Rio+20

Future global environmental initiatives on their way … hopefully

The Rio+20 Conference celebrates the 20^th anniversary of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), in Rio de Janeiro, and the 10th anniversary of the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg.

The expectations are mixed: A meeting with over 2,000 business leaders can become quite a failure if no significant future actions are agreed upon. However, the potential to seal some serious deals is huge. And if this is the case, the Rio+20 will be remarkable.

Erik Rasmussen, CEO for Monday Morning, is sceptic, but sees three focal points that need to be acted upon, if the Rio+20 is to become a success:

1.  More focus on the business leaders, less on the politicians
   The Rio+20 should be seen more as a global business meeting, rather than a political case.  International companies should instead tell about the steps, they have taken towards a sustainable future – and which steps they still need to take. If the international business leaders agree upon sustainable actions, the politicians probably will be more likely to follow.
    
2. Send a message to the people
   The business leaders need to talk more about environmental issues in public instead of doing it at conferences alone. They have a lot of great ideas and actions to agree upon and disseminate to ‘regular’ citizens to make sustainability a public concern with concrete solutions.
    
3. Work together for a sustainable society
   Politicians, public authorities, companies, scientists and the public in general should work together for a sustainable society. Together we can develop a common vision for a common future. This will ensure that we are all on the same track, when it comes to communication about ambitions, visions, dreams and concrete actions towards a sustainable future society.

A conference with ambitions

Hopefully, Erik Rasmussen and others have nothing to fear. The Rio+20 will focus on two positive forward-looking themes: (a) a green economy in the context of sustainable development poverty eradication; and (b) the institutional framework for sustainable development.

Furthermore, the preparations for Rio+20 have highlighted seven areas which need priority attention; these include decent jobs, energy, sustainable cities, food security and sustainable agriculture, water, oceans and disaster readiness.

Yes, there is a risk that this can end up being solely pro forma with top class business leaders talking about nothing. However, it seems that this will be a conference that gathers the top of the world for some serious green and sustainable talk with concrete actions as an end goal. Looking forward to it!

The Rio+20:
http://www.uncsd2012.org/rio20/index.html

Article, Monday Morning (in Danish):
https://www.mm.dk/rio-kan-blive-gennembruddet-for-en-ny-fort%C3%A6lling