The Rio Earth Summit of 1992 was a landmark in Latin America in terms of institutional changes towards sustainability goals. For now, we don’t know much on what impact will have Rio+20 in the debate. But we can try to interpret the headlines. Here is my take.
World leaders – not present
Absences of Obama (US), Merkel (Germany) and Cameron (UK) were noticed in president Dilma’s opening speech: “we must respect the environment even in times of crisis”.
Expenses: public x private financing
Almost one third of Rio+20’s is being financed by the private sector, a model not completely approved by ONU. 145 million reais come from companies like Petrobras, Eletrobras and Vale, according to Journal Valor.
International treaties announced with other BRICS
Brazil will sign sustainability agreements with China regarding marine ecosystems and oceans and with India, in relation to biodiversity. The announcement was made by Izabella Teixeira, Brazil’s environment minister.
Inovation fueled sustainability avances in Brazil
A report from the Brazilian industry confederation (CNI) accounts that the Brazilian industry made considerable progress in sustainability in the last 20 years, mostly due to innovation. The study looked into the sectors of energy, aluminium, paper and celulose, chemistry, electronics, food, textil, automotive, construction, forest, steel, mining and oil.
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