The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD), also known as Rio 2012, Rio+20 (), or Earth Summit 2012 was the third international conference on

sustainable development Sustainable development is the organizing principle for meeting human development goals while simultaneously sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services Social forestry in India, Social ...

aimed at reconciling the economic and environmental goals of the global community. Hosted by

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At 8.5 million square kilometers (3.2 million square miles) and with over 211 mill ...

Brazil

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro (; ), or simply Rio, is the List of largest cities in Brazil, second-most populous city in Brazil and the Largest cities in the Americas, sixth-most populous in the Americas. Rio de Janeiro is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (s ...

from 13 to 22 June 2012, Rio+20 was a 20-year follow-up to the 1992

United Nations Conference on Environment and Development The Earth Summit was a UN event The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), also known as the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit, the Rio Summit, the Rio Conference, and the Earth Summit (Portuguese: ECO92), was a major Unite ...

(UNCED) held in the same city, and the 10th anniversary of the 2002

World Summit on Sustainable Development The World Summit on Sustainable Development 2002, took place in South Africa, from 26 August to 4 September 2002. It was convened to discuss ustainable developmentorganizations, 10 years after the first Earth Summit The Earth Summit was a UN ...

(WSSD) in

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. The ten-day mega-summit, which culminated in a three-day high-level UN conference, was organized by the

United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) is part of the United Nations Secretariat The United Nations Secretariat (french: link=no, Secrétariat des Nations unies) is one of the six major organs of the United ...

and included participation from 192 UN member states – including 57 Heads of State and 31 Heads of Government, private sector companies, NGOs and other groups. The decision to hold the conference was made by UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/64/236 on 24 December 2009. It was intended to be a high-level conference, including heads of state and government or other representatives and resulting in a focused political document designed to shape global environmental policy. During the final three days of the Conference, from 20 to 22 June 2012, world leaders and representatives met for intense meetings which culminated in finalizing the non-binding document, "The Future We Want", which opens with: "We the Heads of State and Government and high-level representatives, having met at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 20 to 22 June 2012, with the full participation of civil society, renew our commitment to sustainable development and to ensuring the promotion of an economically, socially and

environmentally sustainable Sustainability is the capacity to endure in a relatively ongoing way across various domains of life. In the 21st century The 21st (twenty-first) century is the current century in the '' Anno Domini'' era or Common Era, in accordance with ...

future for our planet and for present and future generations."

Background

In 1992, the first conference of its kind, the

(UNCED), commonly referred to as the Rio Conference or Earth Summit, succeeded in raising public awareness of the need to integrate environment and development. The conference drew 109 heads of state to

, to address what were dubbed urgent problems of environmental protection and socio-economic development. The Earth Summit influenced subsequent UN conferences, including Rio+20 and set the global green agenda. "The World Conference on Human Rights, for example, focused on the right of people to a healthy environment and the right to development; controversial demands that had met with resistance from some Member States until the Earth Summit." Major outcomes of the conference include the

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) established an international International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' ...

(UNFCCC) – a climate-change agreement that led to the

Kyoto Protocol The Kyoto Protocol was an international treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law International law, also known as public international law and law of nations, is the set of ru ...

Agenda 21 Agenda 21 is a non-binding action planAn action plan is a detailed plan A plan is typically any diagram or list of steps with details of timing and resources, used to achieve an Goal, objective to do something. It is commonly understood as a ...

, the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the

United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * United (2003 film), ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * United (2011 film) ...

United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification

(UNCCD). It also created new international institutions, among them the Commission on Sustainable Development, tasked with the follow-up to the Rio Conference and led to the reform of the

Global Environment Facility The Global Environment Facility (GEF) was established on the eve of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit to help tackle our planet's most pressing environmental problems. The GEF unites 184 countries in partnership with international institutions, civil socie ...

. Ten years later,

Earth Summit 2002 The World Summit on Sustainable Development 2002, took place in South Africa, from 26 August to 4 September 2002. It was convened to discuss ustainable developmentorganizations, 10 years after the first Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. (It was the ...

