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Rio+20: Expert panel's call to 'seize moment' Rio+20: Expert panel's call to 'seize moment'
(about 9 hours later)
By Richard Black Environment correspondent, BBC News, Rio de JaneiroBy Richard Black Environment correspondent, BBC News, Rio de Janeiro
Governments must seize the "historic opportunity" of the Rio+20 summit to put the world on a new sustainable course, says a panel of Nobel laureates, ministers and scientists.Governments must seize the "historic opportunity" of the Rio+20 summit to put the world on a new sustainable course, says a panel of Nobel laureates, ministers and scientists.
The evidence that society is "on the edge of a threshhold of a future with unprecedented environmental risks" is unequivocal, they conclude. Society is "on the edge of a threshold of a future with unprecedented environmental risks", they conclude.
Their declaration will be presented to government delegations here. Their declaration is being presented to government delegations here.
In the main negotiations, nations are reportedly closing in on an agreement. In the negotiations, Brazil's plan to sign off a new package by Monday night failed, with rows on several issues.
Luiz Alberto Figueiredo Machado of the Brazilian delegation, which is chairing the talks, told reporters he was "absolutely convinced" they would finish before midnight on Monday. The Rio+20 meeting comes 20 years after the Earth Summit, and was called with the aim of putting humanity on a more sustainable pathway, alleviating poverty while preserving the environment.
Heads of government from about 130 countries, and ministers from others, will begin their session on Wednesday and would sign off the text by the end of the week. The panel's declaration made clear that as far as they were concerned, the challenge is immediate and significant.
While the majority of people here expect a deal to be done, there are warnings from various organisations that it will not go nearly far enough towards sorting out the environment and development issues facing humanity.
Without explicitly criticising the draft agreement, the panel's declaration makes it clear that they agree.
"The combined effects of climate change, resource scarcity, loss of biodiversity and ecosystem resilience at a time of increased demand, poses a real threat to humanity's welfare," they write."The combined effects of climate change, resource scarcity, loss of biodiversity and ecosystem resilience at a time of increased demand, poses a real threat to humanity's welfare," they write.
"There is an unacceptable risk that human pressures on the planet, should they continue on a business as usual trajectory, will trigger abrupt and irreversible changes with catastrophic outcomes for human societies and life as we know it.""There is an unacceptable risk that human pressures on the planet, should they continue on a business as usual trajectory, will trigger abrupt and irreversible changes with catastrophic outcomes for human societies and life as we know it."
Rio summit jargon buster Use the dropdown for easy-to-understand explanations of key terms:
Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) Granting countries the right to gain financially from the exploitation of biological resources discovered on their territory. Aims to prevent biopiracy. Agreement made at the UN CBC meeting in Nagoya, Japan in 2010. Rio+20 will see further discussion particularly of resources from international waters.		 Rio summit jargon buster Use the dropdown for easy-to-understand explanations of key terms:
Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) Granting countries the right to gain financially from the exploitation of biological resources discovered on their territory. Aims to prevent biopiracy. Agreement made at the UN CBC meeting in Nagoya, Japan in 2010. Rio+20 will see further discussion particularly of resources from international waters.
The group of more than 30 signatories includes Nobel laureates such as Carlo Rubbia, Walter Kohn, Douglas Osheroff and Yuan Tseh Lee, as well as politicians including Brazil's Environment minister Izabella Teixiera and Finland's recently ex-President Tarja Halonen.The group of more than 30 signatories includes Nobel laureates such as Carlo Rubbia, Walter Kohn, Douglas Osheroff and Yuan Tseh Lee, as well as politicians including Brazil's Environment minister Izabella Teixiera and Finland's recently ex-President Tarja Halonen.
Gro Harlem Brundtland, the former Norwegian prime minister and World Health Organization chief who led the Brundtland Commission on sustainable development in 1987, was also on the panel.Gro Harlem Brundtland, the former Norwegian prime minister and World Health Organization chief who led the Brundtland Commission on sustainable development in 1987, was also on the panel.
Prof Will Steffen from the Australian National University, one of the leading scientists in the group, said he hoped the declaration would make the implications of ministers' choices clear to them.Prof Will Steffen from the Australian National University, one of the leading scientists in the group, said he hoped the declaration would make the implications of ministers' choices clear to them.
