The Rio+20 UN conference on sustainable development

From 20-22 June 2012 the UN will hold a conference on sustainable development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, twenty years on from the ‘Earth Summit’ of 1992, also held in Rio. This note sets out the likely agenda for the conference and some surrounding political issues.

Unlike the first Rio Summit, which resulted in the climate change and biodiversity conventions, along with a sustainable development action plan, this conference will focus on sustainable development. Its two themes are the ‘green economy’ and an institutional framework for sustainable development. One aim is to develop sustainable development goals, like the UN millennium development goals. In January 2012 a ‘zero draft’ outcome document was produced.

In October 2011 the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) published its Report on Preparations for the Rio+20 Summit which noted inadequate progress since 1992. That report and the Government response were debated in the House on 28 February 2012.