The United Nations’
Conference on Sustainable Development, commonly referred to as Rio+20, kicked
off here on Wednesday with expectations subdued due to the absence of key
leaders from developed countries and a weak communique draft.
Embattled
by domestic issues pertinent to the global economic crisis, leaders of the US,
Germany and France have decided not to attend, dashing the hopes of many who
are demanding serious rethinking of the current global economic development
model pioneered by developed countries.
Emil
Salim, who is on Indonesia’s presidential advisory board, told The Jakarta Post
that the absence of a high-level delegation from the US meant that many
contentious issues did not go through the usual fierce battles.
The
first Rio Earth summit in 1992 paved the way for a global treaty on
biodiversity, and the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gases, which is due to
expire this year. The Rio+20 moniker is a nod to the 1992 summit.
Salim
said that one focus which remained a top priority was the acknowledgment of the
principle of common and differentiated responsibility in the final outcome of
the summit. “It could have been worse. The G20 meeting in Los Cabos, Mexico,
produced a new momentum for collaborative effort to improve the world economy.
That news brought hope to everyone here.”
Leaders
of the G20, a multilateral grouping of the world’s largest economies, gathered
in Los Cabos earlier this week to formulate joint efforts to control the global
crisis. Leaders issued their strongest ever statements on their collective
commitment to improve the global economy following a positive outcome from the
Greek election, in which fiscal reform parties won a majority.
Discounting
the absence of key leaders, diplomats from 190 countries agreed on a draft
communique titled “The Future We Want”, outlining inspirational visions in the
context of sustainable development and poverty eradication.
Indonesian
Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa confirmed that the final communique had been
completed. The 283-paragraph document was ready for leaders to adopt yesterday.
Environmentalists complained that the agreement was too weak for a variety of
reasons; ultimately, however, for failing to come up with a common definition
of green growth. The draft also failed to define clear goals, let alone time
frames toward accomplishing them.
According
to a source familiar with the issue, no agreement was reached among the
diplomats on provisions that demanded governments phase out fossil-fuel
subsidies, despite a pledge by G20 countries to eliminate them.
Phasing
out fossil-fuel subsidies by 2020 would reduce annual global energy demand by 5
per cent and carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 6 per cent, according to the
International Energy Agency (IEA).
Diplomats
from developing countries were wary of the motives behind the endorsement of
the concept by many developed countries.
In
spite of its shortcomings, the communique secured commendable demands for a
green economy. It states that countries must not create new trade barriers, impose
conditionalities, widen technology gaps or exacerbate the technological
dependence of developing countries on developed countries, or restrict the
policy space for countries to pursue their own paths toward sustainable
development.
The
draft communique also demands that countries set out an alternative-energy path
and calls for the transfer of technologies — an achievement made after a long
and hard-fought battle between developing and rich countries.
With
the conclusion of the communique, Rio+20 secretary-general Sha Zukang told the
conference that the draft contained “a lot of action points”.
He
noted that the agreement was the result of compromises by all parties. “As with
all negotiations, there will be some countries that feel the text could be more
ambitious; or others who feel their own proposals could be better reflected.
But, let’s be clear: Multilateral negotiations require give and take.”
Andi
Haswidi/Meidyatama Suryodiningrat
The
Jakarta Post
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