UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT RIO+20

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1 ISSN (print) ISSN (online) INTELEKTINĖ EKONOMIKA INTELLECTUAL ECONOMICS 2013, Vol. 7, No. 1(15), p UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT RIO+20 Dalia Streimikiene Mykolas Romeris University, Ateities g. 20, LT Vilnius The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development or Rio+20 took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on June More than 12,500 representatives from about 200 states took part in this conference and 57 of them were leaders of the states. More than 10,000 members from NGOs participated in this event. The main aim of the conference implementation of sustainable development principles all over the world. This is third world summit on sustainable development and environment. Today sustainable development is the main policy of economic development. It is a bridge concept connecting society, economics, ecology and ethics. The main challenge is to connect and integrate various sectoral policies, such as agriculture, energy, trade or investment into one policy of sustainable development. The concept of sustainable development is quite new. Following the 1983 World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED), chaired by Gro Harlem Brundtland, a 1987 report named Our Common Future was published, defining Sustainable Development as: development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The report highlighted three fundamental components to sustainable development: environmental protection, economic growth and social equity. The concept of sustainable development focused attention on finding strategies to promote economic and social advancement in ways that avoid environmental degradation, over-exploitation or pollution, and side lined less productive debates about whether to prioritize development or the environment. Written by an international group of politicians, civil servants and experts on the environment and development, the Brundtland Report changed sustainable development from a physical notion based on the concept of sustainable yield in forestry and fisheries to a much broader concept that linked economic and ecological policies in an integrated framework. The Brundtland Report laid the groundwork for the convening of the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro five years later. Held in June 1992, the Rio Summit was the largest environmental conference ever organized, bringing together over 30,000 participants, including more than one hundred heads of state. The sum-

2 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development Rio mit represented a major step forward, with international agreements made on climate change, forests and biodiversity. Among the summit s outcomes were the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Framework Convention on Climate Change, Principles of Forest Management, the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, and Agenda 21, which required countries to draw up a national strategy of sustainable development. The summit also led to the establishment of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development. The Earth Summit influenced all subsequent UN conferences, which have examined the relationship between human rights, population, social development, women and human settlements and the need for environmentally sustainable development. Ten years later in 2002, the Johannesburg Summit presented an exciting opportunity for the leaders of the day to adopt concrete steps and identify quantifiable targets for better implementing Agenda 21. At the Rio+20 Conference, world leaders, along with thousands of participants from the private sector, NGOs and other groups, came together to shape how we can reduce poverty, advance social equity and ensure environmental protection on an ever more crowded planet. The official discussions focused on two main themes: how to build a green economy to achieve sustainable development and lift people out of poverty; and how to improve international coordination for sustainable development. AT Rio+20, more than $513 billion was pledged to build a sustainable future. It resulted in a focused political outcome document which contains clear and practical measures for implementing sustainable development. In Rio, Member States decided to launch a process to develop a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which will build upon the Millennium Development Goals and converge with the post 2015 development agenda. The Conference also adopted ground-breaking guidelines on green economy policies. Governments also decided to establish an intergovernmental process under the General Assembly to prepare options on a strategy for sustainable development financing. The Governments also agreed to strengthen the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) on several fronts with action to be taken during the 67 th session of the General Assembly. They also agreed to establish a high-level political forum for sustainable development. Decisions on its detailed form are expected to be taken during the upcoming session of the General Assembly, with the aim of having the first session of the forum at the beginning of the 68 th session of the Assembly. The Governments also requested the United Nations Statistical Commission, in consultation with relevant United Nations system entities and other relevant organizations, to launch a programme of work in the area of measures of progress to complement gross domestic product in order to better inform policy decisions. The Governments also adopted the 10-year framework of programmes on sustainable consumption and production patterns, as contained in document A/CONF.216/5, and invited the General Assembly, at its sixty-seventh session, to designate a Member State body to take any necessary steps to fully operationalize the framework. The Conference also took forward-looking decisions on a number of thematic areas, including energy, food security, oceans, cities, and decided to convene a Third

