Report on Rio+20 UNCSD 2012

Kyoto and Beyond

Report on Rio+20

The 9th installment in an ongoing
series on multilateral agreements
related to climate change

www.isciences.com July 27, 2012

Introduction

Kyoto and Beyond is a series of presentations on the evolving international
climate treaty process that began with the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 1992.

Report on Rio+20 is a summary of the negotiations that transpired at the United
Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) called “Rio+20” in
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil June 20-22, 2012.

Other presentations in the Kyoto and Beyond series include*:
 2008 Kyoto and Beyond  2011 Report on Cancun COP16
 2009 Kyoto and Beyond, Update  2011 Road to Durban
 2009 Report on Copenhagen COP15  2012 Report on Durban
 2010 Road to Cancun COP16  2012 Road to Rio+20

* Available at http://www.isciences.com/spotlight/kyoto_and_beyond.html

Road to Rio+20 (ISCIENCES, L.L.C.) 2

Contents

Overview

Outcome Document

Action at the UN High-Level Session

Action Outside of the UN Process

Looking Ahead
NOTE: This presentation includes hyperlinks to additional information indicated by underlined text.


Overview: Objectives

Rio+20, the UN Conference on Sustainable
Development (UNCSD), was held June 20-22, 2012 in
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

UNCSD was promoted as “The Future We Want” and its stated purpose was to set a
global sustainability agenda for the coming decade.

Objectives Themes Priority Areas
 renew political commitment  Institutional Framework for  jobs, energy, cities, food,
 assess progress Sustainable Development water, oceans, disasters

 discuss emerging challenges  Green Economy

China’s Sha Zukang was Secretary-General of the Conference and the Conference
President was host country Brazil’s President Dilma Rouseff.
See also: www.uncsd2012.org


Overview: Global Conditions

The world has changed since Rio 1992.
THE ECONOMY – tight purse strings for Mother Earth?
 The dismal global economy in 2012, evidenced by the Eurozone crisis, may have
upstaged Rio+20’s agenda and diverted some world leaders, including US President
Barack Obama, to the G-20 summit in Mexico on June 18 instead.
 G-20 is primarily an economic summit, but issues like climate change and a green
economy (economic challenge/economic opportunity) have some traction. G-20 2012
recommitted to its 2009 declaration to phase out fossil fuel subsidies, but it did not
(Credit: NOAA via Wikimedia Commons)
establish targets or deadlines.

THE ENVIRONMENT – a fate worse than debt?
 Average annual global temperature has increased 0.58 F (0.32 C) since 1992 based on 10-year running
averages.*
 Global levels of CO2 climbed 10%, from nearly 358 ppm in April 1992 to 394 ppm April 2012.*
 Since 1992, natural disasters have killed 1.3 million people, affected 4.4 billion people worldwide, and cost
$2 trillion in damages.**
 Since 1990, the world's primary forest areas have decreased about 740 million acres (300 million hectares).**
See also: G20 Leaders Declaration and Policy Commitments by G20 Members
* US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
** United Nations Road to Rio+20 (ISCIENCES, L.L.C.) 5

Overview: Tracking UN Progress

Historically, how effective has the official UN multilateral process been in
addressing environmental and sustainability issues?
In its 2012 Global Environmental Outlook Report 5, the United
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) examined more than 500
internationally agreed-upon goals and objectives adopted at the 1992
Earth Summit and other conferences and found “significant progress”
in just four areas:

 eliminating chlorofluorocarbons that punched a hole in the Earth's
protective ozone layer,
 the removal of lead from gasoline that caused human health problems,
 improved access to clean water, and
 boosting research to reduce ocean pollution.

UNEP Global Environmental Outlook Report 5, 2012


Outcome Document: Evolution

Text for Rio+20’s proposed action plan, "The Future We Want,” underwent a
slow and contentious pre-Conference negotiating process.
A preliminary draft was introduced Jan. 10, 2012 based on input
from relevant stakeholders. Negotiations proceeded as
scheduled at pre-Conference meetings where numerous and
lengthy amendments were proposed.

