outcome document results from a “feasible” consensus and that it is not an end, but rather the beginning of the whole process. “From now on, the nations must progress. They all can and should forge ahead. The next conference needs to take a step forward,” she said.
In her closing address, she said Rio+20 was not a step backwards from the Rio Earth Summit 1992, held in the city 20 years ago, or from the United Nations’ other sustainable development conferences.
The president said Brazil will donate US$ 6 million for sustainable development projects in emerging countries, and another US$ 10 million to address climate change in poor African countries. Another voluntary commitment taken on by the country, according to Agência Brasil, is to include sustainability into the basic curricula of universities starting in 2013.
Rousseff added that the outcome document is the result of a consensus-based decision. “Consensual decisions are a result of the difficult art of dialogue. But they are stronger because they originate from all those involved,” she added.
Similar to Rousseff, Ki-Moon claimed that now that the document is ready, the actual work for sustainable development will start. “This is only the beginning,” he declared.
Bolivia, Ecuador, Canada, the Vatican State, the United States, and Iceland all expressed reservations concerning the outcome document, and the European Union stated that the document did not move forward in all aspects and at the desired speed, although it agrees with the consensus reached in it.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
