by Peter Bjerregaard
It makes little sense to talk about growth if it’s not sustainable. That’s why the United Nations called for a new index at the Rio+20 Summit that seeks to change the way prosperity is measured.
Monday, 25 June 2012
Friday, 22 June 2012
The Sustainability of “Feminine” Thinking : Women Leaders' Summit on the Future Women Want
Prominent women leaders, gathered at the Rio+20 side event on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment, have branded the predominant women empowerment mechanisms, operating mainly through aid programs, as anachronistic. Refusing to be seen as yet another vulnerable group, women insist on being part of the decision-making process.
By Lidija Grozdanić
By Lidija Grozdanić
Thursday, 21 June 2012
Ecological resilience: a life insurance policy for communities
by Peter Bjerregaard
What is the Green Economy really? That was the key question posed by UNEP here in Rio this week when experts and policy makers met in the UNEP Pavilion for a discussion on the link between research and policy during the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20).
What is the Green Economy really? That was the key question posed by UNEP here in Rio this week when experts and policy makers met in the UNEP Pavilion for a discussion on the link between research and policy during the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20).
Final stage of Rio+20 negotiations: Between failure and balance
by Lidija Grozdanić
Weak vocabulary marks the final stage of the Rio+20 negotiations. Expressions like “acknowledge”, “agree upon strengthening” and “reaffirm” reverberated across the corridors of Riocentro Convention Center on 19 June. Representatives of the 193 participating countries agreed on the latest version of the document, finally approving it at the plenary session. According to Nikhil Chandavarkar, the head of communications for Rio +20, the outcome document is a well balanced text, but one that still fails to address several pressing issues.
The principles put forward during the 1992 Earth Summit, and the means of implementation of these principles which include technology transfer, financing and capacity-building for developing countries were reaffirmed, leaving the big issues essentially unresolved.
The much anticipated concretization of Sustainable Development Goals has resulted in informal agreements, establishing them as a concept to be integrated in a post 2015 agenda.
The matter of upgrading of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) into a United Nations Environment Organization (UNEO) fell short of the initial ambitions, with an overall agreement on elevating its status and augmenting future funding.
Though unlikely to happen, as the countries have already expressed their positions, the heads of states and governments who arrived today in Rio for the official part of the conference reserve the right to change the final document.
Weak vocabulary marks the final stage of the Rio+20 negotiations. Expressions like “acknowledge”, “agree upon strengthening” and “reaffirm” reverberated across the corridors of Riocentro Convention Center on 19 June. Representatives of the 193 participating countries agreed on the latest version of the document, finally approving it at the plenary session. According to Nikhil Chandavarkar, the head of communications for Rio +20, the outcome document is a well balanced text, but one that still fails to address several pressing issues.
The principles put forward during the 1992 Earth Summit, and the means of implementation of these principles which include technology transfer, financing and capacity-building for developing countries were reaffirmed, leaving the big issues essentially unresolved.
The much anticipated concretization of Sustainable Development Goals has resulted in informal agreements, establishing them as a concept to be integrated in a post 2015 agenda.
The matter of upgrading of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) into a United Nations Environment Organization (UNEO) fell short of the initial ambitions, with an overall agreement on elevating its status and augmenting future funding.
Though unlikely to happen, as the countries have already expressed their positions, the heads of states and governments who arrived today in Rio for the official part of the conference reserve the right to change the final document.
Wednesday, 20 June 2012
Youth representatives protest Rio+20 plenary
Representatives of the youth and children major stakeholder group held a demonstration earlier this week to protest what they perceive as an exclusion of future generations from the sustainable development discussions in Rio.
by Mati Kalwill
A common vision agreed at Rio+20?
by Aoife O'Grady
'Our Common Vision' is the title of the text apparently agreed by all negotiators around the table close to 3am Tuesday morning at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro. The (as yet) text is being furiously circulated through the wires and fibres of the Rio Centro conference although it has not yet been adopted in plenary.
Children and youth NGOs are already expressing their dissatisfaction with a process that they believe has shut them out by protesting at the plenary session with tape over their mouths. A big disappointment for them is the fact that there is no mention in the text of a High Commissioner for Future Generations, something for which they had been lobbying hard.
Meanwhile, the press await an official statement and confirmation that the Brazilians have managed to tame what was an incredibly unruly text up to a few days ago. Expect reactions from countries, NGOs and business to come thick and fast in the coming hours...
Friday, 8 June 2012
Rio+20: Giving momentum to resource economics
by Peter Bjerregaard
Growth. Even before the concept is defined, we know what’s on the agenda. It’s not about plant growth, hair growth or growth in quality of life, it’s about economic growth. And the kind that is measured in GDP. However, Rio+20 might mark a paradigm shift in the way we measure growth and wealth.
Growth. Even before the concept is defined, we know what’s on the agenda. It’s not about plant growth, hair growth or growth in quality of life, it’s about economic growth. And the kind that is measured in GDP. However, Rio+20 might mark a paradigm shift in the way we measure growth and wealth.
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