On June 20th, world leaders, along with thousands of participants from governments, the private sector and NGO’s, gathered in Rio de Janeiro, for the 20th Anniversary United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development.
The conference, which has come to be known as Rio +20, formalized to help shape how world leaders, organizations and companies can reduce poverty, social equity, and ensure environmental protection. The conference focused on the importance of sustainability, highlighting a future with minimal challenges. Thus, the main themes were green economy, in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication, and establishing sustainable institutional frameworks.
The three-day international summit was met with different reactions from the media, and received mixed reviews from a wide array of leaders and prominent journalists. Rio +20 did bring to the forefront the concepts of economic, social and environmental development and the agenda helped millions of people recognize the importance of sustainable development.
Rio +20 was expected to be a fundamental mark in our history, giving that it’s the 20-year anniversary of the first Earth Summit on sustainable development. However, it failed to achieve such high prominence before, during and after the summit. Additionally, world leaders were not able to agree upon the outcome document, which contained several proposals on sustainable development.
The Rio +20 Summit occurred at a time when global development faces numerous challenges, specifically given the numerous economic downturns. Thus, it has given millions of people hope, that with a goal of sustainable development, achieving global prosperity is achievable.