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The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), which will be held on June 20-22, 2012 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to mark the twentieth anniversary of the Rio Earth Summit, aims to secure renewed political commitment for sustainable development and to address related existing gaps as well as emerging challenges. In order to advance sustainable development, Rio+20 will focus on two major themes: (i) “a green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication”; and, (ii) “the institutional framework for sustainable development”. This Conference is a follow-up of a series of global environmental summits that include the 1972 United Nations Conference on Human Development (Stockholm), the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED, also known as the “Rio Earth Summit”) and the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD).
On December 15-16, 2011, the Second Intersessional Meeting of Rio+20 took place at the UN Headquarters in NYC. The objective of this meeting was to receive and discuss the contributions from several countries, such as the US and Group of 77 and China, UN bodies, the EU, and major groups, such as NGOs and business and industry, towards the development, structure and format of a "zero draft" of the outcome document to be adopted at the UNCSD (Rio+20). The European Union (EU) and its twenty-seven Member States (MS) have expressed a strong interest in playing an active role in the process leading to Rio+20. This is in line with the EU’s ambition of being a “leading proponent of international action on environment and is commitment to promoting sustainable development worldwide” , which is supported by its green diplomacy initiative and international environmental leadership vision. The coordinated inputs of the EU and its MS for Rio+20 were, indeed, comprehensive and ambitious so, they will be briefly presented in this note. Overall, the EU supports a “focused political document” coming out of Rio+20 that is able to advance sustainable development, supported by operational outcomes, including a green economy roadmap with specific goals, objectives and actions at the international level as well as a package of reforms. Also, the EU has suggested a number of deliverables and actions within the context of the two major themes of Rio+20. Green Economy in the Context of Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication (Green Economy) In the context of the first major theme of Rio+20 – the “Green Economy” – the EU has advocated cross-cutting actions as well as actions on specific areas, such as water, food and agriculture, sustainable energy, forestry, soil and sustainable land management, marine environment, fisheries, biodiversity, chemicals, waste and sustainable urban development. The EU’s proposed cross-cutting actions include, namely: (i) further developing/updating models and indicators to measure progress in achieving sustainable development (e.g. new World Resources Outlook by 2015); (ii) establishing a capacity development scheme with input from a range of actors such as the UN system, MDBs, bilateral donors, private sector, to provide country/region/sector advice to interested countries on the transformation to a green economy and assist in accessing available funds; and, (iii) launching an international process to promote the role of innovative and private instruments of finance, particularly in climate change and biodiversity, and ensuring commitments to phase-out harmful subsidies for the environment. Sector-specific proposals encompass, for instance: (i) on water, scaling up investment/innovative financing in water resources and ecosystems, water policy reform , promoting international initiatives to address the “water/energy/food security nexus”; (ii) on food and agriculture, establishing schemes to expand PPPs and facilitate multi-stakeholder and certification initiatives to promote climate-smart agriculture, promoting the implementation of the FAO Voluntary Guidelines for the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security; (iii) on forestry, promoting progress on REDD+, promoting market instruments that slow/halt/reverse deforestation and promote the sustainable use and management of forests; on soil and sustainable land management, enhancing the UNCCD, promoting partnerships and initiatives for safeguarding of soil resources (e.g. FAO Global Soil Partnership); (iv) on marine environment, promoting the ratification of UNCLOS, promoting a holistic and integrated approach to the governance of oceans, seas and coasts by all States by developing cross-sectoral policy tools, encouraging the International Coral Reef Initiative; and (v) on biodiversity conservation, strengthening the mainstreaming of biodiversity and ecosystem services in policies and decision-making processes at international, regional and national levels, promoting best practices relating to “Investment in Natural Capital” (e.g. World Bank’s WAVES). Institutional Framework for Sustainable Development Last, in the context of the second theme of Rio+20 – Institutional Framework for Sustainable Development – the EU has stressed that the current institutional framework is inadequate to meet the challenges ahead and so, it proposes, generally, to strengthen the governance arrangements for sustainable development. Particular suggestions touch upon, namely: (i) reforming the UNGA, the ECOSOC, the CSD and the establishment of a Sustainable Development Council under UNGA; (ii) calling for a stronger involvement in and coherence between the activities of International Financial Institutions, such as the WB Group and the IMF; (iii) supporting synergies among compatible MEAs; and (iv) supporting the creation of a UN Specialized Agency for the Environment that would replace UNEP. |
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