, informally nicknamed Rio+10, was held in Johannesburg, South Africa, with the goal of again bringing together leaders from government, business and NGOs to agree on a range of measures toward similar goals. At Rio+10,

was recognized as an overarching goal for institutions at the national, regional and international levels. There, the need to enhance the integration of sustainable development in the activities of all relevant United Nations agencies, programs and funds was highlighted. The discussion also encompassed the role of institutions in stepping up efforts to bridge the gap between the international financial institutions and the multilateral development banks and the rest of the UN system. Major outcomes of that conference include the

Johannesburg DeclarationThe Johannesburg Declaration on Sustainable Development
A/CONF.199/20, Chapter 1, Resolution 1, Johannesburg, September 2002 was ...

and almost 300 international partnership initiatives meant to help achieve the

Millennium Development Goals The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were eight international development International development or global development is a broad concept denoting the idea that societies and countries have differing levels of "development" on an inte ...

Objectives

The conference had three objectives – to secure renewed political commitment for sustainable development, to assess the progress and implementation gaps in meeting previous commitments, and to address new and emerging challenge

Conference themes

The official discussions had two main themes, how to build a

green economy A green economy is an economy An economy (; ) is an area of the production Production may be: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organizatio ...

to achieve sustainable development and lift people out of poverty, including support for developing countries that will allow them to find a green path for development; and how to improve international coordination for sustainable development by building an institutional framework.

Rio+20 formal preparatory process

In the months leading up to the beginning of the conference, negotiators held frequent informal consultations at UN headquarters in

New York City New York, often called New York City to distinguish it from New York State New York is a state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of ...

, and in the two weeks before the conference was scheduled to begin, they managed to reach consensus on the sensitive language in the then proposed outcome document for the summit. According to historian

Felix Dodds Felix Dodds is an author, futurist and activist. Born as Michael Nicholas Dodds he took the name Felix Dodds when he was 18. He stood in Mid Derbyshire (UK Parliament constituency) for the Liberal Democrats in the 2019 General Election. He has ...

in his 2014 co-authored 2014 book entitled, ''From Rio+20 to a New Development Agenda: Building a Bridge to a Sustainable Future'', the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development – Rio+20 formal preparatory process, can be divided into three phases. Phase one took place from May 2010 to January 2012 – when preliminary intergovernmental discussions and negotiations began, and national, regional, and local level preparations were being made. This stage ended with the January 2012 publication of the draft document, "The Future We Want" The 1st Preparatory Committee was held from 16–18 May 2010, immediately after the conclusion of the eighteenth session and the first meeting of the nineteenth session of the

Commission on Sustainable Development The United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) was a body under the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) tasked with overseeing the outcomes of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development/Earth Summit T ...

. The 1st Intersessional – which was not a negotiation session – featured panel discussions, from academia, non-governmental organizations as well as Delegates and UN system representatives – was held from 10–11 January 2011 at UN Headquarters, New York. The 2nd Preparatory Committee was held from 7–8 March 2011, at

United Nations Headquarters The United Nations is Headquarters, headquartered in New York City in a complex designed by a board of architects led by Wallace Harrison and built by the architectural firm Harrison & Abramovitz. The complex has served as the official headquarter ...

in New York, immediately following the Intergovernmental Policy Meeting for the 19th Session of the

. The 2nd Intersessional was held from 15–16 December 2011 at United Nations Headquarters in New York. Phase two – from March 2012 to April 2012 – began with the first informal negotiations and concluded with the April 2012 release of co-chairs streamline text of "The Future We Want". The 3rd Intersessional was held from 5–7 March 2012 at United Nations Headquarters in New York. Phase three – from 9 April 2012 to 15 June 2012 – began with the second round of negotiations starting on 9 April 2012, and ending with the 15 June 2012 closing of the Third Preparatory Committee meeting, when negotiators were already in

, Brazil. Th three-day intense meetings with hundreds of "heads of states from around the world" met in Rio de Janeiro after the 3rd Preparatory Meeting had concluded.

