The Rio+20 negotiation process has entered the
final stages, with less than six weeks remaining before the UN Conference on
Sustainable Development (UNCSD) kicks off. Delegates held a two-week
negotiating session from 23 April - 4 May in New York with the aim of
finalising the outcome document for the June gathering; however, the slow pace
of progress has led to a new session being scheduled for later this month in
the hopes of achieving greater consensus ahead of the conference.
The June 2012 conference - set to be held in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil - marks 20 years since the landmark 1992 United Nations
Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED).
‘Zero draft’ sees little movement towards final
version
Considerable efforts were made to bring the ‘zero
draft’ outcome document down from 278 to 156 pages by the end of the first
week. The second week saw progress slow considerably, with only 21 paragraphs
being agreed ad referendum - pending agreement on the final text - by
delegates. The remaining 400 paragraphs were left for the next round of
‘informal informals’ later this month.
The bracketed text covered a wide range of
long-standing divisions between delegations over both of the conference’s twin
themes: the green economy in the context of sustainable development and
eradicating poverty; and the Institutional Framework for Sustainable
Development (IFSD).
Delegates given chance for 11th hour agreement on
outcome document
In his closing speech to the second round of
‘informal informals’, Sha Zukang - Secretary-General of the UNCSD (Rio+20) - issued a
call to action to the delegates present, reminding them of the considerable
work that still needs to be done.
He noted that the negotiating process in its
current incarnation had failed and that “working methods need to change.”
“Our objective should be to arrive in Rio with at
least 90 percent of the text ready,” he said. “The
most difficult 10 percent should then be negotiated
in Rio with the highest political support.”
Sustainable Development Goals negotiations offer
promise, observers say
While no agreement has yet been reached on the
sustainable development goals (SDGs) - which were an initiative originally
proposed by Colombia and Guatemala - sources note that the negotiations in New
York saw broad support for their establishment. However, observers commented to
Bridges, the politics surrounding the SDGs suggest that their launch will only
be agreed at the very last minute in Rio. If so, sources suggest that a likely
outcome would see a process to define the SDGs between 2012 and 2015, in order
to coincide with the post-2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) programme.
After Rio, the UN Secretary-General will appoint a
High Level Panel of Eminent Persons to advise on the post-2015 way forward once
the current MDGs expire, co-chaired by President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia,
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, and Prime
Minister David Cameron of the UK. Ban also said on Wednesday 9 May that he
would be announcing the full panel following the Rio conference.