World Youth Congress Rio 2012
About WYC http://wycrio2012.org
The World Youth Congress series was born in 1997 following the frustrations of the Rio+5 Earth Summit conference which highlighted the fact that, far from increasing as the original Rio 1992 Earth Summit had proposed, Overseas Development Aid had, in fact dropped by 17% since 1992.
So the 1st World Youth Congress was conceived as a kind of Young People’s Earth Summit. However by the time it was finally held, in Hawaii in October 1999, it had developed into a much broader process of identifying priorities for the new Millennium. Entitled, the Millennium Young People’s Congress.
It got millions of young people around the world to identify ten key priorities for the new millennium and it turned out that eight of these closely mirrored the UN’s Millennium Development Goals, agreed a year later at the UN Millennium Summit.
In 2012 the United Nations will convene the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, also known as Rio 2012 or Rio+20, hosted by Brazil in Rio de Janeiro, as a 20-year follow-up to the historic 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) that was held in the same city. The conference is organized by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Conference_on_Sustainable_Development
http://www.amnesty.org/en/economic-social-and-cultural-rights
What is Rio+20?
Simply put:-
20 years after the original Earth Summit, Heads of State will meet again in Rio de Janeiro in May 2012 for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development. . The issues to be discussed are the building of a green economy and a institutional framework for sustainable development.
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1992 Earth Summit logo 2012 Rio+20 logo
Detail:-:
The 1992 meeting came about due to a report from the the 1980′s defining sustainable development as
“Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. Bruntland Report 1987
However after 20 years, many of the issues discussed in 1992 still persist today and need urgent action.
As well as there being increased interest in issues of environmental, social and economical issues via scientific findings, governmental concern, media attention and NGO’s (non-governmental organisations) campaigns.
Videos explain what happened at the Earth Summit concerning the world leaders and the NGO’s activities.
From this Earth Summit came documents concerning
- Agenda 21
- Convention on Biological Diversity
- Framework on Climate Change
- Forest Principles
- Deceleration on Environment and Development
Since then other UN meetings have taken place concern sustainable development and climate change.
Of note: 1997 Kyoto COP3, 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (Rio+10) & COP15
However after 20 years, many of the issues discussed in 1992 still persist today and need urgent action.
Rio+20 will focus on 2 themes
Green Economy
By focusing the world economy on poverty eradication and sustainable development it is hoped in one case to increase the move from Victorian fossil fuel technologies, to alternative renewable energy resources.
Institutional Framework for Sustainable Development
This is to make governments have a greater focus on Sustainable Development.
In turn these will fulfill the Rio+20 objectives of
- Securing political commitment to Sustainable Development
- Assessing progress towards international agreed commitments
- Pinpointing new and emerging challenges
As well as put us on a path to a more sustainable future that us youth will grow into.
However, pressure is still needed to make this so….
http://www.scidev.net/en/science-and-innovation-policy/science-at-rio-20/
Get active, get involved and join us on the Road to Rio+20
Links:-
http://www.facebook.com/joinundesa
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