[NYTr] Brazil's Lula Proposes "Rio+20" to Follow Earth Summit

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

UN News - Sep 25, 2007
http://www.un.org/ga/news/news.asp?NewsID=23952


President Lula of Brazil proposes ‘Rio + 20’ to follow on Earth Summit

25 September 2007 - Standing before the United Nations General Assembly
one day after an historic meeting on climate change, the President of
Brazil today proposed convening in 2012 a summit on the environment in
Rio, exactly two decades after the landmark international conference
met there to produce the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC).

“I propose that we hold a new conference, in 2012, to be hosted by
Brazil: the Rio + 20 Conference,” President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
told the Assembly’s annual high-level debate. The year 2012 is also
when the Kyoto Protocol to the UNFCCC, which contains legally binding
targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, is set to expire.

He emphasized the need to reorder international priorities in favour of
social justice. “If we want to salvage our common heritage, a new and
more balanced distribution of wealth is needed, both internationally
and within each country. Social equity is our best weapon against the
planet’s degradation,” he said.

“It is unacceptable that the cost of the irresponsibility of a
privileged few be shouldered by the dispossessed of the earth,”
declared President Lula, calling for industrialized countries to “set
the example,” while emphasizing that “developing countries must also
help in combating climate change.”

Brazil, for its part, would work to protect the Amazon, he said, noting
that the rate of deforestation there has been cut in half in the past
three years.

President Lula also advocated the use of bio-fuels as a “clean energy
alternative” and pledged that Brazil’s bio-fuels “will reach the world
market with a seal of assurance for their social, labour and
environmental quality.”

On his signature issue of combating hunger, President Lula called for
stepped-up global efforts to reduce inequality. “The final defeat of
poverty, however, demands more than international solidarity,” he said,
calling for new international trade relations based on balanced and
fair rules.

“Farm subsidies that make the rich richer and the poor poorer are no
longer acceptable,” he said. “We cannot accept agricultural
protectionism that perpetuates dependency and underdevelopment.”

Voicing his confidence in the tool of multilateral diplomacy, President
Lula noted Brazil’s support for the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti
(MINUSTAH).

“In Haiti, we are showing that peace and stability are built with
democracy and social development,” he said.

Martin Torrijos, the President of Panama, voiced support for a renewal
of MINUSTAH, but pointed out that further efforts are needed. “It is
essential that the mandate not end before institutions in the country
have been strengthened.”

He told the Assembly that the structure of the UN must be strengthened,
noting that the number and quality of peacekeeping operations had
increased in recent years. To ensure that countries do not slide back
into war, these missions must cover a broader range of activities.

“Reaching a lasting peace means more than simply laying down weapons,”
he said, stressing that legal and political institutions must be
rebuilt, and human rights must be respected.

He also voiced support for the conclusion of a comprehensive convention
to combat terrorism, highlighting Panama’s lead role in diplomatic
efforts on the issue.