UN Briefing ‘35 days to the future we want’: RIO+20 is June 20–22

In just four weeks, the heads of state and government of more than 120 nations will converge on Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development. The expectations of this conference are very much linked to the unfulfilled commitments made at the first conference, more commonly referred to as the Earth Summit. The paradigm shift from unsustainable economic growth models of consumption and production, to a more sustainable development model providing for the needs of people while respecting Earth’s limited resource base, was a commitment at the highest political level in 1992. However, 20 years later, the world is in a far more precarious position, with more people living in abject poverty and the health of the planet severely compromised. Read more