3 128 Dalia Streimikiene International Conference on SIDS in The Rio +20 Conference also galvanized the attention of thousands of representatives of the UN system and major groups. It resulted in over 700 voluntary commitments and witnessed the formation of new partnerships to advance sustainable development. One of the main outcomes of the Rio+20 Conference was the agreement by member States to launch a process to develop a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which will build upon the Millennium Development Goals and converge with the post 2015 development agenda. It was decided to establish an inclusive and transparent intergovernmental process open to all stakeholders, with a view to developing global sustainable development goals to be agreed by the General Assembly. In the Rio+20 outcome document, member States agreed that sustainable development goals (SDGs) must: 1. Be based on Agenda 21 and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation. 2. Fully respect all the Rio Principles. 3. Be consistent with international law. 4. Build upon commitments already made. 5. Contribute to the full implementation of the outcomes of all major summits in the economic, social and environmental fields. 6. Focus on priority areas for the achievement of sustainable development, being guided by the outcome document. 7. Address and incorporate in a balanced way all three dimensions of sustainable development and their interlinkages. 8. Be coherent with and integrated into the United Nations development agenda beyond Not divert focus or effort from the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. 10. Include active involvement of all relevant stakeholders, as appropriate, in the process. It was further agreed that Sustainable Development Goals must be: action-oriented; concise; easy to communicate; limited in number; aspirational; global in nature and universally applicable to all countries while taking into account different national realities, capacities and levels of development and respecting national policies and priorities. The Rio+20 outcome document The Future We Want specifies that the process leading to the SDGs needs to be coordinated and coherent with the processes considering the post 2015 development agenda. According to the document, the green economy is in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication. The policies for green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication should be guided by and in accordance with all the Rio Principles, Agenda 21 and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation and contribute towards achieving relevant internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals.

4 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development Rio The outcome document also reaffirmed that climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time, and that developing countries, are vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change, and are already experiencing increased impacts, including persistent drought and extreme weather events, rising sea-level, coastal erosion and ocean acidification, further threatening food security and efforts to eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development. In this regard the document stated that adaptation to climate change represents an immediate and urgent global priority. The action on unsustainable patterns of production and consumption where they occur remains fundamental in addressing environmental sustainability and promoting conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and ecosystems, regeneration of natural resources and the promotion of sustained, inclusive and equitable global growth. The critical role of technology as well as the importance of promoting innovation, in particular in developing countries was emphasized, especially the importance of technology transfer to developing countries and recall the provisions on technology transfer, finance, access to information, and intellectual property rights as agreed in the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation. The need to address the challenge of access to sustainable modern energy services for all, in particular for the poor, who are unable to afford these services even when they are available was stressed in the document. Transportation and mobility are central to sustainable development. Sustainable transportation can enhance economic growth and improve accessibility. Sustainable transport achieves better integration of the economy while respecting the environment. Sustainable cities are very important, therefore cities have to be well planned and developed, including through integrated planning and management approaches, cities can promote economically, socially and environmentally sustainable societies. In this regard, we recognize the need for a holistic approach to urban development and human settlements that provides for affordable housing and infrastructure and prioritizes slum upgrading and urban regeneration. Gender equality and the effective participation of women are important for effective action on all aspects of sustainable development. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was leading a global initiative on Sustainable Energy for All to mobilize action from all sectors of society in support of three interlinked objectives to be achieved by 2030: providing universal access to modern energy services, doubling the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency, and doubling the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix. Sustainable energy energy that is accessible, cleaner and more efficient powers opportunity. The key to both challenges is to provide sustainable energy for all energy that is accessible, cleaner and more efficient. The United Nations General Assembly declared 2012 the International Year of Sustainable Energy for All, recognizing that access to modern affordable energy services in developing countries is essential for the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals, and sustainable development, which would help to reduce poverty and to improve the conditions and standard of living for the majority of the world s population. The UN General Assembly is encouraging Member States and

5 130 Dalia Streimikiene other actors to increase the awareness of the importance of addressing energy issues and to promote action at the local, national, regional and international levels. In Rio+20 conferences the President of Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaite gave a speech. She emphasized progress, sensitivity and responsibility in reaching sustainable development goals. President D. Grybauskaite highlighted innovations in pursuance of progress which should be applied in ensuring efficient utilisation of natural resources. The achievement of Lithuania is in ensuring the fastest economic growth in the EU and restoration of 11 per cent of forested areas. The significance of international cooperation in achieving sustainable development was also mentioned in her speech. Sustainable Development Strategy in Lithuania was approved in The updated version of the Sustainable Development strategy was adopted in The main objective of sustainable development in Lithuania is to achieve, by 2020, the development level of EU countries of 2003, according to the indicators of economic and social development as well as to the efficiency in consumption of resources, and to stay within the EU s permissible limits, according to the indicators of environmental pollution, while meeting the requirements of international conventions to minimize environmental pollution and input into global climate change. The implementation of strategy is measured by sustainable development indicators (environmental quality: air and climate change, landscape and biological diversity, waste management, economic development: transport, industry, energy, agriculture, housing, tourism, social development: employment, poverty and social exclusion, public health, education and science, preservation of cultural identity, sustainable consumption and territorial development). Lithuania was able to achieve increased energy use efficiency by 3 times and to reduce atmospheric emissions by 2 3 times comparing with year In general, Lithuania is performing quite well in terms of implementation of sustainable development targets in terms of environmental indicators; however, in terms of achievement of targeted social indicators, problems still exist. The impact of the world crisis on the decline of economic growth and increase of unemployment in Lithuania also prevented implementation of economic goals of sustainable development, but Lithuania is recovering from a crisis and for sure will be able to implement the main goal of sustainable development and to achieve, by 2020, the development level of the other EU countries in 2003.