By Thalif Deen

RIO DE JANEIRO, Jun 19 (TerraViva) Amidst recrimination, anger and charges of “strong arm tactics”, negotiators eventually endorsed a global plan of action for sustainable development following marathon sessions lasting over six weary days. Continue Reading

Fabiana Frayssinet

RIO DE JANEIRO, Jun 18 (TerraViva) – U.N. Environment Programme Executive Director Achim Steiner believes that he and the Rio+20 People’s Summit agree that the global economic model has caused the current environmental destruction. But the discussion on what to replace it with turned into an acrid debate.

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Fabiana Frayssinet

RIO DE JANEIRO, Jun 18 (TerraViva) The BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) face a key choice: to opt for “good” development aid, based on sustainable development, or for the “bad” old traditional model, which they criticised when they were its recipients.

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By Julio Godoy

RIO DE JANEIRO, Jun 18 (TerraViva) – Mammoth summits such as Rio+20 can easily degenerate into confections of hot air, settings for useless sing-alongs. Continue Reading

By José Graziano da Silva*

RIO DE JANEIRO, Jun 18 (TerraViva) As stated in the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment and the 1992 Earth Summit, human beings are at the centre of sustainable development. Continue Reading

Julio Godoy interviews JONATHAN BAILLIE, leading British biologist and member of the Zoological Society of London

RIO DE JANEIRO, Jun 18 (TerraViva) That the environmental state of the Earth is catastrophic is no longer news. But grasping some figures that describe this catastrophe still provokes a shock – for instance, that 30 percent of biodiversity has disappeared since 1970, and that 60 percent of this decline has taken place in the tropical areas of the planet. Continue Reading

By Isaiah Esipisu

RIO DE JANEIRO, Jun 18 (TerraViva) As the first World Summit of Legislators concludes here, the Kenyan delegation has warned that the world’s developing nations must be careful when putting a monetary value on natural resources. Continue Reading

Claudia Ciobanu*

RIO DE JANEIRO, Jun 18 (TerraViva) A trip to Sepetiba Bay in western Rio de Janeiro might give a better sense of the relationship between business and local communities than the official programme of the Rio+20 conference. Continue Reading

By Julio Godoy

RIO DE JANEIRO, Jun 18 (TerraViva) The Latin American social and economic experience of the past 10 years, of steady and yet sustainable expansion that helped lift some 73 million people from poverty, is an example for other developing countries. Continue Reading

Busani Bafana interviews JOHN GUMMER, President of the Global Legislators Organisation (GLOBE)

RIO DE JANEIRO, Jun 17 (TerraViva) If global leaders gathering next week for the Rio+20 conference are under immense pressure to deliver on the 1992 Earth Summit commitments, that pressure has just been doubled by parliaments taking out the environmental accountability whip. Continue Reading