After an additional meeting to consider a Co-Chairs’ Suggested
Text, negotiators still failed to produce a consensus document for Antonio de Aguiar Patriota,

world leaders to approve June 20-22. Minister for Foreign Affairs of Brazil
(Credit: UN Photo/Maria Elisa Franco)

Editorial responsibility was handed over to Brazil, which holds the Presidency of
Rio+20. Finally, on June 19 Brazil set forth a 50-page document for the Conference.
Though the document is legally nonbinding, expectations were that any declaration by
the Conference should succeed in clarifying goals for concrete policy steps.

Outcome Document: Unambitious

The final text sidestepped targets, timelines, and roadmaps.

In the final version of “The Future We Want” Brazil chose to strike
text where no agreement could be reached. That, and the push for
“Common But Differentiated Responsibilities” (CBDR) resulted in
unambitious language which leaves specific goals, targets, and
paths to individual countries.

Brazil, India, and China – the most powerful of the “Group of 77,”
a UN bloc of 77 developing nations – were prominent in shaping
the proposal.
Some critics claim that CBDR guided the tepid language and does not support
concrete, measureable outcomes and universal responsibilities.

“…the longest suicide note in history”
– Kumi Naidoo, executive director, Greenpeace International

Outcome Document: Backwards?

“The Future We Want” inspired little enthusiasm and “…a step backward from previous
some severe criticism, especially from women’s rights agreements.”
– Gro Harlem Brundtland, UN
activists who felt that it reversed progress. Special Envoy

The words "reproductive rights" were deleted from the document after the Vatican
persuaded some predominately Catholic and conservative Muslim countries to protest.
Though the document committed to “reproductive health” it
ignored the last twenty years of global progress in women’s
reproductive rights since the Cairo Programme of Action 1994
and the Beijing Platform for Action 1995.

US Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton It also ignored the basic correlation between reproductive
addresses UNCSD Plenary June 22, 2012
(Credit: UN Photo: Maria Elisa Franco) rights, population growth, and sustainability.

US Secretary of State Clinton elicited applause when she assured that the US would work
to ensure that women’s reproductive rights are respected in international agreements.
See also: Transcript of Clinton’s address at Rio+20; and, What’s Good for Women is Good for the Environment

Action at the UN: Overall Tenor

With modest outcomes preordained by the document text, the daily narrative
of UNCSD’s High-Level Conference sessions never reached an inspired
crescendo.
The three days of official sessions proceeded without drama, in
contrast to late night huddles and last minute negotiations
characteristic of other UN environmental conferences.

Ban Ki-moon opened the Conference, 191 national representatives (Credit: UN Photo/Guilherme Costa)

addressed the meeting, representatives from 9 Major Groups made statements,
rapporteurs from the Sustainable Development Dialogue Days offered recommendations,
and four round table discussions took place on implementation of Conference outcomes.

On Friday June 22 at 8:41pm, Rio+20 – billed as the most important meeting in the history
of our planet – quietly closed its doors.

See also: Earth Negotiations Bulletin Vol. 27 No. 51 and UN Web TV archived videos at http://webtv.un.org/meetings-events/


Action at the UN: Objectives

Did Rio+20 meet its stated purpose and objectives?
The stated purpose was “to set a global sustainability agenda for the coming decade.”
 “The Future We Want” includes few deadlines for time-bound targets associated with
agenda items.
 Few actionable items are articulated – instead, words like “encourage,” “reaffirm,”
“acknowledge,” “urge,” and “recognize” are used.

The stated objectives were to “renew political commitment, assess progress, and
discuss emerging challenges.”
 Commitments were established as voluntary, not binding;
 Progress was assessed as “insufficient;”
 No agreements were reached on comprehensive mitigation to address emerging
challenges.

“An outcome that makes nobody happy.” – Sha Zukang, Rio+20 Secretary General


Action at the UN: Green Economy

Did Rio+20 succeed in its stated theme of charting a path to a “green economy
in the context of poverty eradication and sustainable development”?
“We affirm that there are different
The definition of a “green economy” has come to be approaches, visions, models and tools
known as economic engines that support sustainable available to each country, in accordance with
its national circumstances and priorities …
consumption and production and that lower green economy …should not be a rigid set of
environmental impacts. rules.” – Paragraph 56 The Future We Want,
June 19, 2012

Operationally the path to a green economy could be paved with: national policy
options, sector-based roadmaps, international instruments of finance, an international
knowledge-sharing platform, and global measures of progress.

