Following the 1992 United Nation Conference on Environment and Development (The Earth Summit) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and a resolution from the United Nations General Assembly, the Rio+20 will commemorate the 20th anniversary of the first “Earth Summit.” Delegates from all over the world will, between June 20th and 22nd 2012 convene in Rio to discuss environmental issues and find ways to preserve mother earth.
This summit has been a key milestone in quite a significant number of United Nations conferences in which it was a primary focus, putting sustainable development as one of the most important agenda items for the United Nations and the international Community.
The major objectives outlined for this convention include the securing of new political commitment to sustain development by member states, which will encourage governments to partake in protecting the environment.
The convention also seeks to examine the progress and implementations of agreements that have been made for the past two decades during the build up to the present convention and address any glitches that may have occurred.
Due to the dynamic and ever changing patterns in human activity, other areas which will be addressed are the emerging challenges to environmental awareness and, ultimately, recommendations will be made suggesting ways in which they can best be addressed.
For their part, the European Union sees this convention as an opportunity to enhance the progression of sustainable development.
“An inclusive green economy is a key element to achieve long term equitable growth, to create green and decent jobs, to ensure efficient utilisation of resources thus helping to eradicate poverty and to provide benefits to people around the world,” says a media release from the EU.
This summit will also be attended by international NGOs from across the globe who share a common interest in fighting for environmental causes. A delegation from Botswana will be comprised of members of different organisations who play a significant role in conservation of the environment.
This kind of gathering is particularly of relevance to Botswana seeing as natural resources are the key to economic diversification through tourism and farming. By pursuing such avenues, Batswana will be in line with the sustainable development objective which could ideally ultimately lead to poverty eradication.