United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development

According to a 13 June 2012 ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most-widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area, and has a large nat ...

'' article, the "giant, 10-day-long" Conference underway in Rio de Janeiro which would end on 22 June 2012, was "expected to draw 50,000 participants, including delegates, environmental activists, business leaders, and indigenous groups." For the final three days of the conference, "about 130 heads of state from around the world were expected to be present." Billed as the biggest UN event ever organized – with 15,000 soldiers and police guarding about 130 heads of state and government, from 192 countries, and the more than 45,000 individuals gathered in

– the 10-day mega-conference was intended to be a high-level international gathering organized to re-direct and renew global political commitment to the three dimensions of sustainable development: economic growth, social improvement and environmental protection; focusing on reducing poverty while promoting jobs growth, clean energy and more fair, sustainable uses of resources; goals first established at Earth Summit in 1992. The conference centered around Agenda 21, the outcome document from Earth Summit 1992. That document was considered revolutionary in that it essentially created the term sustainable development and created the global environmental agenda for the next 20 years. The representatives of participating governments gathered in Rio to discuss what was then the draft text of the outcome document. Rio+20 sought to secure affirmations for the political commitments made at past Earth Summits and set the global environmental agenda for the next 20 years by assessing progress towards the goals set forth in Agenda 21 and implementation gaps therein, and discussing new and emerging issues. The UN wanted Rio to endorse a UN "green economy roadmap", with environmental goals, targets and deadlines, whereas developing countries preferred establishing new "sustainable development goals" to better protect the environment, guarantee food and power to the poorest, and alleviate poverty. Rio+20 attracted many protests, and more than 500 parallel events, exhibitions, presentations, fairs and announcements as a wide range of diverse groups struggled to take advantage of the conference in order to gain international attention. The British online newspaper ''The Guardian'' reported that, "Downtown Rio de Janeiro was partly shut-down as an estimated 50,000 protesters, some of whom were naked, took to the streets."

The future we want

From 20 to 22 June 2012, world leaders and representatives met for intense meetings which culminated in finalizing the non-binding document, "The Future We Want: Outcome document of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 20–22 June 2012", which opens with, "We the Heads of State and Government and high-level representatives", having met at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 20 to 22 June 2012, with the full participation of civil society, renew our commitment to sustainable development and to ensuring the promotion of an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable future for our planet and for present and future generations." The first draft of the document was released in January 2012 as a result of preliminary intergovernmental discussions and negotiations that had taken place since May 2010. A streamlined version of "The Future We Want" was released on April 2012 following the second phase of negotiations. At the Rio+20 Conference in June 2012, the heads of state of the 192 governments in attendance, renewed their political commitment to sustainable development and declared their commitment to the promotion of a sustainable future through the 49-page nonbinding document, "The Future We Want: Outcome document of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 20–22 June 2012." The dates June 20 to 22 reflect the three-day meeting of world leaders, the culmination of Rio+20. The document largely reaffirms previous action plans like Agenda 21. The document, "The Future We Want," called for the development of

Sustainable Development Goals The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or Global Goals are a collection of 17 interlinked global goals designed to be a "blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable Sustainability is the capacity to endure in a relatively ongoing w ...

(SDGs), a set of measurable targets aimed at promoting sustainable development globally. It is thought that the SDGs

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pick up where the Millennium Development Goals leave off and address criticism that the original Goals fail to address the role of the environment in development." There were eight key recommendations regarding the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) , which included strengthening its governance to potentially become, a "leading global environmental authority", through universal membership, increasing its financial resources and strengthening its engagement in key UN coordination bodies. According to a 23 June 2012 ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sun ...