India and China, along with some African nations, successfully pushed back a proposal
to set targets and timetables for a green economy, arguing that targets would lead to
trade restrictions or other sanctions if developing countries did not move quickly
enough.


Action at the UN: IFSD & UNEP

During the Rio+20 discussions on the theme of Institutional
Framework for Sustainable Development (IFSD) the role of UNEP
was strengthened, but UNEP was not upgraded to a specialized
UN agency as some had advocated.

The Rio+ 20 agreement will:

 establish universal membership in the Governing Council of UNEP;
 ensure stable and increased financial resources from the regular budget of the UN
and from voluntary contributions;
 enhance UNEP’s voice by strengthening its engagement in key UN coordination bodies
and empowering it to lead efforts in UN system wide environmental strategies.

“We are committed to strengthening the role of the United Nations Environment Programme as the
leading global environmental authority that sets the global environmental agenda …”
– Paragraph 88 The Future We Want, June 19, 2012


Action at the UN: IFSD & CSD

Discussions on the theme of IFSD also established a “universal intergovernmental
high level political forum” to replace the Commission on Sustainable
Development.
“We decide to establish a universal intergovernmental
The new forum will: high level political forum, building on the strengths,
experiences, resources and inclusive participation
 have a format defined by an inclusive modalities of the Commission on Sustainable
Development, and subsequently replacing the
negotiation process under the UN General Commission.” – Paragraph 84 The Future We Want,
June 19, 2012
Assembly;
 harmonize global SD efforts and eventually replace the Commission on Sustainable
Development;
 encourage high-level system-wide participation of UN agencies;
 enhance the consultative role of Major Groups and other relevant stakeholders;
 strengthen the science-policy interface;
 convene in Fall 2014 at the 68th session of UN General Assembly.


Action at the UN: SDGs

An “open working group” will begin creating Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) – a set of sustainability indicators – at the 67th UN General Assembly
session Sept. 18-Dec.31, 2012.
The SDGs: “We resolve to establish an inclusive and transparent
 will be integrated in the UN intergovernmental process on SDGs that is open to all
Development Agenda beyond 2015; stakeholders with a view to developing global
sustainable development goals to be agreed by the
 should not divert focus or effort from United Nations General Assembly.” – Paragraph 248
The Future We Want, June 19, 2012
achievement of the MDGs by 2015.
 will be developed by a group of 30 representatives nominated by Member States
through the five UN regional groups; the SDG working group will assemble by Fall
2012 and will submit its proposal in Fall 2014 at the 68th UNGA session.
But many questions remain. Can nations agree on ambitious yet workable SDGs? Can
the global development community handle two sets of goals? What if MDGs are not
met by 2015?

Action at the UN: Climate Change

“The Future We Want” reinforced “common but differentiated responsibilities”
in its reference to climate change.
“We recall that UNFCCC provides that Parties should
protect the climate system for the benefit of present
and future generations of humankind on the basis of
While text in the Rio+20 declaration urged equity and in accordance with their common but
Parties to build upon UNFCCC progress at differentiated responsibilities and respective
capabilities.”
Durban, it also reinforced CBDR, contrasting – Paragraph 191 The Future We Want, June 19, 2012
with Durban’s movement toward shared
“We urge Parties to the UNFCCC and Parties to the
climate responsibilities. Kyoto Protocol to fully implement their commitments,
as well as decisions adopted under those agreements.
The Durban Platform noted that both developed In this regard, we will build upon the progress achieved
including at the most recent COP-17/CMP7 in Durban.”
and developing nations will have to negotiate a – Paragraph 192 The Future We Want, June 19, 2012
treaty, a “legal instrument or legal outcome” by
2015 that will reduce carbon emissions.
“Also decides to launch a process to develop a protocol, another legal instrument or a legal outcome under the
Convention applicable to all Parties…” – Item 2, The Durban Platform for Enhanced Action, Dec. 10, 2011


Action at the UN: Climate Change

Though “The Future We Want” supported the phase-out of HFCs, that pledge
may already have been compromised or delayed at a recent meeting on the
Montreal Protocol. “We recognize that the phase-out of ozone depleting
substance (ODS) is resulting in a rapid increase in the
HFC (hydrofluorocarbons) have broadly replaced use and release of high global warming potential
hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) to the environment. We
CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons), which were banned support a gradual phase-down in the consumption and
under the highly successful Montreal Protocol to production of HFCs.” – Paragraph 222 The Future We
Want, June 19, 2012
protect the ozone layer.
Although better for the ozone layer, HFCs have a greater global warming effect than
CO2 by a factor of 460-9100. Called ‘super greenhouse gases’ HFCs are used in
refrigeration or air-conditioning units.

