Race to Rio: 2012 Earth Summit News -- Sept. 30, 2011

In the last six weeks, the pace of preparations for the June 2012 Rio+20 Earth Summit has really picked up – as has the coverage in new and social media.  As a result, we have decided to change the focus of our periodic updates.  We will continue to report news – and our views – on major developments worldwide while keeping  a closer eye on what is happening in the "Race to Rio" in Brazil and Latin America.

CIVIL SOCIETY GROUPS DEMAND ACTION-ORIENTED RIO+20 EARTH SUMMIT

The largest civil society gathering on Rio+20 to date – the UN Department of Public Information’s annual NGO Conference – took place in Bonn, Germany, on September 2-5. It concluded with a 17-page chair’s text that expresses both the diversity of the 1,400 participants and the common goal of making Rio+20 a transformative summit. NRDC’s Michael Davidson reports back:

Put over a thousand engaged members of civil society in one room and you are likely to get some really forward-thinking ideas about making real progress on sustainable development. That’s exactly what happened over these three days, with encouragement from governments and the UN who in an interesting role-reversal were “observers” to our conference.

We covered a lot of ground. One of the most interesting sessions for me was a green economy roundtable on Sunday where policy professionals and practitioners said in no uncertain terms: we need to make Rio relevant to the ordinary person (all the videos and presentations are available online; check out Constanza Martinez from IUCN). This means holding governments and corporations accountable to their commitments toward a green economy, and focusing on how we get there. Subsidies, public participation, green infrastructure...a lot of work remains.

The chair’s text – the outcome document – covers a lot of territory, but if you scan to the Rio+20 section on page 4, you’ll see the meat of what civil society is asking for: governments (represented by heads of state), businesses and all stakeholders to come to Rio ready to deliver on concrete commitments. Some suggestions for Sustainable Development Goals are outlined on page 12 (here is NRDC’s deliverables list). I expect the approach of identifying broad global goals and securing commitments from key countries on implementation and accountability will gain further steam in the months to come.

BRAZIL-US  JOINT INITIATIVE ON URBAN SUSTAINAIBILITY TO PROVIDE MODELS FOR CITIES WORLDWIDE

In August, Brazil’s Environment Minister Izabella Teixeira and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson launched the Joint Initiative on Urban Sustainability (JIUS), reaffirming the two countries’ commitment to environmental collaboration.  The initiative, which will initially focus on Rio de Janeiro and Philadelphia, will promote urban sustainability projects related to air quality, waste management, recycling, energy efficiency, sustainable construction, water efficiency, transportation and pollution.  During the next couple of years Rio will host major world events, including the Rio+20 summit, and the hope is that investments for these events will serve as models of sustainability for cities around the world.  Experts from the Rockefeller Foundation and the Fundação Brasileira para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável will help identify potential sustainability projects and present proposals to both governments.

(Translated from Portuguese)

BRAZIL’S MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT LAUNCHES NEW RIO+20 WEBSITE

The Brazilian Ministry of Environment launched a new website that provides updates on preparations for Rio+20, a schedule of planned meetings leading up to the summit and key documents and information. The page also provides a mechanism for the public and civil society to submit suggestions by September 25 as input for the proposal Brazil must present to the United Nations by November 1.

(translated from Portuguese)

LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN COUNTRIES AGREE ON INPUT FOR RIO+20 NEGOTIATION DOCUMENT

Government representatives from Latin America and the Caribbean gathered in Santiago, Chile from September 7 – 9 for the Regional Preparatory meeting of the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable  Development (Rio+20).   Participants discussed the key themes for Rio+20, assessed progress on sustainable development in the region to date and agreed on a series of conclusions to submit as input for the Rio+20 negotiating document.  While participants did not adopt a consensus position on the green economy nor on global institutional framework for sustainable development they reconfirmed the region’s commitment to work toward a successful outcome at Rio+20.

LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN COUNTRIES SEEK TO PHASE OUT INEFFICIENT LIGHTING AT RIO+20

Latin American and Caribbean countries are moving toward greater lighting efficiency. On August 4th during a meeting of the en.lighten initiative delegates from the region adopted the Santo Domingo Declaration which encourages the phase out of incandescent lighting.  The en.lighten initiative is a joint project of the Global Environmental Facility, UN Environmental Programme and leading global lighting manufacturers that seeks a global-scale transformation of the lighting market toward greater efficiency. During the event lighting assessments for twenty countries in the region were presented that indicated that replacing inefficient lamps in the region could reduce total electricity consumption by 4%, saving consumers $4 billion per year. The Dominican Republic called on the region’s officials to formalize the Santo Domingo Declaration at Rio+20 next June and agree to phase out incandescent lights by 2015.

AMAZONIAN INDIGENOUS GROUPS DRAFT DECLARATION FOR RIO+20

During the First Amazon Region Summit held in Manaus, Brazil, this August representatives from 30 indigenous groups from nine Amazon countries drafted a declaration which will be presented during Rio+20. The statement calls for “rights to land, the preservation of nature and ancestral knowledge and the distribution of benefits from the use of biodiversity”.  To achieve these goals the groups believe it is necessary to revise the current economic model and existing public policies.  The declaration also finds fault with major infrastructure projects they feel threaten the way of life of indigenous groups in the Amazon.

(Translated from Spanish)

BRICE LALONDE:  “WE NEED BRAZIL’S LEADERSHIP”

Meeting with government officials and civil society in Brazil during August, Brice Lalonde, Executive Coordinator of Rio+20,  called for the country’s leadership at next year’s Rio+20  summit noting that, “we need Brazil’s leadership, because traditional leaders are missing. If leadership does not come from emerging nations, there will not be enough leadership”.  Lalonde, however, voiced concern that increased deforestation and discussions regarding Brazil’s Forestry Code could put in question Brazil’s environmental leadership.   Lalonde also noted that renewable energy should be one of the primary themes at Rio+20 and a key result from the meeting should be the creation of a global coalition to reduce the cost of renewables making them more competitive with traditional energy sources.

(Translated from Portuguese)

Thanks to Michael Davidson, Carolina Herrera, and Marissa Rameriz for their assistance on this blog.