This month at Green Drinks we will look at the Rio+20 Conference (the UN Conference on Sustainable Development) taking place next month.
20 years ago, the UN held an iconic conference in Rio on the Environment and Development, which is also known as the Rio Summit or the Earth Summit (note: it wasn’t a ‘conference on sustainable development’ as it is now, even though the term had been in...
[read more] This month at Green Drinks we will look at the Rio+20 Conference (the UN Conference on Sustainable Development) taking place next month.
20 years ago, the UN held an iconic conference in Rio on the Environment and Development, which is also known as the Rio Summit or the Earth Summit (note: it wasn’t a ‘conference on sustainable development’ as it is now, even though the term had been in use for 20 years before that!). 172 governments with 108 heads of state attended the conference. The agenda of the conference included many of the issues related to unsustainability - climate change, biodiversity loss, toxicity as part of production systems, public transportation systems, water scarcity etc… and there were a number of UN instruments developed to tackle these - the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, Agenda 21, Forest Principles, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Framework Convention on Climate Change etc.
Next month marks ‘half-time’ in the global efforts to get us on a more sustainable pathway - a time to reflect on the last 20 years, and a time to re-energise and look forwards to the next 20!
The objective of the Rio+20 Conference is to secure renewed political commitment for sustainable development, assess the progress to date and the remaining gaps in the implementation of the outcomes of the major summits on sustainable development, and address new and emerging challenges. Rio+20 will focus on two themes: 1) a green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication, and 2) the institutional framework for sustainable development.
At Green Drinks this month, we hope to have as many of the Malaysians going to Rio next month as we can possibly fit in (from both sides of the political spectrum, NGOs and students) to give us their thoughts, perspectives and hopes.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon recently said that Rio+20 was a once-in-a-generation-moment for leaders to rise above differences and show true global leadership (http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2012/sgsm14288.doc.htm). It is, however, still uncertain how many world leaders will be going, but it doesn’t look too good at the moment - see
http://www.earthsummit2012.org/blog/item/275-the-world-is-watching-will-g20-countries-lead-this-june-at-the-earth-summit. In response, the UN secretary-general has called on the young people of the world (and, I’m sure he meant, the young at heart too!) to make some noise and shame governments into doing more (http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2012/sgsm14292.doc.htm). This is, of course, true… but the issues are such that this is not the job of the government or the job of the NGOs anymore than it is our own… so do join in the pondering and discussion! Have a look at the various posts on the event page and come share your thoughts next Tuesday!
On a practical note, many people were not able to find the venue last month. If you are coming by LRT, Masjid Jamek is the station… if you are driving, then it is probably best to make your way up Bukit Nenas and park in the Ming Building car park - opposite the St John’s Cathedral, just before you get to St John’s Primary School… there will be signs from the carpark. Top Tips: 1. Drive slowly because the one-way system is a nightmare if you miss your turning. 2. Follow the map on the event page (print it out if you don’t have a smart phone!) because the automatic map on facebook from Bing is wrong!!
Please share with those you think might be interested in this evening!
Many thanks
Steve
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