4^th International IUPAC Conference on Green Chemistry
25 – 29 August, 2012
Foz do Iguaçu/PR, Brazil

Today I received the following note: “Due to a great number of requests, the organizing committee of the 4^th ICGC has decided to accept the submission of abstracts only for poster presentations until the 1^st June or before this date, once the capacity of the venue is reached.

We are happy to inform you that we received hundreds of contributions from several parts of the world!

The 4^th ICGC is already becoming a success!

Kindest green regards,

Prof. Vania Zuin
Secretary General 4^th ICGC
http://www.ufscar.br/icgc4

Last Ones Left in a Toxic Kansas Town.

Or is this what must happen if you develop mineral resources to the point this ends life.

This is an article from the New York Times of May 17, 2012 and we suggest it be posted as an appendix to the Rio+20 document.
 http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/20/magazi…

An Avaaz.org campaign:

In three days, world leaders could agree to a plan that could stop climate change! The plan would transfer the $1 trillion our governments give to polluters every year and invest it in renewable energy. Key leaders including President Obama support ending these crazy payments, and he is hosting the G8 summit this weekend. Let’s build a massive public campaign for Obama to lead this plan that could literally save our planet! Sign the urgent petition:

This weekend, the eight most powerful leaders in the world will meet at the G8 summit and could agree to a plan that could literally stop climate change!

It’s crazy, but right now, our governments give nearly $1 trillion a year of our taxpayer money to Big Oil and Coal to destroy our planet. Key leaders, including President Obama who is hosting the G8, have already agreed to stop these polluter payments. Now, if we demand they act on their word and divert this huge sum into renewable energy, experts say we could actually save our planet!

It’s a simple no-brainer that our leaders have already agreed to. Let’s hold their feet to the fire, and push President Obama to lead the world’s largest economies to turn these polluting subsidies green. Sign the urgent petition below and forward this to everyone — a massive campaign now can force them from talk to action:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/a_new_plan_to_save_the_planet/?vl

The only reason we shovel cash into the coffers of Big Oil is their lobbyists have a stranglehold on our governments. But if we demand that our leaders green our tax-money, we’ll increase total global green investment by 400% making solar and wind energy cheaper than oil and coal — in the process saving the planet by putting Big Oil out of business!

We’re rapidly reaching a point of no return on climate change and a treaty to prevent catastrophe is years off. Fortunately, momentum behind this new planet saving plan is building. New Zealand, Mexico and Switzerland are calling for an agreement now, and policy makers from 20 countries including the US, Brazil, and China have just voiced their support. All G8 leaders have publicly committed to ending these dirty subsidies, and right now President Obama is pushing for US legislation to stop them.

Our planet is being destroyed at a terrifying rate and this is our best chance to stop it. Now is the time for action, but without massive public support, the powerful polluters could stall the proposal. It’s up to us to counter the lobbyists with extraordinary people power. We have three days left to get Obama to lead. Sign the petition:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/a_new_plan_to_save_the_planet/?vl

For too long, progress on a global solution to climate change has been held back by self-interest and the profits of Big Oil, Coal and Gas. But, finally governments are realising that cutting subsidies will benefit the climate and help balance out the global economy. If we speak up now, together, our movement can force our leaders to action and free the world from the tyranny of fossil fuels.

With hope,

Iain, Joseph, Alice, Ricken, Diego, Kya and the rest of the Avaaz team

More information:

Hansen: Game Over for the Climate (New York Times):
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/10/opinion/game-over-for-the-climate.html

A Congressional Push to End All Fossil Fuel Subsidies (The Nation):
http://www.thenation.com/blog/167831/congressional-push-end-all-fossil-fuel-subsidies

Obama says tax breaks for Big Oil need to end (Financial Post):
http://business.financialpost.com/2012/03/29/obama-says-tax-breaks-for-big-oil-need-to-end/?__lsa=7934943e

Fossil-fuel subsidies: Helping the richest get richer (Los Angeles Times):
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/apr/05/opinion/la-oe-mckibben-stop-oil-subsidies-20120404

Phasing out fossil fuel subsidies could provide half of global carbon target (The Guardian):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/jan/19/fossil-fuel-subsidies-carbon-target

Vienna is no Backwater and no UN Backwater anymore – I arrived from New York on May 8-th, and immediately – that is starting Wednesday the 9-th – I already started to run to meetings and presentations/discussions with  top-global thinkers who presented the latest ideas about the true state of the planet. Actually I must confess that more and better value I encountered in this first week in Vienna then I experienced in New York City. I would suggest that it is possibly a result from being less of an interests driven pressure cooker, people tend to speak up more, and discussions evolve with less impediments that one experiences in New York.

From running to so many activities, I found that I do not report on them and this is a pity -
I will thus do a very skimpy review now and hope to do some more justice in the future.

Take for instance the global economy and much of what impacted the negotiations in New York, around the UN, on the run up to RIO+2o.

On Wednesday I started by participating in a meeting at the Austrian Association for the UN, with Professor Ian Goldin, who was Vice President of the World Bank (2003-2006) and prior to that the Bank’s Director of Development Policy (2001-2003) representing the bank at the UN. He left The Washington position to become the first head of The James Martin 21st Century School at Oxford University. From him, in the discussion, we heard that the problem that caused our economic crises comes from the simple truth that all top economists have studied from the same book Economics 101 – and were unable to see that the World was behaving differently. He honestly confessed that he also did not see the crisis coming – but he made it clear that he looks now at ideas of fundamental change. I will not enlarge here as I do have a draft article were I will try to pick up my notes. I will only say that he was born in South Africa to Jewish refugees from Vienna, and by now is a World citizen with experiences all over.

The following day it was someone with a very different background – coming from the Philippines he is also by now a World citizen with Experiences all over but seemingly his real base is still in the south. Professor Walden Bello was educated at Princeton with a doctorate in Sociology, and taught at Berkeley and Binghampton. Then he became executive director of  the Institute for Food and Development Policy (Food First) in Oakland, California and founding director of Focus on the Global South, a policy research institute based in Bangkok.

In 2003, Bello was awarded the Right Livelihood Award, whose website describes him as “one of the leading critics of the current model of economic globalization - combining the roles of intellectual and activist.” But then he also entered politics in order to work against President Ferdinand Marcos. He is now also a member of the Philippine Parliament.

Bello spoke at a panel organized by the Vienna Institute for Development Cooperation VJDC in the compound of the Diplomatic Academy. He stated that Consumption should no longer be considered the key to economic stability and added that this is the reason that the US continues to be a renegade. Space must be reserved for development of the developing counties.

Talking about the financial crises he blamed the Thatcher-Reagan liberation of the Financial Sector and the export of its problems by the US. On the other hand he looks at China being led by technocrats and the immense increase in China’s production capacity.

Asked about the Bhutan idea of well being and happiness, he thought that Bhutan is very much behind in development so it cannot be a model – but he accepted the notion that there is the need for different ways of measuring development then the GDP. He even volunteered that some of what is called growth is in effect negative growth.

Bello clearly, even as acknowledged spokesman for the South, he does not see development as the south copying the North. He is posed to look for novel ways and in this he speaks of accommodation to replace conflict. A question  he entered only reluctantly was the issue  of national economies that do not have a National Currency, like Greece, while the US and others have the luxury of printing their currency. Then what is if more interesting, China and Brazil, having excess reserves of global currency printed by others, have also their own National Currency used mainly inside the country, while using the excess of US dollars or Euro, in financial dealings outside their own countries. This insulates them from outside intervention like in the case of Greece that has no  independent internal currency. To this he said that by now China and Brazil have started to use their own currencies also for international trade. Clearly – this is something that ought to be looked at more seriously by the EU.

Following the initial days that centered on above economic aspects, followed a meeting at the Amerika Haus of the American Embassy in Vienna, dealing with energy policy of the State of California, and energy policy of the US in general – the place of renewable energy in the future of the United States and the World and what can and cannot be expected from RIO+20 a meeting that he considered as if it were a direct follow up to the series of meetings on climate change. The speaker was Professor Gerald W. Braun, the associate Director of the University of California at Davis Energy Institute.

