Rio+20: Making it Happen - Volume 2, Issue 23, 15 December 2011

Rio+20: Making it Happen Newsletter of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development 15 December 2011, Volume 2, Issue 23 The second Intersessional Strengthening Sustainable Development through Disaster Risk Reduction Meeting for Rio+20appro AAs s Rio+20 fast begins Just before the today and ends tomorrow, 16 UN-sponsored Durban December. climate talks got underway Member States and other on 28 November, mother stakeholders at this meeting nature struck the east coast will discuss the structure and of South Africa with record- format of the Conference’s high torrential rains that left Outcome Document. about 10 dead, over 700 Our next edition will bring houses destroyed and you highlights of the meeting. thousands homeless. Unsustainable development practices, ecosystem degra- In this Issue dation, poverty as well as ISevere flooding in Bangladesh threatens the country’s sustainable development. © Gary Braasch/World View of Global Warming.org climate variability have led - Disaster Risk Reduction to an increase in both man- Page 1 made and natural disaster risk at a rate that poses significant threats to lives and development efforts. According to the 2011 Global Assessment Report, the proportion of world population living in flood-prone - Global Sustainability Panel river basins has increased by 114 percent, while those living on cyclone-exposed coastlines have grown by - New Brief on IFSD 192 percent over the past 30 years. Furthermore, over half of the world’s large cities, with populations - Workshop on Partnerships ranging from 2 to 15 million, are currently located in areas of highly vulnerable to seismic activity. - Upcoming Events Page 2 While developing countries, particularly Small Island Developing States and Least Developed Countries, are disproportionately affected, the Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami sent a clear message that even developed countries are also vulnerable to such severe disasters. Official indicators have shown that since 1981, economic loss from disasters, including floods and tropical cyclones, is growing faster than GDP per capita in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. This means that the risk of losing wealth in weather-related disasters is now exceeding the rate at which the wealth itself is being created. In response to these challenges, UN Member States adopted the 2005 Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA), describing the work needed from different sectors and actors to reduce disaster losses and increase resilience. It is expected this will substantially reduce disaster losses in lives and in social, economic and www.uncsd2012.org environmental assets, by building the resilience of nations and communities to disasters. The past five years have seen major progress with regard to HFA implementation by many governments in Follow Rio+20 strengthening disaster management and legislative arrangements and mechanisms. Regional and sub-regional strategies, frameworks, plans and programmes have been developed, as well as national and local government-lead disaster reduction initiatives. Over 900 cities and local governments have joined the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR)-led campaign on Resilient Cities and committed Send us feedback to make their cities safer from disasters. However, the recent HFA Mid-Term Review also revealed the uncsd2012@un.org uneven implementation of the framework. Some of the remaining challenges include the lack of system- atic multi-hazards risk assessments and early warn- ing systems that takes into account social and economic vulnerabilities, as well as insufficient Quote integration of disaster risk reduction into sustain-“ will not achieve sustain- We able development policies and planning at the national and international levels. able development without addressing inequality...Nor As we look towards Rio+20, the political and finan- can we live with deterioriating cial commitment to disaster risk reduction needs to ecosystems...We need fresh be reinforced as a core component of sustainable ideas and a renewed commit- development and climate adaptation, in order to ment by all countries to fairly achieve the HFA objectives. Indonesian children learn about disaster risk reduction. “ © International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent share and protect the global To increase awareness of the benefits of disaster Societies (IFRC, 2008) commons. risk reduction in the context of Rio+20 process, - UN Secretary-General UNISDR issued a discussion paper entitled “Preparing for Rio+20: Redefining Sustainable Development,” Ban Ki-moon accessible at www.unisdr.org. In addition, the Rio+20 Secretariat has also published a brief on “Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience Building” at www.uncsd2012.org. 1