'' article, nations agreed to explore alternatives to GDP as a measure of wealth that take environmental and social factors into account in an effort to assess and pay for 'environmental services' provided by nature, such as

carbon sequestration Carbon sequestration or carbon dioxide removal File:Tree planting closeup.jpg, Planting trees is a means of carbon dioxide removal. Carbon dioxide removal (CDR), also known as greenhouse gas removal, is a process in which carbon dioxide g ...

and habitat protection. Recognition that "fundamental changes in the way societies consume and produce are indispensable for achieving global sustainable development." EU officials suggest it could lead to a shift of taxes so workers pay less and polluters and landfill operators pay more. The document calls the need to return ocean stocks to sustainable levels "urgent" and calls on countries to develop and implement science-based management plans. All nations reaffirmed commitments to phase out

fossil fuel subsidies Energy subsidies are measures that keep prices for customers below market levels, or for suppliers above market levels, or reduce costs for customers and suppliers. Energy subsidies may be direct cash transfers to suppliers, customers, or rela ...

. In addition to the outcome text, there were over 400 voluntary commitments for sustainable development made by Member States. At the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment, 40 African countries agreed to implement "The Future We Want".

Leaders in attendance

A few key global leaders – mostly G20 leaders and namely

United States President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona A persona (plural personae or personas), depending on the context, can refer to either the public image of ...

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 44th president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government ...

German Chancellor The chancellor of Germany, officially the Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Bundeskanzler(in) der Bundesrepublik Deutschland), is the head of the federal government of Germany The Federal Cabinet or Federal Govern ...

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel ( Kasner; born 17 July 1954) is a German politician serving as the chancellor of Germany The chancellor of Germany, officially the Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Bundeskanzler(in) der ...

, and

UK Prime Minister The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government The head of government is either the highest or second highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, aut ...

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician, businessman, Lobbying, lobbyist, and author who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. He was Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Memb ...

– did not attend the conference and blamed their absence on the ongoing

European sovereign-debt crisis The European debt crisis (often also referred to as the eurozone crisis or the European sovereign debt crisis) is a multi-year debt crisis that has been taking place in the European Union The European Union (EU) is a political and econ ...

. Their collective absence was seen as a reflection of their administrations' failure to prioritize sustainability issues. "In not attending, the prime minister is sending out a powerful signal that the UK government does not see sustainability as a priority", Joan Walley, chair of the UK environmental audit committee said to ''The Guardian''. * Albania – Prime Minister

Sali Berisha Sali Ram Berisha (; born 15 October 1944) is an Albanians, Albanian conservative politician who served as the second President of Albania from 1992 to 1997 and Prime Minister of Albania, Prime Minister from 2005 to 2013. He was also chairman of th ...

* Antigua & Barbuda – Prime Minister

Baldwin Spencer Winston Baldwin Spencer (born October 8, 1948) is an Demographics of Antigua and Barbuda, Antiguan politician who was the third List of Prime Ministers of Antigua and Barbuda, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda from 2004 to 2014. Spencer led ...

* Argentina – President

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner (; born 19 February 1953), often referred to by her initials CFK, is an Argentine lawyer and politician who is serving as the 37th Vice President of Argentina since 2019. She also previously served as ...

* Australia – Prime Minister

Julia Gillard Julia Eileen Gillard (born 29 September 1961) is an Australian former politician who served as the 27th prime minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government The head of government is either the hig ...

* Bolivia – President

Evo Morales Juan Evo Morales Ayma (; born 26 October 1959) is a Bolivia Bolivia ; ay, Wuliwya ; Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''Puliwya'' , officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in western-central South ...

, see Bolivian government proposal Harmony with nature * Brazil –

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) A president is a leader of an organization, company, community, club, trade union, university or other group. The relationship between a president and a Chief Executive Officer, chi ...

Dilma Rousseff Dilma Vana Rousseff (; born 14 December 1947) is a Brazilian economist and politician who served as the 36th president of Brazil, holding the position from 2011 until Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, her impeachment and removal from office on 31 Au ...