The America House  meeting was on Wednesday night, but then on the three week-end days – Friday to Sunday, May 11-13, there was the Green World Forum on the side of the Imperial Hofburg Palace, that included exhibits and a series of talks  and Dr. Braun was the speaker for the Friday Energy Session – his topic was THE END OF THE OIL AGE – THE GREEN ENERGY REVOLUTION.

Monday and Tuesday I picked seeing Sustainable Development inspired movies. To be more accurate – films that tell us – go for sustainability or else we have no future. These events were the first for me to tackle on this website. Please look at the two postings we have on the films.

As said – there was so much more going on – but I could not take it all in.

I just returned from the Vienna Topkino and found this film to be obligatory viewing for those that want to see progress at RIO+20.

Both – the film and its Director – Cosima Dannoritzer who resides now in Berlin and Barcelona – were extremely enlightening helped further by the Head of the Vienna UN Information Service, Janos Tisovszky, and Greenpeace campaigner on Consumer items – Claudia Sprinz, and about 50 members of a very lively audience.

The movie starts with the conspiracy that involved Phillips, Osram, and General Electric – the Phoebus Cartel documented in 1929 and eventually undone in US courts only in 1953 – that led to incandescent bulbs to last only 1000 hours, while in a firehouse in New Jersey about 800 people came to celebrate the birthday of a bulb that reached 100 years of continuous use. That bulb was a remnant of pre-conspiracy production.

With above introduction, the movie takes us to see how today’s corporate world leads us to squander resources by handing us products that are not intended to stay with us for a long time – and then the industry is not prepared to pick up the old products that include many valuable resources – instead these become objects that pollute – and the further indignity is that they end up in Ghana in Africa, destroying the environment there.

Mountains are literally moved to come up with the elements used in today’s electronics, while those elements could be mined from the scrap of these products. Then why are these rejected TV’s not repaired, why do they get exported as second hand to Ghana and do havoc there? Anyway – these are just a few points and we will revisit this very impressive movie that shows today’s business world in all its inglorious nudity.

Once upon a time ….. products were made to last. Then, at the beginning of the 1920s, a group of businessmen were struck by the following insight: ‘A product that refuses to wear out is a tragedy of business’ (1928). Thus Planned Obsolescence was born. Shortly after, the first worldwide cartel was set up expressly to reduce the life span of the incandescent light bulb, a symbol for innovation and bright new ideas, and the first official victim of Planned Obsolescence.

“Ciné-ONU Vienna” is part of a Europe-wide initiative of regular film screenings of UN related topics followed by podium discussions with invited guests who were part of the film making process or are experts in the topic covered by the film. The United Nations Information Service (UNIS) Vienna is honoured to have “Ciné-ONU Vienna” partner with this human world (THW) film festival and Topkino for the regular film screenings in Vienna. For further information visit: www.unis.unvienna.org

The United Nations Information Service (UNIS) Vienna in cooperation with the Permanent Mission of Slovakia to the United Nations (Vienna), EKOTOPFILM International Festival of Sustainable Development Films and the Slovak Institute, invite you to -

The Sustainable Development Film Week at the Vienna International Centre

14-18 May 2012

A selection of award winning films from the EKOTOPFILM International Festival of Sustainable Development Films will be screened throughout the week:

Programme:

for the opening day – 14 May 2012, at 12:00 Noon, Opening of the Film Week

VIC (The Vienna International Center – or the UN Headquarters in Vienna) Rotunda

Introductory remarks by:

Janos Tisovszky, Director, UNIS Vienna

Ambassador Marcel Pesko, Slovakia

Peter Lim, Executive Director, EKOTOPFILM

Followed by a musical and culinary programme courtesy of the Slovak Cultural Institute and SL’UK then the  14 May 2012, 13:00 Screening of a selection of short films in UNIS Cinema Room G0575:

2086 - Director: Olena Maksymenko (Ukraine, 2010, 5 min) A possible future of the earth without air…

99% Rust - Director: Nenko Genov (Bulgaria, 2010, 4 min) About 70% of all metal is used just once and then it is discarded.

Tomatoes Eat You! Director: Nenko Genov (Bulgaria, 2010, 1 min) For generations they were cooked, mashed, canned, eaten alive… or even worse! And now they strike back! Prepare for a horror beyond your imagination! This summer tomatoes eat you!

Africa: Digital Graveyard: A UNTV film. Director: Mary Ferreira (2011, 10 min) Mobile phones and computers have transformed the lives of many – yet billions of discarded electronic devices are ending up in landfills in the world’s poorest countries, posing a potentially lethal toxic threat. But one African country is finding innovative ways to handle this so called e-waste.

===============

We posted the UN in Vienna activity originally on May 8-th and the UPDATE is after the first day  of the Vienna showings – May 14-th.

We learned from Dr. iur Hana Kovacova, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Slovak Republic to the International Organizations in Vienna, that Ekotopfilm is a Slovak organization based in Bratislva that holds yearly film and documentary showings on topics of Sustainable Development and the environment.

This year the show and judging of the films will take place in Bratislava in October in a five days film festival. This will be followed by a 3-4 days event in November in Kosice where the films will get a commercial preview.

The May event in Vienna is to honor both – the preparations for RIO+20 and the colleagues at the UN Headquarters in Vienna.

Last year’s winner in the Bratislava International Competition was the film on Africa which was the last that was shown today – the opening day in Vienna. I picked up from the internet:

Ekotopfilm, based in Slovakia, awarded the top prize to a film,  “Africa: Digital Graveyard”, produced by me for my employer, United Nations Television, UNTV – said Mary Ferreira, who made this film .  The film is part of UNTV’s monthly series 21st Century and won first place out of 20 contenders in the Current Affairs category.

“Africa: Digital Graveyard” addresses the growing problem of electronic waste or “e-waste” as developed nations ship obsolete and second-hand electronics to countries like Ghana. Most of the items are worthless and end up in dumpsites in Accra. The film also depicted action taken by innovators in South Africa who have found creative ways to recycle, refurbish and reprocess elements from old electronics for use as raw materials in the manufacture of new products.  Link to film -http://goo.gl/IWqEc

Now, why should one send what is considered garbage in Developed countries, to lesser developed countries – even under guise of extracting value from them -?  Will this allow for a modicum of self-esteem.

===============

The 15 May 2012, 12:00 Film screening:  Trou de Fer – The Iron Hole UNIS Cinema Room G0575.

Director: Pavol Barabas (Slovakia, 2011, 55 min) Trou de Fer is a unique and majestic natural phenomenon sitting in the heart of the National Park on Reunion Island. Volcanic eruptions made the Earth sink into a void and continuous and heavy rain showers formed a place like no other. Because of its inaccessibility nature has been left untouched and untamed. The depths of the canyon have been visited only by a few individuals.

===============

The 16 May 2012, 12:00 Film screening:  Architects of Change: Nothing is Lost UNIS Cinema Room G0575

Director: Jean Bourbonnais (France, 2009, 52 min) The trash we generate, our outmoded or broken gadgets, the water we waste – it is all thrown out into the environment after we have used it. Far from being satisfied with managing the accumulation of electronic waste, most of which contain toxic materials that are harmful to the environment and human health, Fernando Nilo also wanted Recylca to provide jobs for socially disadvantaged people.

==============

14-18 May 2012 Exhibition in the VIC Rotunda

The film week will be accompanied by an exhibition on EKOTOPFILM International Festival of Sustainable Development Films.

The exhibition will also present finalists of the Drop by Drop – the Future We Want Ad Competition, launched by the UN Regional Information Centre in Brussels (UNRIC), in collaboration with the UN Environment Programme and UN information offices in Europe with the support of the Nordic Council of Ministers. In the competition Europeans were asked to create a newspaper ad that inspires others to preserve water now and for future generations.

