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Benno Hansen

Readers response: will Rio+20 make a difference to sustainable development? | Guardian ... - 0 views

  • Rio+20 can definitely make a difference to sustainable development is by following through on the clause in the draft document which commits member states to develop an international policy framework requiring companies to publish sustainability reports
  • there is a collective learning curve, and it takes as long as it does, and that some stages have to be gone through first
  • Rio+20 will make a difference, but I think we need to combine it with habitat 2015 and the 2015 World Conference on Women as well. We need to stop thinking of some conferences as make-or-break, and instead look at how each one can move us along further.
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  • By bringing together political leaders, civil society groups and businesses, Rio+20 provides an opportunity to jumpstart a renewed commitment toward a more sustainable planet. This won't come easily-- and it's only possible if we're willing to acknowledge that the world has shifted profoundly since 1992.
  • companies are starting to see sustainability as a competitive advantage. We need to hear these stories
Benno Hansen

Big business goes to Rio -- New Internationalist - 0 views

  • Harmless-sounding phrases like ‘green economy’ and ‘sustainable development’ have become grounds for bitter dispute, as different governments and business interests attempt to redefine these terms to meet their own agenda.
  • This row of well-meaning policy sandcastles have spent the past 20 years being eaten away by a rising tide of fundamentalist free-market economics, unfettered financial speculation, and consolidated corporate power.
  • any environmental and social gains from the first Rio summit look small next to the destruction wrought by a voracious corporate sector and by governments obsessed with growth in GDP before all else.
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  • A shift to a genuinely sustainable society will require us to challenge these negative forces, rein in the excesses of corporations and markets, and build an entirely different economy based on wellbeing for the many rather than profits for the few.
  • Silvia Ribeiro from the campaign group ETC Mexico points out: ‘Collapsing financial markets in Northern countries mean that banks and other investors are now looking desperately for new areas of expansion and speculation. We can see these desires leaving their mark on the Rio+20 process. The “Green Economy” now under discussion would unleash a wave of risky but lucrative new technologies such as synthetic biology, nanotechnology and climate technofixes. This isn’t about finding the best environmental solutions: it’s about creating profitable new investments.’
  • we cannot afford to live in a world where ecosystems are protected if, and only if, there is more profit to be made by protecting them than by trashing them.
  • Large polluting industries, business lobby groups and financial institutions are welcomed in as well-meaning ‘stakeholders’ – like mafia bosses invited to a meeting on reducing gang violence.
  • The businesses with the most wealth and power are those that have flourished in an economy based on the unrestricted use of natural resources and the exploitation of many of the world’s people. Those with the most to lose from a shift to true sustainability are therefore those with the most power to block that change.
  • the Stockholm Environment Institute calculated that the economic value of the oceans could be reduced by up to $2 trillion per year if climate change is left unchecked
  • Tom Goldtooth, Executive Director of IEN, said: ‘Systems such as “payment for ecological services” and using forests in carbon offset markets do nothing but make Mother Earth into the World Trade Organization of nature.’
  • According to Lucia Ortiz of Friends of the Earth Brazil: ‘Trades Unions are getting very concerned about the “green economy” agenda, because it represents a deepening of neoliberal policies, and threatens to undermine the social rights already secured by past struggles. They are working in solidarity with environmentalists, indigenous peoples, farmers and women’s rights activists, calling instead for a transition to a sustainable and just society free from the exploitation of workers and of nature.’
Benno Hansen

Aiko Stevenson: Rio+20: "We Are Made Wise by the Responsibility of Our Future" - 0 views

  • "Ecocide is in essence the very antithesis of life. It leads to resource depletion, and where there is an escalation of resource depletion, war comes chasing behind."
Jon Snow

«Le scénario de l'effondrement l'emporte» - Libération - 0 views

  •  
    So sad about that.
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