* Bulgaria – President

Rosen Plevneliev Rosen Asenov Plevneliev ( bg, Росен Асенов Плевнелиев ; born 14 May 1964) is a Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria ( bg, Република България, lin ...

* Chile – President

Sebastián Piñera Miguel Juan Sebastián Piñera Echenique OMCh (; born 1 December 1949) is a Chilean billionaire businessman, politician, president of Chile The president of Chile ( es, Presidente de Chile), officially known as the President of the Republ ...

* China –

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government The head of government is either the highest or second-highest official in the Executive (government), executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, aut ...

Wen Jiabao Wen Jiabao (born 15 September 1942), also spelled as Wen Chia-pao, is a retired Chinese politician who served as the sixth Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local govern ...

* Costa Rica – President Laura Chinchilla Miranda * Denmark – Prime Minister

Helle Thorning-Schmidt Helle Thorning-Schmidt (; born 14 December 1966) is a Danish retired politician who served as the 26th Prime Minister of Denmark The prime minister of Denmark ( da, Danmarks statsminister, fo, Forsætisráðharri, kl, Naalagaaffiup Siuli ...

* Ecuador – President

Rafael Correa Rafael Vicente Correa Delgado (; born 6 April 1963), known as Rafael Correa, is an Ecuadorian politician and economist who served as President of Ecuador The president of Ecuador ( es, Presidente del Ecuador), officially called the Presiden ...

* France – President Francois Hollande * Grenada – Prime Minister

Tillman Thomas

* Haiti – President

Michel Martelly Michel Joseph Martelly (; born 12 February 1961) is a Haitian musician and politician who was the President of Haiti from May 2011 until February 2016. He is one of Haiti's best-known musicians for over a decade, going by the stage name Sweet M ...

* India – Prime Minister

Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (; born 26 September 1932) is an Indian economist, academic, and politician who served as the 13th Prime Minister of India The prime minister of India (), officially the prime minister of the Republic of India is the ...

* Indonesia – President

Susilo Yudhoyono

* Iran – President

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ( fa, محمود احمدی‌نژاد, Mahmūd Ahmadīnežād ), born Mahmoud Sabbaghian ( fa, محمود صباغیان, Mahmoud Sabbāghyān, 28 October 1956), is an Iranian conservative Conservatism is an aesthet ...

* Lithuania – President

Dalia Grybauskaitė

* Nepal – Prime Minister

Baburam Bhattarai Baburam Bhattarai ( ne, बाबुराम भट्टराई, (born 18 June 1954) is a Nepalese politician and federal Chairman of Janta Samajbadi party who was Prime Minister of Nepal from August 2011 to March 2013. He was a long-time l ...

* Nigeria – President

Goodluck Jonathan Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan (born 20 November 1957)Lawson Heyford, ''The Source'' (Lagos), 11 December 2006. is a Nigerian politician who served as the President of Nigeria The president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is the he ...

* Norway – Prime Minister

Jens Stoltenberg Jens Stoltenberg (born 16 March 1959) is a Norwegian politician who has served as the 13th Secretary General of NATO, secretary general of NATO since 2014. A member of the Labour Party (Norway), Labour Party, he previously served as the 34th prim ...

* Portugal – Prime Minister

Pedro Passos Coelho Pedro Manuel Mamede Passos Coelho (; born 24 July 1964) is a Portuguese politician and university guest lecturer who was the 118th Prime Minister of Portugal, in office from 2011 to 2015. He was the leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD ...

* Russia – President

Dmitry Medvedev Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev (; rus, links=no, Дмитрий Анатольевич Медведев, p=ˈdmʲitrʲɪj ɐnɐˈtolʲjɪvʲɪtɕ mʲɪdˈvʲedʲɪf; born 14 September 1965) is a Russian politician serving as Deputy Chairman of ...

* South Africa – President

Jacob Zuma Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who was the fourth president of South Africa The President of the Republic of South Africa is the head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is t ...

