UN GA Event “Advancing Sustainable Development: What should Rio+20 Achieve?”

 

At the 65th Session of the General Assembly a Second Committee special event was held on 29 October 2010, “Advancing Sustainable Development: What Should Rio+20 Achieve?”.

One year on since the UN Member States decided at the 64th session of the General Assembly to organize the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) , the event emphasised the importance of multi-stakeholder engagement of Major Groups in the preparations for Rio + 20, as a means to maximizing the likelihood of successful outcomes.

Felix Dodds, Executive Director of Stakeholder Forum, gave a speech before the UN General Assembly on The Challenge and Spirit of Rio, in which he discussed the current challenges that the world faces today and how to address these multifarious through the Earth Summit process and within its associated objectives and themes.

In his speech he highlighted five key challenges;

1. Human societies are living beyond the carrying capacity of the planet

2. Climate change has emerged as an out-of-control driver

3. There is now becoming an increasing link between environment and security

4. Governments have still not given the UN the mandate, the resources or the institutional capacities required to monitor and enforce international agreements.

5. The still-prevailing, consumption-based economic model is not only failing to deliver progress to enormous numbers of the world’s population, but is seriously threatening the economic stability of all nations, and compromising the prospect for any of us to live on this planet sustainably.

To address these critical issues, Mr. Dodds outlined the importance of co-operation between governments, intergovernmental organisations and stakeholders.

‘The Earth Summit 2012 presents a unique platform for negotiating the co-operation needed to achieve a new deal between North and South, between rich and poor, between governments and stakeholders and between present and future generations. This co-operation is critical to the future of all people on the planet. It is a co-operation we must achieve,’ he said.

Other speakers at the 65th Session of the General Assembly event included;

•  Professor Rehman Sobhan, the Center for Policy Dialogue, Bangladash – Poverty eradication and Sustainable Development

•  Dr. Soogil Young, Chairman, Presidential Committee on Green Growth, Republic of Korea – Green economy in the context of sustainable development

•  Prof. Adil Najam, Frederick S. Pardee Professor of Global Public Policy, Boston University – Institutional framework for sustainable development

To read Felix Dodds’ speech click here.

To view the PowerPoint presentation, which accompanied the speech, click here.