At a recent meeting in Bangkok on the Montreal Protocol (July 27-30, 2012) a proposal to
add HFCs to the Protocol was supported by the US, Micronesia, Mexico, Canada, and the
EU, but contested by Brazil, China, and India who advocate addressing it through the
UNFCCC.

Action at the UN: Other Issues

Progress on other issues was desultory and without transformational movement.
Corporate Sustainability Reporting
Companies are encouraged “to consider integrating sustainability information in their reporting cycle,” but there is
no report-or-explain clause requiring them to do so or to explain if they do not. (The Future We Want Paragraph 47)

GDP+
The UN Statistical Commission is charged with launching a program to develop GDP+, a broader measure of
progress to complement GDP. (The Future We Want Paragraph 38)

Financing
An intergovernmental process under the UN General Assembly will “assess financing needs” and propose options
on a Sustainable Development Financing Strategy, to be implemented by 2014. (The Future We Want Paragraphs
255-256.)

Technology Transfer
“Relevant UN agencies” are requested “to identify options for a facilitation mechanism” for tech transfer, after
which the UN Secretary General will make recommendations to the 67th Session of the UN General Assembly,
Sept. 2012. (The Future We Want Paragraph 273)


Action Outside of the UN Process

Voluntary actions outside of the formal UNCSD process demonstrated more
vigor and resolve than the official meetings.
The convergence at Rio offered an opportunity for
sustainable development interests to galvanize, exchange
ideas, and merge actions in the hope of effecting change
beyond borders.

Among the emerging trends was the rise of multi-
stakeholder coalitions pushing to affect change. (Credit: Aliencow via Wikimedia Commons)

Though lacking the scale of high-level governments, diverse coalitions of businesses,
non-governmental organizations (NGOs), civil society groups, universities and others
used Rio to push sustainability efforts forward.


Action Outside: SE4ALL

Ban Ki-moon’s “Sustainable Energy for All” (SE4ALL) initiative
received strong support from influential global sectors, in
contrast to its weak endorsement in the Rio declaration.
The UN declaration afforded SE4ALL just a single paragraph which
omitted objectives and the 2030 target date, and included opt-out
(Credit: UN)
language: “prioritized according to their specific challenges…” 2030 SE4ALL Objectives:
 Ensure universal access to
modern energy services,
“We recognize that countries’ activities in broader energy-related issues are of great  Double the global rate of
importance and are prioritized according to their specific challenges, capacities and improvement of energy
efficiency,
circumstances, including energy mix.”  Double the share of
– Paragraph 129 The Future We Want, June 19, 2012 renewable energy in the
global energy mix.

In contrast, the six largest multilateral development banks pledged $30 billion, investors
and corporations pledged $50 billion, and the US announced its US-Africa Clean Energy
Finance Initiative, among other governmental and private commitments.


Action Outside: “Natural Capital”

“Natural capital accounting” – valuation of the stock of ecosystems that
provides a renewable flow of goods and services – received support from
corporate and banking sectors.

 Major multi-national corporations agreed to develop a
methodology to assign value to natural systems (forests,
freshwater and marine) in the Valuing Natural Capital
Initiative.
(Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

 The financial sector committed to work towards integrating natural capital criteria into
financial products and services in the Natural Capital Declaration.
 Several countries have agreed to create "natural capital accounting" rules including
the United States, Britain, France and Germany, though China and Brazil declined.