* South Korea – President

Lee Myung bak Lee Myung-bak (; ; ; born 19 December 1941) is a former South Korean politician, businessman, and convicted felon who served as President of South Korea from 2008 to 2013. Before his election as president, he was the CEO of Hyundai Engineering a ...

* Spain – Prime Minister

Mariano Rajoy Mariano Rajoy Brey (; born 27 March 1955) is a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of Spain The president of the Government of Spain ( es, link=no, Presidente del Gobierno de España), commonly referred to in Spain as ''Preside ...

* Sri Lanka – President

Mahinda Rajapaksa Percy Mahinda Rajapaksa ( si, මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ, ta, மஹிந்த ராஜபக்ஷ; born 18 November 1945) is a Sri Lankan politician serving as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka since 2019, and previously from 2004 ...

* Sweden – Prime Minister

Fredrik Reinfeldt John Fredrik Reinfeldt (pronounced ; born 4 August 1965) is a Swedish economist An economist is a practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and conc ...

* Turkmenistan – President

Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow Gurbanguly Malikguliyevich Berdimuhamedov or Gurbanguly Mälikgulyýewiç Berdimuhamedow ( Turkmen Cyrillic: Гурбангулы Мәликгулиевич Бердимухамедов, ; rus, links=no, Гурбангулы Мяликгулы ...

* Uruguay – President

Jose Mujica Jose is the English transliteration Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping Letter (alphabet), letters (thus ''wikt:trans-#Prefix, trans-'' + ''wikt:littera#Latin, liter-'') in pred ...

* Zimbabwe – President

Robert Mugabe Robert Gabriel Mugabe (; ; 21 February 1924 – 6 September 2019) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe The prime minister of Zimbabwe was a political office in the government of Zimbab ...

among others

Environmental and Indigenous Rights Activists

Rio+20 statue of liberty and Dilma Rousseff

Activists took initiative at Rio+20 by staging numerous protests. Activists joined forces to stand up to what they said was exploitation and degradation of the

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbour and support life. 29.2% of Earth's surface is land consisting of continents and islands. The remaining 70.8% is Water distribution on Earth, covered wi ...

Earth

, as well as the negation of the rights of

indigenous peoples Indigenous peoples, also referred to as first peoples, first nations, aboriginal peoples, native peoples (with these terms often capitalized when referred to relating to specific countries), or autochthonous peoples, are culturally distinct e ...

. ''

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is an American monthly magazine published by the National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Was ...

'' said that activists that support protecting the environment, are particularly relevant in

, as

deforestation deforestation in 1750-2004 (net loss) showing anthropogenic modification of remaining forest. File:MODIS (2020-08-01).jpg, 300px, Dry seasons, exacerbated by climate change, and the use of slash-and-burn methods for clearing tropical forest ...

threatens

Amazonian

ethnic groups everyday. In addition to holding signs and shouting chants, the crowds took a theatric route to convey their messages. Firstly, they poked at

Brazilian President Brazilian ( pt, Brasileiro(a), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from or relating to Brazil: ** Brazilian Portuguese, the dialect of the Portuguese language used mostly in Brazil ** Brazilians, the people (citizens) of Brazil, or of Brazilian ...

, claiming she has given in to the global North's corporate hand. Rousseff's controversy has arisen over her steadfast desire to further industrialize Brazil, and its economy. Additionally, the crowds assembled for a ritual and symbolic "tearing up" of the plenary's negotiated text, conveying their disapproval. Thousands of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) gathered at the Flamengo Park in Rio. They criticized the draft negotiating text, particularly for its failure to mention planetary boundaries or nuclear energy, in light of the Fukushima disaster in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally ) is an island country An island country or an island nation is a country A country is a distinct territory, territorial body or political entity. It is often referred to as the land of an in ...

Japan

. Organizations, such as

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network. The network comprises 26 independent national/regional organisations in over 55 countries across Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia and the Pacific, as well as a co-ordinating body, Green ...

and the

World Wide Fund for Nature The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization An international non-governmental organization (INGO) is an organization which is independent of government involvement and extends the concept of a non-go ...

