RIO+20
On 10-24 June 2012, I traveled to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for two weeks
at the United Nations Conference on
Sustainable Development (Rio+20), as part of the delegation of
the International Environment Forum
and the European Baha'i Business Forum, and
collaborating closely with the Baha'i International Community. See also
the report of the conference on the IEF web site at https://iefworld.org/conf16
for more substantive detail and photos of the events.
Rio de Janeiro has a beautiful
setting with steep rounded mountains, bays and lagoons, and long white sandy
beaches like Copacabana and Ipanema. Some of the modern architecture is
remarkable. Unfortunately the extremes of wealth and poverty are only too
evident in the favelas (dense slums) and luxurious neighbourhoods side by
side. There are spectacular views from the mountain tops, particularly
Corcovado with its enormous statue of Christ the Redeemer.
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The beach and yacht harbour at Flamengo Park
The War Memorial at Flamengo Park
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The mountains were reforested with Asian species in the late 19th
century, producing a dense tropical jungle making up the Tijuca National
Park, at 3,300 hectares the largest urban park in the world
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There are splended views of the city from different viewpoints in the
park.
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Statue of Christ the Redeemer
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The statue of Christ the Redeemer is on top of Corcovado, a
spectacular mountain which we visited at sunset
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The 38 meter high art deco statue was erected in 1926-1931; replicas
in all sizes and materials in a souvenir shop; illumination at night
RIO+20
The United Nations Conference on
Sustainable Development (Rio+20) was held at RioCentro, a large
conference centre some way out of the city, with a 1-2 hour travel time
depending on the traffic. There were 188 delegations and 100 heads of state
and government, 12,000 delegates, 10,000 civil society representatives and
4,000 media people. IEF had 12 members accredited to the conference.
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RioCentro from a distance; entrance pavilion
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Additional meeting space in giant tents: programme signs; the central
courtyard was a good place to meet
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Rio Centro
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Sustainable Development dialogue in the plenary hall
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Meeting of heads of UN agencies: Juan Somavia (ILO),
Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, Alicia Barcena (ECLAC), Helen Clark (UNDP),
Sha Zukang (Secretary-General of UNCSD)
At one side event on inter-regional collaboration between small island
developing states, the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment
Programme (SPREP), which I organized thirty years ago, signed memoranda of
understanding for cooperation with the Indian Ocean Commission and the
Caribbean Center for Cooperation on Climate Change, fulfilling my dream of
inter-island cooperation first in the Pacific, and then globally when I
drafted the islands section of Agenda 21 twenty years ago.
Signing an agreement of cooperation among SIDS regional organizations
The Baha'i International Community organized a side event, and I spoke at
another side event on faith approaches to education for sustainable
development organized by Earth Charter International and UNESCO.
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Baha'i International Community side event on elimination of extremes
of wealth and poverty
The Baha'i delegations to Rio+20 included 13 from the Baha'i International
Community, about 15 from Brazil, 12 International Environment Forum members,
and 3 from EBBF (with some overlap). Most of the Brazilians manned a booth
at the Peoples' Summit in Flamengo Park, and put on various events there.
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Delegations from Baha'i International Community, International
Environment Forum and European Baha'i Business Forum to the official
conference
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Part of the Baha'i delegations; Duncan and Miles Hanks (Canada); May
Akale (Cameroon), co-head of the Baha'i International Community delegation
Erasmus Vinkhuyzen (5 1/2 months old), the son of Sylvia and Onno
Vinkhuyzen, was included in the IEF delegation so that he could enter
RioCentro with his parents, and hit the headlines as the youngest
registered participant in UNCSD, representing future generations. He had
full-page coverage in the leading newspaper and a vidio on their web
site.
First page of the second section of O Globbo, the leading newspaper in Rio
SCIENTIFIC FORUMS
The International Council for Science organized a five-day Forum
on Science, Technology and Innovation for Sustainable Development
on 11-15 June at the Catholic University in the middle of the city. IEF
belongs to the Scientific and Technological Community Major Group, and
participated in the Forum, with IEF board member Sylvia Karlsson-Vinkhuyzen
speaking in a session on sustainable consumption and production.
The Global Research Forum on Sustainable
Production and Consumption was held on 13-15 June at an educational
facility in the city. IEF is a partner in the Forum, and I gave a paper
there along with IEF members Sylvia and Onno Vinkhuyzen and Victoria
Thoresen.
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GRF poster; panel with Sylvia and Onno VInkhuyzen
PEOPLES' SUMMIT
For the organizations of civil society, a Peoples'
Summit was held at Flamengo Park on the Rio waterfront, with tents
and other meeting spaces for the 500 events contributing to the summit.
Everything was organized at the last minute, and we only learned after our
arrival in Rio that an EBBF event and one of two IEF events had been
accepted for the summit. The audience was almost entirely Portuguese
speaking, as most international events were held at RioCentro, except for
business events in a luxury hotel and scientific events at universities in
the city. I spoke at both the EBBF and IEF events.
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The Baha'i community of Brazil
organized a booth that was always crowded, with about 500 conversations on
the Faith per day. They had to hold additional events at the Peoples' Summit
to respond to the demand.
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Baha'i community stand at the Peoples' Forum
The European Baha'i Business Forum
held an event at the Peoples' Summit, but there was no way to publicize
events and my talk was only in English. Between passing demonstrations which
made conversation impossible, we had an excellent discussion with a small
audience.
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Location of the EBBF event on values in business
The International Environment Forum
event on "Changing mentalities and motivations: values for the
sustainability transition" was in the lovely Viva Rio conference room near
Flamengo Park, with air conditioning, projection facilities, and
refreshments provided by the sponsors. We organized translation into
Portuguese. I was one of three speakers, and there was a lively discussion
afterwards.
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The IEF event; Charles Howard translating and Wendi Momen chairing;
Arthur Dahl speaking
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Informal discussions among the participants
BAHA'I COMMUNITY
With heavy traffic, inadequate shuttle bus service, and widely scattered
locations around the city, logistics were a problem. Fortunately the Baha'is
had organized a big house with bed and breakfast within a short walk of
RioCentro. It was only when we had to go into the city for scientific forums
or the Peoples' Summit in Flamengo Park on the beach that we had expensive
taxi rides until the Baha'is organized two shuttle vans.
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Our bed and breakfast; some of the Baha'i delegates; Charles Howard
and Peter Adriance in the garden
After the conference, we had lunch together before going to visit Corcovado
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IEF GOVERNING BOARD
As is our custom for such UN conferences, the 16th International Environment
Forum Annual Conference consisted of our events and other participation in
UNCSD. On 18 June we held our annual General Assembly, and since a majority
of our Governing Board was present in Rio, we had a rare face-to-face board
meeting.
IEF Governing Board members Sylvia Karlsson-Vinkhuyzen, Peter
Adriance, Arthur Dahl, Victoria Thoresen and Duncan Hanks (Emily Firth and
Dimity Podger were not in Rio)