Rio+20 and Civil Society in Hindsight

The 1992 Earth Summit is still widely referenced today, yet the Rio+20 conference that ended a little under a month ago has already disappeared from the public space.

People may not remember “The Future We Want”, a weak document with stark omissions, but civil society will forever be remembered for walking out.

Children & Youth, Women, Indigenous Peoples and NGOs led the way in rejecting the text in the then hope of having their protest heard by world leaders.

Speak Your Mind revisits the opening plenary speeches made by the nine civil society groups.

Children & Youth 

“The vision we have is on the brink of being bracketed and deleted,” said Karuna Rana of Mauritius.

“It’s not just about the future we want, it is the future we need.”

Trade Unions

“We are losing faith in governments’ ability to defend our interests,” said their delegate emphasising the indignity of conditions faced by many of the world’s workers.

“We need to emphasise solidarity and cooperation between countries and their people.”

Scientific and Technological Community

“Science has sounded the alarm that humanity is putting enormous pressure on the planet,” urged their delegate.

“We have entered the anthropocene, where the activity of human society dominates the planet.”

“A failure to act now increases the risk of abrupt and irreversible changes to the biosphere that will challenge life on earth.”

Farmers

“It is clear that sustainable agriculture is essential to these discussions,” affirmed Henry Saragih, chairman of the Indonesian Peasant Union.

Farmers are often poor, indigenous, female, and the most affected by environmental changes but, “they hold the solutions to sustainable development in their hands.”

Local Authorities

“With 60% of people to be living in cities by 2020, such development comes with unprecedented challenges to provide citizens with a sustainable quality of life,” said the delegate.

Indigenous Peoples

“Culture helps sustainability. We know about being and living with nature,” was the main message from the Indigenous Peoples representative.

Business and Industry

“The business case for sustainability has strengthened,” as Rio+20 outcomes did little to regulate fossil fuel subsidies.

The majority of the businesses present in Rio had also already implemented green economy initiatives within their corporations.

Women

Representing the women’s group, Hala Yousry strongly criticised the final document for failing to include reproductive rights and lack of quotas for women in positions of power.

“We women around the world continue our struggle for rights.”

NGOs

“You cannot have a document titled ‘The Future We Want’ without any mention of planetary boundaries, tipping points, or the Earth’s carrying capacity.”

“If we do not change … the way our societies function we will be threatening the survival of future generations and all other species on the planet.”

Wael Hmaidan of the Climate Action Network urged governments not to simply “protect their narrow interests,” but to inspire the world.

“The text as it stands is completely out of touch with reality. Just to be clear, NGOs here in Rio in no way endorse this document.”

Governments may have near unanimously agreed on the outcomes of Rio+20, but it is apparent that civil society will forever disagree with the decisions made.

By Lachie McKenzie.