Action Outside: Other Initiatives

Sustainabililty
“Friends of Rio+20,” a coalition of international business, scientific and civil society leaders, asked
government leaders to engage them in sustainable development issues by: designing economies for
sustainable development and SD goals for post-2015 and creating national and regional policies and
frameworks to accelerate delivery of SD goals; and, enabling multi-country and multi-stakeholder coalitions
of actors, including national and sub-national governments, to undertake explicit sets of actions now and in
the near term to help achieve these goals.
SD Education
The Higher Education Sustainability Initiative for Rio+20 was signed by 257 educational institutions in 52
countries who have agreed to support teaching sustainable development concepts and "ensuring that they
form a part of the core curriculum across all disciplines.”
Water
Forty-five major companies representing hundreds of billions of dollars in annual revenue called for greater
action by Governments "to achieve global water security. These major companies endorse the U.N.'s Global
Compact CEO Water Mandate, an initiative designed to assist companies in the development,
implementation, and disclosure of water sustainability policies and practices.
Transportation
The Asian Development Bank and seven other multilateral lenders will provide more than $175 billion to
improve transportation in developing countries over the next 10 years. The pledge to fund loans and grants
is intended for all transport but will increasingly go to sustainable transport.

Action In & Out: Commitments

Several online registries have evolved to record sustainability commitments
made by governments, civil society and the private sector.
In the absence of a binding multilateral agreement, these
commitments are evidence of some actionable targets, and
represent a “bottom-up” direction in movement instead of
“top-down” state-centric.
(Credit: NRDC)

The digital platforms for commitments may also help increase accountability and
transparency.

 The Cloud of Commitments, Natural Resources Defense Council
(http://www.cloudofcommitments.org/)
 Voluntary Commitments, UNCSD
(http://www.uncsd2012.org/rio20/allcommitments.html
 Business.un.org, UN http://business.un.org/en/browse/commitments


Action In & Out: Opinions
”If current trends continue, if current patterns of
production and consumption of natural resources
prevail and cannot be reversed and ‘decoupled’, “…although I think all the individual initiatives
then governments will preside over unprecedented by companies and partnerships are interesting,
levels of damage and degradation.” they don’t deliver the scale that is necessary to
address the global challenges we face on
Achim Steiner, UNEP Executive Director sustainability.”

Yvo DeBoer, former UNFCCC chair
“We should be thinking about harnessing the power of the market.”

Hilary Rodham Clinton, US Secretary of State

“I would like to applaud developing
“…our collective capacity to destroy the planet's life-support systems countries in particular, as they signed
is unprecedented. Yet the consequences of our individual actions are the document in the absence of any
typically so far removed from our daily awareness that we can go promise of financial support from
right over the cliff without even knowing it.“ developed countries.”

Jeffrey Sachs, Director, Columbia University’s Earth Institute Dilma Rouseff, President of Brazil

“Those who have failed you, Mr. Sha, are the
“The ‘green economy’ promoted by the
governments, not the CEOs, not the NGOs.”
United Nations Rio+20 summit is a form of
new colonialism.” José María Figueres, former president of Costa Rica

Evo Morales, President of Bolivia

Looking Ahead

Clearly, Rio+20 did not deliver a roadmap to sustainable development.
Still, in a “bottom-up” approach actors outside of the UN
multilateral process found ways to generate
commitments through initiatives built by public/private
partnerships. What’s Next?
Nov. 26-Dec.7, 2012: COP18 Doha,
Qatar 18th Session of the Conference of the
But without multilateral agreements can any initiative Parties to the United Nations Framework
reach necessary scale and pace? And, what will happen Convention on Climate Change and the 8th
Session of the Conference of the Parties
between now and 2013 when final review of MDGs occurs serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the
and transition to SDGs begins? Kyoto Protocol

Watch for future installments of ISciences’ “Kyoto and Beyond” series at
http://www.isciences.com/spotlight/kyoto_and_beyond.html.
“Nature does not wait. Nature does not negotiate with human beings.“
– Ban Ki-Moon, UN Secretary-General


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Citation

When referencing this slide show please use the following citation.

ISCIENCES, L.L.C. Report on Rio+20. A slideshow; 9th installment in the
series Kyoto and Beyond – the Evolution of Multilateral Agreements on
Climate Change. July 27, 2012. Ann Arbor, Michigan. www.isciences.com.


Report on Rio+20 UNCSD 2012

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