=================================================================

REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED for those who do not hold a valid VIC Grounds Pass

Kindly register for the events by sending an email to maria.naderhirn@unvienna.org, specifying your full name and the date on which you wish to attend.

Deadline for registrations: 9 May 2012

For further information, please contact:

Maria Naderhirn, UNIS Vienna

Telephone: (+43-1) 26060-3324

Email: maria.naderhirn@unvienna.org

The View From Brazil.

by Stewart M. Patrick
May 9, 2012

Stewart M. Patrick is Senior Fellow and Director, Program on International Institutions and Global Governance (IIGG) at the New York Council on Foreign Relations where he runs also  THE INTERNATIONALIST blog.

They also run now a Global Governance Monitor and are part of the Council of Councils.

—–

On Brazil – he has to say the following  based on an interview at the Rio Getulio Vargas Foundation that was always intellectual home of Brazil Industry:

After emerging from the 2008 financial crisis relatively unscathed, Brazil’s inevitable entrance into the club of major global powers is increasingly accepted.

The Internationalist and Carlos Simonsen Leal of the Brazilian Getulio Vargas Foundation discuss Brazil’s perspective on global finance and international security. Simonsen says:

1. “Every sensible Brazilian” is worried about the actions of the U.S. Federal Reserve and European Central Bank. Brazil, having suffered through hyperinflation, believes their injection of liquidity into markets is “dangerous.”

2. The exchange rates of the Chinese renminbi and the overvaluation of the real relative to the dollar are sources of concern for Brazil. “We are not protectionist at heart,” argues Simonsen, “but if everyone is playing a game where they don’t mind about liquidity and they want to devalue their currencies, we are not going to risk inflation.”

3. Brazil is opening many new embassies and consulates. It is motivated not only by commercial diplomacy (cultivating broader markets for Brazilian exports), but also by a desire to have a benign influence on relations among countries. “After all, Brazil is a country that hasn’t had a war in 150 years. Not many countries can say that.”

4. Brazil is a strong supporter of democracy, and has many common interests with democracies. “We’d like to see democracy everywhere,” says Simonsen.

5. Brazilians are divided about joining the United Nations Security Council. Opponents worry that it may be too costly, or that it’s too early–or perhaps that if the time comes for Brazil to join the body, it will be because the Security Council is no longer powerful. For now, the Group of Twenty’s elevation to the premier forum for global economic coordination has satisfied some Brazilian aspirations to flex its muscles around the world.

This video is part of The Internationalist, a series dedicated to in-depth discussions about leveraging multilateral cooperation to meet today’s transnational challenges.

—

We found a flow in point 3 – this because Brazil joined the winning side before the end of WWII and by doing so it acquired a seat at the Champions table at the creation of the UN. Having seen benefits from this I think that the original note is incorrect.

Yes, it is true, even under the Generals, an attempt was made all those years to reject US pressure – even though this led to continuing tensions with domineering US business.

The Getulio Vargas Foundation was for many years an advocate of the strongest position of the moment.

To the essence of the article we must note that Brazil and China have started to bypass the US dollar in bi-lateral trading and use the Reais and Reminbi instead. We see in this a very important move by BRICs. There is no logic in using US printed money to govern their own trade. Further, as Brazil is the BRIC of the Western Hemisphere, and potential very important ally of the US, time has come for the US to realize that accepting trade in Reais as well, and stopping attempts at financial colonialism when the Washington Treasury decides alone the value of its currency – and this is rather counterproductive to efforts to stabilize the global economy. Otherwise – this means Brazil will eventually develop a Nationalism that will try to balance the US in the Latin American World.

Accreditation Deadline The accreditation deadline for Rio+20 is Sunday 20 May 2012. All activities held in Rio Centro – the formal space for the negotiations – will require accreditation to gain access. This includes side events and the Dialogue Days in between the final prep com and the Rio Summit. ————————————————————————-

Countries Agree to Extend Negotiations on Rio+20 Outcome Document Representatives from governments negotiating the outcome document for the United Nations Sustainable Development Conference (Rio+20) have agreed to add five more days of deliberations Tuesday, May 29 – Saturday, June 2, 2012, to bridge differences that have kept them from making further progress in negotiations. These added days make it hard for true NGOs to participate as they do not have unlimited travel funds like the government employees. Also, having the event on a Saturday creates  entrance problems to UN grounds that do not recognize non – government delegates entrance through the unchecked delegates gate. Words aside – the government employees did not consider Civil Society beyond the business delegates, when adding those 5 days. We note above as we understand that some countries will not decide upon the level of their main representative until the last minute – this is understandable in particular for the United States and this may well be the case for other States as well. Some of those States might want to coordinate with the US. We have been given an indication that considering the election campaign downs in the US, it is possible that the US delegation might be headed by an important figure outside the government and former President Bill Clinton who heads the successful Clinton Initiative, will be asked by the White House to fill in as symbolic representative of government and non-government initiatives link. If this is the case, some European States might take the same route.

BRASILIA — French President-elect Francois Hollande and his recently-inaugurated Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin informed Brazil Wednesday that they will attend next month’s Rio summit on sustainable development.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff telephoned Hollande to congratulate him on his weekend election win and during the 15-minute conversation the French leader confirmed he will show up for the June 20-22 conference, her office said in a brief statement.

The Brazilian leader also called Putin to congratulate him on his inauguration Monday and the Russian leader “confirmed his attendance at Rio+20,” the statement added.

Rousseff and Hollande also discussed the “articulation of the joint positions” of their countries at the next G20 summit of leading developed and emerging powers in Mexico on June 18 and 19.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron have indicated they will stay away from the Rio gathering while there is no word so far on whether US President Barack Obama will show up.

Observers and non-governmental organizations say privately Obama was unlikely to make the trip as he will be busy campaigning for re-election.

The Rio+20 gathering, the fourth major summit on sustainable development since 1972, is to bring together at least 100 global leaders and 50,000 participants from around the world, including corporate executives and representatives of various social movements.

The summit will seek to outline a path toward a “green” and social economy that can balance economic growth, poverty eradication and protection of the environment.

Original article published at AFP

The RioDialogues can provide new ideas to a World that tries on anew the clothes of Jean Renoir’s old Europe of the 30s. We see a future of Resource Wars, of Societal Financial Aristocracy, and stand-up of the societal Financial Oppressed.

The RIO+20 meetings are met by a city of hotel sharks that makes it difficult to attend – not for the government delegates – but for civil society that has the ideas. The alternative is to stay home and send instead your computer to Rio. In Renoir’s World there were no computers so you had to watch flesh and blood acting in front of you. Not important how you do it – but please activate your mind and see the path we are on.

===================================

Michael T. Klare | Oil Wars on the Horizon
Michael T. Klare, TomDispatch
Klare writes: “The seeds of energy conflicts and war sprouting in so many places simultaneously suggest that we are entering a new period in which key state actors will be more inclined to employ force – or the threat of force – to gain control over valuable deposits of oil and natural gas. In other words, we’re now on a planet heading into energy overdrive.”
READ MORE

Goldman Sachs: Blood in the Water
Bethany McLean, Vanity Fair
McLean writes: “The op-ed heard round the world – Greg Smith’s scathing New York Times attack on Goldman Sachs, his employer of nearly 12 years – dealt another blow to the firm’s reeling reputation. Now the questions are louder than ever: Will C.E.O. Lloyd Blankfein have to go? Who might succeed him? And does it matter?”
READ MORE

Spain’s ‘Indignants’ Return to the Streets
Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera reports: “Spain’s ‘indignants’ are taking to the streets in 80 cities and towns to decry economic injustice in a show of strength one year after the birth of their movement shook the political establishment.”
READ MORE

—————————–

Above are choices made by Reader Supported News of 12 May 12 PM. But here comes a review of an old Renoir film that ties it all up for us in its modern version.

Will the world just watch the film or call up to action to avoid irretrievable loss?

