Thursday, 28 June 2012

SM4CC SERIES: OFFICIAL END OF RIO+ 20 – THE FUTURE WE WANT


The Rio+ 20 Conference has come to an end! This post would attempt to summarize the final resolution; which I must say is quite a lengthy read – two hundred and eighty three (283) points in all, reached at the conference. The link to the actual document can be found below, please take out time to read it.

The first paragraph; “our common vision”, basically has the heads of state and government and high level representatives reaffirming their commitment to sustainable development and eradication of poverty, which is a means to this. They also reaffirmed their commitment to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and a whole lot of other things.

The next paragraph; “renewing political commitment”, has the heads of state and government and high level representatives reaffirming Rio principles and past action plans, assessing the progress to date and the remaining gaps in the implementation of the outcomes of the major summits on sustainable development and addressing new and emerging challenges.

“Green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication”, takes into account the fact that there are different approaches, visions, models and tools available to each country, in accordance with its national circumstances and priorities, to achieve sustainable development. Yet, they should be guided by and in accordance with all the Rio principles, Agenda 21 and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation.

Paragraph four, “institutional framework for sustainable development”, talks about strengthening the three dimensions of sustainable development, strengthening intergovernmental arrangements for sustainable development; the roles of the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council and the establishment of a high level political forum and what the forum hopes to achieve.  

The fifth paragraph, “framework for action and follow-up”, makes up for the bulk of the document as it talks about a whole lot of thematic areas and cross-sectoral issues like poverty eradication, food security and nutrition and sustainable agriculture, water and sanitation, energy, sustainable tourism, sustainable transport, sustainable cities and human settlements, oceans and seas etc. Special focus was placed on Africa.

“Means of implementation”, is the sixth paragraph and talks about the means of implementation identified in Agenda 21, the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21, Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, the Monterrey Consensus of the International Conference on Financing for Development and the Doha Declaration on Financing for Development. Finance, technology, capacity building and trade were some of the finer points hampered on.

In conclusion, the final point of the document, “We welcome the commitments voluntarily entered into at Rio+20 and throughout 2012 by all stakeholders and their networks to implement concrete policies, plans, programs, projects and actions to promote sustainable development and poverty eradication. We invite the Secretary-General to compile these commitments and facilitate access to other registries that have compiled commitments, in an internet-based registry. The registry should make information about the commitments fully transparent and accessible to the public, and it should be periodically updated.”


Source
http://www.uncsd2012.org/content/documents/727The%20Future%20We%20Want%2019%20June%201230pm.pdf

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