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This proposal of the FAO does not mention, in direct or indirect form, the “Green Economy” term adopted by the called “Zero Document” proposed by the UN as the new catalogue of “principles for sustainability”, document that has been severely questioned by many NGO and networks. Indeed, in numerous articles, proposals, initiatives and other documents published in the social network of the Peoples Summit, various analysis and critics are formulated in relation to the “Green Economy” to be the new paradigm of the sustainability. However, the proposal of the FAO for Río+20, without pretending to become a “paradigm”,  raises messages, ideas, concepts and proposals that go beyond the “Green Economy”.

Executive summary

Improving agricultural and food systems is essential for a world with healthier people and healthier ecosystems. Healthy and productive lives cannot be achieved unless “all people at all times have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food which meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life” (FAO, 1996). Healthy ecosystems must be resilient and productive, and provide the goods and services needed to meet current societal needs and desires without jeopardizing the options for future generations to benefit from the full range of goods and services provided by terrestrial, aquatic and marine ecosystems. There are very strong linkages between the conditions to achieve universal food security and nutrition, responsible environmental stewardship and greater fairness in food management. They intersect in agricultural and food systems at the global, national and local levels. To emphasize these links, FAO has three main messages for the Rio+20 summit:

• 1. The Rio vision of sustainable development cannot be realized unless hunger and malnutrition are eradicated.
• 2. The Rio vision requires that both food consumption and production systems achieve more with less.
• 3. The transition to a sustainable future requires fundamental changes in the governance of food and agriculture and an equitable distribution of the transition costs and benefits.

FAO believes that the Rio vision will remain unfulfilled as long as hunger and malnutrition persist. The sustainable management of agriculture and food systems is key to a sustainable future. Sound policies are needed to create the incentives and capacities for sustainable consumption and production and to enable consumers and producers to make sustainable choices.

National governments and other stakeholders need to:

• 1. Establish and protect rights to resources, especially for the most vulnerable;
• 2. Incorporate incentives for sustainable consumption and production into food systems;
• 3. Promote fair and well-functioning agricultural and food markets;
• 4. Reduce risk and increase the resilience of the most vulnerable; and
• 5. Invest public resources in essential public goods, including innovation and infrastructure.

To achieve the future we want – a world without hunger and with sustainable development – FAO calls on the Rio+20 participants to make the following six commitments:

• 1. Accelerate the pace of reducing hunger and malnutrition with a view to eradicating these in the near future.
• 2. Use the Voluntary Guidelines to Support the Progressive Realization of the Right to Adequate Food in the Context of National Food Security and the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security as the overarching frameworks for achieving food security and equitable sustainable development.
• 3. Support the efforts of all stakeholders working in food and agriculture, especially in developing and least-developed countries, to implement technical and policy approaches to agricultural development that integrate food security and environmental objectives.
• 4. Ensure an equitable distribution of costs and benefits from the transition to sustainable agricultural consumption and production, and that people’s livelihoods and access to resources are protected.
• 5. Adopt integrated approaches to managing multiple objectives and linking financing sources for achieving sustainable agricultural and food systems.
• 6. Implement governance reforms based on the principles of transparency, participation and accountability to ensure policies are carried out and commitments are fulfilled. The Committee on World Food Security can serve as a model for these reforms.