Jean Renoir’s Timely Lessons for Europe
By A. O. SCOTT in the New York Times of May 13, 2012

Renoir’s “Grand Illusion,” from 1937 (and now newly restored), may have lessons for a Europe bitterly divided at present.

• Trailer: ‘Grand Illusion’

Laurence Tubiana is the founder and director of the Institute of Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI) based in Paris and Brussels, professor at Sciences Po Paris, and has previously served as senior adviser on environment to the French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin. She was responsible for conducting some international environmental negotiations for the French government. She was also a member of the Conseil d’Analyse Economique in the French Prime Minister’s office and when mentioning basics –  she says:

For more than three decades, GDP has been criticized as a poor indicator of social progress. As a pure accounting identity, GDP does not reflect changes in natural stocks. On the opposite, an upsurge in warfare expenses will add positively to the measure called GDP, while their impacts on well-being are more than controversial.

Second, the indicator is also blind to any changes beyond the mean.

GDP does not focus on distributional issues and growth can fail to reach majority of the population – this was the case in the USA from 1975 to 2000. As result, there is a widening gap between GDP increase and the perception of the increase in well-being among the population.

This realization is not new and is shared by a widening community of policy-makers and scholars.

Paradoxically, international organizations continue to use GDP as a measure for social progress in their reports.

It is necessary to move beyond this narrow conception of progress and International Organization and governments must commit to the use of another flagship indicator.

Use of GDP should be limited to comment on the evolution of the volume of exchanges in the economy.

The UN General Assembly should thus rather adopt an indicator – or a panel of indicators- to measure progress.

============================================

Above I picked up from the Brazil sponsored Dialogues on the RIO+20 runway – the panel of  Sustainable development as an answer to the economic and financial crises where Prof. Laurence Tubiana is the principle leader.

To post further examples for the on-line deliberations pleas see:

We thought to retrieve the names of the about 30 Professors that were put in charge of the ten topical panels that will provide further input to the Heads of State at Rio.

In the end effect, it will be the Heads of State at Rio that bear the responsibility if the RIO+20 event urns into another lost opportunity. And without mincing words – many of us think that this might be indeed a last opportunity to steer away humankind from the path of self-destruction.

The panels include members of Civil Society – as individuals and representatives of Major Groups that have their self-interest, but nevertheless, there will be members of NGOs that will have Planet Earth at heart and will be more forthcoming then the Governments. It is these moderators or Facilitators – originating at academe, that will be able to direct the discussion of the panels to a conclusion of three recommendations that each panel is entitled to promote at the meeting of Heads of State – read the high government level – so the identity of these facilitators is important. I am highlighting here only one such case – this is the  panel on Sustainable development as an answer to the economic and financial crises – that we can suspect it will advance the idea that the GDP should not be used as measuring yard-stick of the economy as promoted by blind supporters of a growth economy.

We shall see – but here you have the result of a long process of retrieving the names as we were not able to get from the UN, not even the Brazilians, a clear – one sheet list. We had to register to the panels in order to come up with this list.

1 – the
Oceans panel

Facilitators

	Prof. John Field University of Cape Town (South Africa)
	Prof. José Maria Landim Dominguez Federal University of Bahia
	—– Yoshimi Suenaga Tokyo University of Marine Sciene and Technology

——————————————————————————–

2- the
Food and nutrition security panel

Facilitators – only two names given so far.

Prof. Elisabete Salay

University of Campinas – UNICAMP

————–

Dr. John Ingram

UK Natural Environment Research Council / Oxford University

———————————————————————————–

3. the
Sustainable development for fighting poverty panel

Professor Eun Mee Kim Facilitator Ewha Womans University ————
	Professor Rodrigo Medeiro Facilitator Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro – UFRRJ ——————-
	Professor Mathew Lockwood Facilitator Institute for Development Studies

And further threee assistant Facilitaturs from the IDS – Inst. for Development Studies.

—————————————————————————————

4. the
Sustainable development as an answer to the economic and financial crises panel:

Moderators

	Professor Laurence Tubiana Sciences Po/IDDRI
	Shiqiu Zhang Beijing University

This important Panel has only two facilitators listed as per today – May 12, 2012. It has a person from the EU and a person from China, but no Brazilian yet.

IDDRI stands for Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI) a Paris and Brussels based non-profit policy research institute. Its objective is to develop and share key knowledge and tools for analysing and shedding light on the strategic issues of sustainable development from a global perspective. Given the rising stakes of the issues posed by climate change and biodiversity loss, IDDRI provides stakeholders with input for their reflection on global governance, and also participates in work on reframing development pathways. A special effort has been made to develop a partnership network with emerging countries to better understand and share various perspectives on sustainable development issues and governance. For more effective action, IDDRI operates with a network of partners from the private sector, academia, civil society and the public sector, not only in France and Europe but also internationally. As an independent institute, IDDRI mobilises resources and expertise to disseminate the most relevant scientific ideas and research ahead of negotiations and decision-making processes. It applies a cross- cutting approach to its work, which focuses on five threads: global governance, climate change, biodiversity, urban fabric, and agriculture. More information on website: www.iddri.org

Banning the use of GDP as a measure for social progress is a topic proposed by Professor Laurence Tubiana and we look forward to recommendations from this panel.

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5. the
Sustainable energy for all panel:

Moderators

	Prof. Stephane Evoy University of Alberta (CANADA)
	Prof. Ibrahim H Rehman TERI – The Energy and Resources Institute (INDIA)

	Prof. Jose Carlos Rodrigues Verle State University of Amazonas – UAS, Brazil

From:

Sustainable Energy Policy & Practice is published in cooperation with the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and with funding from the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Directorate of Energy and Climate Change)

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and as reported by the IISD Conference Recording Organization:

SE4ALL Publishes Global Action Agenda to Encourage Concerted Action on Sustainable Energy for All 25_April_2012: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) Initiative has published an Action Agenda, containing summaries of key action areas to realize SE4ALL and an implementation roadmap to begin working towards that goal. The document, titled “Sustainable Energy for All: A Global Action Agenda – Pathways for Concerted Action toward Sustainable Energy for All,” begins by identifying 11 high-impact “Action Areas” that can be leveraged to create and support an environment for widespread deployment of sustainable energy globally. These areas include seven sectors: 1) modern cooking appliances and fuels; 2) distributed electricity solutions; 3) grid infrastructure and supply efficiency; 4) large-scale renewable power; 5) industrial and agricultural processes; 6) transportation; and 7) buildings and appliances. It also includes four enabling action areas: 1) energy planning and policies; 2) business model and technology innovation; 3) finance and risk management; and 4) capacity building and knowledge sharing. The Action Agenda continues with a chapter focused around an illustrative roadmap table for beginning work on the Action Areas. The table includes progress needed immediately (by the UN Conference on Sustainable Development- UNCSD, or Rio+20), in the short term (by 2015), and in the long term (2015-2030) at the country level in both developing and developed countries, at the sectoral level, and on enabling conditions to allow progress at these levels to begin. The document continues and concludes with a chapter on mobilizing action, outlining specific high-impact opportunities in each Action Area. The Action Agenda was launched at the Clean Energy Ministerial, which took place on 25-26 April in London, UK. The SE4ALL initiative is part of the UN’s International Year for Sustainable Energy for All, and has three main objectives: ensuring universal access to modern energy services; doubling the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency; doubling the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix. [Publication: Sustainable Energy for All: A Global Action Agenda – Pathways for Concerted Action toward Sustainable Energy for All] [IISD RS Story on New Clean Energy Initiatives and Commitments Announced at CEM3] ———————————————————————– and from the most outspoken Clean Energy advocates from among the G77 – The Small Island Independent States:t

