#rio+20

[umnovolharedu]

sair do capitalismo

[tearsofthe-dragon]

My parents being the happiest because they have been cheering for Fabian since Athens 2004

[womenscycling]

We're The Superhumans | Rio Paralympics 2016 Trailer - YouTube

Channel 4 did great TV coverage of the 2012 London Paralympics, and I’m so excited to see what they do for Rio 2016.  LOVE this trailer!  Click through to the YT for details of who’s in it - and there are profiles of individuals from this trailer on the Channel 4 Paralympics YouTube

[f-waldpoesie]

Discurso de José Alberto Mujica Cordano, "Pepe Mujica", Presidente de la República Oriental del Uruguay, en la cumbre Río+20 Conferencia de Naciones Unidas por el desarrollo sustentable  20 de junio de 2012 Autoridades, presentes, de todas la latitudes y organismos, muchas gracias. Y Muchas gracias y nuestros agradecimientos al pueblo de Brasil y a su Sra. Presidenta. Muchas gracias a la buena fe, que seguramente, han manifestado todos los oradores que me precedieron. Expresamos la íntima voluntad como gobernantes, de acompañar todos los acuerdos, que esta nuestra pobre humanidad, pueda suscribir. Sin embargo permítasenos, hacernos algunas preguntas, en voz alta. Toda la tarde se ha estado hablado, del desarrollo sustentable. De sacar, a inmensas masas, de la pobreza. ¿Qué es, lo que aletea en nuestras cabezas? ¿El modelo de desarrollo y de consumo, es el actual de las sociedades ricas? Me hago esta pregunta: ¿qué le pasaría a este planeta si los hindúes tuvieran la misma proporción de autos por familia, que tienen los alemanes? ¿Cuánto oxígeno, nos quedaría para poder respirar? Más claro: ¿El mundo tiene los elementos hoy, materiales como para hacer posible, que 7 mil u 8 mil millones de personas puedan tener el mismo grado de consumo y de despilfarro, que tienen las más opulentas sociedades occidentales? ¿Será eso posible? ¿O tendremos que darnos algún día, otro tipo de discusión? Porque hemos creado esta civilización en la que estamos: hija del mercado, hija de la competencia y que ha deparado un progreso material portentoso y explosivo. Pero lo que fue economía de mercado ha creado sociedades de mercado. Y nos ha deparado esta globalización, que significa mirar por todo el planeta. ¿Y estamos gobernando la globalización o la globalización nos gobierna a nosotros? ¿Es posible hablar de solidaridad y de que "estamos todos juntos" en una economía que esta basada en la competencia despiadada? ¿Hasta dónde llega nuestra fraternidad? Nada de esto lo digo, para negar la importancia de este evento. No es por el contrario: el desafío que tenemos por delante es de una magnitud de carácter colosal y la gran crisis no es ecológica, es política. El hombre no gobierna hoy, las fuerzas que ha desatado, sino que las fuerzas que ha desatado gobiernan al hombre. Y la vida. Porque no venimos al planeta para desarrollarnos en términos generales. Venimos a la vida intentando ser felices. Porque la vida es corta y se nos va. Y ningún bien vale como la vida y esto es lo elemental. Pero si la vida se me va a escapar, trabajando y trabajando para consumir un "plus" y la sociedad de consumo es el motor, porque en definitiva, si se paraliza el consumo, o si se detiene, se detiene la economía, y si se detiene la economía, es el fantasma del estancamiento, para cada uno de nosotros, pero ese hiper consumo, a su vez es el que está agrediendo, al planeta. Y tienen que generar ese hiper consumo, cosa de que las cosas duren poco, porque hay que vender mucho. Y una lamparita eléctrica, no puede durar más de 1.000 horas prendida, ¡Pero hay lamparitas eléctricas que puede durar 100 mil 200 mil horas! Pero esas no se pueden hacer porque el problema es el mercado, porque tenemos que trabajar y tenemos que tener una civilización de "úse y tíre", y así estamos en un círculo vicioso. Estos son problemas de carácter político, que nos están diciendo la necesidad de empezar a luchar por otra cultura. No se trata de plantearnos volver, al hombre de las cavernas, ni tener un "monumento del atraso". Que no podemos indefinidamente continuar gobernados por el mercado, sino que tenemos que gobernar al mercado. Por ello digo que el problema es de carácter político.  En mi humilde manera de pensar, por que, los viejos pensadores definían -- Epicuro, Séneca, los Aymaras -: "Pobre no es el que tiene poco, sino que verdaderamente pobre es el que necesita infinitamente mucho, y desea y desea y desea, más y más". Esta es una clave de carácter cultural.

