UN Commission on Sustainable Development (UNCSD)

State of the Climate in Asia 2024

The World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Climate in Asia 2024 report warns that the region is warming nearly twice as fast as the global average, driving more extreme weather and posing serious threats to lives, ecosystems, and economies. In 2024, Asia experienced its warmest or second warmest year on …

The future of sustainable development: rethinking sustainable development after Rio+20 and implications for UNEP

The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) in June 2012—commonly referred to as Rio+20—left many perplexed. If a number of advances were made, the results fell well short of what is needed to redirect the global economy onto a sustainable course. Given that 20 years have passed since the …

Future compromised

The Earth Summit was a historical opportunity to set the world on the correct development trajectory. Negotiators from 191 countries came together to chart a road map for sustainable development and poverty eradication. The theme was green economy. But developed and developing countries refused to bury their differences. Developed countries …

Rio Changes the Global Governance Game

The significance of Rio+ 20 does not lie in any document but in the new direction provided to global governance, with Brazil, China and India shaping the global agenda. Not surprisingly, heads of state from the major G7 countries did not participate in the conference. The issue is intensely complex …

What Happened at Rio, and What Didn’t

Rio in 1992 is where a divisive world started coming together to save a planet crumbling under its own weight. After 20 years of more words than action, when the world assembled there again, not much had changed. Many words were exchanged, but not enough action charted. Naren Karunakaran traces …

Green economy as platitude

At Rio+20, the developing world reclaimed lost ground, but nobody committed to credible action A major feature of the “The Future We Want” final declaration adopted by the the Rio+20 Summit on June 23 is its sheer size (283 paragraphs, 49 pages) and verbal dexterity. In plotting and leading this …

UN: A third of all food produced globally is wasted

NewDelhi:One-third of food produced globally every year does not reach human mouths – it is either lost in transit or wasted by consumers themselves. This amounts to a staggering 1.3 billion tonnes every year. These chilling figures are part of a report called ‘Avoiding Future Famines’ released by the United …

Now, Rio+20 India to teach students sustainable development

The recently concluded Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Brazil has led to the inception of the Rio+20 India programme. The Indian Astrobiology Research Centre (IARC) is spearheading the Rio+20 India programme in Mumbai. It will spread the message of the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development …

How To Save The Earth

Why India protested the green economy agenda proposed by developed countries at Rio+20 Rio de Janeiro: The just concluded Rio+20 summit was dominated by the buzzwords ‘green economy’ and ‘natural capital accounting’, proposed by developed countries led by the European Union, World Bank and the Global Environment Facility. Speaking out …

From Rio to Rio, the world hasn’t taken a stride

A lot of high-flown rhetoric ushered in last week's UN Conference on Sustainable Development. Rio+20 was the biggest summit the UN had ever organised. Some 40,000 environmentalists and 10,000 government officials gathered with politicians from 190 nations for a meeting which the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said was "too important …

Why you Should Expect a Lot from Rio+20

The largest United Nations conference in history is happening now in Brazil. Rio+20, the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, is assembling over 50,000 people and more than 130 heads of state and government. Beyond the political commitments world leaders are promising to make by the end of the summit, how …

Rio+20: Manmohan hits out at developed nations

Rio de Janeiro: The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, today again admonished the West for living the high life and not paying for it. In a 600-word statement he told the Plenary of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) that “current consumption levels in the industrialised world are …

Ghost of climate change haunts Rio

Trust deficit between rich and poor nations, a legacy of failed climate negotiations, has led to paralysis of ambition. The distance between Flamengo Park and Rio Centro is as huge as the difference in thinking and expectations between civil society groups and governments. Flamengo Park is where the Peoples’ Summit …

Rio+20 must come up with framework, not rigid rules: TERI paper

As the two-day Rio+20 Summit kicks off in Brazil to brainstorm on how to save the planet by promoting a green economy, The Energy and Resources Institute of India (TERI) has called for a framework rather than “set of rigid rules” for countries to follow. A TERI background paper on …

Rio summit opens as world talks sustainable development

Rio de Janeiro : World leaders, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, gathered today to make a fresh bid to chart out a common environmental blueprint amid economic woes and discord, as a crucial summit on sustainable development opened here. The Rio+20 summit was formally thrown open by UN chief Ban …

Prime Minister's Statement at the Plenary of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20 Summit), Rio de Janeiro, June 21, 2012

Document contains the Statement of Prime Minister of India delivered at the Plenary of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20 Summit), Rio de Janeiro on June 21, 2012. for full text: http://moef.nic.in/assets/rio21062012-a.pdf

Hectic green parleys likely at Rio summit

The bumpy journey of the Rio+20 summit starts on Wednesday amid speculation and wide disagreements over a number of issues, including green economy, fossil fuel subsidies and sustainable development goals. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is slated to attend along with heads and negotiators from nearly 180 countries. Marking the 20th …

Opening Remarks by Minister of State for Environment and Forests at the Media Interaction, Rio de Janeiro, June 20, 2012

Document contains opening remarks by Jayanthi Natarajan, Minister of State for Environment and Forests at the Media Interaction, held at Rio de Janeiro on June 20, 2012. She pointed out in the roundtable that India has already taken several steps to promote green growth in the context of sustainable development …

The future we want: outcome of RIO+20 conference

The document provides the full text of 53 pages final outcome document of Rio+20 Conference adopted on June 22, 2012 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, released during United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20 Summit). The document describes: 1) the common vision, 2) Renewing political commitment : a) reaffirming the …

Equity at top of India's Rio agenda; targets to be avoided

Union Cabinet approves negotiating brief India will head to the Rio+20 summit in Brazil with a negotiating brief focussed on defending the principle of “common but differentiated responsibility” (CBDR) and preventing any attempt to pin down specific goals or targets regarding sustainable development. On Thursday, the Union Cabinet approved the …

Back to Earth

The world has a surfeit of pledges, commitments and treaties. What it needs from the second Earth summit in Rio is firm leadership and a viable plan for success.

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