SIDS High-Level Conference on SE4ALL Adopts Barbados Declaration 9 May 2012: On the second day of the SIDS High-Level Conference on Sustainable Development for All (SE4ALL), which convened in Bridgetown, Barbados, from 7-8 May 2012, delegates from the three SIDS regions – the Pacific, Caribbean and Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Mediterranean, and South China Sea  (AIMS) – unanimously adopted the Barbados Declaration, which will be taken to the Rio+20 Conference in June. The Barbados Declaration addresses challenges, opportunities, commitments and initiatives on sustainable energy in SIDS and the Rio+20 Conference, and includes an Annex of voluntary commitments by SIDS. On Challenges, the Declaration notes that SIDS remain highly vulnerable, notably due to their small open economies, narrow resource base, disadvantages in economies of scale, remoteness, high export concentration, high dependency on imports with high vulnerability to energy and food price shocks, and relatively high levels of national debt. On Opportunities, the Declaration emphasizes the availability of commercially feasible options for providing energy, such as wind, solar, geothermal and ocean energy, and that many SIDS are particularly suited to these options because of their geographical location. However, it notes that these technologies must be made accessible, affordable and adaptable to the needs and particular circumstances of SIDS communities. On Commitments, the Declaration affirms the commitment by SIDS to work towards continued development and implementation of policies and plans to ensure the transformation of the current fossil fuel based energy sector to a modern, affordable and efficient renewable energy sector. On Initiatives, the Declaration acknowledged and welcomed the work of SIDS DOCK, which is a sustainable energy initiative of SIDS in collaboration with the UNDP, World Bank, and donors. The Declaration also acknowledges the role of of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in supporting SIDS in their efforts to accelerate renewable energy deployment, calls for its greater involvement in supporting SIDS’ efforts, and encourages SIDS that have not joined IRENA to consider doing so. On the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20), the Declaration reiterates that the outcomes of the meeting must be ambitious and reflect the needs of SIDS. The Annex contains voluntary commitments by 19 SIDS: Barbados, Cape Verde, Cook Islands, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Nauru, Palau, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Seychelles, Timor Leste, Tonga, and Tuvalu. The commitments include Barbados’ announcement of its plan to increase the share of renewable energy in Barbados to 29% of all electricity consumption by 2029. Maldives committed to achieve carbon neutrality in the energy sector by year 2020. Marshall Islands pledged to electrify all urban households and 95% of rural outer atoll households by 2015. Mauritius committed to increasing the share of renewable energy – including solar power, wind energy, hydroelectric power, bagasse and landfill gas – to 35% or more by 2025. And Seychelles committed to produce 15% of its energy supply from renewable energy by 2030. The Annex will remain open for further inscriptions until 25 May. The Conference was organised by UNDP in partnership with the Government of Barbados, SIDS DOCK, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, British High Commission Bridgetown, Archers Hall, Australian Aid and the United Nations Foundation. [Barbados Declaration] [Meeting Website][IISD RS coverage of the meeting]

The Official UN position on the way the Outcome Document for RIO+20 was left hanging at the end of four weeks of Informal-Informal slow negotiations, and the decision to have one more pre-Rio week for which the Chairs will  re-adjusted chairs on the Titanic.

Brazil has not spoken on Friday night – but I was told Brazil insists on having a negotiated text to crown its RIO+20 event – but we believe in Brazil and watch how it is preparing an alternate way – the opening of a Civil Society route which we called earlier as nothing less then revolutionary regression to the UN Charter call for a UN  led by WE THE PEOPLE.
OK, we know that the UN established 9 Major Groups – of which only one is the Major Group of the NGOs – is not exactly an ideal picture of Civil Society because it is front-loaded by the International Chambers of Commerce – but at least it is not WE THE GOVERNMENTS  - Dictators and Usurpers, with a sprinkle of some better legislative run States.

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The UPDATE is based on the Earth Negotiations Bulletin that summarized the Second set of Informal-Informal negotiations and I pick from the material the part that deals with Institutional arrangements:

UNGA, ECOSOC, CSD, SDC PROPOSAL AND UNEP: On 24 April, delegates engaged in an initial exchange of views and made various proposals oninter alia, recognizing universality of the UN, what IFSD should do, the UNGA and ECOSOC. Further readings took place on 26 April and 3 May, and Co-Chair Kim started making compromise proposals on the text on 3 May, with two paragraphs ultimately agreed ad referendum.

During these discussions, the most contentious paragraphs on ECOSOC, CSD, SDC and UNEP were not taken up by delegates, since the G-77/China indicated that it was not yet ready to present its collective position. Therefore, an exchange of views of delegations on IFSD options was held on 27 April without the active participation of the G-77/China. Delegates presented key elements of their positions, including the EU and Kenya’s support for upgrading UNEP; a strong US preference for working with existing institutions; Kazakhstan and Norway’s preference for SDC {that is a new Sustainable Development Council on top of the existing Social and Economic Council – ECOSOC – that is not needed neither will it be funded. This alone is enough to point at the possibility that nothing serious is put forward even by those that purport to be positive about these meetings – we are specially un-enthused about Norway’s position – in particular as they are also behind the so called Stakeholders’ Forum – SustainabiliTank editor comment}; Japan’s proposal to reform the CSD; and Canada’s call for ECOSOC to play a more integrated role in sustainable development.

On 3 May, the G-77/China announced that it was ready to present its proposal, which included: the establishment of a high-level political forum with an intergovernmental character, building on existing relevant structures or bodies, including the CSD; and strengthening UNEP’s capacities {in effect – this position seems more plausible then Norway’s position and this brings us to the question if the Norwegian position is not rather a hidden position of an International Chambers of Commerce attempt to derail negotiations – SustainabiliTank editor comment}.

On Friday morning, 4 May, other delegations reacted to the G-77/China proposal. While reserving their positions, several welcomed it as a useful contribution with some valuable elements. The EU suggested that it was not sufficiently ambitious.

Later that day, the G-77/China withdrew its entire proposal after Kenya, for the African Group, announced in Working Group 2 that some elements of the African proposal had not been incorporated into the G-77/China position, especially with regard to strengthening and consolidating UNEP into a specialized agency based in Nairobi. The G-77/China, which until then had been speaking with one voice on this issue, was unable to continue to present a collective position. Peru, along with many other countries, requested reinstating the G-77/China proposal. However, a number of other members of the G-77/China, including Kenya, Ethiopia, South Africa and Morocco, expressed support for Kenya’s proposal. A few countries provided initial reactions, including Switzerland and the EU, which noted commonalities between the original G-77/China proposal and proposals made by other countries, and said that these commonalities could represent building blocks for future work. At the end of the meeting, the entire text remained heavily bracketed.

Draft Outcome Document: The latest version of the draft outcome document includes numerous options, including: a system-wide strategy for sustainable development in the UN system, strengthening the role of ECOSOC; improving the CSD; transforming the CSD into an SDC; strengthening the capacity of UNEP; establishing UNEP as a UN specialized agency for the environment, with universal membership; and supporting the establishment of an Ombudsperson, or High Commissioner for Future Generations. The IFSD proposal presented by the G-77/China on 3 May has also been kept in the document with the attributions of the various countries that supported this proposal.

The problem with all of this is that in principle – no decisions were taken and no financial implications studied – as such one can say that no move from starting positions was discerned.  Will the added week be able to break the stubbornness  of ideologically motivated resisters?

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The UN says: Countries Seek New Path Towards Agreement for Rio+20.

New York, 4 May, 2012 —Representatives from governments negotiating the Rio+20 outcome document agreed to add another five days to their deliberations in order to bridge differences that have hampered progress to date.  The move came as the latest round of negotiations concluded with some progress made, but much work left outstanding.

The negotiated document, along with voluntary commitments by governments, businesses and civil society, will set the stage for the global community to recommit to sustainable development and agree to concrete actions needed.

The five added negotiating days are set for 29 May to 2 June.  The additional negotiations will take place in New York before moving to Rio de Janeiro on 13 June for the third and final preparatory meeting for the Conference.  Rio+20 – the UN Conference on Sustainable Development — will take place from 20 to 22 June.

Rio+20 Preparatory Committee co-chair Kim Sook, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea, said that there will be a change in working methods when the negotiations resume.  This will include working from a new streamlined text prepared by the co-chairs, as well as other changes in the negotiating procedures.

