Crisis weakens summit, says former secretary of Eco-92

06/13/2012 - 16h10

Despite increased rhetoric about environmental issues in the past 20 years, in practice governments have advanced very little in the implementation of commitments made at Eco-92. The scene of inertia created by the economic crisis in rich countries could weaken the results that come out of Rio+20, according to Canadian Maurice Strong, who was one the fundamental pieces for the success of Eco-92

As the former secretary-general of the conference, he worked extensively with the Brazilian government to bring in the political leaders of the day. He also helped stitch together the agreements that came out of the summit, such as the conventions on climate and biodiversity.

"We have not evolved very much since Eco-92. The situation now is less favorable for making important decisions, although all the indictors that we are living in an environmental crisis are clearer today," he said.

Now 83 years old, Strong is a consultant and a professor at the University of Peking. He is coming to Rio+20 to participate in the Dialogues with Civil Society on sustainable development, a series of debates that the Brazilian government is promoting on June 16 - 19.

*

What are your expectations for Rio+20?
Maurice Strong - The situation is very different now than it was in 1992, and much less favorable for making important decisions. There is less political support for environmental issues and development than there was 20 years ago. A lot of countries are worried about their own economic crises. At the same time, the need to make decisions is much more urgent now than it was 20 years ago because all the indicators that we are living in an environmental crisis are clearer today"

You were active in the preparation for Eco-92. What was the legacy of this conference?
Eco-92 gave the world the conventions on climate and biodiversity, Agenda 21, and the Rio Declaration. At that time, they were hard fought negotiations, but at the end of the meetings, the governments were committed to acting on these issues. But unfortunately, most of the agreements from 1992 have still not been implemented. We haven't evolved very much.

Do you believe that Rio+20 will produce other important agreements?
The world is not going to produce new agreements and conventions this time like we did in 1992. We can't really hope for anything that carries much political weight. Rio+20 will attract thousands of people and will get the attention of the whole world, but it's going to be difficult to make much progress on political and economic issues.

What makes these negotiations more difficult?
The impasse is in the geopolitical context. The rich countries are not as rich as they were 20 year ago; they are more worried about resolving their own crises and they do not want to financially support poor countries. Emerging countries have money, they are thriving economies-look as Brazil, China and India-but they are still developing, and many of them don't want to loosen their grip on their own economic development. We cannot expect emerging countries to play the role of rich countries in this transition.

Translated by ANNA EDGERTON