SI’s delegation at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development,
known as Rio+20, report back from the opening day of the Heads of State Plenary Session. You can tweet your questions to SIE Programme Executive
@SubaUma with any questions, or leave SI International Assistant
Programme Director Anusha a message through the SI Facebook pages.
On Wednesday June 20th, Soroptimist International had the honour of being one of sixteen women NGOs
selected from thousands of NGO representatives to attend the opening day of the Heads of State Plenary Session at the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable
Development.
The President of Brazil,
the Rio+20 host country, set the right tone by warning world leaders that the
cost of inaction is much higher than the costs of remedial measures. She called
for firm commitments and ambitious implementation.
This is the largest ever
gathering of civil society organisations at a UN event and governments would be
wise to heed the global movement for change. There may be 160 NGO leaders in
the plenary hall with the Heads of State, but there were 50,000 others waiting
outside with great expectations.
SI Assistant Programme Director at the opening session of the Rio+20 High Level Segment.
It was disappointing that
only one world leader made a reference to women, and it came from an unexpected
source. Iran’s President Ahmedinejad called for a holistic approach to
development. He emphasised strengthening the special position of women and recognizing
the role of mothers.
Guinea’s President asked leaders to treat Rio+20 as a decisive turning point and for developed countries to
hasten the transfer of technologies to developing countries. Similarly, Zambia’s President pointed
out that developing countries have ample natural resources. All that is needed
is equitable transfer of technology from Global North countries.
Korea’s President urged the world to stop desertification and pressed
for the launch of the Green Climate Fund. In particular, he called for countries
to implement green infrastructure, green industries and green jobs. The Prime Minister of
Denmark also focused on ‘green jobs’, arguing that green jobs are the way out
of the crisis of low growth and high unemployment in E.U.
China’s Prime Minister shared details of commitments for China’s new chapter in sustainable development and
announced a generous contribution to the Green Climate Fund.
Kenya’s President insisted that
there must be different targets for different countries based on their state of
development. Decisions made at Rio+20
will have a profound impact on the people of less developed countries. He
called for the UN system to improve coordination through the UN Environment
Programme (UNEP), headquartered in Nairobi.
Niger’s
President warned that inequalities are the cause of world’s problems.
Eradication of poverty and development of poor countries is the structural
solution. The competitive gap can be reduced through scientific cooperation.
Peru’s President pledged
that Peru will be the first
country to practice prior consultation with all civil society stakeholders and
promised to make Peru a model of sustainable
development.
However,
France’s new President expressed his deep disappointment
with the Outcome Document which he says falls short of global expectations
because it failed to support the creation of a new dedicated UN organisation
for Sustainable Development, preferably based in Africa. He regrets that
proposals to create new financing were not agreed to because the world cannot
achieve sustainable development goals without financing. France is going to impose a
tax on financial transactions and use the money for sustainable development. He
pledged to make environmental protection and fighting poverty the highest
priority of the new French Government.
Chile’s President pledged to
end extreme poverty. Chile has created a new
environmental framework. He urged world leaders to implement social justice,
respect for human rights and the value of life and to be honest and accountable
to the people.
HRH the Grand Duke of Luxembourg said
that sustainable development is not an obligation but an invaluable opportunity
to change policies. All countries must pledge to end deforestation and clean up
oceans by 2020. All countries must achieve the target for clean water for all
by 2030.
Namibia’s President emphasised
the principle of common but differentiated responsibility. He urged firm
commitments by all countries to strengthen the means of implementation or else
Rio+20 outcomes will be short-lived.
Uruguay’s President asked
world leaders whether we are controlling globalisation or whether globalisation
is controlling us. He cautioned that consumption patterns were perpetuating a
vicious circle. “We need to govern the market and not let the market govern us.
This requires political will”, he emphasized.
The
best summary of the current situation came from Hungary’s President:
“the
question marks of 20 years ago have been replaced with exclamation marks. We
have the knowledge and technologies to solve our problems and need not have
more and more conferences. What we need is to get down to action now.”
Global
leaders clearly conveyed understanding of the issues but the real test will lie
in the implementation processes after Rio+20 closes. This is
where global civil society organisations like Soroptimist International can
play a major role to educate, empower and enable women to thrive in a green
economy and be actively engaged in sustainable development initiatives.
Reported by Anusha Santhirasthipam
International Assistant Programme Director