, as well as members of indigenous communities, activists and artists participated. The Danish artist

Jens Galschiøt

, the leader of the group AIDOH, and the Group 92 used his Freedom to Pollute sculptures to focus on global warming and its resulting increased flow of refugees. About 20,000 flyers about Freedom to Pollute were distributed during

Rio+20 Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground ...

Rio+20

and a related television program was produced in

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Denmark

Demonstration against Ahmadinejad in Rio

There were some demonstrations protesting the participation of the President of Iran

along with the Iranian delegation. The controversy of Iranian attendance at the summit surrounds the fact that Iran has serious environmental issues, which it has refused to address, continuing human rights violations and is refusing to cooperate with the

IAEA The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an international organization An international organization (also known as an international institution or intergovernmental organization) is a stable set of norms and rules meant to gove ...

IAEA

over its contentious nuclear program. Ahmadinejad was met with demonstrations, attended by thousands of people, on his 20 June arrival in Rio, with some protesters waving banners with the slogan "Ahmadinejad go home".

Participation by Civil Societies

During RIO +20 event and preparatory events UNCSD included stakeholders who were invited to organize side events, promote the RIO event, submit literature and help the Rio secretariat with translation work. The logo and promotion of RIO +20 was available in languages used in

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization aiming to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harm ...

. Civil societies also translated the logo image and literature in other local and National languages.

ProjectEarth Network

Ecology and Environment Inc., a New York-based Environmental Engineering and Consultation company partnered with UNCSD to create Project Earth Network, an online platform where schools around the world could showcase their remarkable environmental projects. In coordination with the Rio+20 event, the platform hosted a World Environment Day Global School Contest in which 7th graders at the International School of Ulaanbaatar (ISU) in Mongolia were declared the Global Winners for their awareness campaign on the environmental impact of plastic shopping bags, including research on plastic bag manufacturing processes, development of videos documenting plastic bag waste, and a school presentation at which reusable cloth shopping bags were sold to approximately 50 percent of the community. Sarasota, Forida's Brookside Middle School won in the World Environment Day contest's North American sub-category for its mangrove propagule growth project while International School of Brussels in Belgium won the European sub-category, for their creation of a sustainable food source and composting program. The Middle-Eastern sub-category winner was Hridith Sudev, a seventh grader from Indian School Salalah in Oman for his organization, 'Project GreenWorld International', which helped promote sustainable awareness across the region through interactive projects. Hridith Sudev later went on to become an inventor and the organization has become a global environmental presence. The World Environment Day contest followed an Earth Day "Green Schools" contest regionally focused toward 6th to 12th grade students in the Western New York area. The idea behind the platform was to encourage sustainability in students across the world. Despite the huge response, the platform was taken down two years later due to technical and economic constraints but has since remained as a positive legacy through the activities of students who were first recognized by the network.

References

External links

United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development

Rio+20 Portal. Building the Peoples Summit

Rio + 20: An Endangered Species?
March/April 2012 journal ''Environment''
Rio+20 and Sustainable Development: 12 Things to Know
Asian Development Bank
The Future We Want

International Conference on Sustainable Development

''Only One Earth – the Long Road via Rio to Sustainable Development''
the history from Stockholm to Rio by

, Michael Strauss with

Maurice Strong Maurice Frederick Strong, (April 29, 1929 – November 27, 2015) was a Canadian oil and mineral businessman and a diplomat who served as Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations. Strong had his start as an entrepreneur in the Alberta oil pat ...

''From Rio plus 20 to the New Development Agenda''
by

, Jorge Laguna-Celis, Liz Thompson {{DEFAULTSORT:United Nations Conference On Sustainable Development United Nations conferences on the environment 2012 in Brazil 2012 conferences 2012 in the environment Environmental conferences Diplomatic conferences in Brazil 2012 in international relations 2010s in Rio de Janeiro June 2012 events in South America Brazil and the United Nations