Rio+20 Day 1: A Storify Recap

June 21, 2012 · by · in #riomatters
  1. See any events or details missing? Leave a comment with your suggestion! As always, you can also reach Rio Matters by Twitter or Facebook. Check back tomorrow for a recap of Day 2!

    For some background on Rio 20, see this excellent Q&A with The Guardian’s Jonathan Watts
  2. 130 Heads of state from all over the world converged on Rio, including the French, Russian and Chinese prime ministers. But conspicuously absent were US President Barack Obama, UK Prime Minister David Cameron and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany.

  3. Gro Harlem Brundtland, “Mother of Sustainability” and advisor to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, expressed her disappointment:

    “The absences are not good and they don’t look good. One explanation is the terrible difficulties in Europe. The Europeans would normally feel like they should be here,” she told the Guardian. “The financial and economic problems that some countries face don’t make it easier for them to agree on things that they would have agreed to before 2008.”
  4. Member states announced Tuesday that they had agreed upon a draft of an outcome statement, after months of painstaking negotiations. “We think the text contains a lot of action, and if this action is implemented, and if follow-up measures are taken, it will indeed make a tremendous difference in generating positive global change,” Rio 20’s Secretary-General, Sha Zukang, said in a statement.
  5. guardianeco
    BREAKING: Here’s the draft text that has got everyone so annoyed at #rioplus20: http://gu.com/p/38e3x/tw (so-called ‘Future we Want’ agreement)
    Guardian Environment
    Tue, Jun 19 2012 12:32:53
  6. The document, entitled “The Future We Want,” calls for the establishment of sustainable development goals, mobilization of financing for sustainable development initiatives, and the inclusion of women, indigenous groups, and NGOs on the agenda, among other action points. It’s now up to the Member States to formally adopt the stated outcomes and commit to enacting policies by the end of the summit on Friday.
  7. Many parties expressed disappointment at the content of the compromised statement, including EU climate commissioner Connie Hedegaard, Greenpeace International director Kumi Naidoo,
  8. CHedegaardEU
    #rioplus20 telling that nobody in that room adopting the text was happy. That’s how weak it is. And they all knew. Disappointing #Rio20
    Connie Hedegaard
    Tue, Jun 19 2012 13:02:13
  9. kuminaidoo
    This is Rio Minus 20 which Fails on equity, fails on ecology,Fails on economy #rio 20 #earthsummit text longest suicide note in history
    Kumi Naidoo
    Tue, Jun 19 2012 12:06:26
  10. GreenSouthYorks
    RT @dpcarrington: RT @BenJacksonSun: #Rioplus20 draft agreement contains word “encourage” 50 times, word “support” 99 times, but “we will” just 5 times
    Green Infrastructure
    Thu, Jun 21 2012 07:08:14
  11. In particular, a back room deal quashed the inclusion of international oversight of threatened ecosystems of the oceans from the agreement. ”What I have seen at this summit has utterly appalled me,” Alex Rogers, scientific director of the International Programme on the State of the Ocean, told National Scientist magazine.
  12. A few voiced less pessimism, including British conservative politician and environment secretary Caroline Spelman.
  13. FOECardiff
    Caroline Spelman: ‘The agreement on Sustainable Development Goals is a good outcome’ http://lus20bit.ly/Mq0Zms #RioPlus20
    Friends of the Earth
    Thu, Jun 21 2012 09:28:33
  14. “The agreement is fine, but global agreements aren’t going to solve anything…The solutions will only come through the enlightened self-interest of countries, companies and individuals.” Conservation International head Peter Seligmann told Reuters.
  15. Some applauded encouragement in the text of corporate sustainability measures, such as creating more openness and accountability of companies’ practices.
  16. However, environmental NGOs largely felt the wording of the statement was too weak. “The text as it stands is completely out of touch with reality,” said Wael Hmaidan of Climate Action Network in a statement delivered on behalf of the UN Major Group of NGOs during the summit’s opening plenary.
  17. NGOs and civil society groups have been circulating a petition protesting the call for elimination of the phrase “with full participation of civil society” from the first paragraph of the statement. It currently reads: “…with full participation of civil society, renew our commitment to sustainable development, and to ensure the promotion of economically, socially and environmentally sustainable future for our planet and for present and future generations.”
  18. The UN Major Groups for Women and Youth also released a highly critical joint statement.
  19. In his statement at the opening plenary, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said of the summit: “Let us not waste this opportunity. The world is watching to see if words will translate into action, as we know they must.”

  20. However, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who is presiding over the summit, will not reopen debate or negotiations on the statement contents before leaders are to sign off on Friday.

    Speeches by world leaders and other Rio 20 events will continue to be livestreamed throughout the summit.

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