ECLAC Organizes Regional Preparatory Meeting
for the Rio+20 Summit

Between 7 and 9 September, a regional preparatory meeting will be held at the headquarters of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in Santiago Chile, ahead of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, due to be held from 4 to 6 June 2012 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

This meeting is known as Rio+20 because it is being held two decades after the United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development (known as the Earth Summit) that took place in the same Brazilian city in 1992.

One of the major achievements of that event was the international community's acceptance of the sustainable development concept, which was widely disseminated in the form of the Rio Declaration.

However, the global sustainable development commitments undertaken by countries in 1992 have only been partially achieved.

Despite significant progress made over the past 20 years, there is still not a development model that provides advances in the three pillars that define sustainability (social, economic and environmental).

Rio+20 seeks precisely to identify progress and gaps, as well as exploring new forms of cooperation that will speed up the transition to sustainable development.

The 2012 Conference is based around two themes: a green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication; and the institutional framework of sustainable development.

ECLAC trusts that the Latin Americand and Caribbean Regional Preparatory Meeting for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development will help to stimulate debate prior to Rio+20.

Latin American and Caribbean countries are expected to agree on a joint position for the summit, while also taking a leading role in expressing the interests and challenges of developing countries and in adopting solutions.

The aim of the process is to ensure a renewed political commitment and the setting of targets that encourage global progress in a more equitable and environmentally responsible way.

Besides organizing the Regional Preparatory Meeting, ECLAC also coordinated production of an inter-agency document that closely assesses the region's progress and shortcomings in terms of implementing global commitments undertaken following the Conference in 1992.

The report was produced using input from 19 United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, and also uses the shortfalls and emerging challenges to propose strategic guidelines to move towards sustainable development in the region.

The draft version of the inter-agency document will be presented to governments as a basis for the preparatory meeting in September. The final version will be presented at Rio+20 in June 2012.

The current world scenario, characterized by the convergence of various crises (economic, climatic, energy and food), is forcing the region – and the world – into a paradigm shift, so that it no longer reproduces poverty and inequality, damages national resources and ecosystems and passes on the costs to future generations.

Preserving and protecting ecosystems is vital for the well-being of people and communities, as they ensure basic conditions of health, physical integrity and food security.

According to Joseluis Samaniego, Director of the ECLAC Sustainable Development and Human Settlements Division, “The economy has an undeniable ethical dimension that is ultimately expressed, in various forms, through prices. Not considering the full costs or benefits of economic activity implies that someone has to bear them”.

“A higher notion of development must necessarily be linked to an economy that considers the true costs of economic activities”, stated the expert.

Besides placing great pressure on the environment and natural resources, it is clear that the Latin American and Caribbean economy has not managed to defeat poverty or overcome inequality in the region.

The region's experience in recent years shows the need for a strong State and public policies with the long-term vision to step up to development with equality and sustainability.