“Delegates have expressed disappointment and frustration at the lack of progress,” Ambassador Kim told participants at the concluding meeting of the latest round of talks.

Kim added that the “spirit of the negotiations must match our ambition,” pointing out that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called Rio+20 “a once-in-a-generation opportunity.”  Cautioning that this opportunity would not be available next year, he said negotiators “must send a clear message to our Heads of State and Government that we are on the right track” and that they should come to Rio.

Rio+20 Secretary-General Sha Zukang said that there was need to proceed with a sense of genuine urgency.

“The present negotiation approach has run its course,” he stated.

Mr. Sha said that the present document, even after it had been reduced by about 100 pages, still had too many pages and paragraphs and contained too much duplication and repetition. “Let us be frank,” he said. “Currently, the negotiating text is a far cry from the ‘focused political document’ called for by the General Assembly.”

Calling for greater political will and agreement on all sides, he said, “We can have an outcome document which builds upon earlier agreements — an outcome document which is action-oriented in spelling out the future we want.”

The objective, Mr. Sha said, should be to arrive in Rio with at least 90 per cent of the text ready and only the most difficult 10 per cent left to be negotiated there at the highest political levels.

Need to come together on key issues:

Countries still need to come together on key issues, including one of the themes for the Conference—the green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication.  Some developed countries have embraced the green economy as a new roadmap for sustainable development, while many developing countries are more cautious, asserting that each country should choose its own path to a sustainable future and that a green economy approach should not lead to green protectionism or  limit growth and poverty eradication. Other countries and stakeholders have voiced concerns about implementation and accountability, pointing out that some commitments made at previous global meetings, such as for official development assistance, have yet to be fully realized.

Nonetheless, countries appear willing to agree on a number of issues, including the overall need to recognize and act to meet pressing global and national challenges.  It has been widely acknowledged that action is  needed to provide for the needs of a growing global population that continues to consume and produce unsustainably, resulting in rising carbon emissions, degraded natural ecosystems and growing income inequality. The need to find a better measurement of progress than GDP has also been widely acknowledged.

Countries have also been examining the concept of new Sustainable Development Goals, a set of benchmarks to guide countries in achieving targeted outcomes within a specific time period, such as on access to sustainable energy and clean water for all. Countries have differing views on what should or should not be included in the goals, as well as the formal process for how and when the goals may be defined, finalized and agreed to. Some countries would like to see the goals approved in Rio, while others see Rio+20 as a starting point for deciding on the goals. Some have concerns that the goals could bind them to commitments they feel are unrealistic, such as on climate change, while others want to ensure that countries are held accountable to achieve whatever goals are set.

Rio+20 is expected to set the agenda for a more sustainable future for years to come. Governments, business and civil society organizations are expected to launch actions that will make a measurable difference, leading to greater prosperity, health and opportunities, and an environment that will continue to support growth for future generations. More than 120 Heads of State and Government have registered to attend; in addition, some 50,000 people, including business executives, mayors, NGOs, youth, indigenous people and many other groups, are expected to participate in both official and informal events in Rio de Janeiro during the Conference.

For more information on Rio+20, visit www.uncsd2012.org

To join the global conversation on Rio+20: The Future We Want, visit www.un.org/futurewewant

The Update of Sunday May 6th:

Here’s one of the most vivid photos of the bunch — just a taste of what it feels like to have the water rising around you, and the tip of the iceberg of the creative masterworks of the past 24 hours:

Click here to see the amazing photos from the day: www.climatedots.org

We’re going to need you soon to fight the political battles that will make use of these images, but for the next day or two just relax, and enjoy the feeling of solidarity that comes from knowing there are millions of people thinking the same way, harboring the same fears and, more importantly, the same hopes.

On we go together.

With such gratitude,

Bill McKibben

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That was the original posting of Friday night:

While at the UN we were having the last evening of the second set of Informal-Informal meetings to iron out a text for the Outcome of what the UN trumpets as the meeting of a generation – the renewal of the Earth Summit of 1992 as RIO+20 – but as we guessed a long time ago – with people and tools that derailed progress of the original Agenda 21 it is hard to build “THE FUTURE WE WANT.” So after two times at two weeks each, or as the chairmen summed up for just the last set of two weeks – April 23 – May 4, 2012, the 29 sessions, 87 hours  and 34,800 hours spent by the people heading these meetings – just 21 paragraphs out of the total over 400 paragraphs – was cleared for Rio.
If you do not mince words you say – THIS IS SHAMEFUL.

So, tonight they decided to meet again in New York for five days – Tuesday, May 29  -  Saturday, June 2,  2012.

By coincidence or planning – Bill McKibben has taken over with his demonstration of the people are ready to claim back climate. We know that this is possible only under adherence to Sustainable Development – the future that is being tripped in the halls of the UN.

So let us get inspiration from Bill McKibben whose e-mail just came in:

from:

Bill McKibben - 350.org organizers@350.org

Greetings!

For some people on our email list, dawn has arrived on Saturday and Climate Impacts Day has already begun.

So this is a short reminder that 5/5 is no normal day — it’s the day that people around the world are coming together to Connect the Dots about climate change. I’ve just heard that the very first action, in the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean where the sun rises first, was a great success: people there dove down for an underwater rally on their threatened coral reef. So even if it’s raining where you are, know that some people have already gotten entirely wet to sound the alarm!

Here’s the place to find the nearest action — and when you’re done go back to the computer to watch the images scroll in from around the planet (and make sure to upload your own photos).

This is like a giant seminar on the topic: What does global warming look like in its early stages? And if we can put a human face on climate change it will help immeasurably in all our campaigning in the years ahead. You’re that human face.

Thanks so much for heading out to help.

Bill McKibben

P.S. Don’t forget to upload your photos from your events to ClimateDots.org! There are full instructions on the website, but the basic idea is to attach your single best photo and email it tophotos@350.org — and make sure to put the location of the photo in the subject line and the the story behind the photo as the text of the email.

What is 350? Go to our website to learn about the science behind the movement.

One of the two last side events on the last Friday of  the second Informal-Informal reading of the draft to Rio 2012 (RIO+20) was about the place of Mother Nature as seen by indigenous cultures that still respect the holiness of the Earth and by intellectuals that are ready to stop a minute and contemplate about the superiority of earth oriented cultures.

