Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development
On 20-22 June 2012, the UN Conference on Sustainable Development will take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The United Nations General Assembly decided in 2010 that a conference (also known as Rio+20) would take place in Brazil 2012. The conference will have two main themes: a green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication, and the institutional framework for sustainable development, in other words, the rules and organizational structure in the area of sustainable development.
The meeting in Rio de Janeiro is expected to bring together nearly 50 000 representatives of governments, parliaments, cities, civil society organisations, multilateral organisations and the business sector. The Government hopes that Rio+20 will lead to clear political commitments and goals that involve many different actors in Sweden and around the world.
The objective of the conference is to:
- secure renewed political commitment for sustainable development
- assess the progress to date and gaps in the implementation of the agreements from previous summits on sustainable development
- address new and emerging issues and challenges
Why do we need Rio+20?
In 2011, the world population reached the seven billion mark. The photo is taken in Seoul, Korea. Photo: UN Photo/Kibae Park
- The world now has 7 billion people - by 2050, there will be 9 billion.
- One out of every five people - 1.4 billion - currently lives on $1.25 a day or less.
- A billion and a half people in the world do not have access to electricity. Two and a half billion do not have a toilet. And almost a billion go hungry every day.
- Greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, and more than a third of all known species could go extinct if climate change continues unchecked.
- If we are to leave a liveable world to our children and grandchildren, the challenges of widespread poverty and environmental destruction need to be tackled now.
- We will incur far greater costs in the future - including more poverty and instability, and a degraded planet - if we fail to adequately address these critical challenges now.
- Rio+20 provides an opportunity to think globally, so that we can all act locally to secure our common future.
