The Rio+20 Summit: A ‘Peculiar’ Conference (Neue Zuercher Zeitung, Switzerland)

“Before it even began, the debate was over. Under the shrewd diplomatic leadership of Brazil, following the end of preliminary talks, the 50-page document entitled The Future We Want already lay on the table. … Brazil wanted to avoid the chaos of the 2009 Climate Conference in Copenhagen, when heads of state argued all night long over individual words. This was achieved.”

By Mark Hofmann

Translated By Jonathan Lobsien

June 23, 2012

Switzerland - Neue Zuercher Zeitung - Original Article (German)

A peculiar U.N. conference has just ended. Before it even began, the debate was over. Under the shrewd diplomatic leadership of Brazil, following the end of preliminary negotiations, the 50-page document entitled The Future We Want already lay on the table. The more than 100 national and government leaders who traveled to Rio left the paper unchanged. No one wanted to risk putting the compromise at risk. Brazil wanted to avoid the chaos of the 2009 Climate Conference in Copenhagen, when heads of state argued all night long over individual words. This was achieved. But the anger of the NGOs that stood with thousands of sympathizers in Rio is understandable. They were denied any chance of influencing government representatives to the negotiations, since no negotiations took place.

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In addition, the conference was burdened with high expectations, which harkened back to the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. Twenty years ago, important decisions were made regarding sustainable development, much of which endures to this day. Many hoped that 20 years later, the community of nations would build on those decisions and resolve to take further steps. They were sorely disappointed. Sure, "Rio +20" was not a step backwards. But the conference did not serve to push the world inevitably toward the more sustainable path it so urgently needs to embark on. There were no new commitments entered into to help reduce hunger and poverty, cut greenhouse gas emissions, or halt the loss of biological diversity.

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Yet, for all of the non-binding elements of the new document, it does contain the seeds of positive change. These must be encouraged to sprout. The goals of global sustainability must be at the forefront. But in order to concretize and implement them, much greater efforts over the next few years by the nations in Rio.