"There are intrinisic limits to the planet's capacity, and we must recognise that we're transgressing them - in fact, have transgressed some of them," he told BBC News. "There are intrinsic limits to the planet's capacity, and we must recognise that we're transgressing them - in fact, have transgressed some of them," he told BBC News.
"Business as usual is not an option.""Business as usual is not an option."
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However, after delegates had had a few days to discuss the Brazilian government's draft text that it issued on Friday evening, many concluded that on many points, a continuation of business as usual is exactly what it promises. Tarja Halonen said the declaration could and should encourage leaders to raise their ambitions in Rio.
"There's little in this document that changes what happens next week when governments go home," said Jim Leape, director of WWF International.
"This was never going to be a conference that solved everything; but it still can be a conference that puts the world on a different path."
European governments among others are understood to be seeking to strengthen the document.
However, tales from the talks - in which journalists are not permitted - suggest the Brazilians are taking a hardline approach to changes.
"I told our colleagues 'the match expired at the end of [Friday], and extra time is never longer than the match itself'," said Mr Figueiredo Machado.
Direct endorsement
It is believed that Brazilian President Dilma Roussef wants to present a completed document to G20 leaders meeting in Mexico on Monday and Tuesday.
This would allow leaders of G20 nations who are not coming to Rio, such as US President Barack Obama, UK Prime Minister David Cameron and Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel, to give the document a degree of direct endorsement.
Among areas of disagreement on the current text, the US wants to avoid putting talks on protecting oceans under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the EU wants progress on sustainable development goals (SDGs) that go beyond merely agreeing the principle of having them, and African nations are looking for a speicifc pledge of finance to help them "green" their economies.
But it is unclear whether any of these blocs will object strongly enough to challenge the draft agreement once prime ministers and presidents are here.
Tarja Halonen, who co-chaired UN chief Ban Ki-moon's Global Sustainability Panel, said the Nobel laureates' declaration could and should encourage leaders to raise their ambitions.
"What this says to negotiators is they need to push harder, they must be encouraged to do more," she told BBC News."What this says to negotiators is they need to push harder, they must be encouraged to do more," she told BBC News.
"The most important thing we are telling them is the urgency.""The most important thing we are telling them is the urgency."
The host government's delegation chief Luiz Alberto Figueiredo Machado told reporters on Monday afternoon that he was "absolutely convinced" negotiators would finish talks within hours, leaving little for the estimated 130 heads of state and government to do when they arrive on Wednesday.
But according to sources, the discussions - from which reporters are excluded - saw heated exchanges over a number of issues, including the green economy, fossil fuel subsidies and sustainable development goals (SDGs).
EU ministers complained that the hosts had pushed their version of the text through without real negotiation, and that the outcome was far too weak.
In a joint statement, EU Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik and Danish Environment Minister Ida Auken said the EU "remains committed, for as long as it takes, to achieving concrete and ambitious outcomes from the Rio+20 negotiations.
"We believe that in these final stages, our ministerial colleagues are best placed to reach a political agreement with the substance needed to bring the world towards a sustainable future."
However, if significant problems are left for governments leaders to resolve, the EU's capacity will be compromised by the fact that most European presidents and prime ministers are staying away from Rio, preferring to remain at home to manage eurozone-related fallout from Sunday's Greek election - though some are at the G20 summit in Mexico.
Direct endorsement
Brazilian President Dilma Roussef is expected to present the "final" Rio+20 agreement to G20 leaders in Mexico on Tuesday, providing it is finished.
That would allow world leaders not going to Rio, including US President Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and UK Prime Minister David Cameron, to give the document their endorsement before the final round begins in Rio.
The fossil fuel subsidy issue was highlighted during the day by environmental campaigners who directed an internet-based assault at delegates to both the Rio and G20 meetings, in the process attempting to set a world record for the most uses of a Twitter hashtag - in this case, #endfossilfuelsubsidies.
G20 leaders pledged three years ago to phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies, without setting a timetable or a mechanism.
A report from the research and campaign group Oil Change International, released before the Rio meeting, found that none of the G20 members had moved towards meeting their pledge.
Instead, more are simply not reporting their subsidies to the G20.
Estimates of the extent of subsidies run from about $400bn to about $1 trillion per year. Studies suggest that eliminating them would make a substantial contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and lead to social benefits such as increased employment.
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