What is “Rio+20”?
“Rio+20” is the short
name for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development to take place
in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in June 2012 – twenty years after the landmark 1992
Earth Summit in Rio. Rio+20 is also an opportunity to look ahead to the world
we want in 20 years.
At the Rio+20
Conference, world leaders, along with thousands of participants from the
private sector, NGOs and other groups, will come together to shape how we can
reduce poverty, advance social equity and ensure environmental protection on an
ever more crowded planet.
The official
discussions will focus on two main themes: how to build a green economy to
achieve sustainable development and lift people out of poverty; and how to
improve international coordination for sustainable development.
It is a historic
opportunity to define pathways to a sustainable future – a future with more
jobs, more clean energy, greater security and a decent standard of living for
all.
“Rio+20 will be one of
the most important global meetings on sustainable development in our time.”
– UN Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon
Why do we need Rio+20?
If we are to leave a
liveable world to our children and grandchildren, the challenges of widespread
poverty and environmental destruction need to be tackled now.
The world today has 7
billion people – by 2050, there will be 9 billion.
One out of every five
people – 1.4 billion – currently lives on $1.25 a day or less.
A billion and half
people in the world don’t have access to electricity.
Two and a half billion
people don’t have a toilet.
Almost a billion
people go hungry every day.
Greenhouse gas
emissions continue to rise, and more than a third of all known species could go
extinct if climate change continues unchecked.
The 1992 Earth Summit
in Rio laid the groundwork. Rio+20 is a new opportunity to think globally so
that we can all act locally to secure our common future.
Source: ONU