	Moderated by Lisinka Ulatowska, Coordinator, Major Group Cluster on the Commons, this side event discussed a number of initiatives to create commons-based economies, and how these can be expanded and built upon. Mario Ruales, Advisor to the Ecuadorian Minister of Coordination of Heritage, highlighted the adoption of a new constitution in 2008, which recognized the rights of Mother Earth. He emphasized the role of natural and indigenous peoples to respect and protect the ecosystem, saying that the constitution has a lot of processes that would allow this to be pursued. He noted Ecuador’s call for a new development architecture, saying that this has been proposed for Rio+20. Leon Siu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Hawaiian Kingdom, outlined his work for reinstating the independent nation state of Hawai’i, saying that should this occur, many of the traditional practices for land management, agriculture and conservation of natural resources will return. He lamented the marginalization of the indigenous peoples, saying that reinstating the independent nation state of Hawai’i would rectify this problem. Rob Wheeler, Global Ecovillage Network, outlined that the commons-based approach is one where the land and its resources are cooperatively owned, managed and shared among those living on the commons. He noted that ecovillages, which are based on such a model, are among the most sustainable communities in existence. He noted that many lessons on sustainability can be learnt from ecovillages, underscoring their ability to minimize waste, promote clean, renewable energy and ensure the sustainable consumption of natural resources. In the ensuing discussion, delegates addressed the different financing systems that could be used for implementing a commons-based model. They also discussed referencing the rights of nature in the Rio+20 outcome document. Ecuador is a member of the ALBA group of Latin and Caribbean Nations like Bolivia. Both countries were left with strong lodes of indigenous people and the governments attempt to speak for them. The Kingdom of Hawaii does still exist even though Hawaii has become a US State and thus does not recognize a King. Nevertheless, You can still see a functioning royal House on the main Hawaii Island. ————————– As it happened, on the following day, Saturday May 5th, 2012, I had to be in Washington DC and made it also my business to go to visit the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian at 4th Street & Independence Avenue S,W. At the door I saw the announcement that the next weekend Saturday, May 12 – Sunday May 13, 2012, 10 am – 5:30 pm they will celebrate the BOLIVIAN SUMA QAMANA FESTIVAL – sponsored by the Embassy of the Plurinational State of Bolivia. “Discover Bolivia’s Magic, culture, Heritage, Joy of Living Well.” The Museum doors are etched with sun symbols and open to the east to greet the rising sun as do many traditional Native houses. Native people honor the sun as a life-giver and calendar – instructing when to plant, harvest, conduct ceremonies. The American Indian is responding to Environmental Challenges and the Museum has established a special website for this - www.AmericanIndian.si.edu At present the museum has two special exhibits. One is very appropriate to present American Indian culture as it evolved in the last 250 years – the interaction with horses and the way they viewed these large and friendly animals. The show is dedicated to “A SONG FOR THE HORSE NATION” and here this Nation are the horses themselves taken as if they were like humans. The other show includes just one item and I stood there in state of shock. The title is HUICHOL ART ON WHEELS.” Its exhibition is planned from March 20 to May 6th 2012 – so let me say without any hesitation – good ridance before the Bolivian event next week. Why am I quite angry at this exhibit covered with Huichol Art? Let me make sure that there should be no misunderstanding – it is not because of the Huichols. These are people from the West-Central Mexico who are known for their beadwork. Sometimes they take an object and cover it with colorful beads. The Huichol call themselves in their own language the Wixaritari people and I bought items from them years ago in a store they managed in Porto Vallarta, Jalisco. The problem with this exhibition of one single item is that it is what they call – a VOCHOL – now that is a common Beetle Volkswagen that was completely covered in beads. Again – not that this car is bad looking – but why in this world in which the indigenous people do every possible effort to tell us that they understand the environment and suffer from climate change, and then bring into this interesting museum a common motor-vehicle that when operated uses gasoline? WHY BEAD A BUG? asks the museum brochure and proceeds to answer: The Vochol demonstrates the complex intersections of traditional and modern cultures. It serves as opportunity to bring attention to contemporary indigenous art while also highlighting Wixaritari culture and talent. The project is a collaboration between the Association of Friends of the Museo de Arte Popular, the Museo de Arte Popular, and the state governments of Nayarit and Jalisco, home to the Wixatari people. And let me add here that it must be also home of the assembly plants of Volkswagen Beetle in Mexico. Further – it must be friends of the US Oil industry and the US Auto Manufacturers that convinced that this big piece of art covering the auto-monster vehicle got into the American Indian Museum in order to soften our resistance to fossil fuels transportation – albeit by a reasonably small vehicle. The Wixatari artist Francisco Bautista used 2,277,000 glass seed beads to cover this beetle, and he finished the work in 2010 according to the license plate attached to the car. Then, let me never forget what my friend Professor Jad Neeman from the Tel Aviv University told me when we went to see a particular exhibition of what looked to me as unused canvases – the main role of modern art is to make us angry so we are moved from our position of not caring. If that is what the exhibitors had in mind – so this was very great art, because it made me care very much – when I concluded that this did not belong into this particular museum. In above context let me also write here what I found in the permanent exhibit on the 4-th floor – a stoty about another beetle: This comes from the Cherokee Nation. They tell that “Long ago – all things existed above the sky, from horizon to horizon. The bird and animal people (you remember the horse people I mentioned earlier?) wondered about the water-covered world below and sent Water-Beetle to explore. He descended and returned with a small piece of mud that spread over the water.” This obviously was another beetle – the one we like for itself. Further, in a story from the Campo Indians North of San Diego. They ended up being the address where the San Diego garbage was sent for landfill that gave them the Golden Acorn Casino not far from the Mexico border. The local Amerindians did not agree but got it anyway. The Environmentalists tell them that they show  who they are with appropriate ways of viewing their land as one of their greatest assets. Their lands are being decimated under them, but the indigenous people make serious attempts to survive. The IOWA say – Our Songs and Our Ceremonies Enable Us To Survive. The Nahua state – Our Laws and way of thinking shall continue. The Cherokees state simply – WE ARE STILL HERE!

At UN, Right to Info Stripped from Rio + 20, Extra Week Set, Indigenous Silenced?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, May 4 — In the run up to the Rio + 20 conference, on Friday evening at the UN yet another week of negotiations was arranged, for May 29 to June 2.

Four hundred paragraphs remain without agreement; Inner City Press asked about those dealing with the “right to information,” switched by the US to “legitimate access” to information, limited by trade secrets, patents and copyright.

After Friday night’s deferral, the nine “Major Groups” were given two minutes each to speak. The Indigenous group, which started speaking in Spanish about la Madre Tierra or Pachamama, was cut off by the chair and told to speak in English. Ultimately this was translated by the Local Authorities group.

Still the Groups hit hard, with Farmers criticizing the mention of the World Trade Organization in the agriculture section, and the Youth group denouncing greenwashing (if not Blue-washing, in a week where Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in Myanmar congratulated a company involved in spying technology, as exposed by Inner City Press.)

At the front of the room was outgoing DESA chief Sha Zukang, urging that at least 90% of the text be agreed before Rio begins. China has put in two names to replace Sha, but Brazil is pushing hard now for the DESA post, as Inner City Press exclusively reported yesterday.

Now, this update: China might accept the top post at the Department of General Assembly and Conference Affairs as long as it also got the Number Two post in DESA, at the Assistant Secretary General level.

But then what would sub Saharan Africa get? The Department of Public Information has, as Inner City Press reported, been promised to a European. And so it goes at the UN.

At a press conference Friday afternoon, Inner City Press asked about the right to information that was in Rio Principle 10. The response, from Neth Dano of the ETC Group of the Philippines, was that “one delegation” pushed to limited the right to only “legitimate” information.

Inner City Press asked her to name that delegation, but she declined. Afterward she said it was the US, “from the State Department.” Meanwhile, the US was expected to make a statement on Friday night about no more funding – will that now come on June 2?

This is quite alarming and let us put it in very clear and in short terms.

The G77 are still at the old game – the like of what I observed at the third session of Thursday May 3, 2012 – the 7 – 10 PM session.

on paragraph 56 of the NCST – that is the New Chair Summary Text looks like -

We emphasize the need to strengthen operational activities for [Sustainable - G77 delete] development of UN system in the field that are [closely/well - G77] aligned with [priorities - Canada, New Zealand / priorities of developing countries - G77] . In this regard [we emphasize …

Very diplomatic – the US representative says she looks at the text and sees how it gets more complicated then it was in the original language of the chairs. She would like to see a return to the original text as 2 weeks ago the original CST at #56 – not even the NCST. The EU states they agree to the US “as well – as the US – the text gets confusing and they want to get back to the original text. That was the room dealing with Chapter IV

Then I go to the parallel discussion room that deals with Chapter V – there the word Sustainability is being put under attack.

Oh well – with this attitude why go to Rio at all? But then – don’t despair – these are negotiations and some must look tough and use the time up to the last second grinning tough. Then the lowest common denominator will emerge with a tooth-less outcome and all will go home happy.
But – not yet either. We bank on Brazil – I do not think for a moment that Brazil will let people go home with the World Opinion saying that Sustainability as in Sustainable Development was defeated in Rio of 2012, after having entered the World jargon in Rio 20 years ago.

It was advertised as – NGO Major Group Statement at ECOSOC Event
3 May 2012, 3:00 – 6:00 pm
United Nations Headquarters

There are 9 Major Groups that were formed by the UN to channel Civil Society – read non government organizations – to the mandated input of WE THE PEOPLE to the UN which in itself has morphed into a – WE THE GOVERNMENTS – Club.

