Editorial
Rio summit gets nowhere
Binding agreement a far cry
More than 190 countries had congregated in Rio de Janeiro to hammer out an action plan for a "greener" pathway to global development. The final document has been decried by major environmental groups as a far cry from what was needed to stop continued pollution of the world's oceans and improve food security. The outpouring of anger comes mainly because the final document 'The Future We want' is stated to be lacking in clear cut measures as to how to tackle the issues related to checking world population from reaching 9 billion from current 7 billion by 2050, a steady deterioration of the environment at large and the widening gap between the rich and poor. Apart from the greens, indigenous people, mainly from Latin America decried the document as a means of institutionalising the means for exploiting mineral resources of developing nations in the name of "sustainable development" and developing a "green economy".
The Rio+20 follows the Earth Summit held in 1992, which was instrumental in putting on the table of discussion matters related to biodiversity, climate change and poverty reduction. The sad reality is that in the span of the last two decades that separated these two summits, the globe has been witness to significant environmental degradation. It is estimated that 300 million hectares of natural forest have been cleared and the global population has risen by 1.6 billion. Emissions have risen by nearly 50 per cent, thanks primarily to the world's continued reliance and thirst for increased power generation. Whilst global economies have expanded, the widening gap between richer and poorer nations has become more marked, especially in view of the fact that today, 1 in 6 people suffer malnutrition.
The document in print fails, according to critics, to make specific commitments on how to safeguard the environment, such as carbon sequestration and habitat protection. Hope now rests upon member countries to come together and decide on the main themes by September 2013. That a unique opportunity has been missed to address key issues that affecting nations both rich and poor for global sustainability is not lost upon anyone.
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