Rio+20 to focus on sustainability

Negotiators working towards agreements and action at the Rio +20 Earth Summit are moving away from climate change related discourse in an effort to improve their chances of more positive outcomes. It seems that climate change is now synonymous with impasse and as such negotiators must distance themselves from it.

At a risk of sidelining a pressing issue in climate change, the debate will focus more on sustainable development. Sustainability is seen as an easier ‘sell’ than climate change and it is felt more progress can be made in this area.

Even so, some feel the conference will not accomplish as much as was hoped. "The most it will manage is to set some voluntary goals with a vague timeline, but it will not be clear what the process is to achieve these goals," said Andrew Light of the Centre for American Progress think tank in Washington

The topics of discussion will be focussed around areas such as jobs, energy, food, disasters and water and some fear this will prevent focus. Rio +20 instead, could be an opportunity to be very specific, focussing on energy and development.

Whatever happens at the summit, we do know that the world has changed dramatically over the past 20 years. The shift in world power from the western world to the developing nations like China, Brazil and India has been rapid and means that these countries have much more say in their own futures. Whether they decide to go down a more sustainable route still remains to be seen.