South Africa is ready for the Rio+20 conference scheduled to take place on the 20-22 June 2012. That’s according to head of the SA delegation Dora Nteo, at media briefing in Johannesburg today.
“We are ready as South Africa to engage on the Green Economy at Rio+20. We have defined what Green Economy is in South Africa.” Nteo added that the conference provides an opportunity to look at how world economies can use scarce financial resources but at the same time create jobs. There are some issues of contention regarding the Green Economy mainly on the definition said Nteo. “The EU is calling for a road-map and African countries are opposed to this as the definition is not clear. Africa is calling rather for safeguards.” The other major point of contention is on institutional mechanism – mainly around the strengthening of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP). “The Africa position on UNEP is that it should be seen as a formal body e.g. WHO. It should also have international membership and also find financial resources for it.”
“The developed world is however reluctant to commit to additional financial resources basically because of what they are going through domestically.”
“The EU position on UNEP is that UNEP needs to be strengthened. They have agreed that the headquarters be in Nairobi, but they differ with Africa on financial resources. So their position is closer to Africa’s,” said Nteo. South Africa is currently negotiating under the umbrella of the G77+China. The group is chaired by Algeria.
The slogan is “The future we want”.
The South African delegation will include President Jacob Zuma in his capacity as RSA president and also as co-chair of the Committee of Sustainable Development. Formal business will also form part of the delegation. This year’s conference holds 20 years after the landmark 1992 Earth Summit in Rio. Rio+20. It is also an opportunity to look ahead to the world we want in 20 years. The slogan is “The future we want”. Nteo is the Chief policy adviser for sustainable development with Department of Environmental Affairs.Today also marks International Biodiversity Day. The focus this year is oceans.
Attached are video`s on the conference by the UNEP and the Brazilian government as the hosts of the event.
– By Ayanda Kunene
