Esta entrada también está disponible en: Spanish
Earth Summit Preparatory Meeting In Rio +20
ECLAC’s headquarters is now the scene of controversy. So far, the second day of the Regional Preparatory Meeting for Latin America and the Caribbean has not produced any concrete results. The lack of political will shown by governments to achieve consensus has hindered the progress of the negotiations, delaying the possibility of generating a shared agreement that represents the interests of sustainable development in countries of the region ahead of the Rio Summit +20.
The scenario is complex, since, according to Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary of ECLAC, all that will happen in 2012 in Rio de Janeiro will depend largely on the agreements reached during the development of this instance.
Mexican authorities, who also is a biologist by profession, believes that this meeting is an opportunity to bring a more balanced agenda that includes the interests of developed countries, but especially developing countries. “This agenda must respect this effective multilateralism and to ensure global public goods such as peace, financial stability, protection against pandemics and climate security, under the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities”, said during the conference.
For its part, The Access Initiative in Latin America, which represents the interests of civil society in these matters, remains confident that the situation can be reversed in the course of this afternoon. “Tomorrow we should have concrete results and make a final statement, otherwise it would be a shame considering the need to address serious problems faced by countries in addition to considering the cost in human and economic terms of these meetings,” said Andrea Sanhueza of PARTICIPA, coordinator for Latin America of the Access Initiative.
The NGO members of this global coalition, which works in 45 countries, have focused the focus of discussion in environmental governance at national and regional levels, including strengthening of institutions, laws and practices.
The third day of the Regional Preparatory Meeting to be held tomorrow, Friday 9, will be the defining instance that will determine whether America and the Caribbean are linked or not for the sake of environmental protection.
More Information
Verónica Cipolatti