Decisions must be made at Rio Earth summit, urges UN official

The summit must not be a talking shop for world leaders, says Brice Lalonde, UN executive co-ordinator of the conference

guardian.co.uk, John Vidal, Wednesday 11 January 2012

Heads of state and government gather for a group photograph as the media,
delegates and staff members look on at the United Nations Earth summit in
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on 13 June 1992. Photograph: UN Photo

The Earth summit in June must be the place where decisions on the future of the planet are made, and not just another talking shop for world leaders, the head of what will be 2012's largest political conference has urged.

Speaking as the first draft of the UN declaration for Rio+20 was released in New York on Tuesday night, Brice Lalonde, the UN's executive co-ordinator of the conference and former French environment minister, said: "[The draft] is a good start. Most topics are on the table: from efficient international co-operation to sustainable development goals, from a regular review of the state of the planet to an agency for the environment, from universal access to energy to social safety floors. What is missing now is one verb: to decide. Because to stress, urge, call, recognise, underscore, encourage, support or reaffirm is not enough. When heads of state meet, it should be to decide."

As revealed by the Guardian early on Tuesday, world leaders will be called on to sign up for 10 new sustainable development goals for the planet and promise to build green economies. They will also be asked to negotiate a new agreement to protect oceans, approve an annual state of the planet report, set up a major world agency for the environment, and appoint a global "ombudsperson", or high commissioner, for future generations.

John Major, Fidel Castro and George H W Bush were among the leaders who attended the original earth summit, which was the world's biggest ever political gathering. But David Cameron has said he is not planning to attend Rio+20, despite promising to lead the "greenest government ever" and the date of the summit being changed to avoid a clash with the Queen's diamond jubilee.

International groups on Wednesday reacted to the draft. Diana Bronson, a spokeswoman for ETC group in Canada, said: "The draft declaration calls for bold and decisive action and then offers weak and equivocal statements, reiterating commitment to the same old policies that have failed to deliver on sustainable development for 20 years. Alarmingly, business is called upon show leadership on the green economy – completely ignoring how well-entrenched and increasingly consolidated private interests have steered us away from sustainable development thus far. We need a clear commitment to support peasant agriculture and food sovereignty."

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