Rio+20 Portal

Also available in Français, Español, Português

By the occasion of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UN CSD, or Rio+20) that will take place next year in Brazil, the NGOs Major Group Organizing Partners have recently launched “Heads of States@Rio+20″, a global petition campaign urging world leaders to engage in the Summit.

Urging all civil society to remind Heads of States of their responsibility towards their constituents and their duty to urgently implement sustainable policies to create a better future for us and upcoming generations, the NGOs Organizing Partners  (ANPED – The Northern Alliance for Sustainability, CVICUS, Consumers International) joined forces with Stakeholder Forum for a Sustainable Future and World Future Council and launched on the 4th of November this global petition campaign.

The Heads of States@Rio+20 Petition is available in 6 languages (ENG, FRA, ESP, RUS, CHI and PORT) and reminds all Heads of States of the urgency of their commitment and collaboration to find strategies to promote global economic and social transitions in ways that avoid marginalization of peoples, environmental degradation, over-exploitation or pollution.

“The science is clear, without exaggeration, we can say: the future of our planet is at stake — people’s lives, the health of the global economy, the very survival of some nations. Sustainable development is not a luxury, it is an imperative and the world is looking to you for leadership” – UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said this month at the 17th session of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Durban, South Africa.

It only takes a minute to sign and share this petition and it can be easily done through Facebook too. Until the deadline (20/06/2012) and first day of the Rio+20 Conference, we would like to gather 1 Million signatures and we count on your support for achieving this goal. Organizations willing to support this initiative may contact us for more information and also for HTML widget code for their websites. The petition can be found and signed at this link hereunder and also on partner’s websites and social media channels:

http://www.change.org/petitions/heads-of-states-chefs-detats-jefes-de-estados-chefes-de-estado-rio20

We urge all civil society to remind Heads of States of their duty to attend the UN CSD RIO+20 Summit, that will take place in Brazil on June 2012. We need their engagement and urgent implementation of sustainable policies to create a better future for us and up coming generations. Rio+20 is an outstanding opportunity for fundamental change and its importance is not only measured by the urgency of the problems it tackles but also by the highest level of attention it is given by many of the World leaders.

In the challenging world of today, it is crucial that the people’s representatives engage in the Conference that fights urgent global issues such as unequal consumption, overexploitation of natural resources, increasing poverty, to stop short-sighted solutions, and the greed of companies, banks and individuals. It is urgent that together, they commit on finding strategies to promote global economic and social transitions in ways that avoid marginalization of peoples, environmental degradation, over-exploitation or pollution.

Knowing that the Heads of State take every opportunity to connect with and hear the concerns of their constituents, we urge civil society to formally express its strong wish for their leaders engagement in the Rio+20 Conference, whose goals are: to secure renewed political commitment for global Sustainable Development, assess the progress to date and the remaining gaps in the implementation of the outcomes of the major summits on sustainable development, and address new and emerging challenges.

From soaring food prices to the crippling effects of climate change, our economies are now confronting the reality of years of spending beyond our financial and environmental means and millions of people are suffering and dying because of that. If we are to maintain stable societies and enjoy good lives, we can no longer sustain a widening budget gap between what nature is able to provide and how much our infrastructure, economies and lifestyles require.

We urge Governments to stand up for the creation and protection of sustainable communities and societies not only in their countries but worldwide. We believe that we all have to invest in a long-term maintenance of well-being, within its environmental, economic, and social limits, for us and future generations, through a responsible and fair management of resource use.

As citizens of the World we fundamentally support the Heads of States engagement and kindly demand that they take this opportunity to positively and on the highest level contribute in the Rio+20 Conference on behalf of all us.

About ANPED

ANPED, the Northern Alliance for Sustainability, is an international not-for-profit organization with a mission to empower Northern civil society through capacity development, exchanges and sharing of knowledge. Our goal is to promote fair and equitable sustainable development for all with respect for the limits of our common ecological and social capital. ANPED has Special Consultative status to the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). We are among the organizing partners responsible for providing the NGO Major Group input into the official meetings of the UN CSD as recognized under Agenda 21.

NGO Major Group OPs Contacts:

ANPED:

• Leida Rijnhout, Executive Director leida(at)anped.org
• Leonardo Rocha, Communications Officer leonardo(at)anped.org

CIVICUS:

• Henri Valot, Outreach Director henri.valot(at)civicus.org
• Natalie Akstein, Convening Junior Officer natalie.akstein(at)civicus.org

CI:

• Luis Flores, Encargado de Políticas Y proyectos lflores(at)consumidoresint.org