(Rio de Janeiro, 22/6/2012) The UN Conference on Sustainable Development ‘Rio+20 (20-22 June)’ failed to deliver concrete measures to tackle climate, food and financial crises, without which sustainable development remains a far away dream.
“If this is the future our leaders want, today and tomorrow’s poor and marginalized people certainly aren’t part of it. Their right to live in dignity and in harmony with nature has once more denied,” CIDSE’s policy expert Denise Auclair said.
“Rio+20 fails to mark a turning point. The document is full of good intentions, but it is only through concrete actions and mechanisms that we build more sustainable and just societies,” Auclair said.
The conference indicates no clear way towards the definition of a set of Sustainable Development Goals, which address the interlinked challenges of equitable development and use of resources. It is also unlikely that the proposed High Level Forum on Sustainable Development will be strong enough to fundamentally reorient policies and hold governments accountable for their sustainable development commitments.
Finally, Rio+20 fell short of a decision on adequate means to invest in a transition to a new economic model.
“Innovative financing mechanisms such as a financial transaction tax could make an important contribution to finance the fight against poverty,” Markus Brun, head of policy of CIDSE’s Swiss member Fastenopfer, said.
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Media contact: Roeland Scholtalbers, scholtalbers@cidse.org, +55 21 71852023 (until Sunday 24/6) – +32 477 068384, cidse.org/rioplus20