The Rio+20 Climate
Flop: An Exercise the World Can Ill Afford (De Morgan, Belgium)
“The more
treaties are signed, the worse our planet’s situation becomes. That’s not even
a witticism … Rio+20 should deliver sustainable objectives against overfishing,
water shortages … and more. Ultimately, what’s needed is a global authority
that can monitor and sanction. The probability that such an agreement will be
signed is nil.”
With elections looming, pictures of [Prime Minister] Jean-Luc Dehaene in his vegetable garden having been popping up
everywhere. Otherwise the Flemish-Christian Democrat has not been famous for
being the most ecologically-inspired politician. Yet in 1992 he did go to Rio
de Janeiro for the U.N.
Summit on Environment and Development, albeit not with a lot of enthusiasm.
But at the time, the climate issue was considered “hot.”
Today’s Rio+20 is a marginal event,
with other themes dominating the political agenda. The classic Western powers
are wondering how they can get the ever-expanding financial crisis under
control. The emerging countries are primarily focused on their own economic growth,
and developing countries seem to have had enough of often empty promises. Not the
Rio+20 in Brazil, but the G20 in Mexico is dominating the international agenda.
In practice, not much has changed. Five years after Rio, the
Kyoto Protocols came into effect. By this time greenhouse gases were supposed to
have been cut by 5.2 percent. Instead they rose by as much as 50 percent. Other
treaties and international agreements have shared the same fate. The more
treaties are signed, the worse our planet’s situation becomes. That’s not even
a witticism - but a reality.
Rio+20 should deliver sustainable objectives against
overfishing, water shortages … and more. Ultimately, what’s needed is a global
authority that can monitor and sanction. The probability that such an agreement
will be signed is nil. In addition to the vague promises, even an awareness of
the urgency of the situation has disappeared.
Two decades ago it was predicted that the Rio Summit would
prove to be a key moment. Nothing is left of that. World leaders like Barack
Obama, Angela Merkel and David Cameron have sent their underlings to Rio+20. As
have [Prime Minister] Elio Di Rupo and [Minister-President
of Flanders] Kris Peeters.
If anyone’s presence in Brazil demonstrates the threat that the
Rio-20 will be a flop, it is that of Prince Laurent.
A better illustration of the unbearable lightness of this summit would be hard
to imagine.
