Next month, heads of state, world leaders, academics, researchers, NGOs, activists and indigenous groups will gather in Brazil for the Rio+20 UN conference on sustainable development.

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This month's Global development podcast looks ahead to the Rio+20 talks and asks what they may mean for sustainable development.

29 May 2012 – Countries today began the last round of negotiations on an outcome document before they meet in Brazil next month at the United Nations Sustainable Development Conference , which seeks to shape new policies to promote prosperity, reduce poverty and advance social equity and environmental protection. “Time is running out,”Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told participants at the Rio+20 informal consultations on the outcome document. “You still have much work to do – perhaps too much work – but you must persevere. The stakes are very, very high, for the people and for the planet, peace and prosperity.”

United Nations, May 29 (Prensa Latina) Delegates from the 193 UN member countries start next Tuesday an additional week of negotiations on the text of the document to be approved by the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20).

Twenty-one private enterprises from China will join in China Going Green Dialogues as a partof the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development, known as Rio+20, that will come inJune in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.

UNITED NATIONS, May 29, 2012 (IPS) - The 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro was to a large extent derailed by a North-South divide: a battle between a coalition of rich industrial nations versus the world's developing countries led by the Group of 77.

In the big lead up to Rio+20, the community concerned about sustainable development is all a-buzz. There is talk of PrepCom, side-events and dialogues at the Rio+20 conference. Despite all the momentum, critics note that the level of civil society input lacks luster. There must be more than the same networks of people talking about the significance of sustainable development.