RIO+20 Outcome Document 16-18 January 2012 (tbc), New York, USA - Initial discussions on the “zero draft of outcome document” for Rio+20 will be held at the UN Headquarters. The “zero draft” or first negotiating draft will become the primary document to be agreed to by world leaders at the Conference to secure renewed political commitment for sustainable development. Nikhil Chandavarkar (left) addressing a group of Swedish Parliamentarians. With him is Ambassador Staffan Tillander of Sweden (Photo UN-DESA) In a related event, the President of Conference Secretary-General Sha Zukang addressing the audience in Brazil the General Assembly will organize a Members of the High-level Panel on Global Sustainability at their Fourth Meeting in New York. retreat for Member States on the outcome document and the role ofSecretary-General Ban Urges Panel to Address Equity in Report partnerships in sustainable develop-13 December 2011, New York, USA- Speaking at the Fifth Meeting of his High-level Global ment on 17 and 18 December 2011Sustainability Panel, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on the panel members to address at Glen Cove, USA.the issue of equity in their final report. “All the issues that will be on the table in Rio - climatechange, demographics, water, food, energy, global health, women’s empowerment - areintertwined. All the pillars that underpin the Rio process - stabilizing the global economy,safeguarding the environment, and ensuring social equity - are parts of a single agenda,” Mr. Ban Upcoming Eventsnoted.The Panel’s report to be released on 12 January 2012 “can also make a major contribution to the World Sustainable Energy ConferenceRio+20 process...and will help shape the UN system’s policies on sustainable development for 10-12 January 2012years to come,” he added. Geneva, Switzerland [more information]The 21-member Panel established in 2009 and co-chaired by Presidents Tarja Halonen of Finlandand Jacob Zuma of South Africa was mandated to develop a new blueprint for a sustainable Launch of Final Report of High-levelfuture on a planet with deteriorating ecosystems. More information on the Panel is accessible at Panel on Global Sustainabilitywww.un.org/wcm/content/site/climatechange/pages/gsp. 12 January 2012 New York, USA“Issues Brief” on IFSD Published [more information]The Rio+20 Secretariat recently published its third “Issues Brief” on the Institutional Framework Forum international francophone:for Sustainable Development (IFSD), one of the main themes of the Conference. The Brief, entitled Jeunesse et emplois verts“Regional, National and Local Levels of Sustainable Development,” addresses the main issues 16-19 January 2012involved in strengthening governance for sustainable development at the regional, national and Niamey, Nigerlocal levels. [more information]At the regional level, it not only considers how to strengthen coordination among UN bodiesengaged in providing normative and operational support to Member States, but also looks at the National Conference on Science, Policyissue of broader coherence with other relevant institutions. and the EnvironmentFurthermore, at the national and local levels, the Brief focuses on how country-specific institu- 18-20 January 2012tions can be strengthened closely to implement aspects of the sustainable development agenda. Washington, D.C., USA [more information]Finally, it addresses linkages across governance levels – what is commonly referred to as ‘verticalintegration.’ For more information on this and the other IFSD Briefs please visit Towards Democratic Environmentalhttp://www.uncsd2012.org/rio20/index.php?menu=63 Governance at Global Level 31 January 2012Partnerships Workshop Held Paris, France14 December 2011, UN Headquarters, New York, USA - The Rio+20 Secretariat in collaboration [more information]with the UN Office for Partnerships (UNOP) held a workshop on "Partnerships Best Practices andtheir Contribution to Rio+20.” 2nd Asia-Pacific Water Summit 5-6 February 2012Approximately 60 representatives from Governments, CSD-registered Partnerships, research Bangkok, Thailandinstitutions, Major Groups and the UN system entities participated in the event, which focused on [more information]strengthening the consideration of partnerships at Rio+20. In accordance with draft resolutionA/C.2/66/L.59, the participants discussed the elements that could be addressed at the Rio+20 Colloque sur les forêtsPartnerships Forum. 5-7 February 2012Speakers included Maurice Strong, Secretary General of the 1972 UN Conference on Human Lyon, FranceEnvironment and the 1992 Rio Earth Summit; Amir Dossal, former Executive Director of the UNOP [more information]and the current Chair of the Global Partnership Forum, and Elizabeth Thompson, ExecutiveCoordinator of the Rio+20 Secretariat. A summary of the discussions will be made available at Complete listing of meetings and eventswww.uncsd2012.org available at www.uncsd2012.org 2

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Rio+20: Making it Happen - Volume 2, Issue 23, 15 December 2011

by Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) on Dec 20, 2011

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Rio+20: Making it Happen - Volume 2, Issue 23, 15 December 2011 Document Transcript