Thursday, June 14, 2012

The RIO+20 Agenda - The Future We Want...


Documents are now circulating which reflect the basic “asks” for the RIO +20 Summit which starts next week. Here is a list of the “asks” I have discovered so far (you can see more here):

  • ·         A reduction by all developed nations of CO2 emissions by 95% by 2050;
  • ·         A total end to fossil fuel subsidies worldwide;
  • ·         An end to market pricing for energy commodities and energy – regulated pricing so as to end energy poverty and wealth through energy exploitation and promote resource justice;
  • ·         A tax on all developed nations of 0.7% of GDP (every Canadian family would pay $1,211) to support both global environmental governance and the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) – a kind of EPA for the world;
  • ·         Global pursuit of the green economy (the EU ambition for RIO +20 is for this idea to be defined);
  • ·         A global reduction in all forms of consumption;
  • ·         Significant efforts to curb population growth;
  • ·         The imposition of constraints on the development and use of specific “environmentally threatening technologies” – especially genomics, synthetic biology, nanotechnology.

This is not the complete agenda, but is the agenda of the many liberal eco-campaigners who will attend. The agenda is called “The Future We Want”. This is definitely not a future that appeals to me.

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