Rio+20 Earth Summit 2012

Thousands of people are meeting at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development this month in Rio de Janeiro. The first UN Conference on Sustainable Development took place 20 years ago in Rio de Janeiro, hence the name Rio+20. The objectives of the Summit are to secure renewed political commitment to sustainable development, to assess progress towards internationally agreed goals on sustainable development, and to address new and emerging challenges.

The meetings this month are hoping to inspire a call for action from its attendees. It is hoped that there will be a shift away from long term pledges and toward creating friendly competition between the nations of the world to outperform each other. The two main areas of focus are poverty eradication and sustainable development in a green economy and creation of an institutional framework for sustainable development.

Leaders of the world are gathering to share their definitions and action plans for achieving sustainable economic development. US President Barack Obama, India's Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, Francois Hollande of France and Vladimir Putin of Russia are among the attendees. It is predicted that there will be disagreement between developed and developing countries as their priorities clash. The tension is caused by the 'common, but differentiated responsibilities' of the two.

Reaching agreement on sustainable development and poverty eradication are the ultimate goals of the Conference. Developed countries may need to provide technology and infrastructure support to enable developing nations to comply with the sustainability goals.

Angelica Oman

Graduate Program Assistant