Category: UN Commission on Sustainable Development

The UN Commission on Sustainable Development was established in 1992 following the Earth Summit (which also launched the “Rio Conventions” on Climate Change, Biodiversity, and to Combat Desertification). Its goal is to follow the progress on the implementation of Agenda 21 (a plan of action from the Earth Summit) and the Rio Declaration.
You can learn more about it’s structure here.

Rio plus zero

Nathan Thanki June 22, 2012 0 Comments

by nathan thanki For a "once in a generation" event, Rio+20 felt an awful lot like déjà-vu all over again. For those of us enough to enter the lion's den of global multilateralism at the UN, the fact that governments could have ended last week’s “third Preparatory Committee to the Conference on Sustainable Development” (the pre-game to the big...

[Closing Statement to Rio+20]

Nathan Thanki June 22, 2012 0 Comments

The following is a a statement that was drafted by a group of people in the Major Group for Children and Youth. It was supposed to be delivered to the closing plenary of Rio+20, the UN Conference on Sustainable Development tonight (Friday 22nd June 2012). The UN decided initially that ALL of civil society (represented by 9 Major Groups) would have 2 minutes total in which to addredd world...

The doughnut model of development

COA Admin June 22, 2012 0 Comments

by khristian méndez // Two words seem to be hanging with strings from the clouds over Rio de Janeiro these days, making their way into everyone's mouth: Sustainable Development. They are in there because they have been placed as the center concern for both Rio+20 and its alternative forum. Known as Cupula dos Povos or People's Summit, the counter part to Rio+20 is taking place next to the...

Reactions to the People’s Summit

aodell June 20, 2012 0 Comments

By Anna Odell After my first week in Rio, which I spent almost entirely cooped up in buildings, I was ready for a change of scenery. After spending just three days at the PrepComm in Riocentro with UN delegates and negotiators made me crave the sunlight and some fresh air. I was looking forward to feeling some sand beneath my toes and to finding some inspiration at People’s...

No more brackets, at least for now

COA Admin June 17, 2012 1 Comment

By Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler So the night before last the Brazilian government came up with a new negotiating text, and from now on they will be chairing the negotiations. Being the host country has its perks. The consensus seems to be that the new version isn’t terrible but it leaves out a lot of important stuff, like an Ombudperson for Future Generations. The interesting part is that the...