Tag archives for rio+20
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The International Society of Ethnobiology (ISE) made news at the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development this summer. Introduced to almost 700 governments, businesses, civil society groups, and universities was the “Montpellier Statement,” delivered by Helene Mandrous, the Mayor of Montpellier, France. The statement was developed at ISE’s 13th Biannual Congress held earlier this…
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The UN’s Sustainable Energy for All initiative aims to drive economic development, improve living conditions, and protect the planet by meeting growing energy demands with renewable, environmentally responsible sources. Will Rio+20 be someday seen as the launchpad for these accomplishments or simply another missed opportunity? UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon touted the new program at…
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SOIL (Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods) won first place at this year’s UNCCD’s Land for Life Award ceremony and will receive $40,000 to support the development of an integrated agricultural livelihood learning center and demonstration farm located near Cap-Haitian, Haiti.
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“I’ve been to a lot of international conferences, in Nagoya, Durban, and so on, but Rio [Rio+20, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development] was bigger than any I’ve ever seen,” Matthew Shirts, the editor of the Brazilian edition of National Geographic, told a large audience at the Aspen Environment Forum this past weekend in…
Posted by It may seem counterintuitive in a world where giant urban concentrations of billions of people are snagged in traffic congestion and endless sprawl, but cities may well be the smartest way to both make our use of the planet sustainable and raise prosperity.
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An interactive map, launched at Rio+20, seeks to help people keep up-to-date on the state of the Amazon basin.
Freshwater species of the week will return next week. Although it looks like world leaders are not going to adopt specific Sustainable Development Goals at Rio+20, the delegates from 190+ countries did spend a lot of time talking about water in Rio de Janeiro. Before the United Nations conference this week, advocates had hoped…
As the president of the UN Foundation, former U.S. Senator Tim Wirth’s job is to connect people, ideas, and resources to help the United Nations solve global problems. Two kinds of power, electricity and empowerment, were on Senator Wirth’s mind when he sat down to discuss Rio+20, the UN’s largest sustainable development conference happening…
By Antony Spalton and Lisa Guppy Over the last twenty years, disasters have affected up to 4.4 billion people and have cost around $US 2 trillion. Women and children are 14 times more likely to die than men during a disaster, and typically the poorest and most vulnerable children suffer the highest disaster risk and…
Rio+20 continues in the gorgeous city of Rio de Janeiro, as a steady stream of world leaders take the podium and wax poetic on sustainable development. Yesterday, I called in to Carmen Russell-Sluchansky’s show on Voice of Russia to give my impressions of how the conference is going. Listen to the brief interview here.
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RIO DE JANEIRO Delegates in Rio will need to take a leap of faith and agree on concepts like the green economy and sustainable development goals without really knowing what they involve, suggest experts on the sidelines of the Rio+20 Earth Summit. “The green economy is a black box right now. We don’t know what…
By Kerry Constabile Half of the world’s children and adolescents live in urban areas. As the world urbanizes, people and particularly children are faced with increasingly unhealthy communities. Environmental health hazards – ranging from air pollution, garbage and inadequate sanitation – are problematic for the poorest city dwellers who persist under the radar, neglected by…
Some of the paths through Vila Canoas are so narrow that only one person can pass at a time. When our tour group ran into a resident of the favela coming the opposite direction, we leaned into a corner, letting them pass with a smile and a bom dia (good morning). Brick and concrete blockhouses…
An indigenous caravan is bringing to the Rio+20 conference the philosophy of “buen vivir” – “living well” in harmony with nature – as a solution to the world’s environmental and economic crises. Indigenous leaders from all over South America are making their way by foot, canoe and eventually on buses to be part of…
“We need to vote with our dollars and choose products that are helping each other,” said Ana Paula Tavares, executive vice president of the conservation group Rainforest Alliance. It’s a statement that sums up her organization’s goal, but it could also serve as a call to action for all consumers from Rio+20 (The UN…
“We try to communicate why there is a new narrative and that we need to respect planetary boundaries,” Johan Rockstrom told a well-heeled crowd at an exclusive event space in Rio de Janerio. The King and Queen of Sweden were reportedly in attendance, as was a former president of Finland. Rockstrom is executive director of…
After this year’s Blue Planet Prizes were announced in the Japan Pavilion at Rio+20, the Asahi Glass Foundation held another star-studded panel to set the stage for the ongoing United Nations negotiations. The foundation presented a 170-page paper entitled “Environment and Development Challenges: The Imperative to Act.” It was produced to commemorate 20…
“We’re facing a global storm, and the question is, is our boat ready?” Mathis Wackernagel asked the crowd gathered at the Japan Pavilion at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro Sunday. Wackernagel, who hails from Switzerland and is president of the Global Footprint Network, was being honored with a 2012 Blue…
Thomas E. Lovejoy, Professor of Environmental Science and Policy at George Mason University, Virginia, was awarded the 21st annual Blue Planet Prize, the international environmental award, the University announced today. “The Blue Planet prizes are awarded to individuals or organizations each year that make outstanding achievements in scientific research and its application in helping to…
We need to drastically modify global agriculture by incorporating trees into the farming environment. The world stands at a critical juncture in the second decade of the 21st century. International policymakers have begun to face the unspeakable possibility that we might be running out of food and the land to grow it. Staggeringly, we need…
The UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) is just days away, but observers have already been griping for weeks that world leaders may not agree to any firm environmental commitments when they meet in Rio de Janeiro next week (June 20-22). However, a new survey suggests that the world’s people are rooting for concrete action. A poll…
By Luis A. Ubiñas In the 20 years since 172 countries came together for the first Earth Summit in Rio, the world has undergone an extraordinary transformation. Seven billion people today inhabit a planet that is safer, freer, healthier and more prosperous. Yet, we are still moving too slowly toward a world that is…
I’ve been packing my bags and trying to clear out my inbox, because I’m off to Brazil tomorrow in anticipation of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (June 20-22). I’ll be posting updates on our Sustainable Earth hub, so look for that. Also keep an eye on the @NatGeoGreen Twitter account, where I’ll be making…
Tim Flannery has discovered more than 30 mammal species, but the Australian scientist is probably best known for his work on global climate change. The author of The Weather Makers and Here on Earth has traveled the world to argue that we need to take bold action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Flannery is a professor…
Green jobs are a hot topic in an era of high unemployment. But defining exactly what green jobs are, how they can be created, and how they benefit the economy and environment presents quite a challenge. The Obama administration made green jobs an early focus and set a goal of creating some 5 million…