[mushinews-blog]

President Mujica of Uruguay, giving his speech in Rio+20 (spanish audio, english subtitles)

I think he is very honest in what he says: we come to this life to be happy, to love, to care for our children. And we need to aim and fight for a new culture where the market and consumption don't govern us, we govern them. It is not about going back to the stone ages, it is about realizing what is really important.

Rich is not the person that has the most, but the person that needs the least.

And the person whose need is endless, is infinitely poor.

Rico no es el que lo tiene todo, es el que poco necesita.

Y la persona cuya necesidad no tenga fin, sera inifinitamente pobre.

[mad-as-a-marine-biologist]

Was it really #Riofail?

I was so excited for Rio+20. In my naive twenty-something way, I thought the global increase in awareness of the value of our environment would help urge governments to actually make a stand, to change things, revolutionize the way we treat nature, as they did in 1992. The first Earth summit was ground breaking. The international treaty 'Agenda 21' thrust sustainable development into the firing line. Imagine, with the huge amount of knowledge we've gained since then, what could be done at Rio +20?!

It was also the first time Oceans have appeared as a topic for discussion in a conference like this. Rainforests has gotten tonnes of attention since the 80s. International recognition of the importance of oceanic habitats have sorely been neglected. Maybe because we don't feel connected to the Oceans, or maybe because the task of regulating and policing the seven seas is so mammoth no one wanted to take it on. Regardless, the "Blue Economy" was finally getting some face time!

So what happened? Well, not a lot apparently.

The 'outcomes' of the conference, a document entitled 'The Future We Want' has recieved huge amounts of criticism. Outcomes from international conferences like these are promises of action.  What we got from Rio+20 was a document called "The Future We Want" and has been described as more of a "we've reached general agreement on some watered down concepts and will consider to do some things in the future about them" document.  

Gutted. 

But then I found a post by Glenn Prickett from the Nature Conservancy, all about the silver lining. Ok, the outcomes weren't as earth shattering as we hoped, but he writes some valid points on what we can get excited about. 

"First, nations rich and poor recognize that nature has value.

Since Stockholm, we’ve tried to balance the economy and the environment, as though human well-being and healthy nature are competing objectives. We conducted environmental diplomacy like arms control: figuring out how to get countries to do things for the good of the planet — like reducing greenhouse gas emissions — that weren’t in their immediate self-interest.

In Rio, we saw something else. Leaders of developing and developed nations stepped forward with commitments to conserve nature because it benefits their people. The Nature Conservancy was proud to support a gathering of Leaders Valuing Nature, where leaders of countries as diverse as Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Colombia, Grenada (pictured above), Indonesia, and Seychelles announced commitments to protect their oceans, coasts, rivers, and forests for food security, water supply, infrastructure and other economic and social goals. The World Bank organized a pledge by over fifty countries to include the value of “natural capital” in their national economic accounts.

Second, business has a stake in nature’s value.

One of the most striking differences between the Rio summits was the business community’s outlook. A handful of visionary companies came to Rio in 92 to encourage action, and almost as many came to block it. Since then, business has woken up to sustainability. Leaders like Walmart, GE, Dow, DuPont and Unilever have recognized that helping customers address environmental challenges is good business. As a result, hundreds of companies came to Rio this year.

And finally, societies aren’t waiting for their governments to agree.

Perhaps the most encouraging signal from Rio was the turnout itself — nearly three times the number of people who attended the Earth Summit in 1992. Sustainability has become a truly global movement. Empowered by two decades of democratization and globalization, civil society is more powerful than ever.  NGOs are driving governments and businesses to act. Communities around the world are creating their own solutions to global environmental problems.

So the legacy of Rio+20 might be that governments, businesses and civil society finally realize that nature has value for people. Of course we’ve known this all along, but we haven’t set up the institutions and policies that govern our lives this way. Doing so would revolutionize the world for the better.

#Riofail? I don’t think so."

[laboratoryequipment-blog]

UN Environmental Summit Largely Seen As a Failure Leaders from around the globe gathered Wednesday to open three days of talks at the United Nations conference on sustainable development, where a sober, unambitious mood prevailed as negotiators produced what critics called a watered-down document that makes few advances on protecting the environment. Negotiators worked for months to hammer out a document that many hoped would lay out clear goals on how nations could promote sustainable development - making economic advances without eating up the globe's resources. Caption: Activists push an inflatable globe during a "Global March" as part of the People's Summit for Social and Environmental Justice in Defense of the Commons. Image: AP Photo, Felipe Dana Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-un-environmental-summit-largely-seen-as-a-failure-062112.aspx

[thepeoplesrecord]

A man protests outside Riocentro, the venue hosting the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, or Rio+20, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wednesday June 13. The Rio+20 gathering marks the 20th anniversary of the so-called "Earth Summit," which some say put climate change on the world agenda.