Twenty years ago the world's leaders did something tremendous. Meeting at the historic Earth summit in Rio, governments agreed that we must start living within our means. They saw that hoovering up or wrecking precious natural resources to get rich quick today would only leave us poorer tomorrow. Development would have to become more sustainable. Everybody would have to play their part.
Diplomats from over 190 countries agreed on a draft text on green global development on Tuesday to be approved this week at a summit in Rio de Janeiro, but environmentalists complained the agreement was too weak.
The draft agreement for the Rio+20 summit on sustainable development has been signed off by negotiators.
The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) offers the world an important opportunity to both acknowledge, and benefit from the inextricable links between human health and sustainable development.
The UN Conference on Sustainable Development starts today in Rio de Janeiro.
The meeting marks twenty years since the 1992 Earth Summit, when more than 108 heads of State agreed to work together to develop nation strategies to reduce carbon emissions, stabilise greenhouse gas, protect forests from destruction, and pay for their share of the damage caused to the earth through pollution.
Environmental pressure groups have written off the Rio+20 summit beginning today as "pathetic" and a "colossal failure of leadership".
RIO DE JANEIRO, Jun 19 2012 (IPS) - Announced as an innovative way to encourage the participation of Internet users and the public in general in the debates at Rio+20, the proposal for Sustainable Development Dialogues also raised doubts about the impact its recommendations would have.
More than 150 world leaders and ministers kick off the Rio+20 Earth Summit on Wednesday amid widespread disappointment about the strategy they will adopt to put the global economy on a more sustainable path.