Renata Giraldi and Carolina Gonçalves Reporters Agência Brasil
Rio de Janeiro – An idea supported by Brazil (along with the 130 other nations is the misnamed G-77 plus China) to create an international fund (“fundo verde”) to provide incentives for sustainable development will probably be removed from the final text of the joint declaration that will come out of Rio+20, the United Nations Sustainable Development Conference. The Preparatory Committee has been discussing a proposal for the fund to begin with $30 billion in 2013, and reach $100 billion in 2018. There would be mandatory contributions for developed nations. A number of countries in Europe oppose the idea for financial reasons in light of the international economic crisis. They have been joined by the United States and Canada.
The executive secretary of the Brazilian delegation to Rio+20, ambassador Luiz Alberto Figueiredo Machado, admitted that rich nations have “hunkered down” due to internal problems. “All this is part of the negotiating process. Nobody has actually refused to discuss the subject. We are still working out a possible best solution,” said the ambassador.
There are only five days left for the Preparatory Committee to come up with a text before some 115 heads of state and government will arrive to approve and sign (on June 22) a final joint Rio+20 declaration. As reported by Agência Brasil, event officials have declared that at this moment approximately 25% of the document is ready. The principal items that remain to be decided on are: common goals, transfer of technology, financing, training of personnel to execute sustainable development programs, a definition of “green economy” and, finally, the creation of new international organizations to oversee the implementation of Rio+20 decisions.
EBC has live multimedia coverage of Rio+20 (in Portuguese) at the link “cobertura multimedia” on its webpage: ebc.com.br
Allen Bennett – translator/editor The News in English
Link - Fundo de desenvolvimento sustentável deve ficar fora do texto final da