Only one of these Major Groups is indeed the classic NGO Major Group – all others are special interests ranging from Business and Engineering to Women and Youth.

So, when the NGO group, surrounded by the other 8 Major Groups, are called to meet the ECOSOC, you would expect that governments – at least those 54 governments that are members of ECOSOC, will perform a face saving event by showing up at the meeting  that was advertised as above — at least sending their seconds or thirds, while the top people are busy in other events. But Nay – Jeffery Huffines, CIVICUS Representative to the UN in NY, told me directly, and implied clearly in the following, nobody showed up from among those 54 Nations, or any other Nations, except the person appointed to chair the event. So, were these Major Groups brought to New York in order to talk to each other, rather then talk to the ECOSOC – the UN Social and Economic Council – they spoke to the void and to each other.

Mr. Jeffrey V. Huffines, the UN (New York) Representative of CIVICUS, the NGO {Non-Governmental Organization made up by Civil Society members} based in Newtown, Johannesburg, South Africa, speaking for the Major Group called NGO said:

Mr. President, ECOSOC members, delegates and Major Groups colleagues:

On behalf of the NGO Major Group, we thank you for the opportunity to speak on the important topic of “harnessing the contributions of civil society to sustainable development”. A report by UNEP had concluded that CSOs {Civil Society Organizations} are responsible for carrying out some 60% of the work out in the field on its behalf which is indicative of the critical role that CSOs and all Major Groups play in helping the UN realize its objectives on sustainable development. Given this fact we welcome the opportunity to consult with you on how ECOSOC can help strengthen the role of the Major Groups and civil society in the decision-making processes at the UN, particularly as it relates to sustainable development, within the context of a reformed IFSD - {that is the Institutional Framework for Sustainable Development}.

We shall also share a number of concrete initiatives that members of the NGO Major Group representing thousands of NGOs have and are undertaking in support of Rio+20 and beyond through some 24 NGO thematic clusters that were established earlier this year, that focus on such areas as the green economy, SDGs, global commons, human rights & equity, energy, water, food, animal welfare, oceans, biodiversity, urbanization and UN structural reform, among other issues.

In 2004 the United Nations “Delivering as One” report stated: “The status of sustainable development should be elevated within the United Nations institutional architecture and in country activities. The United Nations system must strive for greater integration, efficiency and coordination of the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development.”

One way ECOSOC could elevate the status of sustainable development within the UN system would be to strengthen the role of Major Groups partnering in support of Rio+20 in both policy development and decision-making as well as in implementation out in the field. The amazing increase in Civil Society participation between 1989 and today show what ECOSOC is capable of achieving when it comes to aligning the efforts of civil society, Governments and the UN Secretariat. Since civil society both creates and solve the problems relating to sustainability, it is in the interest of us all that this trend continues. As we all know, the UN Charter mandates ECOSOC to maintain consultative status with Non-Govermental Organizations through its standing commissions which has included the Commission on Sustainable Development which incorporated the Nine Major Groups System. From 1997-2001, the Commission had organized one and a half days of dialogue between Member States and Major Groups which was significantly reduced to one and a half hours following the WSSD. NGOs and Major Groups seek to not only regain their original speaking rights but also to see their role strengthened in the future IFSD.

Within the context of IFSD reform there are basically two options available to meet the challenges of strengthening the IFSD at UN level. These are the reform of ECOSOC or the establishment of a Sustainable Development Council under the General Assembly. On a general basis, the functions of a highest level body on sustainable development with the UN System should include political leadership and agenda setting, a periodic review mechanism, enhancing science-policy interface and progress tracking, strengthening inter-agency coordination, and to enhance dialogue and participation between non-governmental organizations, relevant stakeholders and the independent sector.

Regarding the option of ECOSOC reform, ECOSOC does not at the moment allow civil society/Major Groups or non-state actors to work and function as they did at the CSD. Will allowing the major groups into ECOSOC require a change of mandate? If so, the issue of civil society/non state actors and ECOSOC becomes more than a moot point, as mandate change will require opening the Charter to debate. Looking at the formal rules of engagement for ECOSOC, it would appear almost impossible to have an interactive ECOSOC unless the rules of procedure were changed. Is it politically possible to change the rules of procedure to guarantee access to all levels in ECOSOC? In which ways would it be possible to integrate the Major Groups/civil society into ECOSOC in the future?

I would now like to touch upon just a few of concrete initiatives that some of the NGO thematic clusters are undertaking in support of Rio+20 and beyond. In February the thematic clusters submitted amendments to the zero draft along with all of the other Major Groups which was compiled by the DESA secretariat and made available on the UNCSD web site. Moreover, The thematic clusters have been engaged in developing partnerships and initiatives in the collective lobbying of governments, and in the subsequent implementation of Rio+20 decisions.

The Oceans Cluster has developed policy positions on several important priority areas including the conservation of high seas biodiversity through a new implementing agreement under UNCLOS, strengthening fisheries management, eradicating harmful fisheries subsidies, improving integrated ecosystem-based governance of oceans and coasts, and capacity building to improve the ability of developing countries to effectively manage activities affecting ocean resources.

The Cities and Urban Issues Cluster facilitated is supporting several important initiatives at Rio+20 in partnership with other NGOs and Major Groups that includes the “International Ecocity Framework and Standards Initiative” and the “The Ecocitizen Census – Mapping Ecocitizen Actions and Pledges Around the World” where participants will be encouraged to upload their actions and pledges and geotagged photos to the Ecocitizen World Map that will become a global base map to launch the ECOCITIZEN CENSUS at Rio+20.

The objective of the Commons Cluster is to help to bring about a shift to a commons- based global economy centered on the well-being of all people and nature. For Rio+20, cluster members have written a series of policy briefs on measures to counter threats inherent in a debt-based economy, to shift to a sustainable commons-based global economy, to finance the shift, and to empower the public and private sectors. It also has an Instant Response Network to contact Heads of State and Government and UN Ambassadors on issues of urgent concern. They are mapping which sustainable economies are already in place and ways in which Governments are supporting people’s best practices.

The Health Cluster drafted a collaborative statement on Health and the Green Economy, highlighting connections between health and the sustainable development and putting forth recommendations for specific health-related priorities for the Rio+20 agenda.

The Rights and Equity Cluster established a very active google group, Rights for Sustainability (R4S), to share information and develop common lobbying positions and strategies, that included the “Rights at Risk” open letter sent last March to the UNCSD Secretary General and Bureau members which has now garnered over 1,000 signatures from over 100 countries. In response, the Bureau decided to allow 5 minute interventions from Major Groups at the end of the working group sessions in the present round of informals.

The Ombudsperson for Future Generations (OFG) Cluster is working is with a large number of governments and political blocks to address points of clarity and reassure areas of concern, and to raise awareness of the practical nature of this new institution. The cluster has a workshop on the OFG on the governance thematic day on 19 June where they will be focusing on ‘what comes next’.

In Rio members of the Food Security Cluster are working closely with the Food for the Cities team at FAO and the Local Authorities Major Group OP, ICLEI, who will host an international gathering of local authorities in Belo Horizonte, Brazil just prior to Rio+20, with the potential of launching a global network of city-regions who will collaborate on urban-rural linkages to facilitate capacity building for rural producers to contribute to vibrant markets for feeding the cities. The cluster prioritizes engagement of civil society in post Rio governance structures, advocating to streamline the best of the Major Groups system and the Civil Society Mechanism (CSM) at the FAO Committee on World Food Security into future multistakeholder participatory post Rio+20 frameworks.

To conclude we look forward to strengthening the partnership of civil society and Major Groups with ECOSOC in realizing the outcomes of Rio+20 now and into the future.

Jeffery Huffines
CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation

NGO Major Groups Organizing Partner

2012 CIVICUS World Assembly – Early Bird Registration Now Open. Join us to Define a New Social Contract!

3-7 September 2012 – in Montreal, Canada.

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