Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, June 2012
The Rio +20 Summit took place in Rio de Janeiro on June 20-22, 2012. World leaders in government, civil society, and the private sector from 192 nations (estimated over 45,000 delegates and thought leaders) came together to advance the commitments made at the original Rio Summit 20 years prior to reduce poverty, address population growth, sustain our natural resources, and ensure social equity, worldwide. The two high level themes of the conference were focused on a global green economy and a framework for sustainable development. Priority attention was given to seven areas; jobs, energy, cities, food security, water, oceans, and disaster readiness.
The conference was hailed as a success by the 100 heads of state who attended; though the tangible outcome resulted in a 49-page document, The Future we Want which while re-affirming the commitment to achieve the same goals set at the original Rio Summit, failed to deliver real actions, timelines, or funding. Although, civil society called to end subsidies for fossil fuels, reaffirm women’s reproductive rights, and protect our ocean commons-the high seas; little progress was made in those areas.
Meanwhile, the most exciting progress was being made outside the Rio+20 Pavilions. Individual countries, companies, and organizations produced collectively over 700 promises, worth over 500 billion USD. For example, Unilever, Coca-cola, and Wal-mart agreed to eliminate products that led directly to deforestation in their supply chains by 2020.
Thus, Eikosphere supported the media and production of leading business summits by interviewing lead change agents in business and government and capturing seminal forums for several groups where these exciting commitments were being made including:
The Global Energy Assessment: Toward a Sustainable Future
The Global Green Growth Forum: Sustainable, Inclusive Growth
The World Green Summit: Building a Sustainable Future
The Avoided Deforestation Partnership: Advancing Public-Private Partnerships for Deforestation-Free Sustainable Agriculture
Represented at these high level meetings were over 1,500 CEO’s from 60 nations, INGO’s worldwide, and civil society, ready to do business. Needless to say, these business forums represented the pulse of progress in Brazil at the Rio 20+ Summit. See Rio+20 Summit, 2012.
