UN secretary general trying to shore up high-level attendance to keep climate summit on track, but Obama still hasn't committed
On the road to Rio+20
The next Earth Summit Rio+20—officially named the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development—will be held from 20 to 22 June 2012 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This summit is a new attempt by the United Nations in this new millennium to advance the commitment of States and the world community in the major transitions of the twenty-first century. It takes place twenty years after the first historic summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and ten years after the 2002 Johannesburg summit.
This call by the United Nations is ambitious. It invites States, civil society and citizens to “lay the foundations of a world of prosperity, peace and sustainability,” with three topics on the agenda: 1. Strengthening the political commitments to sustainable development; 2. Reviewing the progress and difficulties associated with their implementation; 3. Responses to the new emerging challenges of societies. Two questions, closely related, are placed at the heart of the summit: 1. a green economy in the perspective of sustainability and poverty eradication, and 2. the creation of an institutional framework for sustainable development.
These issues are also those of all Peoples, of all men and women citizens of the planet. The awareness that the world is facing major transitions is increasingly keen. Citizens show growing boldness and capacity to make their voices heard and take part in the challenges of society. Admittedly, the road is still long between the knowledge of the bifurcations to take and the ability of our societies, particularly our institutions and our national governments, to take the measure of these changes and their implementation. We must also ensure that this awareness does not translate into separatism or identity withdrawal, encouraging the opposition of national interests to one another. History has shown that such withdrawal can eventually lead to dead ends and war.
The UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon made a personal appeal to Barack Obama to attend the milestone Rio+20 summit in June, saying his presence would be critical to the summit's success.
As the summit approaches, Ban has been working hard to rope in high-level support to avoid "meeting fatigue" and to keep the event on track. The summit's agenda, still a work in progress, risks becoming a free-for-all with its 26 official priorities.
"President Obama will be crucial," Ban told a forum hosted by the Centre for Global Development, an independent thinktank in Washington. "We count on the United States."
Building the
Peoples Summit Rio+20
Peoples Summit Rio+20
On the road to Rio+20
The next Earth Summit Rio+20—officially named the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development—will be held from 20 to 22 June 2012 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This summit is a new attempt by the United Nations in this new millennium to advance the commitment of States and the world community in the major transitions of the twenty-first century. It takes place twenty years after the first historic summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and ten years after the 2002 Johannesburg summit.
This call by the United Nations is ambitious. It invites States, civil society and citizens to “lay the foundations of a world of prosperity, peace and sustainability,” with three topics on the agenda: 1. Strengthening the political commitments to sustainable development; 2. Reviewing the progress and difficulties associated with their implementation; 3. Responses to the new emerging challenges of societies. Two questions, closely related, are placed at the heart of the summit: 1. a green economy in the perspective of sustainability and poverty eradication, and 2. the creation of an institutional framework for sustainable development.
These issues are also those of all Peoples, of all men and women citizens of the planet. The awareness that the world is facing major transitions is increasingly keen. Citizens show growing boldness and capacity to make their voices heard and take part in the challenges of society. Admittedly, the road is still long between the knowledge of the bifurcations to take and the ability of our societies, particularly our institutions and our national governments, to take the measure of these changes and their implementation. We must also ensure that this awareness does not translate into separatism or identity withdrawal, encouraging the opposition of national interests to one another. History has shown that such withdrawal can eventually lead to dead ends and war.
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