On the eve of the conclusion of the Rio Summit, here are the outstanding points
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves himIl Summit Rio+20 on Sustainable Development is about to end. Today is the last day, but few steps have been taken on the road to an economy in the name of sustainability. The agreement reached by the 193 delegations present in Rio de Janeiro is summarized in the document The Future We Want he left numerous unsolved problems.
Although everyone has reiterated the need to act to protect the planet from the indiscriminate use of resources, focusing above all on aeconomy devoted to sustainability, 5 are the main unsolved nodes, despite the 72 hours of time made available to the great of the Earth.
The one of Rio it was a wasted opportunity, as environmentalists have already called it. The declarations of the UN secretary general were of little use Ban Ki-moon according to which “for too long we have believed that we can consume resources indefinitely to sustain our prosperity. Now we understand that it can no longer be like this “. Having understood this, however, is of no use if substantial changes are not implemented from an economic point of view.
But here's what the 5 biggest disappointments that come from the carioca summit, which should have sanctioned the modalities of the transition towards a green economy with low carbon content.
Index
Bonus for fossil sources
Everyone agrees on the need to eliminate subsidies for fossil fuels, but in practice what was decided in Rio? Nothing. On Twitter the campaign launched by environmental associations all over the world, grouped by the 350.org coalition, was launched to send the same message to the greats of the planet: “What are 1.000 trillion dollars spent on? Stop subsidies for fossil fuels (#EndFossilFuelSubsidies) at # Rio20 to then begin a clean energy revolution ". But the leaders seem not to have heard. Deaf.
Treaty on the oceans
All postponed to 2014, as if the problem of protecting our seas were not urgent. In any case, the possibility of creating protected areas in international waters fades. GreenPeace's appeal to save the Arctic also appears not to have breached Rio's impassable wall. Banning offshore mining activities, destructive fishing methods from Arctic waters, protecting the North Pole and limiting its pollution. Tomorrow, perhaps, not today. A hole in the water.
Green Economy
Sustainable development, that was what the summit was supposed to do. Finding a way to relaunch the world economy overwhelmed by the crisis through the green economy, trying to understand how we need to bring together the forces to do good for the planet. The first consequence would have been the creation of new jobs, minds and arms engaged in the race towards a green future. Chimera.
Forest protection
To revive 150 million hectares of land, this is the hope of the scientists who expressed this need through the megacampagna “Plant a Pledge”. “The latest Iucn research - explains Stewart Maginnis, Director of the Nature-Based Solutions Group of Iucn - demonstrates that by recovering 150 million hectares of degraded and deforested land by 2020 it will be possible to inject over 84 billion net dollars annually into local and international economies and reduce the gap in emissions responsible for climate change of 11-17 % ". This too, aopportunity gone up in smoke.
Renewable energies and equity
Even today 1 billion and 400 million people in the world do not have access to energy. For this reason, within the objective enclosed under the name of equity it would have been necessary to develop pro-poor plans, for example by eliminating harmful subsidies such as that on fossil fuels, developing green tax regimes and promoting tax reforms that encourage protection of the environment and the less well off. Always and in any case on the edge.
Francesca Mancuso
